Who really believes Kareem is happy LeBron broke his record? | Commentary

Running off at the typewriter …

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was gracious and classy when LeBron James broke Kareem’s 39-year-old NBA career scoring mark on Tuesday night, but don’t kid yourself:

Kareem was not really happy about it.

Even though beforehand Kareem claimed to be “excited and relieved” to pass the torch to LeBron, I don’t buy it.

I don’t believe anybody who says they are happy about their longstanding record being broken.

Of course, I don’t know this for a fact, but I do I have some pretty credible circumstantial evidence.

Richard Maris, the son of the late Roger Maris, told me once that he and his siblings didn’t want Mark McGwire to break their father’s single-season home mark of 61 back in 1998. As it turned out, the PED-enhanced McGwire shattered the mark with 70 homers and the Maris family celebrated McGwire’s feat, but as Richard Maris confided later: “Let’s be honest, our family didn’t want Mark McGwire to break our dad’s record. If there had been one game left and McGwire had been sitting on 60 home runs, darn right we’d have been rooting against him.”

Then, of course, there’s the late, great Don Shula, the coach of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who happened to be in Orlando for an appearance at a Shula’s Steakhouse before the New York Giants played the undefeated New England Patriots in the 2007 season’s Super Bowl. Shula, like the rest of the ‘72 Dolphins, never hid the fact that he wanted the Dolphins to remain as the only unbeaten team in NFL history.

“I’m pulling for the New York Giants in the Super Bowl, and I’m not going to apologize for it,” Shula told me that night. “We [the ’72 Dolphins] are always portrayed as angry old men because we’re proud of what we accomplished. Believe me, I’ll be the first to congratulate the Patriots if they run the table and finish with a perfect record because I know how hard it is to do. But that doesn’t mean I want it to happen.”

Of course, the Giants pulled off the massive upset against the Patriots and Shula died a happier man three years ago with the Dolphins’ perfect record still intact.

Shula wasn’t an angry old man; he was just an honest old man.

Kareem should certainly be admired for his dignity and grace, but I can’t help but question his genuineness. …

Short stuff: By the way, since Kareem’s scoring record stood for 39 years, I have an obvious question: Why hasn’t another big man attempted to perfect Kareem’s signature sky hook — the most lethal offensive weapon in NBA history? It seems that even today’s centers spend more time practicing 3-point bombs than they do back-to-the-basket post moves. Another example of how the 3-point shot has bastardized the game. OK, my old-guy rant is over. … I see where sharks bit 16 people off Florida waters last year — the highest reported number of anywhere in the world. That doesn’t mean we have more sharks; it just means we have more tasty tourists. … With all of the cheering and booing at President Biden’s State of the Union Tuesday night, I thought I was watching a Florida-Florida State football game. Actually, Florida-Florida State fans are much more civil to one another than Democrats and Republicans. What an embarrassment! …

The fight a few nights ago between Orlando Magic big man Mo Bamba and former Winter Park High star Austin Rivers of the Minnesota Timberwolves was preceded by Bamba actually sticking out his tongue at Rivers. My first thought: Was this an NBA basketball arena or an elementary school playground? Supposedly the fight started with Bamba talking trash to Rivers. I’m just wondering if Rivers responded with, “I’m rubber, you’re glue. Whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you!” … For those many critics who were questioning the accuracy of Sentinel writer Edgar Thompson’s original reporting on the amount of a $13 million NIL deal signed by star QB recruit Jaden Rashada with the Gator Collective, the Athletic obtained the contract, and it was for, um, $13.8 million. Great reporting by the Athletic and great reporting by Edgar! …

No word yet on what was found on that shot-down Chinese spy balloon, but my operatives tell me that China’s top-secret NBA marionette strings and mouthpieces might have been among the items. … Two of my Laker-fan buddies are convinced that LeBron and Lakers GM Rob Pelinka played Mavericks owner Mark Cuban like a fiddle and actually orchestrated the Kyrie Irving-to-Dallas trade. Their theory: Irving, the worst teammate in the history of sports, will destroy the Mavericks to a point that Luka Doncic will want out and demand to be traded to the Lakers. Hey, it makes sense to me! … By the way, did you see where poor Kyrie said he felt “disrespected” by the Nets? Which is why I love this from Fark.com: “Kyrie Irving felt disrespected by the Nets for making unreasonable demands like ‘obey city ordinances,’ ‘don’t be anti-Semitic,’ and ‘play basketball.’ ” … There is now a street — Steve Spurrier Way — named after the Head Ball Coach in Gainesville. Wouldn’t a more appropriate name have been Steve Spurrier Pass? … In related news, a speed bump in Tampa has been named after former USF coach Jeff Scott.

Last word: “History of America, Part I (1776-1966): Declaration of Independence, Constitutional Convention, Louisiana Purchase, Civil War, Reconstruction, World War I, Great Depression, New Deal, World War II, TV, Cold War, civil-rights movement, Vietnam; History of America, Part II (1967-present): the Super Bowl era. The Super Bowl has become Main Street’s Mardi Gras.” — Norman Chad

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