Friday, June 01, 2007

B. Jones: The Birth of a Superstar

So, I'm watching the NBA.com recap of the Game 5 Eastern Conference Finals (where Lebron James scored 48 points to give the Cavaliers a 3-2 edge over the Pistons), when the inevitable happened: An announcer said, "this is Jordanesque."

Granted, sports announcers are given to hyperbole, I know; but James has been nascent for the last couple of seasons, and particularly in the spotlight of late because of a much talked about last second decision that cost the Cavs the first game of the series.

So, "Jordanesque."

Not sure if I have talked about this before, but I hate the superstar mentality of the NBA that Michael Jordan helped to usher in. That's a rant best saved for later. Suffice it to say that one of the reasons I like the Pistons, is that they used teamwork to not only beat the Lakers a number of years back, but also to win their subsequent championships...

Needless to say, this has some poignancy for me. I like Lebron James. He's been a hard worker, hasn't been an arrogant son of a bitch, has improved his team. I had him on my fantasy team this year, and he essentially carried my team through a series of moves to a fourth place finish...

So, I want him to win, but at what cost?

This is made all the more confusing by the fact that the NBA made it possible for the Spurs to use dirty play to get to the finals...

Oh, what's a fanboy to do?

5 Comments:

At 4:30 PM, Blogger the beige one said...

Tell you what, JJ: I'll give up the NBA when you give up the NFL.

 
At 8:26 AM, Blogger Joe said...

I'll tell you what you do: You send Lebron your bestest positive prayers and remind yourself that poor goddamn Cleveland sports fans haven't had a championship of any kind since Pervis McGrunty of Shaker Heights won the Pinebox Derby in 1908. We're fucking due.

 
At 1:02 AM, Blogger the beige one said...

Joe, you're on.

Miss Uz J, maybe the universe is trying to tell you something...

 
At 11:16 AM, Blogger JJisafool said...

TBO, you don't hear me writing screeds decrying the actions of my favorite league.

NFL ain't by a looooong shot perfect, but they deliver the product.

The NBA, in my humble opinion, doesn't.

 
At 12:30 PM, Blogger the beige one said...

Used to, but doesn't, currently, but that's fixable.

I recall a time, not that long ago, that the NFL wasn't delivering...same with the NHL, actually, and the diehards didn't leave those sports.

It's a pendulum, and I can only trust that the NBA will be on the right side of that in the not too distant future.

It wasn't that long ago that the NBA was the best thing going, really.

 

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