King Lebron: Your pride is important despite Jason Whitlock’s ramblings

By Scotty Reid

It seems most of the NBA is on pause during this free agency period while everyone waits to see what King Lebron James’s next basketball decision will be. Will he choose to remain in Miami, go back to Cleveland, or maybe sign with the Lakers. However, some are speculating that King James will not sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers because of a disrespectful letter that the owner, Dan Gilbert wrote mocking him that was only recently removed from the team website.

At least one sports writer believes that King James should set aside his pride and sign with his former team even if he does not get a public apology from Gilbert who was obviously upset the Ohio native chose to leave Cleveland and was not happy with “The Decision”. All that seems to matter to ESPN writer Jason Whitlock is “Progress and Power” who titled his article, “LeBron’s pride simply not important”.

Whitlock in an article that seems to ramble at times wrote,

“Pride should have zero to do with James’ decision. Progress and power should rule which uniform James wears moving forward. Which team — Miami or Cleveland — will give James the best chance of making progress toward his on- and off-court goals, and which team will grant him the most power to shape the franchise?

Pride — the salvation of African-Americans when we were in chains, limited by Jim Crow laws — has turned into an Achilles’ heel for many of us. Unchecked pride evolves into swagger, a hypnotizing mask of insecurity that can and does compromise our ability to make progress and attain power. Pride stands in the way of forgiveness and a strategic approach to navigating a chessboard rigged to prevent pawns from becoming kings and queens.”

Besides being historically and factually incorrect, African-Americans are still enslaved under 21^st Century Slavery and Human Trafficking, also referred to as mass incarceration, pride should be a part of Lebron James’s decision on whether or not he chooses to go back to Cleveland. James does not have to swallow his pride and take a job with Cleveland absent an apology from Gilbert because the NBA is the King’s court and he can chose to work for any number of NBA teams that can afford to pay for the services of the league’s top player. Lebron is already an NBA champion and multimillionaire so swallowing his pride so that he can find work and feed his family does not enter into the equation.

As far as pride standing in the way of forgiveness, Lebron swallowed his pride and apologized to fans for the over the top way some say he made “The Decision” to leave Cleveland. However, Whitlock does not seem to believe that Dan Gilbert should swallow his pride and apologize for the disrespectful and childish letter he wrote and published on the team website calling Lebron James several ugly names. Lebron James does not owe anyone anything, not the city of Cleveland, not Jason Whitlock and he certainly does not have to grovel at the feet of any NBA owner, especially one that has disrespected him in such a public fashion and has not apologized publicly.

Lebron James has not made any public comments that he wants an apology from Gilbert. Whitlock cites an unnamed source that says this is an issue. We do not know. Nevertheless, if James does not go to Cleveland and the lack of an apology is the reason that is his prerogative. Pride is something too many are lacking and people should always take pride in what they do.

I would like to think that pride, among other factors, played into why President Obama chose not to take Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s offer to tour the Texas border with a man who has done nothing but disrespect him his entire tenure as POTUS.

Breaking News: King Lebron has announced that he will be going back to Cleveland and in a letter stated that being an Ohio native and wanting to go back home factored most in his decision. I hope that Dan Gilbert at least apologized to King Lebron privately since it appears he is too prideful to apologize publically just as he publically disrespected the best player in the NBA. No one should think any less of Lebron James because of his decision absent the public apology as James has proven he is a bigger man, literally and figuratively, than Dan Gilbert and Jason Whitlock.