It is one of the undeniable facts of life that
teenagers do stupid things. It is equally undeniable that the cult of celebrity
has the power to transform otherwise normal people into freaks, Michael Jackson
and Lindsey Lohan serving as the most obvious examples. Because I’m not famous,
never will be and don’t know anyone who is, it’s very difficult for me to fathom
what it must be like. What would my world be like if from the time I was ten
years old, everyone constantly told me that I was great? If I had super human
talent at acting, or music or athletics, I suppose that over time, I would develop
an entourage of devoted, fawning sycophants, none of whom would ever say “no”
to me. These sycophants along with my adoring fans would most likely create in
me an enormous ego. Then, I suppose I would do something like this:
When Mr. James was just a teenager, Sports
Illustrated famously declared him the “Chosen One”, the natural heir to Michael
Jordan. Heady stuff. But it’s one thing for a magazine to over-hype an athlete
to sell copy, it’s another thing entirely to go out and immortalize the hype
across your back…for all eternity.
Lebron James is an amazing basketball player. Whether
or not he actually proves to be better than Michael Jordan remains to be seen,
and Mr. James is certainly not the only great athlete with an ego. But, at this
point I shudder to think of what might happen to this guy if he does. If you’re
the kind of person who would tattoo yourself with “Chosen 1” before
accomplishing anything as a professional athlete, what on earth might you be
capable of when you do? Transcendent talent, Grand Canyon-sized ego, what could
possibly go wrong?
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