Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Reasons LeBron James should not have load management

1. Sitting him out of games would cheat the fans

Let’s face it: the NBA is a business, and as in any business, you must give your customers or clients their money’s worth, lest you lose their business or face their ire.

Imagine you’re a little kid who lives in a small town in Middle America. Your home team is terrible, but you’re a huge LeBron James fan. Your parents, like almost everyone else, are part of what’s known as the “working poor” and have been unable to muster the money for tickets to an NBA game for years.

Well, finally, they scored tickets to a game. Not just any game, but one where James and the Los Angeles Lakers are coming to town.

While you’re riding to the game, you’re super stoked because LeBron James, the supposed Greatest of All Time, or at least the G.O.A.T. of your lifetime, is in town, and you’ll get to see him up close and personal. It’s something you could someday tell your grandkids about.

Well, when you get into the arena, you find out that he isn’t playing due to “load management.” Kaput goes your emotions, not to mention the hundreds of dollars your parents spent on tickets, popcorn, parking, etc. that they probably would’ve been better off spending on rent or health insurance.

How would a 10 or 12-year-old kid feel about James and the NBA after all that?

In an era where there is so much pent-up anger towards the “1%” and how they supposedly don’t care about John Q. Public, why should such a progressive, forward-thinking league like the NBA that’s always been concerned with PR stoop to the selfish, money-grubbing business practices that have turned off Middle America?