Fuck Yea[h] NBA

A telling anecdote via Columnist Dan Bickey at the Arizona Republic

Once, Jerry Colangelo imported the late Myles Brand to speak to the Olympians. When Brand identified himself as president of the NCAA, James interrupted the speech with a shout from the back of the room.

“Of who?” he said.

“The NCAA,” Brand responded.

“I missed you, man,” he said. “My bad.”

The joke was inappropriate and yet hysterical. James was pointing out that he didn’t know Brand because he didn’t need college to get where he was going. You could almost hear his teammates bursting with laughter, yet they remained governed by a sense of restraint.

Later, I asked Wade about James’ brand of leadership, and why fellow players seemed to gravitate to him.

“He’ll say anything to anybody at anytime,” Wade said with near reverence.

I wrote about this already, but the players are a different breed these days in the NBA. It’s what makes this lockout so frustrating. Both sides are being stubborn and self-serving, but the players aren’t banded together by labor, they’re bound together by money—and the chance for more.

pic via Daily Telegraph