Be Like Mike...

Nostalgia is an oasis in the desert of the drudge and difficulties of the present state.  The refreshment afforded by remembering details of time in one's life that didn't seem monumental at the time, but now elicits goosebumps and smiles. ESPN's The Last Dance has been an intriguing sentimental journey to some fond memories of my youth and the great decade of the 90's.  Matthew Continetti has a great article in National Review regarding the series that expresses much of my thoughts, but only better.  I forgot how much I enjoyed NBA during the 90's.  I am not exactly sure why I stopped watching the NBA.  It wasn't that I stopped liking it, well at least not entirely.  I think there are many reasons and perhaps the biggest was my willingness and ability to devote time to it.  Cable TV, adulthood, and parenthood all took its toll.  Over the last 20 years, there have been a handful of NBA post seasons that I watched with great interest, but those have been few and far between. The NBA doesn't much matter to me anymore, but I think the 90's were its zenith. 

Michael Jordan and the Bulls were the Patriots of the NBA before Brady and Belichick were considered the GOATS of the NFL.  It is probably a better statement to say that the Patriots became the NFL's version of the Bulls.  In fact, Jordan was the first GOAT, at least to my recollection.  All other GOAT discussions originated with Jordan and have him to thank for their continued discussion.  I think it was because by the 90's, ESPN had become a national mainstay for sports fans and sports talk radio was growing in popularity across the country.  These two developments made sports discussions around the proverbial water cooler more intense and many of them were discussing His Airness.  Just for the record, I think MJ is the GOAT.  Period.

Episode 5 and 6 aired last night and they touched on a subject that I thought was particularly fascinating.  The issue was Jordan's infamous comment about not publicly supporting the African-American Senate candidate, Harvey Gantt, in his home state of North Carolina, against the white, racist, incumbent Jesse Helms.  When asked why Jordan hadn't publicly supported Gantt, Jordan's rationale was because "Republicans buy sneakers too."  To many liberals in the media, and especially African American sports media types, Jordan's response was irresponsible of the role which he had been cast.  They feel he should have been more Mohammad Ali, Jim Brown, or Kareem.  This statement showed, according to his critics, that Michael was putting his financial gain ahead of the struggle of the African American community.  He failed to harness the moment and missed an opportunity to use his fame and prestige for the betterment of the whole.

MJ's recollection in the episode was that it was just an off the cuff remark that he did not spend much time articulating a more nuanced explanation.  But he did provide an ex post facto explanation that I found both convincing and refreshing,  Essentially he said that he was not political and felt that providing any public support of someone he did not know or comment on issues he had not researched was not something he wished to do.  Fair.  Humble.  Reasoned.  I wish more sports stars or actors took that course of action.  To me, many stars make comments about issues or political figures that they don't know as much about as they would have us believe.   But there is an immense amount of pressure for stars to make statements about political issues or figures.  And even more pressure to make the right statements about an issue (the liberal position) Just ask Taylor Swift.  They often become pawns used to influence the weaker minded, who believe fame equates to intellectual prowess, or that People is a serious news magazine.

I am not against stars being able to make statements and being involved in issues they care about.  What I don't like is the virtue signaling, the righteous indignation, or the holier than thou posturing on subjects they may not have much understanding.  I don't like the expectation that athletes should use their platform, or twitter feed to speak out, or take an activist role.  The courage it took for Muhammad Ali to speak out, does not translate into the same courage in 2020.  LeBron James is not going to be hurt in anyway by speaking out on social issues, rather he is lauded and praised.  Sure Colin Kaepernick took criticism for kneeling during the national anthem and speaking out, but it helped him maintain a public persona which he has used to his benefit.  If he had not spoken out, he would be a former NFL quarterback, no one talked about and barely remembered.   I would hope one day that star athletes, before they get all publicly political,  would want "to be like Mike."   


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