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LeBroptimists Spreading the Gospel of Delusion
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 3, 2010
Modified May 3, 2010
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By
Ben Yakas
Published May 3, 2010
Modified May 3, 2010
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LeBron James won his second consecutive MVP award this past weekend, which brought with it another round of the heartburn-inducing game "Where Will LeBron Go?" Tracy McGrady already thinks he isn't coming to NY, and NYTimes columnist William Rhoden thinks he should go to Charlotte, but the Daily News seized on a phrase from his MVP acceptance ceremony as proof he MIGHT be thinking of leaving Ohio: "Akron, Ohio, is my life and I love this city. No matter where my life takes me, I'm always from here." More wood for the fire: he didn't once mention Cleveland in his speech!
More likely, the News is suffering from a serious case of LeBroptimism. The WSJ examines the phenomena: NYer's "faced with a compelling case against Mr. James's coming to New York, [but] swimming upstream and choosing to believe." They are Knicks fans with a mysteriously opaque certainty about the comings and goings of the biggest NBA star today.
LeBroptimists are "strange, sunny creatures. Not to generalize, but they seem to be happier than average New Yorkers. They don't stress about the subway or Curtis Granderson, and they don't even freak out about the line at Shake Shack. And they get all the attention at parties. You can really become the star of any social occasion by telling people you think LeBron's coming." It should be noted, even LeBroptimists think he'd have to "hit his head and [feel] like a real Good Samaritan" to ever play for the Nets.
Tagged
basketball
delusion
knicks
Lebron James
lebroptimism
nba
optimism
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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