I just read this: Michael Jordan: Playing Above the Rim. Here's the part that caught my attention:
In the Netflix series The Last Dance, MJ opens up about his views on politics and activism during his playing days, and comments, “Republicans buy sneakers, too.” It occurred during the 1990 U.S. Senate race in North Carolina, when his mother wanted him to support a candidate running against incumbent Republican, Jesse Helms. Michael wisely told her he would not get involved with someone he didn’t know.
On the road with two teammates, Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen, off camera, he made the remark about Republicans and his biographer exposed it. Jordan claims it was not a formal statement, but I think it reveals qualities that appear absent in the modern NBA. Was Michael a sell out? If he was, so was every other Capitalist. Wasn’t he just saying all lives matter?
Michael described “a country that has provided my family and me the greatest of opportunities. The problems we face didn’t happen overnight and they won’t be solved tomorrow.” He also said, “I never thought of myself as an activist, I thought of myself as a basketball player.” Additionally, “I wasn’t a politician," he noted. "I was playing my sport. You know, I was focused on my craft. Was that selfish? That’s where my energy was.”
Equality? Unfairly talented?
"Equality? Unfairly talented?"
ReplyDeleteAlso the teams are not diverse enough - how many Chinese are on the teams? Shouldn't there be at lease a couple?
Also, what about the height-challenged? Don't they get a chance? Seems like obvious discrimination...
Frank
Why do we have to listen to a high school graduate, LeBron James, tell us how to think? Does he do it to sell more sneakers?
ReplyDelete@Michael
DeleteI don't think we have to listen. I'm not sure LeBron puts it out there to sell more sneakers.
The 'publisher' certainly puts it out there with a high enough degree of certainty that enough people will click on it that the publisher will make some money from advertising sales. And does it again and again.
Its not 'news'. Its the come-on for the sale.
But you knew this. :-)
I've always been impressed with the opinions of MJ, Shaq, and Charles Barkley. They seem to be basically good, strong men who have grown over time and have a decent set of values. They also seem comfortable in their own skin and speak their minds when they want to and know how to keep things to themselves when they want to. LeBron is not like them.
ReplyDeleteYour comment is "spot on"...!!!
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