Robservations: Rules don’t apply for superstars
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Your first clue would be when the rules no longer apply to you.
With that said, LeBron James, the 18-year-old high school basketball superstar predicted by most everyone to be the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, must certainly be something special.
James recently was suspended by the Ohio High School Athletic Association, after accepting two replica jerseys, worth a total of $845, from a local merchant. That merchant, allegedly, wanted to pose for a photo with LeBron that would be displayed in his store.
Wednesday, however, Judge James R. Williams issued a restraining order, blocking the OHSAA’s ruling and allowing the senior to return to the court. In issuing his ruling, the judge said James’ sitting out the rest of the season would result in “immediate and irreparable injury.”
Why? Because he wouldn’t get a chance to be on ESPN any more? Because there wouldn’t be an opportunity to receive any more “gifts” from local merchants?
The original suspension, handed down by OHSAA head Clair Muscaro, stated James broke a bylaw “by capitalizing on athletic fame by receiving money or gifts of monetary value.”
Seems pretty cut and dry, doesn’t it?
But James’ attorney, Fred Nance, said that just wasn’t the case. In fact, according to him, LeBron was awarded those jerseys not because of any athletic fame, but instead because he made the honor roll.
Yeah, right. Because every local merchant wants to hang a photo on the wall of his store of himself posing with the valedictorian.
And check out this piece of logic, straight from Nance’s own mouth.
“If he was about capitalizing on his fame, he would have been in Los Angeles or New York last weekend signing multimillion-dollar contracts instead of sitting on the bench.”
That makes sense. Of course he wasn’t cheating. If he wanted to cheat, he’d be cheating for a lot more than $845.
This whole thing, the whole reason that the national sports news centers are concerned with LeBron James, comes down to one bare-bones fact: If you have the potential to make someone else a lot of money down the road, you are untouchable. The minute someone tries to put you in your place, or to treat you like a normal citizen, someone else will slap them down and put you right back on your pedestal.
Now LeBron is going to be able to get past what is essentually a blatant violation of amateur athletic rules, and return to his team, which is currently ranked No. 1 in the country by USA Today. He’ll very likely lead them to the Ohio state championship, then he’ll be the toast of the NBA, and sign a contract worth millions and millions of dollars with some lucky pro team.
That’s good work, if you can get it. Don’t get me wrong, because I’d take it just as quickly as you would if placed in that situation.
But it’s just not fair.
It’s not fair to other athletes, who have to abide by regulations and can’t get some lawyer to wrangle them out of trouble. It’s not fair to LeBron’s teammates, who have already been overshadowed and now have to deal with added controversy.
And, when you really sit back and look at it, it’s not fair to LeBron — a kid who probably, if he can remember far enough back, used to love playing basketball just because it was a fun game — not because of the money, the contracts, the jerseys or anything else.
But when you’re special, fairness doesn’t matter. And neither, apparently, do the rules.