NBA Season On The Ropes
LeBron James Spearheading The Boycott
It’s been an interesting few hours, eh? We went from some entertaining NBA action to boycotts to maybe no season at all.
Note: A lot of how the following reads will depend on when you actually see this post. The NBA is set to have a meeting early Thursday morning, so we might “know” by then what the deal is.
People will react differently to everything happening; and more so in regard to the reason players are choosing to boycott than there possibly being no games. I won’t tell anyone how to feel. However, it’ll be weird to see a lot of the “I don’t watch the NBA, but…” people take to social media to tell us why this is abhorrence to mankind.
If you don’t watch the games, why in the Sam Cassell do you care? Oh, tickle me pink and call me Nancy, it’s since you can use it as a gateway happening to showcase some ignorance.
The only thing I will say about this, before getting the hell out of the way, is that people who take action in the name of their convictions — whatever their conviction is — are usually doing so with good intentions.
Moreover, as most people claim they have convictions, but back off them the very first time they are tested (usually due to money), it seems some NBA players are willing to put cash where their mouth is.
Does this ruin our August and maybe beyond? Sure. Still, it’s just entertainment. If I can go without The 4400 for the last 15 years, everyone and their mother can go a few more months without shooty hoops if this is a cause players are willing to take a stand for.
This will be a theme for a bit longer; though that should be a known given the scope of this news.
LeBron Spearheading A Full Boycott
According to Not Woj, LeBron James is spearheading a campaign to boycott the remainder of the season; although he doesn’t have support of every other NBA player.
Here’s where things get tricky. LeBron James is the biggest name in the league. He’s used his platform to speak on several injustices. It’s good that he uses the former to do the latter.
He cannot, however, decide what happens next for EVERYONE. He’s one person. A single member of the NBAPA. They all need to be on the same page or it’s otherwise a wayward mission leaving other important voices behind.
In theory, if the NBAPA votes to return, LeBron can still boycott, but togetherness is pretty big when it comes to these things. That being said, it could be argued LeBron’s boycotting of the season, if everyone else were to still play, would be amplified if he was the only one doing so.
Nonetheless, when you have all the monies, it’s easier to take a stand when all it’ll cost you is the loot. It’ll be players who are making near league minimum everyone needs to have in mind when making a decision on the boycott.
The Wording Matters
This is the last thing on the boycott and LeBron James. I Promise (school).
LeBron took to social media to take issue with TNT’s usage of “postponed” instead of calling the situation what it truly is:
It’ll be interesting to see what terms are used in the next few days and how they’re justified by those using them.
Nonetheless, if players are boycotting games, we should simply call them boycotts. Trying to paint a different picture takes away from the message. Even if you disagree with the message itself, it’s important everyone knows what’s going on and what’s at stake.
Downplaying it in the name of friendlier verbiage is unhelpful.
Don’t Bother Buying Madden 21
Why? A simulation from the game predicted a Chicago Bears Super Bowl run led by Nick Foles.
If that doesn’t prove the game is broken, I don’t know what else would.
The Joe Judge Comments Seem Benign
New York Giants coach Joe Judge came under some scrutiny for saying he needed to toughen up Daniel Jones after taking off his redshirt at practice. For the sake of clarity, here is the quote that — through magic, I guess — made people upset:
“We’ve talked about it,” the Giants coach told the media, per Matt Lombardo of NJ.com. “With quarterbacks, you want to be calculated with how you bang them around. At some point, we’ll pop his pads a little bit in a controlled environment.”
The NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE is all about the shield and its tradition, so I’m guessing people are more upset about Judge not taking the conventional redshirt route seriously than they are the words he said after.
Nonetheless, our hero has jokes:
“I’ve got the strength staff downstairs right now putting bars of soap in socks and we’re just going to take him out back and wail on him for a while,” Joe Judge told Art Stapleton of The Record in reference to his recent Daniel Jones comments.
Honestly, good for him. Anyone getting upset that a coach wants to get his QB used to some hits, in a sport where people are getting smashed violently in the head all day, can go watch reruns of Dora The Explorer.
I mean, this is the “too much violence” hill you’re going to stand on? The “he’s not letting his quarterback wear a red jersey at all times” hill?
Email of the Week for Thursday
Ugh, I’ll pass on the Q&A sponsored by K-Mart in the Thunderdome of Doom or whatever the hell this is.
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Joseph used to write a bunch of things for places like Forbes, FRS and others. Now he’s ‘the man’ in management. A big old loser. A washed, leathery face, too. Here’s his own newsletter.