Some believe. Belief requires faith. Faith is a complicated concept. The game of basketball is filled with players that are unfaithful and find it hard to believe in the notion of Greater. How did it come to this?
The story goes that there was war in heaven. The highest angel supposedly started feeling itself too much and rebelled against THE MOST HIGH. The highest angel was so convincing that it reportedly got one third of its ilk to rebel as well, they were expelled together to cause havoc and spread vanity, un-faithfulness and disbelief. And here we are!
Hyperbole aside, in over a dozen years as a grassroots guy, I have seen the spread of the Basketball Atheist. The basketball atheist believes in self, attributing their success and survival to the evolution of their brilliance. They are what matters and the concept of team is a myth, only to be believed by those blinded by traditions and ignorant to the science of chasing stardom.
In a great broadcast by Bill Simmons featuring music industry heavyweight Scooter Braun, Braun went on to share an interesting story. To summarize it, he reached a personal financial goal that allowed him to live very comfortably and retire in his mid-20's. Upon reaching the goal, he called his father and boasted of his wealth. As he told his pops that he never had to work again, he went on to admit that he was not happy. His father told him to think back to his happiest moments over that past year. Braun sat still and reflected on doing charitable work for others. He called his father back and detailed that his most pleasurable moments in life have been centered around helping others. He profoundly asserted that people that serve others often are the happiest while those that are WORSHIPPED are depressed. He hypothesized that human beings are not meant to be worshipped and those that are worshipped, often live miserable lives.
Miserable describes the relationships that many players are having with their coaches. At every level of the game, players are not buying what coaches are selling. The why is too complicated for a blog written by a simple minded amateur but the increasing trend of self worship has surely something to do with the current condition.
"Pride comes before the fall" they say, or at least that is what James, the king, transcribed. Being an etymology buff, I was delighted to discover the word that James translated as "pride" can be also interpreted as "arrogance". That makes more sense. Arrogance comes before the fall!
Arrogant players that have read so many tweets and articles about themselves that they believe only in themselves. Arrogant parents that worship their kids instead of keeping them humble ensuring that they have the ability to remain faithful. Arrogant grassroots coaches that promote kids like rock stars to their detriment. Arrogant high school coaches that allow their players to work harder at the game than them. Arrogant college coaches that believe that their title and lofty position automatically earns them the loyalty of kids that they too have worshipped during the recruiting process. All this arrogance is not normal! Or is it?
If THE MOST HIGH allowed his creation to rebel by creating a hierarchical system based upon rankings, maybe it's inevitable that some fail to submit to the higher notion of team, culture, sacrifice and loyalty. Rankings, tweets, awards, invites, articles....... bonuses, better jobs, better players, contract extensions....... all have helped create an environment that guarantees a depression. Who is truly serving others and not being engulfed by self?
Scooter Braun was spot on, happy are those that humbly serve others. Depression is a state reserved for those that are self centered with no adherence to a higher goal. Like the architect of vanity, it is only a matter of time before they expel themselves from a paradise that they worked so hard to reach. That is if you believe in paradise.....
