Goats (Bot9 #354)
It’s that time of year where spring high school state championships are happening and the NBA playoffs are heating up. Champions are being named across the country and soon in professional basketball. With LeBron James advancing to the Western Conference finals at age 38 in his 20th year in the league, the annual “Who is the greatest basketball player of all-time?” is heating up yet again. It’s the GOAT conversation we all know - MJ or LeBron?
This past week, I started rewatching The Last Dance on nights the NBA is off. That ten-part series gives us the opportunity to refresh our memories around the career of Michael Jordan. Watching that and listening to the current buzz about LeBron allows us to draw some interesting parallels between the two greats. For Michael, there’s a scene at the end of episode VII of the series where he is overcome with emotion, breaking into tears, as he reflects on what people have documented as him pushing people to the edge. He says, “If you don’t want to play that way, don’t play that way.” It’s a recognition of all that it takes to climb the mountain of success and greatness, the pain of loss through the long journey to get there, and what we might guess is a level of regret at those left behind in the process. There’s a theme of isolation present in the series as Michael becomes more and more separated from those around him due to the level of his recognition and fame.
Because I’ve had a chance to watch both Michael Jordan and LeBron James summit to the heights of greatness for the entirety of their careers (yeah, kinda means I’m old now), there are some interesting connections. It’s took me a while to acknowledge the greatness of both. Growing up with Bird and Magic, I didn’t jump on the Jordan bandwagon early, but late. For LeBron, I’ve always held his effort in the 2010 series he played with the Cavaliers against the Celtics against him. His performance in the last three games was poor, but it was his body language that struck me as disappointing. He didn’t attempt to “will” his team to victory, but accepted the defeat and moved on to Miami that summer. I remember saying, “There’s no way Michael would have done that.” But I heard something this week that made me rethink that narrative. For LeBron, he’s either all in or all out on his team, and his effort and drive will reflect that. He’s so basketball smart that he knows if his team can win it all or if it’s time to move on to the next year. Because he’s still playing at such a high level at the age of 38, you have to wonder if those calculated choices will keep him playing for many more years as a result.
These thoughts made me wonder this past week, do both Jordan and LeBron reflect a quality of Jesus written in Revelation? Jesus says in Revelation 3:15-16, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” That’s not one of those “warm and fuzzy” verses you talk about in church or Christian circles all of the time. It’s scratchy and has the potential to make you feel uncomfortable. But is that what we need to push ourselves to another level? Do we need the Jordans and the LeBrons to push us to another level? When you listen carefully to both, neither of them are operating out of “vain ambition or selfish conceit,” they legitimately want someone on the pedestal with them. They want their teammates to experience success and the joy of focused, hard work.
We know that Jesus gives us the example and teaching of “the greatest among you is the one who serves.” Do we have enough people who are willing to serve people through the discomfort it takes to really achieve and be great? Do we even see this as service? It does make me wonder how often we lean into the meek and soft version of Jesus, and shy away from the people He made to feel uncomfortable to the point that they killed Him. He submitted Himself to death, even death on a cross, so that we might have eternal life…and making people uncomfortable was a part of that process. I can’t say that with absolute certainty, so I’ll end this with a Jordan shrug…
