“A lot of young players don't really know much about the history of the game and a lot of them are missing out on what the game is all about, especially the whole concept of sportsmanship and teamwork”. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
As my loyal subscribers and readers know, “Comments” is a sports blog, but predominantly baseball related. In the past, (check out the Archives) I have written about other sports and events. Today we will talk about professional basketball.
I coached basketball at various levels beginning in the fall of 1972. I “retired” in September of 2020. Since then, I have lost much of my interest in the sport. I have watched the Chicago Sky, the NCAA Tourney, and gone to some youth games of kids I had coached, but just haven’t bothered with the NBA for more than a few minutes occasionally when in a restaurant or bar and a game is on. The game has changed and not for the better in my opinion. It’s too many “3s”, too much “star mentality”, too much screaming and chest thumping over routine plays, too much traveling – flopping – initiating contact nonsense, and too little defense and team play. In truth, it’s too much “me” attitude for my taste.
I happened to be at a Joliet sports bar Monday evening having a few drinks and dinner with members of my wife’s family. We were remembering my mother-in-law Rosie who passed away seven years earlier and my youngest brother-in-law John who passed away on the same date, the 22nd of May last year. After the White Sox game was over, the big screens had the NBA Western Conference Final on, so I watched as we talked about our memories of departed family.
First and foremost, congrats to the Denver Nuggets for sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals winning Monday’s Game-4 with a score of 113 – 111. While the Nuggets have made the playoffs in the past, they are the last of the four surviving ABA teams to make the NBA finals. They are a fine team and played well in the series. I wish them luck and good fortune. They deserve accolades and to a certain extent they are not receiving their dues. The reason? One player, named LeBron James.
After the Laker’s were swept, James said he wasn’t happy about being knocked out, understandably so and then stated, "Going forward with the game of basketball, I've got a lot to think about." When asked to elaborate he replied, "If I want to continue to play," James said. So instantly the spotlight is back on James. Perhaps for once he could have just congratulated the Nuggets and let it be. But he had to make his statement and of course the media climbed all over it. God forbid his name isn’t in the news cycle for a couple days.
Now is this the media’s fault or his? I believe his statements were calculated and of course the sports outlets jumped on it. James knows how to “work” a room. The accounts focused on James scoring 40 points in the game (31 in the first half), having 10 rebounds and 9 assists. He also missed a shot hitting the side of the glass with only seconds left in the game and his last shot, with the season literally on the line, was blocked by Aaron Gordon of the Nuggets with 1.1 seconds left. Did he choke down the stretch or was he just gassed? Was his foot / ankle bothering him? We will never know, just that he didn’t deliver. But we do know, afterwards instead of being gracious he dropped the “a lot to think about” line.
Is James a good player? Yes. Does he have the most career points in the history of the game? Yes, which doesn’t make him the greatest shooter in the history of the game anymore than Pete Rose being the greatest hitter because he has the most career hits; it just means they both accumulated the most points and hits in their careers. Does he have charitable funds? Yes. Does he join causes? Yes. Is he a decent person? I have no personal experience to base it on, but probably. Is he the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All-Time)? No. My personal feeling on that subject is that there are too many era style changes and such, so we can only go by number of championships and THAT too is a team thing, so I’d answer, The Boston Celtics and Bill Russell (11 championships in 13 seasons). Does James flop at the drop of a hat? Yes. Is he a team player? Not in the truest sense of the word. Does he whine and act like a child when he disagrees with a call? Absolutely. Does he switch teams to better his chances of winning championships instead of making his existing team better? Absolutely. Did he handle his post-game press statements badly? In my opinion, yes.
In all sports and at all levels, teams have star players. But it’s the star players who have the responsibility to think “team first”, to lead by example as well as performance, to act responsibly, to act in the best interest of the sport, and to be decent human beings. I think James missed this one. Your opinion may differ.
I personally hope he does retire. He has been described as the “Face of the NBA”, and he may be just that, and because of the prevailing self-centered attitude in the NBA, it’s an ugly face, but he’s not the only one which doesn’t make it right.
Again, my sincere congratulations to the Denver Nugget team. I most likely, well, it’s a certainty I won’t be watching anymore NBA games this season or in the near future for that matter. Watching that one game on Monday showed me all the things that had gradually soured me on the NBA “product” are still alive and well.
Thanks for reading.
~ Coach Mike
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Mike, I agree about the NBA ... mostly. I would add the Kareem/Magic Teams of the 80's to the list of the Greatest alongside the Celtics. They played as a Team, they played hard-nosed and withstood the adversity from other teams while winning 5 championships and appearing in 8 Finals in the decade. They were dominating and they were the ones that taught Detroit how to win in the Finals.
You hit the proverbial nail on the head‼️ Excellent and insightful as most of your posts are😉 Sportsmabship is definitely lacking🙇🏻♀️