A Tale of Two Players, Part Two

In my last blog, I touched on an article which Sally Jenkins wrote for the Washington Post about two pretty popular NBA players: one who's pretty much an awesome dude on & off the court whereas the other - Kobe Bryant - is a complete narcissistic bear. One player is building his team up whereas Kobe tore the Los Angeles Lakers apart (& still is as we speak).

Who is the other player which is deserving of the accolades which Sally Jenkins has given him?

It's Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

A lot of folks'll say that the Cavs are all about Lebron in the same way that the Lakers are all about Kobe. But this just isn't true. In Game 5, sure enough, plenty of eyebrows were raised when Lebron scored 48. On the other hand, as Game 6 illustrates, he confirms one quality that any NBA star player in their right mindframe should have: selflessness. By accepting less, he's also raising his teammates' level of play up exponentially (Daniel Gibson had a career high in points & led the team in scoring too). He is the true epitome of unselfishness & integrity at its finest. Not only that, but he does something hardly anyone would think of doing nowadays, as Jenkins points out: "...He takes blame as easily as takes credit, and he talks in the plural instead of about himself. 'I've always believed in us,' James said..."

As you can see, he believes in accountability. He also speaks the language of personal responsibility. Rather than sulk or brood when things go wrong or displace his anger on his teammates if he should fail (as Kobe has done too often), he has the heart & confidence to say, "I'll keep getting better." When Lebron was drafted only four years back, the Cavs won a paltry 17 games but never has he vented his frustrations toward Cleveland's GM for all the losses he's had to endure & he hasn't turned into a hater towards those who look down on his weaknesses. He's let his actions on the court speak louder than words ever will & none of his playing has ever felt as if he had to force himself to dunk or bank a 3-pointer, etc. Quoting Cavs coach Mike Brown, & I'm sure a lot of people will agree here about Lebron's true character as a leader of his ballclub, "Everybody keeps asking for more, and he is a willing guy...He just keeps giving us more."

Now that's a gulf of a difference between two of the NBA's top stars. Where Lebron continues to give more (& not boast too highly of himself), Kobe has demanded more (& drawn all the attention to himself for all the wrong reasons). If anything, Lebron is the type of player Kobe ought to be - no, is supposed to be. Sadly, Kobe still doesn't seem to get it. While he's languishing at home, Lebron and the rest of his Cleveland teammates are getting geared up for the San Antonio Spurs. This isn't to say Lebron has finally arrived with his first-ever trip into the NBA Finals; he still knows there is work to be done. And here's the thing: Lebron is genuinely humble about where his team now stands & he'll only find more ways to build the city of Cleveland into a hoops dynasty. But he sure isn't inclined to follow in Kobe Bryant's shoes to make a success story worth remembering.