I'm sitting on the couch, enjoying game 1 between the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls. I can't help but think about this sport that I've enjoyed for so long, where it's been and where it's going. And true to my scattershot nature, a seemingly random array of thoughts start to bundle into a narrative.
And like every narrative involving hoops, Lebron takes center stage.
Lebron. Greatest athlete to ever play the game or narcissistic epitome of all that's wrong with professional sports? I'm gonna hazard a guess with a little from column a, a little from column b.
Just earlier today, Lebron was awarded the MVP having received 120 out of 121 votes. Press reports have him grumbling that he couldn't believe it wasn't unanimous. Joking or not, (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here)I can't believe he had the audacity to say that out loud.
Certainly, this wouldn't be out of character. Lebron was quite vocal about the physical punishment Chicago doled out as they ended Miami's almost historic win streak earlier this season. He'll probably gripe about it again after tonight's game. But no one benefits from more soft whistles than Lebron and he knows it. He can't really be upset that opposing teams are going to take that preferential treatment out of his ass.
Plus, it doesn't help that he drives to the basket with the build and speed of a linebacker.
Which all brings me back to the narrative: Performance enhancing drugs.
The NBA has admitted to putting a larger focus on drug testing for performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). Dollars to donuts, if they're serious, Lebron will be the true litmus test for how serious they are. Which is not to say that he isn't preternaturally gifted. He is. And frighteningly so. But for an athlete of such high caliber to play so consistently at such a high level for so long without injury? Somebody will be looking to make a name for themselves.
The larger implications of PEDs that no one seems to address is that once they become standard in professional athletics, and they will, the real divide they create will be an economic one. PEDs, used not just for strengthening but for endurance and recovery, will become a sports medicine resource and no one will reap the rewards better than financially superior teams.
And in a season determined almost solely by a team's injuries (just think Rose, Rondo, Westbrook, Griffin, et. al), the advantages are all too easy to see.
