Anakin Skywalker: “If you’re not with me, then you’re my enemy.”
Obi-Wan Kenobi: “Only a Sith deals in absolutes.”
Has to be in the top ten of movie quotes of all time, indisputable. At this point, we know Anakin has turned to the dark side to save Padame but this moment crystallized his transformation. We all know what happens next: Obi-Wan defeats Anakin, Anakin turns into Darth Vader but not before his son Luke and daughter Leia are born who will eventually lead the Rebel forces to defeat the Imperial army therefore saving the galaxy (spoiler alert!). Almost all of us have watched at least one Star Wars epic (Episode II doesn’t count) but none of us have learned that fundamental message aforementioned by Obi Wan.
“Only a Sith deals in absolutes.”
As evidenced when I was recently talking to some friends about the botched 1993 draft by the Orlando Magic, who along with me are Magic fans. I was shooting off my mouth (surprisingly) why Chris Webber made so much more sense for the Magic after they lucked into the No. 1 pick that year. Webber was one of the few breeds of forward who was as stellar at passing as he was shooting, great defender down low (Hardaway was a sieve), and had more raw talent than Hardaway had talent. Instead, Orlando traded back to the No. 3 pick because they were so impressed with Hardaway’s one workout that no one else saw. By drafting Chris Webber, the Magic had a greater chance of convincing Shaq to stay—O’Neal and Hardaway had a falling out that convinced Shaq to leave—kept Scott Skiles to run point in 1994 and possibly sign a role player like Steve Kerr who was fundamental in the Bulls’ second threepeat. Don’t forget Orlando also drafted Darrel Armstrong in 1994 who proved to be a valuable asset and fan favorite in Orlando. The Magic could have had a starting five of Skiles, Armstrong, Kerr, C-Webb, and Shaq for the next six to seven years at least and fill in various role players and low level veterans throughout to patch the holes of the team. That sounds a lot better than a failed 1995 Finals performance, Shaq leaving, watching Hardaway flame out, and Orlando basketball entering obscurity until they drafted Dwight Howard.
No Magic fan can convince me that they would rather have the what-if starting five instead of the one year of greatness Orlando had. However, my Magic friends were telling me how crucial Penny was to the ’95 run (true) and at least he had a decent career post-Shaq. Since when has basketball been about just being able to compete? It seemed they were all too wary of criticizing their team and being seen as a hater. This hater notion has to be the most frustrating inanity of sports fandom.
Either I’m a die-hard fanatic who loves every financial and athletic move my team makes or I’m an annoying hater who isn’t a true fan. Which leads us to Lebron James, the most polarizing athlete in professional sports. I like Lebron, he’s distanced himself as the best player in the NBA right now. However, I, along with 85% of the country, hated The Decision. I distaste the Miami Heat’s basketball version of Two and a Half Men (when is Bosh being replaced by Ashton?) and how they have a good chance of winning the championship destroying any concept of team I’ve ever known. Despite all that, I can’t deny how great Dwayne Wade and Lebron James have been this postseason. Any labels of choke artist have been stripped from Lebron as we watched him crush the Celtics’ dreams in Games 4 and 5 scoring the last four points to force overtime, the go ahead basket for the win to start overtime, and score the last 10 points of the game of Game 5 to close out the series. He then rallied against Chicago putting the team on his back again scoring only the last seven points this time. Watching both James and Wade kill themselves on offense and defense with Wade clearly rattling both Ray Allen’s and Derrick Rose’s shooting performances in the respective series has been an absolute treat. The problem is no one can separate The Decision between their decision if they like the player or not. Criticizing is fair and should happen like Orlando’s botched draft in 1993 but bashing a player’s talents, calling him overrated simply because he was selfish is the definition of a true hater. No more hating, I thought we dealt with that a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
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