One lost his title not by being knocked down in the ring, but by taking a stand out of it. He said,
“I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong… they never called me nigger.”
Two of them won Olympic medals, but would forever go down in history for a simple yet effective gesture.
One decided to take a stand even when no one truly expected him to, and nobody would’ve blamed him if he had not.
One was asked why he wouldn’t make an endorsement in a political race and famously or, infamously depending on your point of view quipped,
“Republicans buy shoes too.”
In order, those athletes were Muhammad Ali, John Carlos and Tommie Smith, LeBron James, and of course Michael Jordan. Before we get too deep into this edition of Tha Weatha Report, allow me to first say that there is absolutely no requirement for an athlete to make his/her social opinions known. They get paid to run fast, jump high, hit harder than their opponent, and put a ball in a hoop/goal/net. There has never been an owner or promoter that cuts a check to an athlete because they agreed with their political stance. But on the other side, there has never been a high profile athlete that has been denied a check based on their opposing political or social views. There is a reason why they are athletes and not social commentators.
However, there comes a time when you have to continue the work that was put in by pioneers before you. I am one of the biggest Michael Jordan fans that you would probably ever see. I buy his shoes, clothes, and still tout him as the greatest basketball player that ever donned a jersey. But I also can call a spade a spade and Michael Jordan did absolutely nothing to further any agenda outside of his own. This is not just a commentary on MJ’s lack of a political stance. That would be shortsighted. Just like it would be shortsighted to say that those athletes named above were the only ones to ever take a stand. Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell are just a few other names. Remember, Michael Jordan had the premium opportunity to take a stand against unfair child labor in Indonesia. His response?
“I think that’s Nike’s decision to do what they can to make sure everything is correctly done. I don’t know the complete situation. Why should I? I’m trying to do my job.”
Great job there by “His Airness”. You are the athlete with the highest profile to ever lace up a pair of Nikes. Your profile is so considerably large that your products are no longer Nike, they are Jordan Brand. Michael Jordan had the chance to put his name out there in regards to a plague that has gripped the world, and in the clutch Jordan did something that we were not used to him doing during his playing days. He failed. He missed the shot at the buzzer. Those young children that were making his shoes did not care about Jordan “doing his job” because at the ages of 10, 11, and 12 they were illegally doing their own jobs. Simply put, Michael Jordan shot an air ball whenever he had the chance to take a stand.
This brings us to one of the closest athletes we have to Michael Jordan, a man that evokes considerable emotions in certain parts of the country. A man that has a global imprint. That man is LeBron James. Now say what you will about “King James”. Dislike him for his playoff failures. Dislike him for leaving Cleveland and, wait for it……”taking his talents to South Beach”. But the one thing that we all have to admit is that LeBron James has Michael Jordan beat in one major area. Mr. James took a stand when he didn’t have to.
Unless you have been living underneath a rock for the last week or two, all of you have heard the tragic tale of the situation surrounding the death of Trayvon Martin (if you need to read up on this story as well as how it relates to our world, I recommend my good friend Pluto Strange's article here). It is a story that has galvanized communities as well as caused a good portion of this country to re-examine the way that they look at members of different races. The one portion of society that no one expected to hear from on this matter was the world of sports. In recent years this generation has not had its own version of Muhammad Ali or Bill Russell. With one single gesture, one tweet, and one photograph LeBron James finally stepped up in the clutch and delivered. A few days ago James took to Twitter to put his face on an issue that has swept through the nation. With phrases such as #WeAreTrayvonMartin, #Hoodies, and #WeWantJustice, LeBron James made his opinion clearly known to the world. Also tweeted along with those words was a picture of the entire Miami Heat team, each player draped in hoodies. There is a saying that a picture is worth a thousand words, but that picture was worth ten times that amount. With that single show of solidarity the Miami Heat and most importantly LeBron James showed the world that there are athletes who are socially conscious when before it was thought that those types of people had become extinct.
Has LeBron taken himself to Ali’s level? Of course not. It would be foolish to say such. The situation, era, and circumstances were totally different. Has LeBron taken himself above Michael Jordan’s level? Yes, without a shadow of a doubt. There are moments in life when sports take an extreme back seat. This happened to be one of those times. This also happened to be one of those times when one of the most visible athletes of our time decided to step out of the shadows and shed light where it needed to shine.
Michael Jordan has three more MVP awards than LeBron James. Six more titles and is universally loved where LeBron is….well, let’s just say that he would have to pay for his own drinks in Cleveland. But with one camera flash, LeBron James overtook Michael Jordan in one big area. To ignore that….well, wouldn't that just be shortsighted?
One of the best. I was not expecting this. I hope Jordan and Lebron see this.
ReplyDelete