Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler.
Did LeBron and Bronny James upstage the great debate?
Less than three hours before current and former U.S. presidents debated for the first time ever, a father and son teamed up to play together in the NBA for what will surely be the only time.
How did this happen on the very same day, and how will it be remembered?
LeBron James, who will be 40 in December, used his influence as one of the greatest players ever, to get his current team, the Lakers, to pick his 21-year-old son in the second round of the annual NBA Draft.
Combined, father and son are 20 years younger than the president of the United States, Joe Biden, who is only three years older than former prez Donald Trump.
Whenever they take the court together, the James duo will put up more points than either candidate hoped to score on the stage in Atlanta, a long-divided city where the NBA is represented by one of the 30 teams in the league.
Crazy, isn’t it! This day happened in the great parallel universes we find ourselves living in these days. Two men that have engendered so much bad behavior in this country and a game that millions attend and watch, cheering for the same team after leaving their political persuasions at the door.
Who has a brighter future, the father-son combo of the mega-wealthy NBA or the dear old USA? I certainly hope it is the latter, because basketball is only a game that will be played as long as this country doesn’t implode over strategies that few people agree on.
Think about it. A ticket of LeBron and Bronny might get more votes than either of these old dudes will land on November 5.
Athletes have forever been more popular than politicians, but this election and season takes that to an all-new level. The prejudice and hatred that divide us now dwarf a game played by different races and nationalities, all working for a common goal.
How can that be, when most people pay more attention to the teams they follow than any political party they support. Yet building teamwork for our own good seems far less possible than it does on the courts and fields of this country.
But whatever happens to how much and how well the great James experiment works, it is nowhere near as important as what is left of America by the time someone else is running for president.
Enjoy the results of one and let’s all try to tolerate the results of the other.
Featured image via USC Athletics/John McGillen
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines