NBA I Am

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Kawhi Leonard, so humble. Just wanna shoot hoops, not ego.

 I’m the best shooter in the NBA and beyond. I’m a Rock of Gibraltar on defence. I’m a basketball hacker by profession. I steal the ball from the guy next door. 

Self esteem is great but it might be a problem for I AM players and their teams. The game stops being the priority. The I AM sticks out like a sore thumb. It borders on the ridicule that before me, there was no NBA.

The I AM consumes the player to such an extent that he thinks he’s indispensable. He can get away with anything, because the team is him. The coach is nothing.

Craig Robinson, National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) executive.

Players do not tell stories about coaches from hell, for fear of being unemployed. Coaches are not perfect but they are there to manage logistics that will lead to playoffs and finals but more importantly, they are babysitters to keep the peace between egos encouraged by statistics i.e. the best 3-pointer in the league or reigning MVP.

The I AM does not enjoy his sleep. We, broke people, sleep soundly because we have nothing and never will. The I AM doesn’t know the joy of snoring because he’s always awake, nurturing thoughts of how he’s going to excel in the the next game as I AM, not as part of a team. He might even design violent strategies for the player who is going to guard him.

The NBA like any sports organizations has rules, but the I AM feels he transcends them, they don’t apply to him. Because he’s above the NBA, he can throw tantrums and even assault other players who happen to be within his I AM vision.

BELIEVING THE HYPE

The I AM player loves stats, figures because they justify his existence. Podcasts, specialty sports media and even Hollywood raise his I AM flag. Social media cannot get enough of him.

We cannot blame the I AM player for giving himself more inches that what god gave him. He is a copycat. He can name a few NBA veterans that hit the top of the pyramid using I AM antics.

The I AM player is so hypnotized he forgets that people are fickle, and that includes yesterday’s sports commentators. When the bridge collapses, he loses it mentally to such an extent that he demonstrates ‘unprofessional’ behavior that will sink his team and his future prospects when it’s time to trade him.

Nobody wants an I AM, in basketball.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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