- Entry
#2063
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- 9:28 AM - August
29th, 2020
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- Of course this
comes after "Vancouver" and of course this comes days
before I start work on "Meeting Michael". Whew. Lots
to digest here. Let's just start with a news report of
where we are...
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-
- I went back
and forth between doing a personal video or just
posting the news... but I ended up finding the
DRYEST report to cement the moment for posterity. The
bias surrounding what's happening is almost IMPOSSIBLE
to avoid and sometimes you need to just know the
facts. That shitty video is just the facts. LOL. So my
take...
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- In my life, I've
never seen a more effective protest. Never seen a
better strike. Never seen a better walkout. And
I still, honestly, can't believe it happened. The
players, walked. They just said: fuck you, we're not
coming out. The Lakers and Clippers said: "fuck it
ALL, we're done for the SEASON." And I believe them.
Granted, they were emotional that night and incredibly
a conversation with Barack O'fuckin'bama is what
brought them back to the table... but this is the
first time I've ever seen a group of players WALK...
FOR THEIR COMMUNITY.
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- THIS ISN'T FOR MILLIONS.
THIS ISN'T FOR THEM. This
HURTS them. It HURTS their brand. The
NBA will forever be down ratings-wise. The entire
league will make WAY LESS money from this
point on because of what they're doing...
-
- ...and they
DON'T GIVE A FUCK. (they may in like 2
years, but still - lol). They scared the shit out of
the owners and the owners said: "You got it. What
do you need from us?" And with the help of
BARACK OFUCKINBAMA they came up with a list of
demands that will fundamentally shift the landscape.
Fully funded voting locations in every sports market?
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Using the arenas to allow people to
vote is so much bigger than people realize. I mean,
holy shit. All these assholes SHUTTING DOWN
polling places? Now you open the polling SUPERSTORE of
an arena with all the parking that entails... with all
the staff to RUN that shit? Oh my GOD... if
that's now a part of the collective bargaining of
their contracts? What the fuck? They just
said: "Hey you billionaire owners - put your
money where OUR MOUTHS ARE and make this
happen."
AND THEY DID. HOLY SHIT.
-
- And it won't just
happen once. It'll happen every year now. Because they
won't let 'em off the hook. Holy mother fuck they did
it. And they did it for their community to their
OWN DETRIMENT. Fuck, half the country believes
"Black Lives Matter" is a terrorist organization
because of disinformation and the
NBA STILL PUT THAT SHIT ON THE COURT.
And it will cost that league hundreds of millions of
dollars. I'm so proud of that league... I don't even
know what to say. I am so proud of these players...
which does bring me to the project I'm working on
now.
-
- Oh Michael. Oh how
I loved Michael Jordan. Oh how he refused to
stand for anything and would ALWAYS shut up and
dribble. Oh how this contradiction breaks my heart. Oh
how hard it is for me to make an NBA documentary and
NOT bring up what's happening today in the NBA.
How LeBron is just... so much more than MJ was.
Now I'll say this: LeBron is only possible because of
what Magic/Bird started... and then what MJ took to
the stratosphere. Jordan choosing to just shut-up and
dribble built a foundation for this generation to be
ABLE to STAND-UP and fight. Had MJ done that in
the 90s, the league may not be standing right now. The
league was at a 3 when Bird/Magic came in... bumped it
to a 5... Jordan knocked it to a 9-10 (seriously, his
first threepeat they were arguably more popular than
the NFL) and before it got political this year I'd say
the league was a 7-8. That 7-8 is gone. The NBA is
clearly a 5 from this point on. But had MJ been this
vocal when the league was a 5? It would've cut that to
below 3... and might've halted everything. So we have
to keep all that in mind.
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- That being said,
LeBron is just another stratosphere of important. As a
player he is the perfect Magic/Michael mix... but we
just threw in Ali? And we threw in an Ali where the
rest of the boxers joined him. Wow. I cannot
begin to tell you what it means to me...
-
- ...and of course
this is the spirit that makes me NOT want to move to
fucking Canada. Ya know? Like
THIS IS AMERICA. This is leverage. This is
how you affect change. This is what I believe in. This
is why I quit jobs and protested... this is ME.
I am SOOOOOOOOOO torn. And it is SO hard to
focus on "Meeting Michael" which is from the
perspective of being a kid and looking up to your
hero. No politics - straight basketball... just the
joy of basketball and heroes... I can make NO mention
of 2020 and that's really the entire
point...
-
- ...but oh man is
it eating me alive. The good news is that I can watch
these playoffs when I'm not editing and remember what
I'm rooting for. And man, these bubble games have been
spectacular. Hoping LA closes out Portland
tonight and we're one step closer to the inevitable LA
showdown.
GOD I WISH IT WAS HERE IN LA
AND WE COULD GO!
-
- Ugh.
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- Anyway, LeBron,
thank you. Jordan was my childhood, but I've grown up.
And you represent the rest of me. Thank you so much
for sacrificing to make your community
stronger.
-
- Adam
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