Congrats to the Mavs and their first Championship! Well deserved! Superbly played!
So many were beyond excited by the outcome of Sunday’s game and many weren’t even Dallas Mavericks fans.
No doubt the Mavericks bandwagon was filled beyond capacity here in the NBA Finals. When there was no more room, not even one inch of space, people were still clawing and scratching just to get on board. I have no issue with that whatsoever, as bandwagon jumping is a part of sports.
What I have an issue with is the WHY.
Typically teams attract “so called” fans late in the year based upon their play. They pick up the sports fans who want to have a dog in the fight, as well as, some people who don’t even watch sports, but fall in the love with the drama that makes athletic competition at the highest level so fantastic.
All of that is cool.
What isn’t cool or acceptable is when HATE for another is the sole reason for which cheers and support are cast and given to the other team.
The Mavs had a lot of people in the “I HATE LEBRON JAMES, SO I WANT DALLAS TO WIN” category this year and that’s sad.
This series unfortunately became more about LeBron losing than Dallas winning. More people were excited that LeBron didn’t play well than they were that Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry and JJ Barea played SO WELL.
Facebook and Twitter were ablaze with Mavs support from many that could tell you very little at all about the game of basketball, yet they all had one thing in common: They HATE the Miami Heat and more importantly they HATE LeBron James.
When did rooting for someone to fail become acceptable?
When James did the decision? When the Heat held the preseason celebration?
I would bet almost every one of us has left an employer for what we thought was a better opportunity. We didn’t do “the decision” of course, but then again we don’t have the voice.
You know, I can’t recall one letter of hate mail or even one negative comment thrown my way when I went from one bank to another over eight years ago.
The preseason celebration, not the best idea, but it is what it is. The city of Miami and the fans were ecstatic! They held a celebration because the city, players and organization were excited!
Shame on them I guess.
We don’t do such things of course, unless you count tweeting and facebooking (including pictures) every single great thing that happens in our lives. We don’t hold an official “celebration” because again we don’t have the voice, but if we did, well just look at your “facebook wall” and tell me what you think would happen.
FACT: LeBron James is not perfect.
But guess what, neither are we.
I know if I had to endure what James is going through, the good days and for most of this past year, the bad. If I was followed around with cameras and asked tough questions over and over again. If every little thing I did or didn’t do was judged by the masses, it would be tough, and I would MAKE MISTAKES.
Honestly, I make mistakes all of the time.
TRUTH: We ALL make mistakes.
Matthew 7:5 of the Good Word says, “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
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Sunday night, amongst family and friends, I was rooting for LeBron James like never before. I was rooting for the 26 year old young man with the weight and hate of the majority on his shoulders. I wanted to see him smile, because I haven’t in quite some time. I wanted him to feel joy, but more importantly I didn’t want him to feel anymore hate.
Enough is enough.
LeBron James has shown he isn’t perfect.
Unfortunately, we have also shown how equally imperfect we are as a society.
It’s time for us all to grow up.
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me vs. MJ aka Michael Jordan Update:
MJ has yet to agree to play me 1-on-1 (if anyone reading this knows Mr. Jordan, please tell him I’m looking for ’em…haha), but I’m still working hard and getting better every day. I’m really hoping that all of the work translates to the court when I play my next opponent, professional hoopster, Andy Gebru later this week.
Pray for me! I may need every single one of your prayers! 😀
me vs. MJ…the journey continues! As always, thank you for following along!
This is so true. Exactly what I’ve been thinking this morning. He is human and mistakes happen, but no one deserves what he is going through!
Yeah, it would be tough to deal with for sure. Most of us crumble under even one or two negative comments cast our way. Sitting in the comfort of our homes, we forget that these people we have put on a pedestal have feelings as well. We forget they are real.
LeBron will be better for this loss, but not from all of the hate. We must do better.
I agree we should focus more on how well Dallas played, rather than just hating on LeBron. However, I can also see how LeBron causes people to dislike him with his actions. For example, the recent “coughing” incident. It’s just an immature thing to do, so naturally he’s going to be criticized.
