We all remember the days when we would anticipate one of the best parts of our elementary and middle school experiences: the free day in gym class. The days when the coaches would roll out the balls and basically allow us to choose which game, sport or activity we would play that day.
Whether it be dodgeball, kickball, soccer or basketball there were ALWAYS kids that everyone wanted on their team, regardless of the activity. A lot of us would like to think of ourselves as those kids back in the day (the truth behind said thoughts is always a topic of debate), but we recently noticed that a similar trend has become popular in NBA free agency.
In 2010 Lebron James produced the infamous “Decision”, which benefitted the Boys & Girls clubs of Northeast Ohio to the tune of $500,000 and almost $3 million in cash and gift donations to the Boys & Girls clubs of America (rarely mentioned). Also he decided to team up with two future hall of fame players from his own draft class, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade, which has created a “gym class-like” mentality surrounding NBA free agency.
A system in which many of the NBA’s elite superstars feel as though they must pick the best available players and join together for the sake of winning NBA championships (starting to bring you back to gym class days yet)?
A trend that became such a contentious topic, that amid collective bargaining (CBA) negotiations the owners and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) were forced into a lockout. A lockout essentially over the creation of a hard salary cap and harsher penalties for teams spending over the luxury tax apron. These two issues, among others like revenue sharing and contract lengths, make it more difficult for higher salary players to stay together without the owners paying exorbitant amounts in luxury tax fees. This was also the first season of the self proclaimed “Heatles”, in which they made it to the NBA Finals but lost to Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks in 6 games.
The result of all this, of course, is a traveling media circus. A circus in which even Lebron James and D-Wade’s dinner choices are being broadcasted as news when they are seen meeting together. A circus that tracks the whereabouts of Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers (who wrote a scathing letter aimed at Lebron’s “Decision, a letter that was removed from the internet YESTERDAY) and glorifies a mythical pick up game featuring Kobe, Carmelo and Kevin Love.
Of course, none of us had this amount of coverage and/or popularity when we were kicking a run in during 5th period gym class, but many parallels can be drawn between the two.
Unlike the 80s and 90s NBA landscape, the top tier athletes of this generation’s NBA believe they must join forces to be successful. It is the job of the NBA league office (and gym coaches) to ensure that the competitive landscape remains balanced through it all and more small market teams (or even puny spelling bee champions alike) have an opportunity to taste Gold.
Product Of Society 