I don’t like to write about sports. Many people find this odd. After all, I dedicated almost half my life to playing sports, so why wouldn’t I want to write about them?
But to me, a reluctance to follow Jason Whitlock’s career path is perfectly logical. I don’t much like sports, so I don’t much like writing about sports.
It hasn’t always been this way. I used to like nothing more than to watch the athletic feats of others. When I was eight, I cried when the Kansas Jayhawks lost to Duke in the 1986 Final Four. My brothers and I kept makeshift box scores during the Kansas City Royals games of our youths.
Then I reached the pinnacle of a particular sports world – I became a really good basketball player, eventually playing at that sport’s highest level, the NBA. There, reality began to tear away at the fantasy world I had created, making me exactly like anyone who’s ever built a career and then been disappointed by it. A woman starts out on a path to become a public defendant and ends up doing contract law for Halliburton. A man sets out to change lives through teaching English but finds himself guiding Vo-Tech students through the inner workings of the circular saw.
I dreamed of sharing locker rooms with like-minded professional basketball players, only to find that the only parts of our minds that were alike were the ones devoted to digestion and respiration.
Big deal, right? So my life was a lot like everyone’s. Who cares? Except that, in the example I lived, the loss of innocence seemed even more pronounced. Money ruled everything – which is hardly news – but it did so in insidious, disguised ways. The players didn’t care about the fans, the game they were playing, or whether they won or lost. They cared only about a next contract, another endorsement deal. Weary coaches stood idly by, stripped of authority by those players’ clout. And owners, worried only about the potential value of their respective franchises, smiled smugly while convincing the outside world that their landfills were playgrounds.
I found it all disgusting, and I resolved that I wouldn’t dedicate any more of my life to it than I had to.
Recently, LeBron James, after years of cultivating the public image of an easy-going superstar-in-waiting, revealed to basketball fans some of the putridity that I’ve long known to exist. His behavior – in the weeks leading up to his nationally-televised announcement event and in that event itself – displayed his nature better than any one-hour Oprah interview could ever have hoped to do.
LeBron James is a self-centered numbskull.
LeBron James has every right to be a self-centered numbskull. Not only that; I’ve known that he was a self-centered numbskull ever since I spent time on the court with him. My NBA career high of, ahem, six points came against his Cleveland Cavaliers, after all. And, despite what my paltry scoring output might indicate, I was playing meaningful minutes that night with the Chicago Bulls, which meant that I was on the court with – or rather, against – James.
I marveled at his size, speed, and grace. He seemed to take up the entire midcourt as he flew toward the basket to make some play or another, all of it done at breakneck speed.
I also marveled at how mean he was to his teammates. His cold-eyed glare when one of them had the nerve to miss a shot. The way he spoke to them; the way he carried himself around Cavaliers staff; the aura of jerkitude that – had we all been in the Army, circa 1952, and not in the NBA, circa 2004 – would have gotten him a midnight date with a sock filled with bars of soap.
But, no surprise here, I thought. As far as I could tell, most NBA players were neither kind nor well-adjusted.
The only surprise was that everyone else hadn’t figured that out yet. Which is why I was – and stayed – confused. I’ve never understood how adult fans are able to turn a blind eye to their treatment at the hands of professional (and college, for that matter) athletes.
I understand the need to believe in something larger than oneself – how much fun it is to belong to a group that is rooting for a team. And I understand the hypothesis that sport fulfills the male fantasy of perpetual war, sans casualties. (Except the injury-related ones.) I’ll even grant you that sport is a way for people to connect – fathers and sons, especially – when they otherwise wouldn’t.
But it seems that the surliness of the athletes would trump all of that.
Until now, it hasn’t. But my hunch is that LeBron James has changed everything.
One of the curiouser aspects of current sports culture is the acceptance that athletes should – and always will – get paid exorbitant sums to play the games they do. We forget that it hasn’t always been this way. Bob Cousy’s first contract with the Celtics was for $9,000. In 1955, Mickey Mantle was paid $25,000 for his services to the Yankees.
