Amen Brother!

"I'm gone be who I'm gone be regardless of what you say!"

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once said, “Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.” William Penn broke it down like this, “The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves.” Robert Heinlein, known as the dean of science fiction, shut the building down with this joint, “A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.”

The Miami Heat captured its second straight NBA title on Thursday night by out lasting the San Antonio Spurs in an unbelievable Game 7 on South Beach 95-88. LeBron James also won his second consecutive Finals MVP and an even deeper hatred from boyz all over this country that only tuned into the playoffs to see this cat lose.

After the game as this young brother stood on the stage Doris Burke asked the question, “How have you been able to handle all of the criticism and pressure that so many people put on you.” He gave the answer that only a real G could! “I’m LeBron James from Akron, Ohio! From the inner city! I ain’t supposed to be here! So I don’t care what folks got to say about me!”

Those were the realist 26 words ever uttered in the history of the NBA! Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! If you’re black and grew up anywhere near a ghetto in America you understood what those words meant whether you want to admit it or not. If you’re not black and you grew up in rural or suburban America let me take you to school!

According to the Bureau of Statistics between 8,000 and 9,000 African Americans are murdered annually. To put this into perspective playboy, 6,400 U.S. service men and women have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan COMBINED over the course of a 10 year war. Also 1 in 3 black men can expect to go to prison in their lifetime and 50% of them won’t even graduate from high school.

So when LeBron stood up on that stage holding the Larry O’Brian Championship trophy and the Bill Russell Finals MVP award and spit those 26 words, I felt every syllable of them! On some real talk, if you grew up in the ghetto you know some cat or cats that didn't make it out because the streets wouldn't let them fulfill their destiny! Benji Wilson, who was the best high school basketball player in the country in 1985 that was shot down on his lunch hour, was a prime example of that bruh. He was LeBron before LeBron!

What blows me away is that black men and women all over this country will sit in barber shops, beauty shops and in corporate offices today and hate on this cat for saying what he was feeling last night! Knowing that they have dodged the same land mines this dun had to maneuver around to get where they are as well.

The only difference between the two is that he is the best in the WORLD at what he does. All I hear are folks talking about how they don't like him because he's arrogant! Boyz get arrogant when they become a supervisor, district manager or regional director of some company but have the nerve to say that they don’t like LeBron's attitude. He's the best we've EVER seen play this game pimpin'! He's gotta be to some degree arrogant to keep from losing his freakin' mind because of everybody's hatin' on him. You gotta play mind games with yourself to keep from going crazy when you're public enemy #1!!

Boyz don’t like him because he had sense enough to think for himself and make a move that would enhance his career. They don’t like him because some dun that knows nothing about the struggle of growing up in the ghetto told them that they shouldn’t like him.  They’ve been hoodwinked by some clown that listened to some NWA and Tupac once on a road trip to Florida and thinks that he knows what the war zone looks like, feels like and tastes like.

Boyz are so filled with hate for this cat that they can't recognize that they are watching possibly the greatest basketball player to ever live! He's only 28 and the boy ain't even in his prime yet! Jordan won his ALL of his titles between the age of 28 and 35! So that gives you some perspective on what this cat is still capable of accomplishing! Are you kidding me?

All of you single mothers out there in the ghetto should be encouraging your child to use LeBron as the standard for your baby boys to grow up and be like whether they’re playing sports or not. LeBron was raised by a very unstable single mother (No Daddy) and lived from pillow to post until he went the league bruh! I don't think you're feelin' me on that playboy! That means that he had to lay his head down in different spots all of the time.

You hate a cat that has become the best in the world at what he does, in spite of his background, that has NEVER once been on the news for anything other than playing the game of basketball! You hate a brother that has not only made it out of the ghetto but has brought his boyz out with him. He didn’t just put money in their pockets. He gave them jobs to do and now they’re running the business side of things for him. They aren’t just hangin’ out livin’ it up. Now they’re able to work and provide for their families too.

Every kid in America is rockin’ a pair of Beats Headphones today and they don’t even know that LeBron is part owner of the joint.  Not only is he killin’ these boyz on the court, he’s destroying them in the business world too but because some dun told you not to like him you agreed to do so.

How is it even possible for the most powerful man in the NBA to not have commercials on TV other than the joint he's got for his own company? I'll tell you how, it's because you've been told not to like him so companies have decided that they can't sell products with a guy that people don't like!

The NBA for the last 3 playoff seasons have set all-time television ratings records because clowns have tuned in to see LeBron lose. They're piling up in front of the TV because they DON'T like him. He controls more advertising dollars during playoff games than Jordan was ever able to do yet he doesn't benefit financially from them. Wheredeydodatat?

“Big Ups” to a young brother that has overcome the odds and didn’t snap along the way because most of you would have cursed out everybody on the job, climbed through the drive thru window the first time someone criticized you for not getting their order right and quitting a long time ago! I know I’m not gonna get an Amen for this joint so I’ll say it myself but it needed to be said! So in my Deacon Graves voice, “Amen and Amen!” Pass the collection plate!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheJayGravesReport
The quote under the caption isn’t real but its REAL talk!