So, yeah, people “should” stop hating. But LeBron “should” also stop encouraging people to hate him. That’s how I see it.
Totally agree bro. LeBron has made some mistakes. We all have.
Thanks for the comment!
I don’t hate Lebron or Wade or anyone in the league. I was rooting for the Mavericks. I was rooting against the Heat for the following reasons:
1) I am an Orlando Magic fan. I root against the Heat every year. A lot of NBA fans root for individuals, but I am loyal to my team. I would never root for the Heat…ever.
2) I don’t like the potential impact of what Miami has done on the future of the league. If stars band together to stack teams, the entire salary cap system will be rendered meaningless and parity goes out the window. Valuable vets like Haslem and Miller sign for below market just to tag along for a ring and fairness is out the window.
Remember Malone and Payton trying to ride Shaq and Kobe to a ring? Pathetic. Again, its fine for fans of individuals, but if you’re in Memphis or OKC or Orlando…it means a lot of hopeless seasons.
3) I don’t have a problem with “The Decision”, and wanting to leave Cleveland proves he’s normal and sane. Aside from poor sportsmanship in defeat, I have no issue whatsoever with LeBron.
He sacrificed any chance at the label of best ever when he joined Wade’s team instead of trying to lead his own. Again, that’s his choice and I’m sure he was frustrated in cleveland. It’s his blindly loyal fans who need to back off the “best ever” claims if they don’t want to hear the “haters”.
One other thing …if you weren’t a Heat fan last year, you can’t call anyone else a bandwagon fan.:-)
Langley,
Never said you did bro:) Fired up early on Monday morning…I love it!
My responses:
1) Yes you are. Yes you do. No worries here.
2) I understand your point. Before the three came together, major markets have always had the advantage. Check out who has all the titles (other than the Spurs). Yes, I remember Karl and Gary.
3) Never said you did, but thanks for explaining:)
The post wasn’t about me supporting LeBron. I clearly state that he made mistakes. It was about the core fans being better. It was about being bigger than the hate. I’m not a huge LeBron James fan. I appreciate and am at times amazed by his talent, but I was actually upset by his performance on the biggest stage and I don’t think anyone besides Scottie truly thinks he’s “the best ever”. That belongs to MJ, no doubt.
I had preferred that he stay in Cleveland and fight through the struggle and win his way, but he didn’t. My point is, let’s move on.
I am a fan of players. I love watching Wade play. He’s amazing. I also love watching Dirk play. I love watching Jason Terry play (it’s a fist in the air for all the shooters in the world haha). I love watching Dwight Howard, Kobe, and Ray Allen and on and on and on. I’m a fan of the game.
As far as the bandwagon fan goes, never said there was anything wrong with it. It’s a part of sports, I think I said, yes I did. I also never said I was “fan” of the Heat. My wife has been a Heat fan since 2006, because that’s when she began watching basketball, which is much longer than most of the people I sit next to at current Magic games.
For me it really didn’t matter who won. I enjoyed the match-ups. I thought the Heat would win based upon those match-ups, and I rooted for LeBron because I think the negativity has gotten out of hand (warranted or not), but the power of the team proved victorious and that’s great.
Thanks for the comment bro.
Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud. Proverbs 16:19. Go mavs. 😉
I agree. LeBron is learning his lesson (I hope). By the reaction to this post (not just in comments), I’m not sure we are learning ours.
Thanks for commenting Dani.
I think as sport fans we get caught up in the hype of sports. We find it ok for a while to truly “hate” the rival teams, players, coaches, fans etc. At times I think we use sports as an escape or an excuse to act out in a way we normally wouldnt. Call it an outlet; a time and place to “lose our minds and act out in anyway we please. Something different from our “normal lives.” Although this may be ok and healthy to an extent, I think there has to be an underlying consiousness behind the outlet to know that we are still dealing with real people, real emotions, real lives and real consequences to our actions. When things get taken to far i.e. Baseball game in California this year; detrimental things can happen. When questioning another mans integrity (Lebron James) how much of our own integrity are we losing? As believers and “All around good people” I think its important to have a love and nurturing respect for everyone while we still cheer or root for “our teams”. If we lose that and we start HATING, its just negative for all parties involved. Hate breeds death and negativity. I think its important even in the sports arena to act as we would like to be treated. Jesus said Let he without sin cast the first stone. Although my opinion differs from Lebrons in some areas and I dont agree with certain things he had said or how he reacted in certain situations; Im sure not going to throw any stones that way.
