So LeBron is going back to Cleveland. I have to tell you, this incenses me to no end. I am pissed off about this whole thing and before you start thinking this is because I am a Miami Heat fan, save it. I could care less about the basketball world right now and I have never been a Heat fan. This quite simply is about PRIDE and HONOR. Two things which seems LeBron is either lacking in or knows nothing about. I'll explain why I say that.
Back in 2010, the day LeBron decided to "take his talents" to Miami instead of res-signing with the sorry Cavaliers, the owner of those Cavaliers penned an open letter to the fans of his sorry ass team. In this letter he called his now ex superstar "cowardly", "selfish", "disloyal", and "cursed". I don't know about you but to me, when a wealthy white man refers to a Black man that has worked for him and his organization the way LeBron did for the Cavaliers that way, I hear the dog whistle and I vividly see the racial sentiment behind those words.
It's like Dan Gilbert, the man who penned that letter was telling his fans that LeBron was an ungrateful and disloyal negro who has left the plantation. "But don't fret dear fans of mine for he will never be successful because since he couldn't win here then he is most certainly and obviously "cursed". Miami will see the error of their ways by signing someone so "selfish" and "cowardly". That letter stayed up on the Cleveland Cavaliers web site for four years.
It came down only a few days before Lebron went back to the plantation.
The Letter
Yet Dan Gilbert has spoken on the mistakes he's made and he sounded quite contrite in the process. He talked about how LeBron has matured and is a family man now, as if that had something to do with that letter staying on the site for four long years. If he weren't a family man or hadn't matured would the letter have come down?
Speaking for myself, no person could ever call me those words and expect me to deal with them on any level ever again. Especially a white person, let alone a wealthy one. Were I LeBron, I would have initially told Dan to fuck off and stay away from me, if he persisted and groveled accordingly, supplicating himself correctly then I would have demanded a PUBLIC apology for ALL the world to see. Then I would have stipulated that the public apology video go up on the Cav's website and remain there for four years.
You just aren't going to call me anything you like because you've been butt hurt and expect me to be understanding. LeBron is looked up to by so many young Black boys and girls, what kind of message does this send to them, where someone can call you such incendiary words and yet you go back and play for that person and try to deliver the Larry O'Brien trophy to that persons organization? All the while putting more money back in that man's coffers. That's exactly how I saw things the moment I got the NBA alert on my phone that he had re-signed with Cleveland. That alert told me that I expected too much from LeBron, that I thought he had some pride and honor. I see now I was wrong, mistaken in thinking he was different, mistaken in thinking he was more than just a basketball player.
When he spoke on on Donald Sterling saying someone like that has no place in our league I was stunned. The so called great Michael Jordan would have never said ANYTHING like that. Jordan turned and ran from anything political or controversial his entire career. Yes I know others remained silent but none of those players had the stature and impact of Jordan. LeBron stepped up and spoke up and it made me proud. For a second I thought I saw a Black man who gets it, who understands what's going on, who isn't afraid to speak truth to power. Then I got that damn alert on my phone and all that pride I had for him went down the toilet.
LeBron is nothing more than another negro playing basketball on Dan Gilbert's plantation up in Cleveland. I understand that now and I while I never hoped for a Black man to fail, I honestly hope he never wins another thing as long as he wears Gilbert's brand, that Cavalier jersey.
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