Just in case you missed it: my two cents on Lebron
I know this is mad late, but earlier this month Next American City allowed me to share my thoughts on the Lebron saga. Here’s a snippet:
But unlike a new stadium deal, for example, James is at least guaranteed to bring a initial boost in revenue without taxpayers taking on greater liabilities as they would with a much larger venture like a new stadium. However, as another ballyhooed free-agent signing in this decade—the Orlando Magic’s 2001 enlistment of Tracey McGrady and Grant Hill—revealed, things don’t work out as planned. Neither Hill nor McGrady finished their contracts with Orlando, and the Magic never advanced past the first round in the three years these two played together. Moreover as William Rhoden, author of Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise Fall and Redemption of the Black Athlete, might attest: given this nation’s history with slavery, there’s something disconcerting about a “bidding war” for a black male athlete.