Sketch o’the Week

June 15th, 2011 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week

This week’s subject is karma victim LeBron James.

I’m not a guy who wishes ill will on anybody, but I must say I was happy to see Dallas win the NBA championship rather than have to hear about this jackass getting a ring. James is the poster boy for super-egotistical, narcissistic, spoiled brat athletes. I have to laugh out loud when I read comments by him and his (small) group of supporters wondering why all the hate and saying he doesn’t deserve it. He deserves it. Every bit of it. His one hour TV special “The Decision” (note the caps in the title, like the world has hanging on it) might be the most disgusting example of narcissism every aired on national TV, and that’s saying something with Donald Trump out there. Even in this day and age of people mistakenly believing others should know or care about their opinions on anything, sports fans still admire at least a hint of humility from their star athletes. James doesn’t even pretend to have such. Witness his comments following his loss in the NBA Finals:

“All the people that were rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today. They have the same personal problems they had today. I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that. So they can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy about not only myself, but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal. But they got to get back to the real world at some point.”

Translation: You all have shitty little lives and I am still LeBron James, so GFY. That’s rich from a guy who is lucky he’s 6’9″ and a physically gifted athlete who can play pro basketball, because he doesn’t have the brains or skills to do much more that flip burgers otherwise.

Wow. Does this guy have ANYBODY around him that can give him some simple advice about how to be a human being, or are they all just head-nodding bobos that tell him 24-7 he’s a god and the rest of the world lesser mortals?

I’ve got news for LeBron: yes, most people out there don’t make millions of dollars playing a kid’s game, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t happy with their lives. I’d rather be doing what I do for a living, with a loving family, the ability to treat others like real people and have the respect of those who meet me than to be a rich athlete with no respect for the rest of humanity, surrounded by money-grubbing yes-men and commanding the respect of no one whom I didn’t buy that respect from. Also, the reason you make millions is BECAUSE of the “little people” you denigrate, who spend their hard-earned money on NBA tickets, merchandise and watch games on TV providing the ad revenues that pay your salary.

I actually don’t care in the least about pro basketball, and ordinarily wouldn’t give it the time of day, but James gets my attention for all the wrong reasons. Monetary success. Humanity fail. Congrats, LeBron.

 

Comments

  1. Houston says:
    June 15, 2011 at 9:18 am

    AMEN!

    I hate sore losers. I learned early in life, it’s easy to be gracious when you win, the true test is when you lose.

  2. a.t says:
    June 15, 2011 at 9:18 am

    Thanks Tom. As always was fantastic

  3. Doug Gilford says:
    June 15, 2011 at 9:47 am

    And you know the sad thing is I think a lot of people, myself included, actually liked the guy at one time when he was newer to the league in Cleveland. What a change fame, money, etc. can have on certain people…

  4. Gabriel Yeo says:
    June 15, 2011 at 9:55 am

    Hi Tom,
    You shouldn’t even have bothered caricaturing him.
    A stick figure with a label, LeBron, would have taken enough of anybody’s time already.
    Drawing him only serves to justify that he is “somebody”.

    • Tom says:
      June 15, 2011 at 10:01 am

      I considered that angle, but fame comes in many forms. I didn’t caricature him because he’s a great NBA player, I did it because he is a great asshole. Besides, being caricatured by me is hardly something to aspire to. Tens of thousands of people have caricatures drawn by me probably hanging from their refrigerator door held up by a magnet shaped like an ear of corn. <- See, LeBron! Humility is easy if you only mean it!

    • Bill Karis says:
      June 15, 2011 at 10:07 am

      I had the same thought. Tom’s talent is too good to be wasted on this jerk.

  5. Bill Karis says:
    June 15, 2011 at 10:06 am

    Great rant Tom. He deserved everything you said, and more.

  6. Ed Meisinger says:
    June 15, 2011 at 10:29 am

    I agree with most of what you say – Lebron has handled many things poorly – but I still don’t quite understand the severity of hatred towards this guy by so many people. After all, is what he did really that different from what Kevin Garnett did when he joined Boston? Many other pro basketball players have switched teams for exactly the same reason Lebron did. People do have a right to change their place of employment.

  7. Brian Benson says:
    June 15, 2011 at 10:44 am

    I love the drawing, but this is the rare time I disagree with you. Lebron has actually exceeded expectations. He’s made it to the finals twice, fills the stat sheets and is one of the best b ball players on the planet. Everyone that has invested in him have cashed in on what he brings to the table. Good and bad.Let’s face for an uneducated kid from the ghetto, he’s doing pretty well. Not perfect or always likable. But he’s a text book on branding and taking advantage of opportunities.I think people hate him so much because he wasn’t loyal to Clevland.I would hate to be under that microscope .

    • Tom says:
      June 15, 2011 at 10:54 am

      I would have to disagree. I don’t dislike the guy because he left Cleveland. I don’t dispute he’s a great talent on the basketball court. I don’t think less of him because he hasn’t won a championship. I don’t care either way. I dislike the guy because he is an egotistical asshole who thinks he’s above the rest of the world, and his comments and actions have demonstrated that over and over again. That’s the one and only reason for me, and the venom he’s getting from so many is for the same reason. If it was otherwise, only people who are from Cleveland would care.

      • Shawn says:
        June 15, 2011 at 2:19 pm

        [Citation Needed]

        You’re arguing your opinion without facts. Even so, your caricature is dope as hell.

        • Gabriel Yeo says:
          June 16, 2011 at 1:53 am

          Whoa! I would have to disagree…the caricature is SPOT-ON, man!

  8. Rob Chase says:
    June 15, 2011 at 10:40 pm

    Bravo Tom! I couldn’t agree more with what you wrote if I tried. I feel that way about most “celebrities”. I’ve had the opportunity to meet a few well know actors/actresses and sports figures and I’ve been FAR less than impressed. It’s actually become something of a joke with people I’m close to when they start to idolize a certain personality. I have them recite my stance on people with fame – “They’re all crazy”. Obviously there are exceptions to that, but those are few and far between. I suppose it takes a special kind of crazy to seek that kind of attention to begin with, but at the end of the day I’d rather have a conversation with ANYONE other than a “celebrity”.

  9. Trevour says:
    June 16, 2011 at 12:26 am

    He basically had his NBA career handed to him on a gold platter when he was barely old enough to drive a car. Er, make that a Hummer. 🙂 Nobody is denying his talents on the court, but it makes me think his shot to fame while still a kid simply stunted his logic and maturity. And he’s been living in that world ever since!

  10. nunz says:
    June 16, 2011 at 8:54 am

    The Washington Post reports that an NBA player claims James refers to himself as “King James” when he sends text messages.

    For example, a player recently told me LeBron had contacted him about possibly joining forces in the offseason, though he was cryptic about where he actually might play. The text began: “Yo, this is King James.”

    ‚Äö√Ñ√∫I was like, ‚Äö√Ñ√≤Give me a break. You‚Äö√Ñ√¥re going to call yourself that?‚Äö√Ñ√¥” the player said, on condition that his name not be used.

    “Do you think Michael Jordan texts people by starting with, ‘Yo, this is His Airness.’ Come on, get over yourself.”

  11. Gabriel Yeo says:
    June 18, 2011 at 11:54 am

    Hi Tom,
    It just occurred to me….if LeBron reads Mad mag, you just lost one customer…
    Haha…just kidding! I’m sure he can’t read beyond first grade.

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