Whenever LeBron James speaks, people listen. His 50 million Twitter followers hang on every word he says. His influence is far and wide. But is he really qualified to have an opinion on…well…anything?
One time I was interviewing interns for a summer position at a video gaming company. I had already seen several candidates, all of whom were dressed as you’d imagine a typical gamer would dress. They all wore tee-shirts, ripped jeans, and looked like they just rolled out of bed.
Then, in walked Eric.
Eric was wearing a tie and looked more like a typical lawyer than a typical gamer. I asked him why he wanted the job. His reply, “I have an Art History degree from Yale. And that makes me qualified to drive any cab in Boston.”
I knew at that moment I was going to give Eric the job. After a few minutes of answering his questions, I hired him. At $10 per hour.
Every time I hear of LeBron James opening his mouth and spouting some idiot thing or another, I’m reminded of Eric’s self-deprecating reply.
LeBron James is a high-school graduate who has excellent hand-to-eye coordination. Some might say he’s a basketball prodigy. He is impressively skilled at bouncing a ball, running fast and jumping high. And his skills, like Eric’s Art History degree from Yale, make him qualified to drive any cab in Cleveland, Miami, Cleveland again and now Los Angeles.
Yet for some unimaginable reason, many people care what he has to say. I had to catch myself there. I almost said that people care what he thinks. But, I’ve seen no evidence that he’s thought through any of the moronic things he says. So, saying that people care what he says and not what he supposedly thinks is a more accurate statement.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that a college degree doesn’t make someone smart. Wisdom doesn’t come from a classroom. Oftentimes experience is the best teacher. Maybe his years of being a multi-millionaire jumper slash bouncer slash run-fasterrer has taught him some hard lessons about life. Maybe. But I seriously doubt it.
In an article titled “The Education of LeBron James”, from the LA Progressive Newsletter, columnist Brian Wright said, and I’m not making this up, “LeBron James never got a college degree, yet his education is the most profound of his generation, and any other generation or age, and needs to be forever celebrated.”
<thnnnxgh…pffffttt…hack…cough…cough>
Sorry. You’d think by now I’d know better than to take a drink and read Liberal bescumberance at the same time. I almost spit my coffee all over the keyboard.
Now, where was I? Oh yeah…
I believe that idiots are like cockroaches. If you have one, there are a lot more hiding that you can’t see. So, if we have one idiot who believes that high-school-graduate LeBron James’ education is the most profound of anyone who has ever lived, then there a lot of other idiots who believe the same thing.
And that sums up the problem perfectly. Millions of people have deluded themselves into believing that being very good at an inconsequential physical task translates into wisdom and the ability to think rationally. The only reason they care what he thinks says is because “King James” is good at winning championship rings.
Lebron’s skills make him an expert on playing a game. And, he’s clearly not educated enough to be an expert on anything else. Since graduating from high school, the wisdom he earned from his “school of hard knocks” consists of learning how to decide what color of Ferrari to buy. Yeah, that’s something everyone can relate to.
If LeBron James hadn’t been able to jump, bounce and run, he wouldn’t have any skills at all. If he were a cab driver, he’d have 50 Twitter followers instead of 50 million. As a cab driver, he’d probably tweet the same ridiculous things he does today. But, because cab drivers don’t win championships, nobody would think he was wise. And no one would care what he says.
Related Article:
A Lesson In “Assedness”
Bescumber
