Magic vs Bird

By most accounts the 1980′s and 90′s were the glory days of the NBA. Who could forget Magic vs Bird (you know you had the video game on NES), the “Bad Boys,” of Detroit and of course his Airness one Michael Jordan. And this is just scratching the surface, let us not soon forget, Olajuwon, Reggie, Mailman, Clyde, Stockton, Barkley, The Admiral, Skinny Shaq, etc. While I was a product of this time period, and like every other kid in my school grew up wanting to be “Like Mike,” my personality present day is not one that tends to get all sappy over the “Glory Days.” I acknowledge this was a great time for professional basketball and that there was definitely a dead period for whatever reason in the 2000′s, but in the last 5 years a new class of NBA stars have taken front stage (Kobe, Wade, Lebron, Carmello, Nash, Duncan, etc) and in many ways carried the torch.

While it will be hard for any of these guys to compete with legacy of the trailblazers before them (and I mean players who have laid the path for the NBA today, not the potheads in Portland in the early 2000′s), physically today’s stars do measure up in more ways then we give them credit. However this offseason, young as it may be, has made me realize that today’s NBA star may match up to the greats physically, but that is where the comparison stops!

While I, like others, have been completely intrigued by the possibilities that lay before the biggest NBA free agency ever, the way it has been handled by several of the players is equally a turn off. Chris Bosh, for example, has prostituted himself out at every corner. Going so far as to poll his Twitter followers as to where he should go, and cohosting Mike and Mike to openly discuss his thought processes on where he and others might go. He also shared the fact that conversations were taking place between free agents such as himself, Lebron and Dwayne Wade. Could you ever imagine Magic and Larry pulling this garbage? Here let me answer for you, ” HELL NO!” Here’s how that phone call would have went.

Ring Ring

Larry B: Hello.
Magic: Hey Larry Magic Here.
Larry: What do you want?
Magic: I was thinking maybe would could join forces (click) Hello? Hello? Larry you there?

While Magic and Larry would eventually become friends off the court, they were never friends on, and Larry Bird has said as much on several occasions. Could you see Robert Parrish and Bill Laimbeer hanging at the club after the game, perhaps Facebooking Kurt Rambis? It’s hard not to laugh just typing that sentence. And while Chris Bosh is one of the easy offenders to spot (probably because he is on every corner), he pales in comparison to the Pretty Woman of today’s NBA, one LeBron “King” James.

I remember several years ago commenting how impressed I was with maturity of a young man from Akron named LeBron James. You are talking about a kid who didn’t come from much, was probably the most publicized high school basketball player ever, and following a rigged NBA Lottery was forced to be the face of his home state, and shoulder the burdens left by the ghosts of Cavaliers past (I see you Craig Eloh). I don’t know how I would begin to handle those burdens at age 30 with a solid support group, let alone at 18 fresh out of high school several million in my pocket. However, while LeBron has grown in size and celebrity, it seems he has regressed in terms of maturity.

Who can forget his first trip to the NBA finals vs San Antinio when his girlfriend, pregnant with their second child, was set to deliever any day. When asked if he would be at the birth or the Finals should they occur on the same day, LeBron basically said he would not miss a game for he had seen the birth of his first child already. Ok, total man points for commitment to getting a ring, but huge deduction for being stupid enough to make these comments. This falls under Chapter 1 of Jerry Maguire’s manifesto “The things we think, but do not say.”

Additionally LeBron James recently joined Twitter under the name “KingJames.” I realize it is a different day and age, and I love Twitter as much as the next person, but could you imagine the old timers busting Twitter screen names like Air_Jordan, Mailman32, TheDream, or SirCharles? And the icing on the cake has to be the conclusion of “Lebachelor,” as Bill Simmons calls it, where LeBron will hold a 1 hour ESPN Special to announce his decision. I MEAN REALLY????!!!!! I realize when you are wealthy and famous, particularly in sports, you are going to have your share of naysayers, but LeBron just makes it so easy to dislike him. Everything is overstated, everything is a show, zero humility! As many have suggested, he should simply go high school hoops recruit and place 4 or 5 NBA hats in front of him, fake twice, then select his choice! Granted he’s not leading an illegal dog fighting ring, or being tossed out of strip clubs, but as Chris Rock once said, I’m not giving you credit for things you are supposed to do!