LeBron Looking To Right A Wrong. Might Double Up

LeBron doesn't quite realize the natural contempt
American's have towards royalty. It's all in the name.

When he first left for the sunny beaches of Miami, the Cleveland Cavaliers and their fans burned his jersey in effigy. Apparently the heat from that flame has melted the icy relationship that grew when Cleveland and its favorite son had taken divergent paths, for the parting had not been sweet. As he left,  King James reminded Cleveland that he's from rival city Akron, so Cleveland shunned his royal highness regardless of his steady ascension to the throne.

The royal one is returning to Cleveland and his supreme stature instantly shifted the Cavs to the top of Vegas odds to win it all next year. Vegas could simply be moving to avoid potential historic payouts. The 10 people who already bet Cleveland to win it all next year are thrilled  with this new development. On the other hand, therapist' who helped LeBron, and Cleveland, heal from their last breakup are a little suspicious...and so am I.

They used to say that if you broke up, you  broke up for a reason, and they might be right. The two years he has signed to play for represent a virtual prenuptial agreement. Dan Gilbert may have removed his hate letter to LeBron from the Cav's webpage, but this manifesto is etched into the Cleveland psyche. Cleveland may be willing to allow him the chance to bling out their city like he did Miami, but they will never fully trust him forever. Bigger cities bow to royalty while small towns never open up to keeping something they've never had. At least not for long.

Rejecting LeBron was never going to persist forever. LeBron had to wait for history to rank his all time greatness and Clevelanders would make the distance and hatred between them and Akron disappear. But LeBron couldn't wait. For all the mountains and obstacles he's overcome in his life, being vilified just doesn't sit well with this King.

If only his name had been Smith. Because he's a James, punsters like myself were destined to annoint this talented player, "King James". American's discovered greatness while shunning appointed royalty. We do not readily accept anything , especially royalty, without rigorous debate.

Now the debate becomes, "can LeBron win in Cleveland and will it matter if he does? Clearly LeBron thinks so or he would not be so forgiving of the ineffective curse Cleveland cast upon his crown. LeBron thinks that he was much more beloved before the bad Decision, but is this new Decision truly for the right reasons?

If LeBron and Cleveland are rightful lovers who never should have departed from one another, then love shall write this story. If they are both wounded and running towards an easy way out, this make up might end horribly.

Sometimes you simply can't go home.

Denver Couldn't Keep Doug McDermott. GM Loves Denver Too Much

For about 30 minutes Doug McD was coming to the "D".

As it turns out, it wasn't meant to be.  Doug McDermott was slotted for Chicago and Denver was just a layover city.  But for 30 minutes, Denver had a new white guy.

Oh, I wasn't supposed to mention his color?  I realize that Chris "Birdman" Anderson is a champion these days, but in Denver he was an extremely popular shot blocker who was too small to stop big centers and missed free throws and jumpers with regularity.  Despite being rather awful in retrospect, Birdman was immensely popular because white people could relate to him.  When Bird left, white kids instantly missed his mohawks more than any block he made in a Denver uniform.

McDermott has as much chance at becoming an NBA star as Sam Bowie did.  The team that drafted Bowie was certain he'd be better than Mike Jordan.  My point is that the draft is a crapshoot.  Sometimes you get Greg Oden, other times you get Chauncey Billups and have to wait for him to become a legend. Every so often the guy you draft is Magic.

Players can be magical.  Guessing who might become good isn't impossible, but achieving greatness is a combination of potential and environment.  The greatest of players are nurtured with focus and patience, patience that average players are never afforded.  McDermott might  get there, but he needs to play, and play a lot.  In Denver, McDermott would be pressed to beat out better players as he learns NBA style defense, both doing it and having it done against him.  Oh yeah, add the color of his skin and he'll get more heat than Jeremy Lin got after eating up the league for a month.   The challenge of living up to your potential with all of these elements to overcome creates a challenge to both white players and the GM's who court them.

If I could offer white America a fair break right now, it comes when you look at the example of white basketball players and their place in the league.  Blacks often complain about the absence of black coaches and executives, especially in sports that are dominated by black people.  From strictly a numbers perspective, there has to be more white male basketball players who play high school sports.  By the time we look at colleges, blacks shift the numbers drastically, signifying a voracious hunger for black basketball players.  When it comes to the professional ranks, white players, especially American born whites, are a commodity that might get you fired.

Much like missing on a black coach, GM's who do it have to fire them quickly and usually lose credibility (or their job) soon after.  If such a trend can be documented, such information could be in mind at the key moments of decision making.  Is it racism to hire safe? Should the person I hire disrupt the chance my children get to afford a good college?  Such questions have no easy answers, but proven talent is the same as money, it disregards color for just a while.  Unproven talent does not.

Colorblindness is a joke.  If you are a white boy who can also play, you are an extraordinary commodity.  If you are a black coach who can match wits with the best of them, you will get a shot as well, but much like the white player, you had better prove yourself quickly.  Teams that have family executives (Denver Nuggets, Pittsburgh Steelers) are much more capable of being long suffering, but even they face the heat of public opinion and must cut their losses in order to maintain the ship.  Black coaches and white hooper's don't get time for ramp up.  You get one or two seasons before the vultures descend.

Sorry Brian Shaw.  Even Jon Embree, the former CU star himself, only got two cracks at it before they cut bait.  Embree's players were doing well in school and Embree was doing it the right way by playing younger players and taking it on the chin early, yet he got fired quickly and so will Shaw if he and the Nuggets don't look to win quickly.  (What happened to that guy who hired Embree?)

To the credit of the Nugget's, they did not burden their black coach with an uncertain white boy to place heat on Tim Connelly, the Nugget's GM, and Shaw his up and coming coach.  Tim likes living in Denver and hopes to stay for a while.  From all accounts, so does Shaw. In addition, the Nuggets did not need more youth, they needed more...more....more..??..  They needed more of whatever gave Brian Shaw another season.  Shaw showed some things that intrigue any "real" basketball mind.  A few of those minds played against Shaw's undermanned teams last year and might choose to play for him during next weeks free agency period.

From one obscure #11 pick made during yesterday's draft, the entire draft buzz continues to be about Doug "the white boy" McDermott. The NBA needs a couple of killer white cats.  Identifying with someone who looks like you offered the framework of the black power movement.  The NBA needs a few good white men and Doug McDermott could foot the bill.

...or he will cost some GM a job.