LeBron James, bless his heart, hosted a charity game in Miami the other night along with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, as chronicled in this story via Yahoo! Sports. At one point in the proceedings LeBron said to the assembled worshipers that "there's no us without you guys. Every last one of you guys."
↵Okay, not to nitpick (though I will anyway), but that was obviously addressed to the fans in attendance. And so, in the spirit of inclusiveness, I thought I would add a few more groups without which there would be no "you" for NBA players.
↵How about ushers and ticket-takers and vendors etc etc etc at the arenas that are dark during this canceled exhibition season?
↵How about servers and chefs etc etc etc at restaurants which are not serving the crowd after said exhibition games? Not to mention barkeeps etc etc etc in the local watering holes all across the land.
↵How about parking attendants, heck, even cops working a few hours to keep traffic moving and revelry civil?
↵How about....oh the heck with it, let's just say: How about all of the little people who actually orbit around the center of the galaxy which is an NBA contest?
↵And I say "little people" with tongue in cheek. The little people are actually all those who make profits in one year that some of us won't see in a lifetime, then grab a microphone and try to make heroic statements...but won't budge in contract negotiations, no matter which side they are on (and LeBron, I am not saying that you are unwilling to budge, just making an observation in general here).
↵How about thinking of all of the people this hideous lockout has hurt, is hurting now, and will continue to hurt if some common sense isn't forthcoming soon?