Chill.
Let’s all just chill. You, me, the person to your left, your right, the kid from your high school who used to play pocket billiards in the back of math class, the tighty-whitey-clad cowboy who plays acoustic guitar on the corner of busy streets and the guy behind me who smells of fetid cheese and days-old sour cream and is staring at me with a bemused look on his face as I write this.
All of us—more specifically, those who care about or are tied to the NBA—just need to pump the brakes on all this “Which NBA superstars are coming home next?” crap that’s gaining popularity because of shit that doesn’t quite matter.
LeBron James may have started something by returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The idea of athletes coming “home” has been ingrained in our heads for years. Talk of Kevin Durant returning to Maryland to play for the Washington Wizards was relevant long before LeBron pulled his magnified mulligan.
But there’s a tendency out there to make snap judgements and draw conclusions from events and ties that don’t exist. Fans and media members seem to care more about players going “home” than the actual players.
Why? For one, it may not appeal to them as much as we’d like. The NBA is a business. Players want to play and win, but they also want to make money. Lots of money. And many of them follow said money.
Winning a title in or around their hometown might also ring hollow. What does it really mean? Ending the New York Knicks’ four-decade-long championship drought will mean just as much whether you’re from one of the five boroughs or not. If Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love or Paul George won a title as members of the Lakers, so what. Cool. Oh, they’re from California? Cool again.
The Lakers have won before. It wasn’t long ago they were winning quite frequently. Winning again will indubitably mean something, but it won’t mean any more or less because a California native did or didn’t play for said title-roping team.
This, though, is predicated on a looser than loose—I’m talking Miley Cyrus after a liter of tequila loose—interpretation of “coming home.”
Did LeBron really come “home” when he returned to the Cavs? No, because the Cavs don’t play in Akron. They’re based in Cleveland. That’s not “home” in the truest sense of the word.
LeBron himself needed to classify “home” as “Northeast Ohio” in his heartfelt, slightly misleading—Andrew Wiggins knows what I’m talking about—return letter. Had he decided to join the Houston Rockets, he could have written something like, “West of the Atlantic, nothing is given…” and made the same point. That’s how general his designation of “home” was.
None of which demands you chide the King for his return. His is a coming home story with plenty of validity. My point is, let’s not make this into a thing.
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Stephen Curry may, despite what he says, feel absolutely nothing when pressed about the possibility of winning a title with the Charlotte Hornets. Durant probably doesn’t care where he wins a title at this point, so long as he secures one.
Most of all, though, let’s cut the prematurely asinine garbage. Do not, under any circumstance, entertain the idea of Anthony Davis playing for the Chicago Bulls. Not when he’s only entering the third year of his career, and not when pretty much all players coming off rookie deals remain with incumbent teams.
This has to stop. It just has to. Completely? No, not at all. Indulge every once in a while. Dare to dream. But be smart about it.
Leave the boisterous bullshit-slinging to politicians, serial liars and Shelly Sterling, and focus on what’s real, current and actually matters.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
