I listened to a radio interview with Woody Allen two years ago that was done shortly after one of his under the radar European flicks was released. The earnest and genuinely curious interviewer asked Woody what he had managed to learn in his 50 plus years of writing, directing and starring in films. His response? An equally earnest and emphatic "nothing." In fact, he seemed personally offended by the notion that human beings were capable of acquiring new information about themselves or others during their time on Earth.
I'm not quite so cynical, but If someone were to ask me what I know about Lebron that I didn't before The Decision, my answer would be the same as the one given by Woody Allen in that interview. Despite all the digital and actual ink that's been spilled over the last 5 days about what happened on Thursday night, I cannot imagine a less enlightening event. Adrian Wojnarowski seems genuinely conflicted concerning poor Lebron's lack of agency and how his entourage might bankrupt him of his soul and treasure. Jesse Jackson, meanwhile, asserts that Lebron was merely emancipating himself by fleeing to Miami from Gilbert's plantation. Everyone from devout fans of the NBA to those who have never even seen Lebron play a second of basketball are carving out positions on what has become the biggest moment in sports and morality since Kobe Bryant and the accusations of rape at Eagle, Colorado, or even O.J.
But nothing happened! Or, at the very least, nothing that hasn't played out on countless prior occasions. It was only louder this time.
Let's summarize the list of charges against Lebron James.
1: First Degree Vanity (To wit, Conspiring with a Major Media Cooperation to Dissemenate Personal Information)
2: Conspiring to Commit an Act of Terrorism (Conspiring with co-defendants Wade and Bosh to Launch Invasion and Occupation of The League)
3: Disseminating Pornography (The Decision was Public Masturbation)
4: Breach of Contract (Failing to Provide Employer two Weeks Notice Before Quitting)
5: Treason
I'm not above the fascination. I watched it, intently, because as a fan of the NBA this summer has been a running story line in my life since at least the fall of 2007. Also, the game itself and how its played invites curiosity about the players. There are things we think we learn about athlete's by watching them play, and it's natural to want to test that supposed knowledge against reality. For me, Lebron has always been an enigma, and he remains so after Thursday night. It's hard to figure out a player whose physical tools also supersede the the need for investing one's self in the game. What can we learn about the decisions made by a man whose options on the court are, in fact, limitless. Calculating Infinity anyone? I felt the same way about "The Decision." ESPN, as a faux newsgathering enterprise, is pure commerce. Considering that Lebron's facility as a generator of revenue is as boundless as his basketball ability, it shouldn't be so surprising that the two entities were so eager to jump in bed and start awkwardly groping each other's shameful parts.
Lebron was simply walking the path of least resistance. For a human who is literally impossible to deter on a basketball court, what else could we have expected? Lots of athletes have displayed vanity, obliviousness to the actual concerns of their fanbase and a lack of respect for common professional courtesies. As far as owners acting provincial, needy and sincerely clueless? It's a part of the job description. Thursday, at least very least, just affirmed the very few things I think I know about NBA players and the people who pay them.
One of the most priceless pieces of information I gathered from Bill Russell's Second Wind, a jock biography that has pleasantly everything and nothing to do with basketball, is the saddening, but unavoidable truth that the NBA is solely the domain of NBA players. We may buy tickets and merchandise and invest hours and emotions into the game, but its not ours, and we're owed nothing. The players do amazing and revealing things on the court, and though we're not lucky enough to partake in it, I consider it a small blessing that such a game was invented that so perfectly displays the talents of the world's best athletes. I'm also a firm believer that the "who" behind NBA players provides the "what" we see in their games, but the translation is not seamless nor is it subject to moralizing. Sometimes, despite insurmountable odds, great players shake out the be reasonable, dare, likable humans. That could very well be accident, though. And the fact that the man who could establish himself as the game's greatest has shown himself to be kind of a dick. Well, that's not a lesson.
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