The Miami Heat will pay LeBron James somewhere between $15,000,000 and $20,000,000 per year.
When faced with these numbers, people turn into 2006-era Lehman Brothers employees; they think it will always be this way, forgetting that professional athletes have been able to support themselves on their athletics-related salaries for only the last fifty years or so.
It won’t always be this way. Or, I think it won’t.
This could be a very good thing. As fulfilling pastimes go, sports rank pretty low. (The spectating part, I mean. Sports as a participatory event seem to be a very good thing. Unless you have weak ACLs.)
At its core, watching sports is escapism. Watching sports does not help people grapple with the big issues of existence and purpose and, in general, the full catastrophe that is, according to Jon Kabat-Zinn, our lives. That’s what reading and writing and painting and listening to music are for.
Oh, sure, there are those who disagree – those who paint sport spectatory as a more profound pastime. And sometimes they are right. Sometimes, sport achieves something close to truth, justice, and beauty.
But let’s be honest. Most people watch LeBron James play basketball so they can forget their lives, not so they can remember them.
This wouldn’t give me pause, except that I’ve long known that those people are being swindled. I understand how it works; I’ve been in the trenches, if I can borrow from every sports journalist who’s ever lived and steal a sport-as-war aphorism.
This is what I’ve come to know:
Athletes are disdainful of their fans because they don’t understand them. They can’t imagine why someone could exalt another human just because that human can put a ball in a (choose from): basket, strike zone, outstretched set of arms. Eventually, this imbalance leads to a state of cognitive dissonance and, finally, to a loss of respect. The athlete thinks, How can I respect someone who thinks so highly of something so pointless?
The athlete can’t be blamed, per se. The fan is at fault; he’s the one who has decided that LeBron James is his Batman/Supreme Leader/Deity.
I would come down hard on that fan but, because I’ve been on both sides, I know how well the machine works. I know how good the NBA is at hiding the actual personalities of its athletes. I know that NBA Cares and Read To Achieve are farces. I know how the players grumble when they’re asked to engage in community service, even when that community is paying their exorbitant salaries. I know how Shawn Marion feels about signing autographs. (Bad.)
Now, thanks to fans’ appetites for more coverage, more access, more information, the façade is being chipped away. Platforms like Twitter and Facebook show just how dumb and one-dimensional Shawn Marion is. A 24-hour news cycle catches Michael Vick in his every questionable act. A thirst for money and attention provokes ESPN to allow a 25 year-old manchild to take aim on human decency, fandom, and the English language, all on national television.
I couldn’t be happier. Not because I want sports to fail; I like the idea of sports, if not the current execution. And not even because I don’t want people to be dumb or to be assholes. There’s nothing wrong with being dumb or being an asshole. The problem arises when the imbecile or the jerk is sold as something else.
Which is why I’m happy.
I’m happy because I’m interested in truth. I don’t think athletes should be held in such high regard. Regard, yes. But high regard? I think not. They’re usually unworthy of adulation, let alone worship.
Keep in mind that I was…am…have been one of those athletes. And that, despite my own protestations to the contrary, I was a very good one. I have seen the top of the mountain. It was an ugly place.
I’m glad you’re getting to see it too.
So, to Mr. LeBron Raymone James: Thanks for helping. You’ve made it easier for people to learn the raw, unadulterated truth: that your profound ability as a basketball player is a freakish sidecar of your personality and not an indicator of a larger greatness.
Perhaps, this time, those people will begin to understand that you are the rule, and not the exception.
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Paul, you mean “public defender,” not “public defendant.” A “public defendant” is what we call Blagojevich.
