KNOWING SPORTS IS KNOWING LEBRON

Knowing sports, having a favorite sport, is no longer limited to gambling addicts.

You can even have a favorite player without feeling like a loser.

So why is it so difficult to root for LeBron James?

I’ll start:

First, he’s a Laker.

He’s a Laker breaking the scoring record of fellow Laker legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

In a Laker tradition of drawing great players to town, LeBron follows Wilt, Kareem, and Shaq.

I’m not sure what it means for legacy, but LeBron brought the O’Brien to LA sooner than the rest.

Another Laker banner hanging from their rooftop.

It’s not fair, I tell you, but still no reason to shun LeBron.

Why Not LeBron? Why Not Now

We’ve already covered the Laker part?

Good enough?

Lets get personal.

Everyone thinks they’ve got game right up until they notice their game isn’t as good as they remember.

LeBron grates on them.

High fliers eventually come to earth and give interviews with a stylish walking boot.

We feel sorry for them because they’ll never be the same player.

But, LeBron keeps flying.

Great shooters eventually get the yips and give interviews about calming yoga.

But, LeBron keeps shooting. And he scores.

Travel fans eventually tap out on the logistics of moving place to place, getting stranded before surgery, and nearly missing a new hip.

I worry about a deep vein thrombosis every time I fly and all I have to do is stand up and walk, not face-off against the best athletes in the world.

And there’s LeBron hopping on and off airplanes for two decades straight.

2

Hate LeBron for his sheer endurance in a league that eats players up.

Hate LeBron because he doesn’t shut up and dribble.

Hate him because you want him on your team.

I’ve written fifty posts tagged “LeBron” to sway you.

Who else in the wide world of sports has done more than LeBron on and off the court, the field, the grid iron, the hardwood, the rink, the pitch, the mat, the track.

And field?

He’s a champion now and will stay a champion whenever he decides to hang up his jock, ring the bell, and walk away.

We will remain the same, so jump on the LeBron bandwagon now. It’s not too late.

Knowing Sports Like LeBron Knows LeBron

This is a short list of my sports heroes over a lifetime:

Bobby Hull because he was on the cover of the the first Sports magazine delivered to my house as a kid.

Kansas miler Jim Ryun who lit up the running world and moved to Eugene in 1970.

Rick Sanders, an Oregon wrestling great and hitch hiking inspiration.

Steve Prefontaine, a local legend on the road and track.

Muhammad Ali because he said how pretty he was.

Johnny Unitas because my Dad loved those black high-top cleats.

Each of these guys did something to transform their sport.

Like the TV show CHOPPED, you need to transform the ingredients to stand out.

Runners with extreme willpower but not enough athletic skills to do anything but run?

The first World Champion American wrestler?

The skinny kid who couldn’t find a team becomes an all-time great?

Those are my guys, along with LeBron. He fits right in.

LeBron changed his game to stay current. Part of that is his off-season regime.

I don’t know what it is, but it’s working.

Tom Brady is incredible, but basketball asks you to do more things all of the time.

LeBron didn’t change his wife in LA.

At least not that I’ve heard.

Unless he’s not important enough to make the scandal rags in the grocery line, he’s got a clean record based on my research.

LeBron is sticking with his kids.

Instead of following signs from the Ball family trail to the NBA, Big Daddy LeBron seems to be embracing the true sense of being a sports dad.

The knowing sports dads get it:

This is the best time of their lives.

I know this how? My two sporty kids started in kindergarten and competed through their early thirties.

Most all of my writing involves some element of helicopter parenting them. And the rest of the world if I’m being honest.

Still learning, and still the best of times.

Whether you think solving problems is ‘your thing’ or not, it is.

To do it the right way, start with a blank page.

No, not the proverbial blank page, canvas, or slate, but a real life blank page.

Call it a screen, whatever. It’s blank. Now what?

This is what I ask my students, or would if I had students.

Instead, I’ve got you, Dear Reader, a greater find than any student.

Now what?