In sports, there are two paths of loyalty. The first is a fans loyalty to their team, and the other is a professional athletes loyalty to their contract. That’s it, that’s as far as loyalty goes in professional sports. It just so happens that these athletes play for our team, and our money, more or less, pays their salary. So in other words, our respective loyalties directly intersect each other, and in consequence, from time to time things get a little messy. Over the years, the dollars of the industry piled up, the fame increased, our exposure and awareness became constant, and we got attatched. The only thing we share in common is our ability to simultaneously exchange the harsh reality that “this is a business.” In the end, really what we have is a complicated love triangle.
It's nice that the Cleveland Cavaliers have four players taking part in this weekend's All-Star Game festivities, but there is a small part of us that wishes it wasn't so.
A brief defensive lapse and an on-target triple from Kawhi Leonard lifted the visiting Spurs over the Cavaliers by a whisker tonight at the Q, 96-95. Leonard’s shot—which came with just 2.9 seconds remaining-- sent the Wine & Gold into the All-Star break on yet another of those pesky three-game losing streaks. But as a far more dire consequence, it also led to the inevitable 180-degree turn in tonality on the post-game radio shows, as local hosts decried Byron Scott’s failures to will his 16-37 team over a 42-12 team in the final minutes. Yes, if Kawhi Leonard had just been kind enough to short-arm that wide open three-pointer, your upstart Cavaliers would have had themselves a touchstone victory over a league elite (with Tim Duncan back on the floor, no less), leading to a week of good feelings and boundless optimism. But Kawhi Leonard—selfish prick that he is—made the shot.
Some arguments put us in good favor with our peers, provided we take the right side, but we might upset the status quo with a minority opinion. And hey, that's life. At the end of the day, you should be able to discuss anything and everything with your friends, then still walk away as friends, no matter how heated the debate might be.
When the final buzzer rang on Monday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers found themselves facing a 100-92 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. On the surface, this was not one of the worst losses that Cleveland has suffered. Afterall, there are 36 available to choose from and far fewer wins. The Cavs have lost to the Chicago Bulls by 29 points. They gave up a 26 point lead to the Phoenix Suns. Both of those losses happened within the first six games of the season.