There's nothing wrong with getting a little Henry David Thoreau-like every once in a while. And, no, I'm not giving up the laptop.
- R. Nelly
Even the sky is crying for George Mikan.
On one of our dirty red, bird-crap stained backyard
I hoped to write something solely devoted to the 80-year-old man who died today. With fresh articles from the New York Times and the Basketball Hall of Fame in hand, I focused on giving props in my backyard solitude. I wasn't really thinking about rain.
I never saw basketball’s first star play. Chances are you never did either. George Lawrence Mikan retired in 1956, the year my dad was born.
Mikan would have been proud of what basketball has become. And, although it sounds terrible to say, George Mikan went at the perfect time.
You never saw that patented jump hook. You missed all the blocks (now goaltends) while he played at DePaul. You never got to whiteness the pasty, white man who cocked, aimed and fired the League’s gun in the direction that its headed today.
Before dying, one gets to reevaluate his life and look back at all the ways he impacted this world. To take one last look at the meaning of life. To believe in one’s purpose.
To feel d*mn proud of a job well done.
Mikan would have been proud of what basketball has become. And, although it sounds terrible to say, George Mikan went at the perfect time.
‘Cause basketball if basketball was a stock, I’d be yellin’ at y’all to SELL, SELL, SELL!!!
Overall, it was a nice seven seasons after the 1998 lockout. The game’s changing more rapidly than it ever has in the past. The NBA is experiencing a rebirth, a new image. It’s establishing a broader, international fan base.
And all that momentum will be killed at the end of this month when the League postpones action in its second lockout in as many reevaluations of the collective bargaining agreement.
All signs are pointing strongly to a lockout, one irreversible setback.
George Mikan would be proud of today’s NBA, but not of tomorrow’s…and neither will anyone else. Because who knows what tomorrow will be like when it finally arrives?
Mike’s got enough accolades. A consensus Top 10 player ever. An unofficial MIPE (Most Important Player Ever). But, today, my man from
And here I sit, 18 miles from the home of basketball’s first star, cleansed in tears of joy…
From the angels above.
Witenessing the tranquility before destruction.
