Blake Griffin ought to beware of the folly of believing the hype and stunts his own league has thrust upon him.
Back in the 1950s, cheesy publicity stunts were groaned upon as money-grubbing agents and fame-hungry stars and starlets attempted all sorts of stupid tricks for the sake of an impression on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Publicity stunts now are legitimized and encouraged, with the stamp of approval by the NBA with no regard for anything but the sheer silly entertainment of it (as long as it makes money).
When young stars have an abundance of testosterone, they are apt to make unwise decisions and take unnecessary risks, as did the impressive Blake Griffin.
Within one week of the All-Star travesty, Kia Optima used a slow motion replay of the All-Star dunk for one of their epic commercials.
The highlight proved how dunk had been the brainchild of sponsors, not Blake Griffin; the goal was an endorsement with the choice of vehicle part of the ploy.
Turning the NBA extravaganza into a Bugs Bunny cartoon is historical fact, long ago sold out by Michael Jordan, but lately the game itself is overshadowed by the computer-generated effects that make Space Jam look like a documentary.
Blake Griffin may be the latest athlete to begin to believe his own press releases. He can fly around the hood like Icarus!
The NBA is so hungry to create another generation of big name box-office heroes they condone a stunt that looked impressive, but delivered sound and fury signifying only a large paycheck from the automobile company to the crown prince of the NBA.
Cue the choir. Hallelujah, Amen. Stern sits like Nero at the Coliseum as the gladiators dance to his whims.
Our recent NBA All-Star Weekend sideshow/spectacle crossed the line into buffoon territory.
What if Blake Griffin had made one slight misstep as he cascaded over the Kia Optima hood? What would team owners do? Respect his contract? Move on? Blame the immature athlete for the stunt?
Millions of viewers would have watched in rapt attention as Blake was carted off on a gurney.
The NFL certainly is just as guilty. For evidence, we give you the Super Bowl halftime show: a version of Disney’s Tron on steroids to an audience in the dark, with neon-bedecked dancers providing the enthusiasm fans did not exhibit.
And, the entire scenario of basketball’s All-Star Weekend makes fans salivate for next time we have one of these overblown, poppycock events.
Shall we next have a stampede of elephants while the dribbler evades them for his fantasy dunk? How long must we wait before we have virgin sacrifices?
The time has come for the children who run the NBA to grow up. They have turned back the clock 2,000 years in making an appeal to worst excess of Ancient Rome and/or, at least, to men with severe cases of arrested development.
We’ll always fall for the advertiser’s opera bouffe of fake heroics, like Super Bowl commercials gone wild. There is no mercy for player or fan from the NBA publicity machine.
Leonor Varela Joanne Montanez Michelle Obama Kerry Suseck FSU Cowgirls
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