Your thoughts on the NBA social warrior's silence on Communist China?

[BustOfPallas]

I can now see that I probably come off a little harsh, but I guess what I'm saying is there are a lot of guys who had supreme physical ability, but never knew how to think through the mental aspect of the game, or think through life and business, and so they never really made it anywhere.

For example, here in our hometown, we have two guys in Ed Reed and Ray Lewis, who I personally think are some of the smartest to ever do it. They became greats, not so much because their physical ability or stature was so much greater than everyone else's, but because their intellect was superior. I think the same thing applies to Bron.

That's a good comparison. Lebron is doing well and it reflects positively on his intelligence and character. You don't become a GOAT through just physical gifts. It takes a drive and character to maximize those gifts. My Dad always talked about sports teaching discipline and character. It's one place where for anyone its clear you get out of it what you put into it (i.e train harder run longer and faster, practice builds skills, the importance of teamwork..). It's not a given though that those lessons are learned. It's also not a given that great athletes stay successful and take their earnings and fame and grow them (see Latrell Sprewell).

[bandc]

You know what... you're right and I apologize. Generalizations, especially on a bulletin board, should be avoided. I disagree with LeBron's views on almost every social stance. He does posses some form of intelligence, but we were comparing different types of intelligence. Does the guy probably have some reasoning and recall capabilities? Yes. I still would put him up against David Robinson and watch him leave any debate crying hahaha. David Robinson was a SUPER intelligent guy... both book intelligence and critical thinking intelligence. He was just a choke artist in games that mattered lol.

I'll try to be better about generalizations moving forward, and by that I mean saying the entire person is a moron because of a specific belief he has is different than my own. Except we can ALL agree that AOC is an idiot in every single manner of perspective correct?

Good catch buddy. Excellent response.

Absolutely, I agree 100% on all fronts! And I'll definitely watch how I generalize critiques as well.

[wickedsolo]

Even though there is probably tons of evidence suggesting LeBron could've earned a high-level degree if wanted to (look up videos of him displaying his ability to recall information, it's FREAKING INSANE), I could also easily say that you are saying that book smarts is the only type of smarts there is when we know that that is not the case.

That's not what I'm saying at all and I think you know that.

I also think that anyone is capable of getting an education if that's the path they want to go. Not everyone has to go down that path to be successful. Michael Dell - dropout.

LeBron is lucky to be as physically gifted as he is. There aren't many 6'8" 220lb 18-year old's with that elite athleticism. Even if he went to college for 1 year, everyone knew he was headed to the NBA. Hell, he probably could have played in the NFL as well.

I think it's important to consider that a factor of intelligence not many talk about is being honest enough and humble enough to know that you don't know everything and to surround yourself with people that are smarter than you on specific areas. It's entirely possible that LeBron realized early on that he isn't that savvy with investments and hired really smart financial advisors that have helped him become more financially successful along the way. I dont know - I'm speculating. However, that doesn't mean I think LeBron is dumb.

[wickedsolo]

I'm not sure why if you read what I said and understand the point I was trying to make. I did read about Lebron before posting that too btw.

If you want to talk about guys that did it all with their brains and guys that you could probably drop in any situation and they would end up rich and powerful through pure intelligence, business acumen and moxie we should probably not be talking about any high tier (as in GOAT) type athletes like Jordan or Shaq etc.. Guys whose starting point is a couple hundred million in salary and marketing deals. Guys with funny money and worldwide name recognition/marketing because they are good athletes.

Comparing Gates and Lebron just seems silly to me for that reason.

I wouldn't put them in the same category.

My kid wanted some "Beats" a couple years ago. I didn't know what they were that's how clueless I am but of course being the one that had to pay the 100 bucks or so I was like okay what are these things. I discovered they were one of Dr Dre's businesses and ended up going online and reading a lot about him and coming away extremely impressed and amazed at the fortune he had amassed. I remember thinking the guy was just a business/money making savant.

I have a hard time taking athletes as seriously as guys that start from scratch and make their own fortunes. It's easier to gage the business smarts and acumen of a Gates or Dre and they are probably better guys to study and try to emulate. If you want to compare Lebron with his peers I think of people like Shaq is worth 400M and Jordan is at 1.9 Billion. Shaq has an MBA and a PHD too btw which is impressive because you can't buy or fake those degrees. Those are both guys in a similar category to Lebron who started with a couple hundred million or more in earnings through salary or endorsements and through "sport" have worldwide instant marketing/name recognition.

