Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Anthony Cornwell, Jr. One Nation under a Hoop: Race, Meritocracy, and Messiahs in the NBA
Sports Illustrated dubbed him "The Chosen One" while he was still in high school, a messianic designation that proved telling when, in 2003; he was taken first in the first round of the NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron James is the best basketball player in the world right now. He is arguably on the pace to be greater than Michael Jordan. The NBA analysts will be the judges of that though. LeBron James has accomplished a lot in his short Hall of Fame career. A few years after his coming to the NBA he appeared on Oprah as a guest. Not many athletes appear on Oprah, so this was a preview of what is next to come. Oprah asked him types of questions like, do he ever think he will regret not going to college. LeBron answered every question she asked professionally. A few years later he reached another milestone for that no one before him has done. Not even Michael Jordan. Yeah, you read that right, not even Michael Jordan He is the first black man to ever appear on the cover of Vogue Magazine. The media soon made a big deal out of it. They called him King Kong which most referenced to an animal. Until this day I believe that the photographer of the cover knew what this was in for. I love how the article title LeBron as the second coming (of Michael Jordan not Jesus). Then, later in the year, as the summer of 2008 drew to a close, LeBron James saw himself lead "The Redeem Team" into the Beijing Olympics to win Gold. Then you know it’s real when here are 1,040 items including a brand new James high school throwback jersey. A brand new throwback jersey on eBay. Once again that’s a high school jersey. Whether or not you believe LeBron is the Chosen One. It does seem like he is on pace to proving that right. He at least proves some thus far.
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Anthony,
ReplyDeleteLeBron James is the greatest basketball player in the world right now. I completely agree with you when you say that he is on pace to be better that Michael Jordan. Passing Michael will be tough and no matter what he does, he will still have critics and people who think that he is not as good as Michael Jordan. LeBron James will always be judged for going to Miami, but I don't think he should be penalized for that decision. The bottom line is that he wanted to win and the Cleveland Cavaliers were not surrounding him with a team good enough to win. Additionally, I don't think that LeBron James' sidekick, Dwyane Wade, is any better or different than Scottie Pippen. People often forget how talented Michael Jordan's supporting cast was. Michael didn't do it by himself and neither did LeBron. LeBron's legacy is still being written, so people should sit back, relax, and enjoy the show because this kind of talent doesn't come around too often.
Brian Kochheiser
Anthony.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, LeBron is the best basketball player in the world right now. He has always had a drive for the game, and talent that is unmatched. What LeBron brings to basketball is the same thing that Michael Jordan brought to the sport. It's the same thing Tiger brings to golf, you may not like the guy or the team he is on, but because of the player he is, it is almost impossible to not watch him or talk about him. LeBron will always be criticized by his decision to go to Miami. In the end he had to do what he thought was best for him. He has two championships now, and just yesterday he scored double digits in a game for the 500th straight time, and is only down to Michael's record by over 300. LeBron has a long way to go before he is recognized by more than just Miami fans as the greatest ever. You cannot take away what Michael did, and both players deserve to be at the top of the basketball greats. I do not know if LeBron will win six championships like Jordon, but I do believe as long as he remains healthy and plays, he will break many records and win a few more MVPs.
Tyler Crellin
LeBron James is presently the greatest athlete the world has to see. As Anthony said he was named the “Chosen One” in his high school days! LeBron’s hype and talent continued to rise and become larger than any other athlete until one dreadful day, the day he left Cleveland. LeBron went from possible being the greatest athlete of all time and a beloved American hero, to a cowardly child that wanted to win some championships. He had the opportunity to change a struggling city not just win a championship. Regardless of how much his character has changed since he went to Miami, LeBron James in my eyes is still a selfless little boy. I realize the “Sacrifice” LeBron made by leaving for Miami (Money wise) but that is simply irrelevant to the overall benefit of living in Miami rather than Cleveland. He left for the city of sin while his destiny was to Cleveland’s salvation.
ReplyDeleteJay Clark
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteI feel as though LeBron James is probably one of the greatest athletes in the world at the moment. Many people may not like him, but his talent cannot be denied. I am not an avid fan of the NBA, so I am in no position to make comparisons among players. However, regardless of whether or not LeBron James will, in the long run, have better statistics than Michael Jordan or win more championships, it will be nearly impossible for James to have the same impact that Jordan did. In regards to “The Decision,” I believe LeBron James made a good call. The reason I believe his move to Miami was a good decision is because, I don’t know about you, but living in South Florida sounds a whole lot better than Ohio.
Evan Sechler
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteI think it is crazy that such immense pressure was put on Lebron James at such an early stage of his life. Despite that immense pressure he still has made his way in the league to becoming the best there is, and now he is on path to become the greatest of all time like you pointed out. I think it is highly unfair that the media can scrutinize someones every move and every detail of their life, and I know that has to be stressful so I give Lebron a bunch of respect for being able to handle all that fame and pressure. When it comes to the magazine cover, I think that the photographer might have known how similar it was to the King Kong picture, but even so I do not think that there was any discriminatory intent behind taking that picture.
-Travis Kash
Lebron James is a once-in-a-lifetime type of player. We may never see another player like him. His abilities on the court are unmatched but any current player in the NBA. I can’t compare him and Jordan in terms of basketball, however, as I really never watched Jordan during his playing days. I can look at what each of them have done off the court, though. Jordan, in my opinion, will always be bigger than Lebron. Jordan took sport marketing, business, and the shoe world to a new level. While Lebron is in an incredible amount of commercials nowadays, I still feel like he hasn’t left a strong impact in any area other than the basketball court the way that Jordan did. While both are great players, I will always see Jordan as the best of all time.
ReplyDeleteShaun Higgins
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteI agree with some of the points that you made about Lebron James. He has proven himself as a strong force in the NBA and his stats show him as definitely the best player in the league, season after season. I also watched clips of the special Oprah had with him when they talked about his first championship win. That interview changed my opinion about him immensely. After “the decision”, I lost respect for him and assumed he was just like every other professional athlete. But in the interview with Oprah, he was very respectful, humble and well spoken. I think that it is unfair to both Lebron and Michael Jordan to compare them to each other. Because they played in different eras of the league and never played against each other, it is hard to compare and contrast their statistics. They each have done great things for the game of basketball, but until Lebron’s career is finished they should not be compared.
Nicole Zawislan
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteWith your points, I have to agree that with the pace that Lebron James is on, he has a good chance of passing Michael Jordan. I am in no way a fan or Lebron James but also do not have a striving hatred for him. However, I do agree that he is currently the best player in the NBA. With all of his successes with NBA Championships, Olympic Gold Medals, and records he broke, he is definitely on his way. Also, I do not remember Michael Jordan having his high school jersey sold as where Lebron did. But as of today, I still think that Michael Jordan is the best basketball player ever but I think when people start comparing new and rising stars to Lebron James instead of Michael Jordan, then that is when Lebron will have passed Jordan as the best basketball player ever.
Billy Nowak