NBA All-Star Game: All about Itself

Los Angeles:  It truly was the perfect setting for the 2011 NBA All-Star Weekend (ASW)—affectionately dubbed the “traveling circus show.” Just down the road from image-laden Hollywood and the location of next week’s Oscar Awards, the ASW has come to resemble anything but basketball—and everything about seeking glitz, glamour, and ultimately personal glory. 

From hosting celebrity parties and sponsoring charity events, to (players) jumping over cars and borderline sacrilegious choir performances, there exists a great chasm between the original game of basketball, and the blown-out-of-proportion sporting entertainment spectacle that has hit a minstrel level.

Now I’m not against celebrity appearances, pyrotechnics or post-game parties to enhance the fun and fanfare surrounding the ASW…but I do, however, oppose the subtle, yet increasing notion that any one player, personality, or pop-star is bigger than the event and the association itself.

And that is where I hop off my soap box and reflect on real life for a moment. How often do you or I negate to make the main thing, the main thing? Whether it is a self-inflated ego seeking the praise and adoration of others, or a rationalized entitlement mindset—such as not needing to help with the dishes because you had a tough day at work; or maybe it is taking the form of religious justification—being too busy doing the work of the Lord yet missing out on having a relationship with Christ altogether. When will we ever realize that it’s not about us?

We don’t need a nationally televised ‘Decision’ display or an elaborate media manifestation to state the verdict that Proverbs spoke of centuries before:  “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” May we realize and grasp the humbling reality that no matter our vocational title, our social status, or our God-appointed positions in life, we are merely flesh—no bigger than the Creator, no bigger than His creation—in utter dire need of daily direction from Almighty God Himself.

Editorial