I rushed home on Thursday night, ate dinner and then parked myself in front of the TV in my office to hear what LeBron James had to say.
LeBron James announces his decision on ESPN
Millions tuned in on ESPN at 9 p.m. to see where King James would take his basketball talents. We all know, now, that he chose the Miami Heat. One could spend hours analyzing and debating the merits of that choice. Personally, I don’t have a problem with it, being that I am still a fan of South Florida despite having lived there. But I won’t take up space here discussing the basketball aspects of this. I want to talk about the cultural aspects of it. This had the feel of a watershed event; of a changing of the rules of the game — not just the game of basketball, but life and business. It felt like a power shift. Was it just me, or did it seem particularly striking to you that a sports figure could garner so much attention with what he had to say? And not only that, but he could inspire such a range of reactions and debate from it.
In Northeastern Ohio, LeBron is now pretty much hated. In South Florida he is beloved. And elsewhere, the legions fall on both sides, lighting up the airwaves and the blogosphere.
Dan Gilbert, majority owner, Cleveland Cavaliers
It has been fed by the vitriolic reaction of Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert who posted a scathing rebuke of LeBron after the announcement. It was laced with anger and charges of cowardice and abandonment. I wasn’t sure how to feel. Was Gilbert right? Or did he go too far? And, what inspired such a passionate reaction?
I asked my friend Hassan, an educated and well-read observer of culture who tends to take a more radical view on life. We debate quite a bit, each learning from the other. Hassan’s point of view on this one was not completely unexpected, but certainly took this beyond whether the Heat are now favorites to win the NBA championship. He used it to examine the role of race, money and power in our society. Hassan heralded it as an example of a black man being criticized for seizing control of an exploitive system and turning the tide in his favor. Wow, Hassan! That would certainly inspire some reaction from people. So, I decided to share what Hassan had to say.
Here goes:
“1. Do not underestimate the show of unity between three young, influential Black men (James, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade) sacrificing personal glory and money for the chance to reach the pinnacle of their field.
2. The owners treat players like property they own and who they can deal back and forth at their own discretion. Take a guy like LeBron out of the equation and look at the lesser guys who are shipped around at management’s will for the so-called benefit of the organization. Cleveland, in particular, in recent years has turned its roster over many times chasing after a title. When the front office makes a move its business, and they make those moves at their discretion because they have the power to do so. When powerful players like LeBron choose to make moves that’s for their benefit its called selfish and turning their backs on the community. These are labels used primarily on Black athletes to stereotype them as being money hungry and selfish.
3. To substantiate that just go three years back when these guys (James, Bosh and Wade) did not sign contract extensions so they could become free agents this summer. The media took that to mean that they were only interested in signing maximum contracts so they could break the bank. The stereotypical angle once again. No one, not even the inside guys, saw or thought about what could possibly happen. None of them had an inkling until word came out about a free agent summit. Up until then there was mostly the hype about LeBron going to the Knicks to maximize his image because he wants to be a billionaire and make his brand global.
4. The owner ripping him on the way out is unfair. There’s no way a Black man could publicly say those things about a white man and not be held to the fire by the media. What did LeBron do to deserve that? Who knows how many billions Dan Gilbert has made off LeBron James? And though he has the right to say what he wants, a lot of that is motivated by the fact that his meal ticket has left town.
5. In my opinion the negativity is media-driven, especially ESPN. They pound these mostly one-sided elitist angles which casts shadows of doubt over Black players and never gives them the benefit of the doubt. They make me sick with how they constantly go below the belt to even question a man’s moral character and write insinuating commentary as if they can read a person’s mind and know what their motives and objectives are. It’s sickening that we continue to allow this to happen because in my mind the backlash LeBron is getting is very similar to the unfair mess that Obama takes on a regular basis.
I think it’s a new day in sports just like 2008 marked a new day in politics.”
Once again, Hassan made me look at things from a different perspective. What do you think? Any merit to Hassan’s point of view?
Professor Batts,
My family and I were just talking about this and I completely agree with Hassan. Had James been another race, there would not have been this much rage and animosity toward this one man. He made that decision for him and his family and what people fail to realize is that James is not just a basketball player; he is a business man. He is protecting and making sure that his brand is ever-growing. He gave the Cavs 7 seasons and it was time to make that move.
Mr. Batts, your write up couldn’t be more on point and your comrade, Hassan was dead on. The “hold” that teams have on their players (predominately black players ) is that of modern day slavery. The strong, more powerful players are used up, sold and shipped around until they aren’t of anymore use. The second string players accept and allow such treatment because its pretty much easy money, great benefits, decent pay and hopes of getting a little “air time”. King James did what was best for the betterment of King James and who can ever take issue with that? And as for that smart mouthed Dan Gilbert, shame on him. Your article was right again. If it were LeBron who had posted such a shady statement about him, he would be damned and black balled for being so disrespectful of “his Master”. LeBron flipped and bounced things and said, “when King James say jump, YOU say how high!” I commend King James for taking matters into his own hands and for not being a “yes man”. I commend you and Hassan for providing such a profound prospective. Kudos Battinto!
Power shift is the right word. For the first time in recent memory, it’s the players who have dictated the balance of power in the NBA. I wonder if more players will follow suit.
Excellent commentary and agree a zillion percent with Hassan. I wonder why there isn’t any media outrage and flack of the unprofessionalism of the Cavs owner and his letter he wrote. He came off like atypical angry white male slavemaster brat who didn’t get his way. Now he is bitching about it. I am quite sure if Lebron behaved like him the media would have been running non stop about his behavior. But hell Lebron’s behavior with his (in the words of a great Marvin Gaye Song) “Ego Trippin Out” 1 hour special wasn’t really any better if you ask me. If you think about it Lebron’s behavior and manner of ego stroking is atypical of what the media outlets expect of athletes, especially black ones. Perhaps they don’t mind if the white owner acts the way he does either because that would be the norm for him and not as heavily scrutinized!
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