People Don't Actually Think That LeBron James Drafted His Own All Star Team, Do They?
Last night on the Evening Yak (tune in Monday through Friday 6-7pm ET only on Barstool Radio Sirius XM Power 85), we were talking about the NBA All Star Game. LeBron James and Steph Curry just divvying up NBA All Stars amongst each other recess style. We all know the back story here with LeBron and Kyrie, and how it’s not some drummed up WWE storyline to get people’s attention.
If it were fake, Kyrie wouldn’t be in Boston right now leading the charge for the first place Boston Celtics. He’d still be in Cleveland, and maybe the Cavs wouldn’t be a complete dumpster fire right now, losers of eleven of their last fifteen games. Actually, they definitely wouldn’t be since IT is apparently right at the forefront of all the drama that’s been going on with that team.
But the concept of two of the game’s brightest stars captaining opposing All Star teams and putting LeBron in a position where he might have to draft Kyrie, who bailed on his diva ass for greener pastures, no pun intended but intended, that’s television gold. No-brainer. Even the casual fans are tuning in to watch that reality show unfold. And the NBA, who is widely regarded as the savviest among the four major sports in terms of marketing their product, they just decided not to televise this? Really? Just didn’t think anyone would be into that?
In the discussion we had, I said there was a zero percent chance that LeBron would take Kyrie unless he was the last man standing in the draft, which obviously he wouldn’t be, and then I walked it back. I was like, wait a minute…this isn’t televised? Well, then it’s completely fabricated and there’s a zero percent chance that LeBron actually picked his own team. Lo and behold, the teams were announced around 7 o’clock last night, and whaddaya know? Kyrie is on Team LeBron. Huh. Look at that.
I know how petty it sounds to carry a grudge into a fake draft for a game that doesn’t matter, but this isn’t your everyday average Joe that we’re dealing with here. It’s LeBron. He’s the king of all divas. He’s the guy who makes everything about him, the guy who congratulates himself for accomplishments that he hasn’t achieved yet, the guy who Instagrams his workouts so that everyone knows how hard he’s working in the offseason, and the guy who puts his best interest before that of his own team. Why? Because he’s LeBron and he can. He’s the best basketball player on earth and nobody is going to tell him no.
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But then I see all these people saying, “Wow, look at LeBron out there being the bigger man and taking Kyrie and praising him for how good he is!” Fuuuuuck outta here with that shit. A sucker is born every minute, and you, my friend, are a sucker if you think that LeBron would put his pride aside and willingly give Kyrie the nod to play alongside him again after he opted to play for the upstart Boston Celtics over the team that he won an NBA title with two years prior with LeBron. That’s delusional.
Regardless, it’s still coming right back to the NBA being brilliant at marketing their product, because even though they didn’t televise LeBron selecting Kyrie and showing us what kind of reaction they both had during that moment, you bet your ass everyone is going to tune in to see how they interact with each other as “teammates” on February 18 at the Staples Center. You win again, NBA. You win again.
And that was talkin’ shooty hoops with Jared.