So well said! My point exactly!
Thanks for the comment JC!
Kenny i agree with you totally. Another thing that went unsaid throughout this whole finals series is the unecessary pressure scottie pippen put on lebrons shoulders. Now from a fans perspective everyone felt like Pippen had lost his mind but when in all actuality all Pippen did was put a big microscope on Lebron with the infamous statement “lebron will be better than MJ when its all said and done”. I honestly feel that Pippen said that just to add even more pressure on Lebron because Lebron just put his Bulls team out the playoffs. That following week on ESPN the whole week was dedicated to Lebron being better than MJ. Now the fans felt that Lebron had to come out and put on an MJ like performance because someone who was close with Jordan and PLayed along side of him said that he would be better than MJ and who would know something like that other than Jordans Teamate for several years in Scottie Pippen. SO if Lebron didnt average 34pts per game and hit game winners in the finals series then LEbron would have been considered a bust in the Finals. Lebron never came out and said he was better than jordan. So why hate lebron? because he left a team that he built from the ground up. No one burned Kevin Garnetts Jersey when he left Minnesota(and he will go down as one of the best power forwards to play the game) or ray allens when he left seattle. Not to mention the outlandish rumors that went on through out the finals about lebrons Fiance sleeping around on him with another NBA player all to take this man off his focus. Well just to inform you guys on something NBA PLAYERS ARE HUMANS! they hurt and issues gedt to them just like any old regular joe smoe. But at the end of the day if almost winning your third MVP(coming second to Derrick Rose who had a Remarkable year) and Beating Good Boston team who owned them during the regular season then to beat the best team in the NBA during the reuglar season and for most of the playoffs handidly. Then to lose to a dallas team who has had there core group of guys together for over 7 years now with a few big key additions(tyson chandler,shawn marion,jason kidd) now if thats considered a bad year for a Team then please explain to me what good is!
Couldnt agree more. Never looked at Pippens comments that way. If he really did do that to get under Lebrons skin or put that micropscope on him even more, thats shady lol. Hope hes on the Bulls payroll. If not, he needs to read Kens blog. lol. Im sure Pippen is still a competitive guy and doesnt even like Lebron being compared to him.
JC,
Haha, Pippen is on the Chicago payroll as the team ambassador. Yeah, I thought it was a great theory by Andy. Never even crossed my mind! I wish Scottie would stop by, that would be TOO COOL!!!! 😀
Thanks Andy. Wow, I never thought about a potential “Pippen Theory”. Very interesting for sure!
I totally agree. I don’t think many really know where their “hate” comes from, but it’s the popular thing to do right now, so like most things people jump on board without putting much thought into it and become part of the problem. I agree, no one talks about Boston and what they did. No one thinks about all of the times the teams send players off without a warning. In all honesty, the guy has made some mistakes, but the mistakes aren’t THAT big of a deal. I mean J. Kidd actually has a criminal record and everyone is applauding the guy.
As far as the players being humans, I think it’s like JC said in his comment above. People forget the ramifications of their actions. It’s easy to sit on twitter or facebook and carelessly comment about someone you don’t know. We all do it at times, but that doesn’t mean it’s right. The ridiculous nature of those same people to then defend their actions by giving a list of why they hate LeBron is so sad and believe me, I got some emails and texts doing just that yesterday.
We live in a society where a large majority had rather rip people apart than build up and promote. That’s why a negative always outshines a positive. That’s why I’ve done 87 positive posts, on nothing but being positive and the one with HATE in the title, gets all kinds of reaction.
We must get better. Thanks for the comment! Appreciate it!