As an NFL fan, there is one word right now that gives me a greater headache than anything else. It has replaced the word ‘decision’, which I really never thought was possible.
That word is, of course, ‘lockout’.
Day 108 of the NFL lockout, day 1 of the NBA lockout.
If you believe what you read and what you hear, which really is all any of us can go on, the NBA lockout promises to dwarf the NFL’s, at least in duration. Whilst the NFL is still a high profit maker and faces no real threats to problems such as failing small market teams and players actively selling themselves as duos/threesomes, the NBA has these and many other things to worry about.
lebron james miami heat
The biggest problem the NBA faces is that supposedly 22 of the 30 teams are all losing money. I don’t know which are the chosen 8 teams that are keeping out of the red, but with Stern as commissioner I think it’s fair to say New York, Boston, LA and Chicago are part of the select few.
So the 2011/2012 season is in serious doubt, especially considering the owners of the 22 teams that are losing money will be losing less if they do not have a season. Majority rules and they hold the majority so we are looking at a long time without basketball.
So what does that mean for the NBA’s most controversial and talked about player? It could be the best thing that could have happened for him.
LeBron James rode a roller coaster over the past 12 months that most players don’t experience over their entire career. He went from the undisputed face and darling of the league, to a betraying traitor, to a national enemy, to a quitter, to a second option, to a third option, then back to being the best player in the league. That was all within the first week of the regular season.
James needs a break. The guy flat out needs a break. None of us can slightly fathom what he goes through, what is going on in his head, whether this actually all gets to him and how he deals with that. We have never seen anything like him or the treatment he gets in the history of sport, and we may never again. So when people try to make judgement on his character or his decisions or his life, it’s truly a narrow minded, naive thing to do.
James is a tireless off season worker, anyone that questions that doesn’t know what they’re talking about. The last 4 off seasons he has taken his personal trainer and shooting guru Chris Jent everywhere he goes, flying him to LeBron’s vacation spots around the world to work on his game. We have seen him come on leaps and bounds every year of his career and don’t expect that to stop.
So as far as worrying about James losing an edge to his game, losing explosiveness or anything of that nature, it isn’t going to happen. It will be much easier for the NBA player’s to stay in shape and stay sharp compared to the NFL players.
LeBron James will have at the least another few months to get away from the game, get away from the media, away from the fans and away from his life as we know it. No doubt he or we will find a way to get him into the news, but he will be able to keep as great a distance from the spotlight as he so chooses.
I think LeBron James has suffered through the hardest season of his career. He was always going to upset someone with his decision, he was always going to take a year to adjust to his new teammates, his new surroundings and his new life. Despite the idea of a ‘championship or failure’, the Heat’s season was far from a failure.
James will come back revitalized, accustomed and secure. He will not see anything next year he did not conquer this year. More than anything I believe he will be much happier than he was this year. Happiness off the court will do huge things on it, and I believe that mental barrier ultimately cost him a lot this season.
The lockout will hurt a lot of people, and it will hurt LeBron James in that he will have a shortened period of what people call his ‘prime’. He will lose ground on records he is chasing, and if we lose an entire season it will be another long wait before he can once again try to win his first championship.
Whilst all those are negatives, I think the lockout may be the best thing that could have happened to LeBron James.
As an NBA fan it comes at a huge price, but despite the selfishness and arrogance of the people that are denying us our game, only good will come of it.
My entire life I have refused to jump on board with baseball. I understand it has a huge following and is ‘America’s past time’, but it was always something I just could not stand. Since the NFL lockout I am ashamed to say I now call myself a baseball fan. We will all need to make sacrifices to satisfy our sport hunger.
If I can get into baseball, there is hope for all of America to survive another undetermined period of time where sport is taken away from us because millionaires fight over money none of them need and really none of them deserve.
