For most of my life, my favorite sport has been
basketball. In the formative years of my
youth, I cut my sports teeth on baseball.
It was my father’s sport. Though he never told me, I learned from a
relative, just a few years ago, that my dad played semi-professional baseball. I never knew, when I was playing Little
League Baseball, I was in the early stages of following in my father’s
footsteps.
He came of age during the Golden Age of the
Negro Leagues. He lived through and
watched unfold the phenomenon that was Branch Rickey. Mr. Rickey, an innovative Major League Baseball
(MLB) executive was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967. He is likely best known for breaking MLB’s color barrier, by signing the sport’s first African American
player, Jackie Robinson. Though not as widely recognized, he also
signed the first Afro-Hispanic superstar, Roberto Clemente, and
was responsible for creating the framework for the
modern minor league
farm system, for
encouraging the Major Leagues to add new teams through his involvement in the
proposed Continental
League, and for introducing the batting helmet. Indeed, he was a proverbial force of nature
in MLB.
For his part,
after integrating the sport, Robinson went on to become a star player for my
dad’s beloved Dodgers. They were the
Brooklyn Dodgers when Jackie broke into the League, but the would move to Los
Angeles, as did the fan support for generations of African Americans. So it was, my dad’s team became my team.
Similarly, my
dad introduced me to the Sweet Science, better known as boxing. In those days, big boxing matches often took
place on Friday evenings, billed as Friday Night at the Fights. Baseball was Saturday afternoon affair. My weekend TV sports viewing pattern was
set. LOL!
Then, through
the course of normal growth and development, I found my own sports
passion. I truly believe since the first
day I picked up a basketball, I have never viewed the broad spectrum of sports
the same. It became basketball, then
everything else. Oh, I dabbled with
sandlot football, softball, bowling, and tennis. I even played stickball, and handball, during
summers in New York. But they were all
always just an interlude, a mere distraction until I could return to hoops, my
game.
So it is,
today, you might say I’m Jonesing; waiting out the inescapable NBA imposed
interval until the Games resume…tomorrow.
The NBA Finals will pit against one another, two formidable
opponents.
In one corner
we have the team that amassed the best record in the League this year. The Golden State (Oakland, CA) Warriors,
feature this year’s League Most Valuable Player (MVP), Stephen Curry.
In the other
corner, their opponent, the Cleveland Cavaliers feature the player most people
consider the best in the World, LeBron James, a veritable walking record
book. James has won two NBA
championships, four NBA Most
Valuable Player Awards, two NBA Finals MVP
Awards, two Olympic gold
medals, an NBA scoring
title, and the NBA Rookie of
the Year Award. He has also been selected to 11 NBA All-Star
teams, 11 All-NBA
teams, and six All-Defensive
teams, and is the Cavaliers'
all-time leading scorer. He
is appearing in his fifth consecutive NBA Finals.
“The NBA is
Fantastic,” and I can hardly wait for the hostilities to begin. There is no lack of allegiance for either
team. Whether the dividing line is East
vs. West, or Curry vs. James, or Cleveland vs. Golden State, or Ohio vs.
California, or some other varied machination of the two, people, for the most
part, including me, have chosen sides.
I really like
LeBron James. At 6’8”, 250 pounds, he
brings a combination of size, strength, speed, and skill seldom seen in any
athlete, in any sport. Many folks think
he would be a force on the football field.
On the basketball court, he is a virtually unstoppable force. To put a finer point on matters, LeBron and I
share the same birthday (not the year of course).
On the flip
side, Steph Curry is simply amazing. In
contrast to LeBron, he’s listed at 6’3”, and weights 190 pounds (they
say). He is assembling his own
portfolio, which includes, while playing the point guard position, he is
considered by some to be the greatest shooter in NBA history. He is the 2015 NBA Most
Valuable Player and a two-time NBA All-Star, and the son
of former NBA player Dell Curry.
Curry displays
incredible control of the ball, and his body.
But his stock-in-trade is “the shot.”
He makes three point shots with ease, from all over the court. His relatively diminutive size, combined with
his ability to control or change the flow of a basketball game,
single-handedly, is on occasion, breathtaking.
Enough
already, I like both teams’ leader. But
as I alluded earlier, I have chosen sides.
I’m picking Curry and the Warriors.
Allow me to be clear. I’m pulling
for the Warriors. Curry has Charlotte
high school and AAU roots, attended college at Davidson, right here in
Mecklenburg County, plus the Warriors have two players who matriculated at North
Carolina (and I’m a Tar Heel).
That’s great
and all, but truth be told, I am pulling for Golden State. I’m pilling for them because I will not; in
fact I just cannot pull for Cleveland.
Not yet anyway. When LeBron chose
to leave Cleveland for Miami, the Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert wrote a scathing
letter (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5365704)
lambasting his former star player, calling him a coward, former hero, and deserter,
among other derogatory things. Mr.
Gilbert owns the Cavaliers, not LeBron.
In my view, his tirade revealed far more about himself than it did
LeBron. He revealed himself to the core. I took note.
He said a lot of other things, including, making an assertion that
LeBron was taking “the “curse,” bad karma and spell with him. He also said one other thing that continues
to resonate with me:
"I
PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP
BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER 'KING' WINS ONE"
Actually, he
was correct; LeBron won two, while Cleveland regularly toiled in the NBA
Lottery…without the so-called former King.
Karma is real!
I fully
appreciate Mr. James’ right to exercise his prerogative and make a business/family
decision to return to the Cleveland community and the Cavaliers. Mr. James, to the credit of his negotiating
ability, is being paid handsomely to do so; I, on the other hand am not. So, Go Warriors!
Oh, one final
thing. None of this means I “think”
Golden State will win. But I sure hope
so. “Tomorrow: The Finals!”
I’m done; holla back!
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