Lebron James is several days and one oral surgery removed from his championship run gone awry. Muppets were and are funny in those commercials. But I digress. Upon being held accountable for his failure to congratulate the Magic and show up for post game media interviews Lebron said, "It’s not being a poor sport or anything like that...If somebody beats you up, you’re not going to congratulate them." He felt justified in walking away from his opponent and refusing to participate in the pseudo-analyzing that is par for the NBA course throughout the regular season. The King (emperor) has no clothes or so goes the ancient fable about a ruler who was told he was donned in an exquisite garment that was invisible. The emperor in the fable paraded around as his subjects tolerated the disgraceful display in fear that upon alerting him to his nudity, they would be executed.
So what about LJ the "King", King James, the Cleveland franchise? Lebron simply did what all of us want to do after an embarrassing moment. He crawled under a rock during an emotional crisis. Is he justified? Certainly not for he is no more exempted than I am when I have to account for why I didn't play scholarship basketball, why I didn't marry the first person I was engaged to or why I didn't get accepted to a Ph.D. program two years back. Reality reeks of failure on many fronts and few are prepared for its fruit. Failure denotes a humanness that betrays pedestals and profuse accolades. At the end of Game 6 vs. Orlando, Lebron James was what he's always been...just a man from Akron, Ohio who has been morphed into a demagogue. He is neither innocent nor the sole culprit but rather one more symbol of how projected images and expectations mutilate self-perception.
No one shakes the opponents hand after a game because they're glad they got "it" handed to him. I can see it now, "Thanks man for kickin' our *@) tonight. I've been needin' one of those. Reminds me of my childhood." Come on. Who does that? We congratulate those who have beaten us because the only thing we control in a competitive world riddled with variables is our commitment to excellence. Preparation + Vigor = THE BEST YOU CAN GIVE. Game 6 is never about Orlando but rather about being pleased with how you have done justice to your gift. Lebron James is 6'9" and 260 lbs. He's the premier specimen athletically and he's further along in his basketball progression at 24 years old than most men in the world will ever be in the prime of their athletic prowess. He's an anomaly on so many levels but he, even he cannot manipulate the universe. None of us can. Shaking your opponents hand and doing a post game interview show that you can understand one fundamental truth: reality always trumps pride. You don't have to enjoy losing to be a good sport. You just have to be a king with the heart of his subjects.
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