Get Your Money, Rings
Kevin Durant.
LeBron James.
Darrelle Revis.
Deion Sanders.
Four all-time great professional athletes.
Four multi-millionaires.
Four extremely successful African-American men.
All four hated by many sports lovers across the globe, but why?
This week ESPN aired a 30 for 30 documentary on the turbulent rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics.
The Magic Johnson/Larry Bird version of this rivalry practically saved the National Basketball Association (NBA) when many White fans complained that the NBA was too Black and the players made too much money in the 1970s.
That same hatred still exists today when it comes to many fans.
While race relations are definitely not as bad as they were decades ago, much of the hatred that players like Durant, James and Revis have received over the years have racist undertones to say the least.
It seems as if many sports fans have a problem with young brothers controlling their own professional destiny and maximizing monetarily on their fame and celebrity.
When Johnson flexed his power, after earning an unprecedented $25 million contract over 25 years and got former Lakers coach Paul Westhead fired, he was hated in the “City of Angels.”
Likewise, when James and Durant took their talents away from their original NBA teams, they both went from being loved to being hated by many fans, but why?
The reasoning behind some of the hatred is the same reasoning behind much of the hatred America has dished out since slavery.
Black people are loved as long as they “stay in their place.”
As soon as Black people gain money, education, power and wealth, many in America hate them.
Powerful White men like President Donald Trump have started business, shut down businesses, hired employees and fired employees whenever they thought it was in the best interest of their business and family brand.
But when a future billionaire like James does it, he is somehow disloyal, even though professional sports teams are never loyal to their employees and they should not be.
There is no such thing as loyalty in business once a contract has expired.
After a contract expires, a smart businessperson looks for the business deal that will take them to the next level and beyond.
That reality is never a problem until Black people use that same common sense logic to gain power, wealth and accomplishments.
The problem many have with Durant, James and others is not that they put on a new uniform.
The real problem is that they realize their power and greatness and whenever Black people realize their power and come together for their benefit, many in mainstream America hate them.
That anger comes from a desire of many to keep power and wealth for the majority, while the minority remains reliant on the majority.
As long as the minority needs the majority, the majority will always control minorities.
Somehow for some, a Black man making as much money as possible is seen as a bad thing when it is simply the American way.
American sports fans have no choice but to get accustomed to Black men who know their worth and know how to work the system to their advantage.
If current stars like Durant and James have figured out the system and mastered it, then the next generation of young NBA stars like Lonzo Ball will completely take over the system or replace it with their own system of success.
