I'm a Little Wildcat!

LeBron James has publicly said that he wants his sons, LeBron Jr. and Bryce Maximus, aged 5 and 2, respectively, to play for Coach Cal, the Herald-Leader reported today.  Jenks and I were cheering this decision on Facebook this morning. "The little James kids had better be good!" we joked...

I must admit, dear readers, that I started doing all kinds of mental gymnastics: in thirteen years,  when little LeBron signs his LOI, I'll still be twenty-nine (I'm working on petitioning the state to have my birth year changed, but that's another story for another time -- I will be calling my state senator, hometown Circuit Court judge, and Congressman soon...), and hopefully my beau and I will be living in Chevy Chase and holding Season Tickets.  Coach Cal will be 63, which according to the Herald article, is an older age than that at which he still wants to coach. We can work out the details, Cal, I thought.  You'll want to stay on for this. Think about it. These are the children of perhaps the greatest player ever posted at the three position. Even if they only play at the level of Jeffrey Jordan or Luke Walton, then they'll bring in a wonderful media barrage that we'll need...

I'd like to say that there was more than a hint of irony in that little stream of consciousness exercise. But, truth be told, I was kind of serious.  We want to believe that every recruiting year will result in the hottest blue-chip recruits wearing Wildcat Blue. Even a decade or more away.  We dress our own little boys in blue and hang that creepy Wildcat Dreams print in their bedrooms in hope that they'll be fast enough, their shots perfect enough, their defensive game tough enough.... And we think it makes perfect sense that an NBA superstar would do just the same.

It's funny, really; even though we want kids --  from the biggest baller on the fourth grade playground to our own clumsy seersucker-sporting tykes --  to be indoctrinated at a young, young age, one of the first warning signs of  the Coach Clyde era was the signing of an eighth grader. Not funny-haha. Funny-sad and pathetic. It just seemed creepy and predatory, as if BCG were one of those baby beauty pageant moms or the guy who writes unauthorized checks on his Nana's account. It just seemed like poor little Michael Avery was making plans that he could not possibly comprehend, that his parents were so negligent in allowing the situation to occur as to constitute child abuse, and that Gillispie was a huge schmuck with no sense of decency for setting the whole thing in motion.  I wish Michael the best in whatever he does, even if it involves wearing those ridiculous clown-stripe warmup pants.

Another interesting aspect of LeBron's endorsement of Calipari as his sons' future coach is that he is implicitly saying that he wants his kids to play college basketball.  From someone who, as an 18 year-old high schooler, was a first-round NBA draft pick, signed a $90 million Nike contract before he ever played a professional basketball game, and was the undisputed Rookie of the Year, these are powerful words. Now, I admit that, as a fanatic follower of college basketball, I'm going to draw that conclusion. I truly believe that kids should play college sports, and stay with their team as long as possible. I know that it's a hard, hard decision -- you have to strike while the iron's hot, you fear injury, etc.  Still, college basketball has so many rewards beyond the financial -- learning from a coach rather than working for a boss, the invaluable education as a student, a player, and a person.... I could go on for ages. I like to think that LeBron is acknowledging that he was given a great talent and a great opportunity, but that he wants to plan for a little more stability and reality for his sons.

At any rate, I anxiously await the day when I can wear my James Jr. t-shirt at Midnight Madness...


*It just hit me that, even though I will still be twenty-nine in thirteen years, I'll need to claim to be forty so that I can become a sustainer, which is Junior League speak for becoming a retired, emeritus member -- the gals who get to come to events and drink wine without having to put in all the community project hours.  I haven't worked through all the details yet, but I guess I have a decade in which to do so...