Talking about Lebron James, 60 Minutes, and the Shot

I watched the CBS special on Lebron James that aired on Sunday night. I thought it was a decent interview but I felt that there was a lot of fluff in it. There is a debate about whether all the commodification has had a positive, negative, or neutral value effect on basketball and sports in general. Then there is the whole cult of personality and celebrity culture promoted through professional sports which one could argue has had an overwhelmingly negative impact on the development of youth. Personally, I was surprised and quite disappointed that 60 Minutes would do such a soft piece given its journalistic reputation. I would've liked to have seen more in-depth questions and answers about what Lebron thinks he can do from a societal standpoint -- where he can use his "brand" as he has used "basketball as a mechanism for material wealth" to influence structural change especially in the economically depressed neighborhoods where he grew up.

But irregardless of whether you think that Lebron James as a "brand" represents all that is bad or good about sports and the game of basketball overall, what you cannot deny is that he has an incredible talent, charm, and even a little magic. In the interview, he hits what appears to be an unscripted, done in one take, underhand 3/4 shot. Fake or real, you be the judge,