I totally agree with you Paul. Sports athletes today are looked at as Gods when the task they are completing is not as celebratory as they think. It’s all about the money. Then again, look at the majority of the general public. Money is everything, the amount they are paid is never enough. They always want more. I think the only reason I see professional athletes as money loving pigs is because of the media’s (especially ESPN) continuing spotlight on the same select athletes, making them Gods. I played high school sports but by the time I was a senior I lost interest in them and moved more towards music because it has a greater meaning compared to scoring a touchdown or dunking a basketball. Well written article Mr. Shirley. Thanks.
Do you think it’s generally true of all highly paid entertainers that they disdain their fans, or do you think athletes are particularly bad?
Paul, interesting piece. I agree with some things, disagree with others.
I agree that it’s fans that create the situation, and that athletes behave that way because they can, it’s accepted, and it doesn’t affect their bottom line. I also agree that the system is all about making money for everyone in it, not for the fan’s enjoyment.
Where I disagree is that it is going to change. We’re in the middle of one of the biggest financial collapses in our nation’s history, and we’re still paying these contracts. It would take something WAY more major to change things now, like a nuclear war, to bump sports off of the top shelf of America and European life. Even seeing the ugly side is not going to make people stop watching sports. After all, Kobe Bryant has a ton of fans even after all his crap.
I might also suggest that the fact that you’ve been very involved in sports may be giving you too much information on this issue. The average fan (excepting the crazy ones, because the majority of fans are average to mild fans) watches games, goes to a game from time to time (not that often) and would like to think that the players on his team are good people. However, that’s not necessary. The fan sees the image, sees the games, hopefully enjoys them, and that’s that. There may be some temporary outrage over behavior, but it’s really just a hobby. It’s not exclusive of other hobbies, and a lot of people just like to watch good sports.
So I get your point, but I think it’s unlikely to change, and for the average guy who watches games from time to time, it probably shouldn’t change. Peple who make watching sports their life, however, have problems on multiple levels, and I agree about them.
I enjoy your articles about music, but its nice to see you change it up a little bit. You have an insight into the world of professional basketball that the rest of us don’t, and its nice to see that come out in your writing occasionally.
“Can I Keep My Jersey” (Paul’s book) helped to open my eyes to his points in this essay several years ago (along with being around contemporaries who are now pro athletes). Well written and interesting as always. I wrote a piece with similar points on http://www.themeroneyreport.com. Keep up the good work Paul.
Great article. I’m always up for more truths about players. Let’s hear more!
Is Amare the space cadet we hear he is?
How about D’Antoni, does he hate bench players as much as we assume he does?
And Eddy Curry….I’m sure you have some good Curry stories.
Spot on Paul! As Daniel mentioned it is nice to hear your take on sports every now and again, considering you played at the highest level (I’m referring to your time in Menorca, obviously).
I stopped trying to guess which professional athletes were decent people long ago. Some, such as Steve Nash, strike me as genuine people that would fit right in with a normal group of friends. My sports following experience became much more fulfilling when I stopped caring about individual players and gave up pretending that athletes are anything more than they are – mercenaries interested only in obtaining their next paycheck, regardless of how much their fanbase adores them.
To those people who cried at Lebron’s move away from Cleveland: Shame on you for letting someone so insignificant make you cry. You need to look in the mirror. Modern sports turned you into a consumer, not a fan. Act accordingly.
Shirley is exactly right: athletes don’t respect fans b/c they don’t respect themselves.
Paul, you said the athlete thinks, “How can I respect someone who thinks so highly of something so pointless?”
Aren’t some of the athletes who think this also fans themselves? Of stars in other sports, or of a musician, etc.? If so, how do they bridge that gap in logic?
You know half the classroom in those Read to Achieve commercials have read more books than the NBA C-lister in a Santa Claus hat sitting in front of them with an upside-down Berenstein Bears book.
Sports teach us the reality of a cold world… And, sports cannot help but disappoint.
What exactly is the point of this article? That athletes can be jerks? Is this supposed to be revelatory? And how can you seriously state that all NBA players hate their jobs and their fans? You really presume to know all of their inner thoughts?