The difference between the two categories is if you take away the money and name recognition gained through sport, the sport guys probably are suburban house dads with a 30 year notes on modest dwellings and a 401Ks. Those other guys... they would end up VPs or business owners of some sort and probably still be loaded because they are pure businessmen. Forward thinking, brilliant guys that know how to make money.

I'm not trying to offend you or anyone here by saying this but I don't think Lebron is one of those types of guys.

Shaq is someone that all pro-athletes should pay attention to. He didn't do it in super flashy ways either...he invested in fast food chains like Krispy Kreme and Papa Johns.

[CarrollCoRaven]

Shaq is someone that all pro-athletes should pay attention to. He didn't do it in super flashy ways either...he invested in fast food chains like Krispy Kreme and Papa Johns.

I imagine Shaq was "heavily" involved in the taste testing branch of his investments as well.

[BustOfPallas]

Shaq is someone that all pro-athletes should pay attention to. He didn't do it in super flashy ways either...he invested in fast food chains like Krispy Kreme and Papa Johns.

The thing to note here is that it helps having a lot of investment capital when buying a few dozen Krispy Kreme franchises.

This isn't something your average Joe can do. Reminds me of that old Steve Martin number about being a millionaire.

"You.. can be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes! You can be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes! You say.. “Steve.. how can I be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes?” First.. get a million dollars.... "

[ravenmaniac4life]

LeBron James on Houston Rockets' GM Daryl Morey advocating for freedom for Hong Kong:

"I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke ... Even though, yes, we do have freedom of speech there can be a lot of negative that comes with that"

Pretty intelligent take, eh?

For the record... Daryl Morey's educational achievements include a BS in Computer Science from Northwestern University and an MBA from MIT. Morey is plenty educated and plenty educated on the situation at hand.

Maybe LeBron should sit this one out? I mean...he’s literally the uneducated one here.

This is a pretty bad look and timely considering the topic in this thread.

[darb72]

LeBron James on Houston Rockets' GM Daryl Morey advocating for freedom for Hong Kong:

"I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke ... Even though, yes, we do have freedom of speech there can be a lot of negative that comes with that"

Pretty intelligent take, eh?

For the record... Daryl Morey's educational achievements include a BS in Computer Science from Northwestern University and an MBA from MIT. Morey is plenty educated and plenty educated on the situation at hand.

Maybe LeBron should sit this one out? I mean...he’s literally the uneducated one here.

This is a pretty bad look and timely considering the topic in this thread.

Organ harvesting, actual internment camps, violent oppression of dissidents. Of course LeBron thinks China is great, they're basically living every democrat's wettest dream.

[Moe the Crow]

LeBron James on Houston Rockets' GM Daryl Morey advocating for freedom for Hong Kong:

"I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke ... Even though, yes, we do have freedom of speech there can be a lot of negative that comes with that"

Pretty intelligent take, eh?

For the record... Daryl Morey's educational achievements include a BS in Computer Science from Northwestern University and an MBA from MIT. Morey is plenty educated and plenty educated on the situation at hand.

Maybe LeBron should sit this one out? I mean...he’s literally the uneducated one here.

This is a pretty bad look and timely considering the topic in this thread.

I was reading a little about this yesterday and didn't see this one quote. There was a meeting between Silver and some of the players and Lebron was part of it and had was grilling Silver about his position on it. I'm not sure but I think he wanted the league to dictate an official position on it so everyone was on the same page. He didn't want to see young players punished for saying things while management gets a pass was my impression. Keep everyone on same page and go through the fallout together. He probably wishes he had no comment on that quote you posted above. I think some other players like curry have decided to sit it out. Maybe Lebron should have dome that as well.

[ravenmaniac4life]

Somebody take the shovel away from the professor...

LBJ: “My team and this league just went through a difficult week. I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others.“


Difficult week? Over a tweet?

Is it too late for LBJ to throw his name in the DNC Presidential hat?

[NCRAVEN]

Somebody take the shovel away from the professor...

LBJ: “My team and this league just went through a difficult week. I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others.“


Difficult week? Over a tweet?

Is it too late for LBJ to throw his name in the DNC Presidential hat?

He is such a snowflake.

[CarrollCoRaven]

He is such a snowflake.

He should try being Trump for a day.