Grow up, kid
This is why you don’t buy an 18-year-old a $50,000 car. LeBron James wrecked his Hummer H2. You know, if James was driving a little less expensive car perhaps no one would care. As a matter of fact, if his name wasn’t LeBron James no one would care.
I’ve never knocked James’ talent level. We all know he’s phenomenal. I will knock the level of responsibility being exhibited by someone who’s supposedly ready to make the leap into the NBA.
Phoenix Suns rookie Amare Stoudemire, the latest high school-to-NBA success story, was asked what advice he would give James when considering the imminent change of lifestyle. He said simply, “He better become a man.”
I wondered, for awhile, if James really is a man. No, not “The” man, he’s already claimed that title. Is James a man? He is only 18 and still in high school. Then I thought about another situation that this is comparable to.
My mother, who has no interest in sports and thinks that James Worthy still plays for the Lakers, said something once that seems to fit nicely into this situation.
When a young lady gets pregnant as a minor, she is a woman. She may not be ready and she may be young, but her actions place her in the realm of womanhood. Whether or not she’s ready is irrelevant. She has to be more responsible and mature.
James is pregnant with opportunity. He has a big bun of talent and marketability baking in his oven. He is set to give birth to a productive basketball career and no one expects him to go to college.
By giving us, the media, the green light to believe that he will be in the NBA next season, he has placed himself in a man’s place.
As a man, James must exhibit poise, class and responsibility. Don’t play with a remote control car during the team’s shoot around in the midst of a large-scale investigation. It separates you from the team and disrespects the body of investigators. Having a wreck and not taking the proper procedures to take care of the situation is not what grown-ups do . . . wait, don’t count Halle Berry or any Dallas Cowboy.
LeBron “with an ‘e'” James is a big boy now. He has big boy game and definitely has a big boy car. Before he goes to the NBA, he needs a big boy mentality. Not many people have earned the “The” in front of “man” before they earned the “a.” Not many people can score 40 points whenever they feel like it. But LeBron James has and does. However, that does not exempt you from responsibility.
If this all seems like trash, I apologize. Don’t throw the whole paper away. Cut this article out, ball it up and toss it in the garbage. But recycle the rest of the paper. It’s the adult thing to do.
