On the Lebron James Hoopla

Now I’m a college basketball gal. I don’t do the NBA. But I feel that I can’t help but comment on the recent hype, celebration and griping over Lebron James’ move from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat. And I must say that since I graduated in high school in 2003 (also James’ graduation and draft year), that the NBA has come to have a more direct impact on college basketball. Given that many of my fonder memories growing up centered around ACC Basketball and my Dad being a high school basketball Coach, I find that the ways of the NBA influence have therefore become personal.

So many folks have said, “Oh yes, if Lebron wanted to win a championship, his move to Miami is the right move.” And perhaps this is true. But I want to push back against that logic for a moment. Yes, Lebron is a great basketball player (so I’ve heard). And yes, he’s been able to do a TON of great things—first round draft pick, shoulders a lot of stats, won an Olympic Gold medal (under Coach K mind you). And yes, an NBA championship seems to elude him. And I see nothing wrong in continuing to fight for one, but do we have a “right” to win everything? What’s so horrible about that? It seems to me that life isn’t always like that—where you get to win everything.

The other part of this I want to push back against is that the pursuit of winning means “creating” an undefeatable team. I applaud Lebron for realizing that he might not be able to win on his own. I applaud him for giving the million-dollar check for his “big announcement” to the Boys and Girls Club and taking nothing for himself. But I don’t know if using artificial means to creating a team is what makes a “team” championship so glorious. And I know some of you may want to gag or think I’m being Duke-obsessed, but take a look at how the 2010 Duke team managed to win a championship without real “stars,” but individuals who learned their positions and how to work together. When other people ran off to pursue greatness elsewhere (ie. Gerald Henderson) and the natural loss of seasoned players to graduation, this team became a winning team on their own. Perhaps the only “it-factor” they had was Coach K. I hope that the “new” Miami Heat takes notice of how quickly the star-packed Kentucky team went down during the NCAA Tournament this season.

And as a woman, youth volunteer, former school teacher, and as a mom-type, I just want to say that the NBA folks need to remember that our kids are watching you. While you are living out your dreams, the next generation calls you their superheroes and they say that they want to grow up to be just like you. I hope that you take notice that you help shape our society and have more influence to shape it than others do—in large part because you have a connection to important people, power and financial resources and have a connection to real American people and their hardships. Secondly on this note, be mindful of how your own desires and decisions effect the rest of society. There is the issue of money, consumerism, athletics-as-a-ticket-out-of-the-ghetto mentalities, but it also means that when our kid says, “But Mom I just want be recruited by a college or a professional team…can we please move halfway across the country so I can be on a winning or noticeable team so I can have that opportunity,” that this issue eventually becomes a family issue, a family sacrifice. The pursuit of winning will somehow find its way into our living rooms.

Therefore I urge you to consider the rest of us. Know that the means do not always justify the ends. And please, let us all find completeness in something more than just “winning.”