can't knock the hustle...

Narcissistic – an adjective describing one that has an inordinate fascination with him or herself; excessive self-love; vanity.

Arrogant – adjective; making claims or pretensions to superior importance or rights; overbearingly assuming; insolently proud.

On July 1st, 2010 Lebron James arguably the greatest basketball player over the past few seasons in the NBA became eligible for free agency. For those that are not familiar, a free agent is a player that is no longer bound or obligated to any contract or restrictions. Most basketball fans had been hearing about the summer of 2010 for years as everyone in and around the sport knew that there would be an all out bidding war for the talents of Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Amar’e Stoudemire and a few other notable players in the league. The first day that these players would be eligible to sign was July 8th.

July 8th, 2010 during prime time on the east coast Lebron James appears on a sixty minute ESPN special to announce where he would be playing basketball next season. Actually he announced where he would be taking his talents! The outrage, riots and outburst by fans and current Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert has been incredible to say the least. Facebook and Twitter have been heavily bombarded with insults and derogatory remarks since the press conference where James announced he would play alongside his good friends Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade in South Beach Miami next season for the Heat. I was excited to hear about James choosing Miami to join those other players next season. Basketball is my favorite sport and NBA basketball is a lot different than high school and college hoops. The NBA is more of a stand around and watch one guy play one on one basketball against another guy, hardly a team sport in my opinion. For that reason I choose not to watch the game on a regular basis. Add in Tim Donaghy, an NBA referee sentenced to 15 months in prison for fixing games and you’ve got a real recipe for disaster and game endings that are more often than not controlled by those officials. Donaghy wrote a tell-all book but it was never published, do you ever wonder why.

Joy – Sunday mornings this winter will not be the same for me. I am excited and filled with happiness to turn on my television, pour some tea and watch James, Wade and Bosh do their thing. Maybe it will spark the return of team ball? Maybe it will make other star players want to play together and they can collectively re-invent professional team basketball? Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen did it in Boston and won a championship a few years ago. Before Wade, Bosh and James decided that they would play together there was a rumor circulating that the only way this deal would be possible was if ownership in the team was made available to them. NBA Commissioner David Stern very swiftly put that to rest saying that it wouldn’t happen. Nonetheless I was so happy to hear that those young brothas have their heads moving in that direction. Besides with Pat Riley in the mix, who knows what kind of future arrangements were worked out on the back end?! Raise the bar young men and let future generations know that just because you run fast and jump high doesn’t mean that you aren’t interested in ownership. Shout it loud and proud so that future generations can hear you and so that they know what to ask for and are able to receive double of what you got.

Magic Johnson has been in the press lately speaking on the Miami ordeal. Magic was one of my favorite players as a child went on record saying that he spent most of his life trying to figure out how to beat Larry Bird, a rival he battled in college and on the pro level. Magic said he never considered playing with Bird because he could only think about ways to beat him. He did say that the current trend seems to be one of star players aligning with each other in order to win games and eventually championships like Kobe and Gasol did in LA and like Garnett, Pierce and Allen did in Boston. Johnson asked why shouldn’t Lebron, Wade and Bosh play together given that is the current trend in the NBA. Makes sense to me Magic! And thank you for understanding and not just passing judgments like so many others have done over the past few weeks.

Sadness – leading up to Lebron’s press conference on ESPN the people near me seemed angry. I was puzzled because I thought it was so fresh that a young brotha from the inner city, that grew up in a single parent household could have the nation on pins and needles waiting to hear where he would play a game. The US President even got involved and lobbied for James to play in his hometown of Chicago. I heard words like arrogant and narcissistic? Really? How, why? Please see the definitions above and help me understand how a young entrepreneur is wrong for capitalizing in a capitalistic society. A player hater is somebody that hates the player instead of the game.

Lebron said some very powerful words when people asked him why he was leaving Cleveland, he said eventually I would have left or they would have asked me to leave anyway. Byron Scott was fired in New Orleans last year after being nothing but a winner and previously taking the lowly New Jersey Nets to the NBA championship. Avery Johnson was fired in Dallas after taking the Mavericks to the NBA championship and winning coach of the year in 2006. There are many coaches in the NBA that keep jobs and have never won, never. Why aren’t they fired, why are they still coaching? Sadness comes from the people not seeing what is happening in and around them. Joy comes from young brothas like Lebron saying I will do what I want and where I want to do it and even better I played by your rules! I will co-sign and say there is almost nothing better than being a master of your time. Dan Gilbert of the Cavaliers is upset because he can no longer make money off Lebron. I hear people saying that athletes make too much money; do the owners make too much money as well? FYI they make more than the players that actually do the work, sore knees and all.

Joy must be experienced when you are young, rich and handsome and living in South Beach Miami! Joy must be experienced when you can hold a press conference and stop the lives of many to notify them of where you will be working next year. Joy must be experienced when your former boss accuses you of quitting in the playoffs but still wants you to play on his team. Joy is definitely experienced when you are able to fulfill your promise of buying your single parent mother a house once you “make it”.

Lebron James is known to be good friends with Hip-Hop mogul and rapper Jay-Z. Jay-Z is also a minority owner in the New Jersey Nets NBA team. As a teenager I loved a rapper by the name of Ice Cube, one of his lines was “Stop givin’ juice to the Raiders, cause Al Davis never paid us” this was in response to his rap group wearing Raiders apparel on stage and in music videos. Maybe Jay-Z is Lebron’s Ice Cube, maybe Jay has helped to enlighten his young friend and aspiring team owner?

Dear young ballers and potential stadium fillers, get your education, know your worth and drop them to their knees!

Dear Owners, time to pay up because now the young athletes and children that fill your stadiums, arenas and coliseums want what is owed to them! Hopefully Michael Jordan is only the first and not the last African-American NBA team owner?!

Good luck in Miami, I’ll be watching often!!!

Peace,
PS1