Taking Their Talents to the Rucker, Watts and Manila: What Lockout?
by David J. Leonard | NewBlackMan
In recent weeks, LeBron James decided to take his talents to a high school gym in Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and a number of other NBA players decided to take their talents to the Philippines and Kevin Durant took his talents to Rucker Park. On, August 2, Kevin Durant dropped 66 during a Rucker Park game. For the footage I was able to watch, it wasn’t an average 66 but a performance that included several thrilling dunks, smooth drives to the basket, and a sick number of three pointers over at times three “defenders.” His performance wowed an excited crowd and has mesmerized fans on YouTube (almost 600,000 views for one video of his performance). Marc Berman describes the scene as a reminder of how “how much the hardcore fans still love this game, why it matters, why an NBA season can not be lost so billionaires can get a sweetheart deal.” Emphasizing the context of the lockout, Berman illustrates how this was not just another July game at the Rucker.
It was quite a basketball doubleheader on Monday - covering the lockout labor talks at a ritzy midtown hotel on 52nd Street and Park Avenue, then cabbing it 100 blocks uptown to Harlem for Kevin Durant.
More than 2,500 fans jammed into Rucker Park - standing room only on 155th street and 8th Avenue. The 6-11 OKC superstar played for free and the fans of the EBC Rucker League watched for free, but what they saw was priceless.
Going from the disillusioning labor talks and the dour David Stern bashing the Players Association to Monday night's basketball bedlam in Harlem was a shot in the arm for this basketball scribe.
The game was living and breathing and still pure, with fans screaming their lungs out, jumping up and down in their metal bleacher seats, almost every time Durant brought the ball up court. Durant, wearing the orange of DC Power, dumped a near EBC Rucker record 66 points on the Sean Bell All-Stars . . ..
Durant was not done. For his encore, he scored a mere 41 in a pro-Am game at Baruch College once again reminding fans around the globe of the amazing talents of NBA stars. Yet, this performance was overshadowed by the efforts of John Lucas III, who netted 60 in that game.
Durant has not been the only one ballin’ this summer. LeBron James played at in the Drew Summer League dropping 33 points at the Leon H. Washington Park gym, which is located in the heart of Watts, California. Casper Ware described the situation as “a great experience.” Challenging the media demonization of LeBron, the senior guard from Long Beach State was immensely complementary of James: “He was still passing even though he was LeBron. He just wanted me to play my game. He told me, ‘Don’t stand around and just throw me the ball. Play your game. I can get mine. Play your game and don’t change for me.’ He was very cool and down to earth. You could talk to him like any other player.” From coast to coast, NBA basketball fans have been treated to the greatness of the league.
The visibility of NBA players has not been limited to the United States, as several NBA superstars (Durant, Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Chris Paul), took their talents to Manila earning a cool $400,000 (tax-free) for this “ultimate All-Star weekend.” This was Bryant’s second trip to the Philippines in July, alone having participating in a 5-city tour earlier in the month (before going to Korea and China) where he dazzled fans. The importance transcends any the earning possibilities evidence in these appearances but illustrates both the immense global popularity of NBA players and the leverage available during the lockout. Andrew Sharp highlighted this power as such:
Kobe Bryant has been at the center of rumors all summer long, most of which center on the possibility of him spending next season playing for the Besitkas basketball club in Turkey. On that front, a meeting on July 30th should go a long way toward deciding his future.
But after seeing some of the footage from an All-Star NBA exhibition in the Philippines this past week, you can't help but wonder why. Or, why not? As in, why not just play in the Philippines?
It's a stage that'd broaden stars' marketing appeal throughout Asia, and clearly, there's a longstanding addiction to basketball and basketball superstars. It's not just an opportunity to play elsewhere; as far as the Philippines is concerned, it's an opportunity to play somewhere you'll absolutely love.
It reminds of what Gilbert Arenas said on his blog (RIP) after a trip to Manila a few years ago. "It was a different world. I’ve never seen fans like that in my life. These pictures can’t even do justice to what was going on out there. One thing I want to say about Filipinos: they’re very warm people, very good-hearted people. Like, everybody was nice. You know, you meet nice people, but a whole country of nice, genuine, warm-hearted people was unbelievable."
