"I'm All About Winning... REALLY?

    I love the new favorite sports term for the 21st century.  "You know me.. I'm all about winning".  WTF does that mean?  If I hear that one more time I will throw up all over my bubble.  I don't remember Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Bill Russell, Kevin McHale or a litany of other players who have actually earned multiple championships, utter those words. And the reason was because they were out practicing.  Today's superficial superstars and divas love to talk the talk but they don't do anything substantial to win.
   Thank God I was in Macedonia this summer; incommunicado, so I didn't have to put up with 'the decision'.  I am sure that LBJ uttered those brilliant words somewhere along the way.  My question is; if he is 'all about winning', why doesn't he spend a little more time working on a jump shot instead of traversing the world with his entourage, wearing his hat sideways, trying to become a global celebrity?  If he was 'all about winning' why didn't he stick with the hand he was dealt and make them champions.  Other than Magic Johnson, most of those players I have named started out with bad teams and turned them into NBA champions.  What did LBJ do when things didn't work our for him? Well; first off, he folded the fucking tent last year in the playoffs.  There's a great example of someone who's 'all about winning'.  Could you ever imagine Michael Jordan folding the tent in a game, albeit February in Minnesota or in the NBA playoffs?  He would have fucking killed someone before he would have done that.  Maybe LBJ and his 'all about winning' motto was already working on that tremendously well choreographed TV special that he blessed us with.  Perhaps working on that jumper a little more and the dancing a little less would bring that win that he's' all about!'
    LBJ is easily the most gifted athlete to ever play the game. A physique like that come along once in a lifetime.  He is a marvel.  His all round basketball skills are fantastic.  He can do everything except make a consistent jump shot.  Have you watched him on the wing?  I have never seen anyone run like that.  Could you imagine him playing wide receiver or tight end in the NFL?  However;  he is the perfect example of the 21st century athlete.  He has been a diva since he was a pre-teenager.  He has been so gifted that everyone has kissed his ass and told him how great he is forever.  He is all fluff and no substance.  As of yet, despite all his admiral physical skills, he is without  a ring.  It took MJ six years to win a championship and the difference is that he stuck with his team and won.  What did LBJ do?  He runs away and tries to literally buy himself a championship.  But he's 'all about winning'... right?
    The other superstar that lights me up on this subject is Allan Iverson.  Mr. Practice.  Here was another incredibly physically talented player who just didn't get it.  No one, and I mean no one who has ever played the game had the quickness of AI; and quickness is the single most important physical skill in basketball.  If you look  up the definition of blow by, there will be a picture of AI. He always claimed that he was 'all about winning'.  Really?  And how exactly can you claim that when you don't go to practice; or when you are there, you don't work hard?  I will give him all the credit in the world for being a tough SOB on the court.  He got knocked down a million times and he jumped up and played hard.  But that doesn't make him 'all about winning'.  If he really cared he would have spent a little time in the gym working on that crappy jump shot of his, or in the weight room instead of the tattoo parlor.  Without practice, how exactly are you going to improve? How are you going to develop the cohesiveness and teamwork you need on defense?  Or the camaraderie forged by the hard work of practice?  I guess mister 'all about winning' thinks those traits of a winner will just fall out of the sky and hit him on his tattooed ass.
   The 21st century athlete wants everything to go their way.  Not only do they think that they are entitled to the obscene amounts of money they receive, but also that they are entitled to winning without paying the price of hard times.
    LBJ: what do we want you to do?  How about prove that you are a winner instead of telling us that you are 'all about winning'.  That would be a good start.

P.S.  Now that AI is 'all about winning'... in Turkey, maybe he can put in a good word for TFT and get him a job in the T.B.A.