nbaculture

Yes… you read that headline correctly.  I recently had a conversation with a friend about Lebron, and it kind of irked me that nobody had any bad thing to say about him.  What negative thing could someone possibly say about Lebron James?  Everybody saw his spectacular performance during the olympics, his leadership, and his unselfishness with his teammates in the summer.  He is arguably the greatest individual contributor to his NBA franchise, and has an infectious laugh and endearing smile (as noted in the Donyell Marshall jersey debacle).  He is arguably the most hyped player ever to be drafted and has lived up to and beyond many of people’s expectations.  I can personally attest to that, I used to be a Lebron hater until halfway into his rookie season. So what’s wrong here?

Nothing… on the court that is.  What I have beef with is his goal of becoming the first athlete billionaire.  Really?  You might be thinking that we live in America, and that is exactly what the American dream is all about.  Am I a communist?  No, not really.  But I do believe that people should always remember their roots and share the opportunity to succeed as someone had offered it to him.  Yes Lebron James does do community work, and participates in the NBA Cares campaign, but seriously, he’s riding bikes with kids.  It’s good and all, but I don’t really see the heart or devotion.

I’m not asking him to be a Dikembe Mutombo or anything, or even a Ledanian Tomlinson, and I am in no way diminishing the great work the NBA is doing in community outreach.  However, people should have better life goals than to be a billionaire (I think hanging out with Jay Z is going to his head); especially at a time when hurricanes have devestated multiple major cities, and the nation is in a state of economic panic (you hear McCain’s speech?  They say businesses nationwide and people’s ability to own homes might be in jeopardy).

That being said, I still think Lebron James is some kind of phenom.

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