Blasting the Lakers

In the LA Times. Hat tip, Naveen.

As civic pride dictates in these things, of course, everyone is supposed to be a Lakers lover now, giddy and overcome with affection for their heroes, but excuse me if I sit this one out.

At the risk of being blasted as a hater, so much anger out there and everything in sports today taken to the extreme, a victory doesn't suddenly make unlikable athletes likable.

It has never been about winning and losing here, as much as the way athletes and coaches go about their business, so no time now to fake it.

The Lakers were good, all right, and gritty when they had to be, Kobe brilliant as almost always, while Trevor and Lamar added spice to the championship mix.

But winning it all makes them no more appealing, Kobe still over the top absurd in his mood swings, Pau still carrying on like someone swiped his rattle, Phil so above it all it's surprising he doesn't demand to be carried off the court like Cleopatra.

It certain corners of the world, where soccer rules, there is an attitude towards the game not born of winning vs. losing, but whether the game was played beautifully. It is why in Brazil, soccer is called "the beautiful game." It is not enough to win. You must win playing beautifully. This can be easily written off as a bit of fru-fru nonsense and many Americans are wont to do so. But there is something else in the point and it is not just some odd outgrowth of Brazil's unique relationship to soccer. In Barcelona, they insist on only signing players of a certain style. To them, soccer is about resistance to the Fascist Spanish state and in order to resist - Catalan style - you must play democratically. You must play with grace, style, and flair. You must show pizazz, creativity, in a sense, play like a free person would.

I bring this up because basketball and soccer are the most closely related sports. The footwork, spacing, movement is all very similar. Yes, there is the difference of using your feet vs. making a basket, but the underlying spacing is very similar. It is a coincidence Hakeem Olajuwon grew up playing soccer and having the best footwork we've seen on a big man? Is it a coincidence Steve Nash plays indoor soccer during the offseason? I think not.

The reason Los Angeles does not love this team is because they are not lovable. They are unsympathetic characters, if you want to put it in movie terms. They play like a dream team of petty dictators and thugs. They are the Axis. Freedom loving people all around the world should unite against them. This is 1940 and France has surrendered. It is a dark and unhappy day.

Call me a hater. Maybe I am. But if one has any soul and experience, one must hate certain things. If you don't - what can you possibly stand for? For instance, if you don't hate Islamic Fascists, something is wrong with you. Either you don't care, don't know, or are so deluded into a morally relativistic world view, you've lost every ability to make distinction. If you don't hate dealing with bureaucracy, your life has become so petty and boring, you might as well give up. If you don't hate facebook, you are a stalker weirdo. And if you don't hate the Lakers, you are no fan of the beautiful game.