D'Angelo Russell

Leaving Hyperbole Behind

As a Lakers fan, I loved watching the NBA Draft last week. It was a night that could mark the beginning of the return to greatness. It was a night for NBA hope. Of course I was aware that there were no guarantees. Russell could be traded for Boogie. Russell might not be the second coming that we all hope he is. But for now, it’s great to envision a team with Randle, Russell, and loads of cap space after Kobe retires.

That was my NBA Draft experience. Everybody else’s? Freaking bonkers. Every pick was the savior of his team or at least a multiple All-Star selection. At the very least a solid sixth man. It was either that or the pick was deemed a bust. But why? I’ve watched a lot of basketball and not everybody is a flop or a superstar. There are plenty of Harrison Barneses, Kyle Korvers, and Tyson Chandlers out there. Solid players who don’t qualify as a potential LeBron, but nor to they qualify as a Greg Oden. So why was it that when Porzingis was chosen by the Knicks, everybody decided that he was either Dirk Nowitzki or a flop a la Nikoloz Tskitishvili. And no, we’re not going to delve into why every European player can only be compared to another European player.

No, I want to delve into why every reaction must be so hyperbolic. For every person who thought Porzingis might be solid, there were probably a thousand who said something akin to one of the following: 1) Porzingis will be a multi-time all-star, then he’ll leave NY, make more all-star teams and he’ll win at least one championship; or 2) Only pointing out the obvious, but Porzingis is a cookie-cut bust if I’ve ever seen one. And yes, those are actual posts I just found that were made in the last hour. Imagine if I played this game on draft night instead of a week later.

What got me to thinking about the NBA Draft almost a week thereafter were the frenzied responses to calls to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state capitol grounds and the reaction to the Supreme Court decision on marriage equality.

The reactions were unbelievable. I understood the LGBT community’s elation at being given equal rights but I definitely didn’t understand Ted Cruz’s summation that the U.S. had just endured some of the worst 24 hours in its history between Obamacare and marriage equality being upheld by the Supreme Court. Really? Ever speak to a Pearl Harbor family or a 9/11 family? It was probably a rough day when the Civil War broke out, no?

And the Confederate flag? Now look, I get that there are those in the South who are not racist and just like the flag because it represents the South to them. But here’s the problem, the Confederate flag embodies the southern secession from the Union. The states cited slavery as one of their chief reasons for seceding? You want to take an emblem from 160+ years ago and redefine it, fine. But do so in your home. To say that the Confederate flag does not stand for racism is unfortunately false. Oh, and to my white readers out there, the “but I have black friends” excuse doesn’t work.

People went bat you-know-what crazy when they heard the Confederate flag might be taken down. Why is that? How about this. If you want to rep your southern pride, just put up an SEC flag, deal? The Confederate flag as a symbol that embodies racism is not up for debate. You may also like the states’ rights aspect that the Confederate flag represents but that doesn’t mean that the racist part isn’t also there.

We’re now in an era where it’s more important to be speaking loudly than to be speaking the truth. It’s now better to be first than to be right, where there’s no such thing as bad publicity, where we would rather have 140 characters of glory than give someone a call to see how his or her day went. The good news? We as a society have the power to change. After all, we are the consumers and if we make a collective choice to choose substance over style, truth over noise, and character over appearances, it will be reflected in the media we consume and the people who desire that same media’s coverage.

So stop anointing D’Angelo Russell as the next Kobe before he sets foot on the court. Stop pretending like the passing of marriage equality is the first step toward the apocalypse and start acknowledging the truth rather than just yelling a lie as loud as you can until the other person gets sick of the discussion. If you do and stop giving attention to those who don’t deserve it, we’ll all be better off. Pass it on.

Happy Independence Day everybody.

One thought on “Leaving Hyperbole Behind

  1. Danny green, Amare and Steve Nash can tell you that you are only as good as the system you play in. Joe Klein, Mike Giminski, and Luc Longley looked pretty damn good hitting the elbow jumper… Ho Grant too. Porzingis might just be the next Jack Sikma. Can’t teach height biatch!

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