Remember the old joke “I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out”? Well, I don’t get to watch as many NBA games as I used to, so I recently tuned into a Lakers-Celtics game. Immediately, it made me realize why I don’t watch that much pro basketball anymore. There was too little NBA as I like it and way too many WWF-like moments.
For example, Kevin Garnett dunks the ball after bursting through traffic. Quite impressive. But then he has to punctuate the moment by posing for the camera and assuming a loud-mouthed “check out these biceps” stance. Is he Pretty Boy George or George Mikan? Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Willis Reed or Wes Unseld (guys I watched when I watched lots of basketball) would never stoop to such attention-getting antics.
I always think of that coach’s comment (it’s been attributed to Vince Lombardi and Joe Paterno, among others) after a player scores a touchdown and starts dancing in the end zone like it was “Saturday Night Fever”: “Act like you’ve been there before.” I could see if Garnett’s feat was a game-winning play, but showboat dunks are commonplace these days.
The NBA is not alone in its image problems. Look over the latest steroid news from Major League Baseball or which NFL player is the latest to get pulled over for drunk driving or misbehave in a nightclub.
While I enjoy ex-NBA great Charles Barkley for his candor and cockiness, he shot an air ball a while back when he said he wasn’t a role model so he didn’t have to act like one. All of us are role models, if only in small, brief or seemingly insignificant ways. I put in a lot of volunteer time at my son’s elementary school. I love it, getting to know my sons’ classmates, working with them on their lessons, helping out in the class, watching them grow into the most recent hope for our country. So even in my small way, I know I need to set a good example. What would my example say if my behavior was not exemplary? For that same reason I don’t park in the “no parking zone” in front of the school like many of the “more important” parents. That isn’t acceptable anywhere else, so why at school? I say hello by name to as many of the kids as I can. I help them whether it’s spelling a word or retying their sneakers or reminding them not to forget their backpacks.
So what does it say to our youth when our sports heroes are tattooed like billboards and end up frequently at the police station? After all, who wouldn’t want to be a professional athlete? The worst player in the NBA, for which I could qualify for, makes millions. Geez, backup catchers in Major League Baseball can bring home $2 million a year.
The recent antics of NBAer Stephon Marbury come to mind. I used to admire this guy as he started a line of sneakers that, unlike the LeBron and Kobe models that cost more than $100, were really affordable. Then the guy goes to war against the Knicks front office and refuses to play—despite the fact he’s being paid $20 million a year. What kind of example is he setting? Needless to say, I will not buy my son another pair of his sneakers.
It is difficult to be a role model these days, especially for people in the public eye. You are always being watched in this YouTube era. My son’s favorite athlete is Carmelo Anthony. As luck would have it, right after we purchased ‘Melo’s first Nuggets jersey as a birthday gift for my son, he runs into trouble with the law. (Kobe jerseys have long been outlawed in our household, I don’t have to explain why.) When relying this incident to one of my friends, who’s also a dad, I received some wise advice: “We only root for teams, not individuals.” So my son has quite a few Denver Nuggets shirts and sweatshirts as a result of that sage wisdom.
But I’ve always filled his closet with merchandise of the old-time NBA players, like Walt Frazier and Julius Erving, guy I grew up idolizing. The Knicks of the ‘70s played basketball the way I love it best. No posturing screaming and “Clyde” had those killer sideburns and stylish threads. Can’t wait for that look to make a comeback.
Until then, care to place a friendly wager on when those shorty shorts will come back into the NBA closet?
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