I also find it funny that you elevate “reading and writing and painting and listening to music” above the supposed “escapism” of sports; sorry, buddy, but listening to The National (enormously overrated, by the way) isn’t going to lead to enlightenment any more than watching a well-played basketball game would.
It’s probably too bad that the majority of fans the professional athlete sees are of the ‘fanatic’ variety, which probably colors their opinion somewhat.
Matt made a good point about the ‘good guys’ such as Steve Nash (note, if he’s actually an ass – which I don’t think is possible because he is Canadian – don’t tell us), though. I think that of all the major leagues, hockey players are the most grounded and normal by far. I suspect it has something to do with both its international bent, the particular sacrifice necessary to develop one’s skills to the highest level, and the absolute demand of being only one part of a team. Crosby is certainly over-marketed similar to LeBron, but he would never act like him.
Great article. Unfortunately I couldn’t enjoy it. I just read Paul’s Haiti article after hearing about it for the 1st time. I can never read his work again without remembering it. So appallingly clueless and ignorant and mean-spirited – I was shaking my head the through the entire thing “no… no… no… there’s no way he’s this much of an historically illiterate asshole!” – I was a big Paul Shirley fan – Lebron James may hate me – but Paul Shirley hates poor people for being poor.
I just wish there was a sport for sitting in a chair and reading blogs. Then I would make hundreds!
Seriously, though, it was like you’ve read my mind as well. Those of us who were only intellectually talented came to that conclusion a long time ago :) I still don’t get why or how people spend so much time watching this crap. It’s just like the Hills, only more intelligent conversations (and in FIFA, better acting).
@Jay
Perhaps he would have been more sympathetic towards Haitians if he could have related their sufferings to indie-rock lyrics.
http://www.flipcollective.com/2010/05/25/the-national-mothers-and-brothers-by-paul-shirley/
Every time I read something you write I get the sense that you are casting yourself as superior in some way. I’ve never seen someone so convinced that they have everything figured out, and yet bases all of their wide sweeping generalizations on personal experience only.
I’d say stop writing about sports, your distaste for it is obvious. Every basketball piece on here, you or your brother(?) write is set up to make playing basketball seem like a burden. I didn’t get my spring break, we didn’t get paid in college, it was like the army, or better yet a slave army, my teammates aren’t what I thought they’d be. The level of whining is amazing.
One self depricating mention of a six-point career high doesn’t do anything to mask how obvious it is how pleased you are with yourself with every theory you come up with.
This may be the best piece of sociological analysis of professional sports I’ve ever read. Just great point after great point. I’ve never understood why everyone raves about what a great teammate Lebron is. To me’s always come off like an arrogant bully who’s never been told ‘no’. Lebron James didn’t only start referring to himself in the 3rd person for that Jim Gray interview–he’s been doing that since people first started shoving microphones in his face.
That said, I also agree with J. Swan. Your perspective on what a fan thinks/acts like is skewed by your profressional experience. You’re seeing the really hardcore fans–or a casual fan who momentarily pretends to be a hardcore fan because he’s so geeked out about meeting a famous person. Most of us view sports as nothing BUT a distraction, and we’re well aware that most of these guys are jerks. It’s just kinda fun to watch people do stuff you can’t do.
Shirley hit a double on the piece about the Haitians – putting into words what political correctness constantly demands you don’t mention.
Lesson learned, I hope – never apologize. Fight back with facts and evidence. You will be vindicated.
This piece, however, is a home run. Well done, sir. It takes the lessons I learned from reading Paul’s book (Can I Keep My Jersey?) and applies them to the Lebron saga in a meaningful way.
@Chris
I’m sure you’d be singing a different tune if Shirley had used the same contemptuous language in a post written about the victims of 9/1l. But, then again, most Haitians are poor and black while 9/11 victims were mainly white and middle-class/upper-class, so the suffering of the former isn’t nearly as important and thus is open for degradation and insult.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-6147378-504083.html
Gotta love the commetns people make
Failed in the NBA failed at ESPN no wonder basketball was a burden to you.
