Someone, somewhere a long time ago said to work smarter, not harder.
The new NBA has taken it to heart.
This period of free agency has been historical and clarifying. No other sport has had the nation’s attention for a handful of players’ decisions as the NBA has had this year. But what we have also learned is just how much “branding” matters. We’ve learned that billionaires, rap stars and financial plans that chart out a path to nine figures — as well as cartoons and 300-foot billboards near New York’s Madison Square Garden — are now recruiting tools.
And it takes getting used to.
Years ago, kids practiced with the intent of being a basketball star; of hitting the winning shot to be crowned the best. Now? Kids practice in order to be a star, in the “E!” sense of the word. Winning shots add zeros to the bank account. There are reality shows to star in, dancing shows to compete on, clothing lines to start, movies to produce and music videos for cameo appearances.
And the fact of the matter is, all of that can pretty much be accomplished without winning big.
Winning used to be the requirement for the fame that came with it. Hoist the championship trophy and a world of opportunity opened up. But today’s athletes are iPhones, and I’m still living in a land line past. They understand what a few well- placed 3-pointers, YouTube- and “SportsCenter”-worthy dunks and chase-down blocked shots can do.
These players want to win. They really do. They just want to do it their way. They have grown up with the example of putting a Dream Team together to get back at a world that was beating our college players. They have grown up in a video-game era, where stacking teams with multiple stars not only can be done with a few clicks of the controller, it’s doggone fun to do it. It all seeps in. It’s hard to blame them.
And the legacy I’m so fond of — and many purists are — which says you must win multiple titles to be mentioned among the game’s greatest, isn’t the legacy that is coveted. Flashier goals are aspired to . . . and that’s completely fine. It’s just different. Different doesn’t mean better, and in this case I don’t think it is.
Winning an NBA championship is still difficult. The Miami Heat will find that out. Dwyane Wade already knows. LeBron James and Chris Bosh figured out that it’s smarter to do it this way than work that much harder to do it themselves.
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@