Whereas NFL players needed the game, needed the infrastructure of the NFL, needed their teammates and otherwise needed the owners/the Commissioner/the NFL Network to showcase their talents, to play the game they love, and otherwise make a living, these events demonstrate the powerful ways that NBA players exist in a different sporting world. As argued by Mark Anthony Neal, “NBA players have long been in a unique position; with regards to the NBA; the players exist as both the labor and the product.. . . .” Their economic futures and cultural importance is not controlled and determined by the league and its ownership class.
The fanfare visible at each and every event, the ability of players to connect to fans in the United States and globally during a lockout, and the impact of new media, illustrates the changing landscape of the NBA since the last lockout. While always a sport driven by individual stars and economically reliant on charismatic ballers, globalization, the power of the Internet, and the nature of basketball all allow NBA players to remain visible, connected and otherwise sources of pleasure for basketball fans alike during the owner induced lockout.
Amid the context of NBA players highlighting their talents from high school gyms to worldly destinations, David Stern took to the airwaves to not only denounce the players for refusing to bargain in good faith but to dismiss the prospect of players going overseas: “I think if anything, I think there's simply no way that the players collectively can generate more than a couple of hundred million dollars and we have a system that has been delivering $2 billion to them.” His comments are striking on a number of levels. (1) It is revealing that Stern imagines the NBA as a business that gives NBA players 2 billion dollars rather than one where world-class athletes earn/generate 2 billion dollars for themselves and billions more for the owners, television networks, and various transnational companies. The players deliver the money to themselves and others (including the millions to David Stern as his salary). Nothing is given to them. (2) Stern’s comments seem to discount the cultural capital (and financial possibilities) procured as players’ go overseas. Playing in one-time events or signing for the duration of the lockout isn’t simply a financial move about player salary but one that highlights the popularity and adoration afforded to players at a local level, whether at the Rucker or a Manila gym. (3) Reflecting racial scripts and stereotypes NBA players have historically faced a barrage of criticism because of their purported greed; media commentators and fans have long denounced players for being all about the money and not the fans, the game, or tradition.
Such a narrative doesn’t stand up to the reality of NBA stars simply playing during this summer. David Stern’s comments read against a backdrop of Durant at the Rucker, LeBron James in Watts, and Kobe & others in Manila are revealing in that it demonstrates who is working hard to not only protect but enhance profits (the owners and the league).
While not a strategy, the image of players balling in the Philippines with local players, LBJ showing up at a LA High school gym, and Durant dropping a cool 66 in contrast to Stern’s labor talk is striking; the footage of Kobe, Durant, and James throwing passes to unknown players, conducting clinics, and signing autographs for kids in Watts, Harlem, Manila, and Shanghai while owners and Stern talk collective bargaining agreements, hard caps, non-guaranteed contracts and the economics of the game is revealing. While much of media will continue to depict the players as greedy, as selfish, and otherwise “bargaining” in bad faith, the daily reports online tell a different story. I know for me, the daily articles and YouTube highlights are tapping into my love for both the NBA game and its amazingly talented players.
Post Script
According to Tom Ziller (who is citing a report by David Aldridge), NBA owners frequently lament the financial success of today’s players. According to an anonymous source, owners often talk about “being tired of making THESE (my change) guys rich.” This same source reports that these same owners may push for including commercial endorsements and sponsorships in calculating the players’ share of the league’s basketball related income. According to Aldridge, “the theory” is “the players wouldn't become famous and able to make such deals if not for the NBA infrastructure that puts them on television and other media.” This is the same sort rhetoric that guides David Stern’s denunciation of the player’s union and the idea that the players’ should be grateful and content with whatever the owners decide players should get. Given the excitement generated by player participation in various basketball games and the commercial/basketball/cultural importance the players, it is clear that the players are more important than the infrastructure. It is time for the players to tell the owners that they are sick of making THEM guys rich.
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David J. Leonard is Associate Professor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender and Race Studies at Washington State University, Pullman. He has written on sport, video games, film, and social movements, appearing in both popular and academic mediums. His work explores the political economy of popular culture, examining the interplay between racism, state violence, and popular representations through contextual, textual, and subtextual analysis. He is the author of Screens Fade to Black: Contemporary African American Cinema and the forthcoming After Artest: Race and the War on Hoop (SUNY Press). Leonard is a regular contributor to NewBlackMan and blogs @ No Tsuris.