I’ve never been interested in sports, as a participant or a spectator (soon to change, as I’m getting into tennis), but I’ve always been interested in the truth. To me, deception on the corporate scale is something with which this country is inflicted en masse and something that needs to be gutted from the system. While my hopes and ideologies are unrealistic at the moment, it makes me smile to see that there is at least someone willing to scrape the gold gilding off of the rusted iron.
I’m not sure how much this will mean to you on a person-to-person basis, but I thank you vehemently for your insight and enlightenment. People such as yourself– those who expose the reality behind a (potentially) harmful delusion– are the ones deserving of the kind of respect currently being paid to the subject of your article.
Thank you for your honesty and integrity.
I understand the statement: “athletes don’t respect fans b/c they don’t respect themselves,” but here’s my problem – so much of professional sports is marketed to KIDS. They don’t have the emotional maturity to cope with the reality that these guys are mostly self-centered jerks. That’s what makes me mad with it all. They market the crap out of Lebron James to children and then mom and dad get to pick up the pieces after he says “screw you” on national television.
lets hope karma followes the qwitness
Excellent perspective, Paul.
I respect what you, write. The Haitian piece, I didn’t agree with it entirely; but I respect that you wrote it. I do get tired of the anonymous hate peddlers that show up here, regularly.
I’ve followed you since your Suns blog. You would be a fantastic sports writer, if that was your vision.
lol sycophant scott. its ok for shirley to be a hatemonger but no one else. go make out with the cardboard cutout of paul you stole from his book signing and let people have their opinions.
Sour Grapes Paul, you are the self-centered numb skull. Who are you too judge anybody. Go LeBron Go!
Overall well written and accurate I’d say except the part “How can I respect someone who thinks so highly of something so pointless?”
You don’t really believe that do you? I mean, some athletes, perhaps yourself included may feel that way but there’s no way that most athletes feel like that. They work incredibly hard to get where they got and you’re saying they believe it’s pointless??? Come on!
Although I agree with some of your comments, the reality is many people in today’s culture are just as selfish and self absorbed as these pro athletes. The difference is, these guys are rich and get whatever they want, the rest of us, not so much. Western civilization is a horrible and stupid thing.
It’s almost like he’s too selfish to care about poor people devastated by an earth quake. Oh wait…. Seriously, you’re a moron.
I ALWAYS LOVE YOUR STUFF PAUL…KEEP IT UP!!!!!!(Of course you will)
Check out what he says during the first of this song about LBJ…I think you’ll like it
http://www.youtube.com/user/MankinMusic
Fuck you, Paul. You’re a dick!
Paul, you are your own person and your writings reflect that. I thank you for that.
Good observations on the nature of the sports fan.
I don’t know why people come on here just to tear you apart. If you don’t like the content go do something else.
Keep on writing Paul. You are dead on.
I’ve always seen LeBron James as a self-centered and selfish person. Now he’s also showing that he has no guts and no respect for people. Like a lot of players obviously.
To me, a guy like Steve Nash is what young players should take as a model. He didn’t enter the league as a king or anything like that. He had to deal with huge competitors, even in hiw own team (Jason kidd, Kevin Johnson). And still, he found a way to emerge and to become an MVP eventually (twice !). To be a star player and not an asshole at the same time.
He’s a funny guy and doesn’t take himself too seriously. That’s a person you’d like to meet.
I don’t know how you see him, Paul, but I guess you had the opportunity to observe him more as an insider. It would be interesting to have a paper on him ;)
Comment by Shirley is hilarious. “Western civilization is a horrible and stupid thing.” I’ll just say the best alternative. Shout out to Scandinavia…
MG sounds like he crawled out from under a bridge somewhere. Troll?