Originally I planned to write a really dark and trippy piece on the death of the Lakers and Celtics then I woke up from watching “American Psycho”, decided to return some videotapes, lost my train of thought and here we are it is Mothers Day.
We are now three games into each series of the 2nd round and every conclusion I tried to draw from some of these games has either been tested or totally proven incorrect. Due to the power of the reverse jinx this will be the only sentence that mentions the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers series.
I don’t need to go into a punch-by-punch breakdown of each series or point out key matchups or things to watch for because at this point it would be pointless and has been covered ad nauseam by every basketball “expert” under the sun.
The reason I mentioned “American Psycho” is because I find it interesting in that it is the one movie/book where not only I am a fan of the main character, Patrick Bateman, who “seemingly” (a discussion for another time…) does all of these terrible things, but I am openly hoping for him to continue to do all of these terrible things. Because it not only makes it more exciting entertainment, but it also has this depraved comedic I won’t say charm, but something I find to be incredibly fascinating throughout the movie/book.
And in some strange universe this relates to me as I watch the 2011 NBA playoffs most notably the Miami Heat. Now let me clarify that I am not rooting for the Miami Heat, but I am not exactly rooting for the Boston Celtics either. I guess what I mean is that if the Heat keep on winning I think it makes for a more interesting narrative despite all of these “terrible things” they may have done coming into this season.
“I killed Paul Allen. And I liked it…”
In some respects if the Heat win the championship it will eradicate some of my notions of what it takes to win an NBA championship and how the game should be played. Yet, I am still fascinated to watch these guys play. They have no Point Guard, no post scoring to speak of and at times do a very poor job of moving the basketball, but they also have two of the best basketball players on the planet to defer to at any point during the game and play very good defense. I hate the trend that “The Decision” may have set in motion for how teams will be built in the future, but I must say that it makes for very compelling story lines. And much like when Patrick Bateman throws a chainsaw down 7 flights of stairs to kill a woman I am intrigued to see how it all plays out.
“There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman; some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me.,,”
I feel very similar to LeBron James. Going into this season LeBron finally came to the realization that “The Decision” pissed people off and that he would no longer be seen as the fun loving player he once was thought of in Cleveland, but rather a pariah in search of a championship and some sort of basketball utopia in South Beach. So, LeBron decided to embrace this “villain” persona, he made commercials, gave interviews, etc about how he was going to use this backlash as motivation to lead the Heat to a championship and prove everybody wrong. LeBron can say and do all of those things publicly, but you know what I don’t believe him. He still wants people to like him, buy his jersey and shoes and keep growing the brand of LeBron. Because if he really wanted to shut people up and silence the “haters” he would have spent his summer developing a post game as a big eff you to everybody because that would have made him practically un-guardable. Rather he decided to focus on other things besides basketball and as Patrick Bateman be the side of Phil Collins that “…works best within the confines of the group, than as a solo artist, and I stress the word artist”.
“Harold, its Bateman, Patrick Bateman. You’re my lawyer so I think you should know: I’ve killed a lot of people.”
Spoiler Alert…
As you can gather from that last quote Pat Bateman murders a lot of people, but the problem is that no matter what Bateman does he cannot seem to be caught nor stop himself. So, as the story closes Bateman is a free man, who does not pay for his crimes. As an ending of a book/movie that works for me. In terms of sports that type of ending does not work for me. And so as much as it might sound like I am advocating how exciting it would be to watch the Heat in the finals, that it is great to watch the best players on the biggest stage. I do not want to see the Heat win. I do not want them to get away with hijacking the free agent process and winning a championship on their first try out of the gate. It is kind of like Patrick Bateman having all of these material things, but the one thing he can’t get is a reservation at Dorsia (sp?) and that’s the Heat. They can win all of these awards, have all of these commercials and endorsement money, but I do not want them to get that championship.
Till next time… when I compare Kevin Durant & Russell Westbrook to Clay Easton and Julian Wells of “Less than Zero”
We are now three games into each series of the 2nd round and every conclusion I tried to draw from some of these games has either been tested or totally proven incorrect. Due to the power of the reverse jinx this will be the only sentence that mentions the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers series.
I don’t need to go into a punch-by-punch breakdown of each series or point out key matchups or things to watch for because at this point it would be pointless and has been covered ad nauseam by every basketball “expert” under the sun.
The reason I mentioned “American Psycho” is because I find it interesting in that it is the one movie/book where not only I am a fan of the main character, Patrick Bateman, who “seemingly” (a discussion for another time…) does all of these terrible things, but I am openly hoping for him to continue to do all of these terrible things. Because it not only makes it more exciting entertainment, but it also has this depraved comedic I won’t say charm, but something I find to be incredibly fascinating throughout the movie/book.
And in some strange universe this relates to me as I watch the 2011 NBA playoffs most notably the Miami Heat. Now let me clarify that I am not rooting for the Miami Heat, but I am not exactly rooting for the Boston Celtics either. I guess what I mean is that if the Heat keep on winning I think it makes for a more interesting narrative despite all of these “terrible things” they may have done coming into this season.
“I killed Paul Allen. And I liked it…”
In some respects if the Heat win the championship it will eradicate some of my notions of what it takes to win an NBA championship and how the game should be played. Yet, I am still fascinated to watch these guys play. They have no Point Guard, no post scoring to speak of and at times do a very poor job of moving the basketball, but they also have two of the best basketball players on the planet to defer to at any point during the game and play very good defense. I hate the trend that “The Decision” may have set in motion for how teams will be built in the future, but I must say that it makes for very compelling story lines. And much like when Patrick Bateman throws a chainsaw down 7 flights of stairs to kill a woman I am intrigued to see how it all plays out.
“There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman; some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me.,,”
I feel very similar to LeBron James. Going into this season LeBron finally came to the realization that “The Decision” pissed people off and that he would no longer be seen as the fun loving player he once was thought of in Cleveland, but rather a pariah in search of a championship and some sort of basketball utopia in South Beach. So, LeBron decided to embrace this “villain” persona, he made commercials, gave interviews, etc about how he was going to use this backlash as motivation to lead the Heat to a championship and prove everybody wrong. LeBron can say and do all of those things publicly, but you know what I don’t believe him. He still wants people to like him, buy his jersey and shoes and keep growing the brand of LeBron. Because if he really wanted to shut people up and silence the “haters” he would have spent his summer developing a post game as a big eff you to everybody because that would have made him practically un-guardable. Rather he decided to focus on other things besides basketball and as Patrick Bateman be the side of Phil Collins that “…works best within the confines of the group, than as a solo artist, and I stress the word artist”.
“Harold, its Bateman, Patrick Bateman. You’re my lawyer so I think you should know: I’ve killed a lot of people.”
Spoiler Alert…
As you can gather from that last quote Pat Bateman murders a lot of people, but the problem is that no matter what Bateman does he cannot seem to be caught nor stop himself. So, as the story closes Bateman is a free man, who does not pay for his crimes. As an ending of a book/movie that works for me. In terms of sports that type of ending does not work for me. And so as much as it might sound like I am advocating how exciting it would be to watch the Heat in the finals, that it is great to watch the best players on the biggest stage. I do not want to see the Heat win. I do not want them to get away with hijacking the free agent process and winning a championship on their first try out of the gate. It is kind of like Patrick Bateman having all of these material things, but the one thing he can’t get is a reservation at Dorsia (sp?) and that’s the Heat. They can win all of these awards, have all of these commercials and endorsement money, but I do not want them to get that championship.
Till next time… when I compare Kevin Durant & Russell Westbrook to Clay Easton and Julian Wells of “Less than Zero”
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