American Sports Enjoys A Period Of Making Us Feel Good About The USA

Wait a minute. Are we seeing this correctly? Like, what's up with American sports lately?

It's – checking again before I say this – cool right now.

It's a feel-good thing now.

It's unifying.

These folks who we used to root for with a passion until they began kneeling in front of the flag, or started demanding you support vax mandates, or started preaching to you about this, that or the other thing when all we wanted was just to watch a freaking sporting event are, well, not acting like those people right now.

They're acting like our heroes again.

Like people we want to root for again.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 22: LeBron James of The United States and Daniel Theis of Germany during the 2024 USA Basketball Showcase match between USA and Germany at The O2 Arena on July 22, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images)

LeBron James Proud Of The Flag

It probably won't last. I know this because we live in a fallen world and we're imperfect so somebody is bound to say or do something that offends your national pride or political alignment or morals.

But Monday morning, and maybe only for this morning, all is well in sports. 

We good!

From LeBron James, to Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese's rivalry, from the NFL to the Olympics and what it means to have national pride, we are so, so good right now.

Don't believe it? Think my nose is imitating Pinocchio?

On Monday morning at a meeting of the American Olympic men's basketball team, guard Stephen Curry announced to James that he had been chosen to carry the American flag at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics.

The world will be watching and LeBron James, the greatest player of this generation, will lead the American delegation's boat that sails the Seine river in Paris by holding up the Stars and Stripes.  

"You got that honor so you get to wave the flag in Paris, my man," Curry told James in making the announcement.

Moment James Learns He's Flag Bearer

And James seemed genuinely humbled and flattered.

"Definitely, being a kid we all come from, you know, different walks of life, different cities, different upbringings," James told his teammates. "Think the last thing on our mind you ever have is carrying a flag representing our country during the Olympics. So it never was never a thought, never a dream, but it's an absolute honor.

"Team USA has given so much to all of us – to me over the last 20 years – and I understand right now in a country that's so divided, I hope this moment and that moment will unite us or bring us together even for that split, or those split seconds or those hours that we travel across that water in Paris."

This, by the way, is seismic.

Unless you are totally clueless of what LeBron James has represented for the past decade or so, it has definitely drawn dividing lines. 

Firstly, he's actively campaigned on behalf of one party over multiple election cycles. And that's fine, except it probably irked the folks in the other party.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 22: A pro-Hong Kong activist holds an image depicting LeBron James as Chinese communist revolutionary Chairman Mao Zedong before the Los Angeles Lakers season opening game against the LA Clippers, outside Staples Center, on October 22, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Activists also printed at least 10,000 pro-Hong Kong t-shirts to hand out to those attending the game and encouraged them to wear the free shirts as a form of peaceful protest against China amidst Chinese censorship of NBA games.  (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

When James Was On Wrong Side Of Liberty

Then think back to the China issue in which then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for protesters in Hong Kong who wanted autonomy from the takeover of the region and its government by the Chinese Communist Party.

James, in China for NBA exhibition games at the time, backed out of press conferences while in country, but when he returned to the United States, he seemingly took up support for the CCP while saying Morey was "uneducated" on the situation in Hong Kong.

So, the man who benefits financially from sales of his gear in China, spanked the American in favor of the CCP. And it didn't matter that James later changed his story, saying he wasn't disagreeing or agreeing with Morey but rather disagreeing with the timing of his tweet.

James simply seemed to be on the wrong side of liberty.

Jan 7, 2021; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers and Memphis Grizzlies kneel before the game at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

NBA's Divisive Old Days

James similarly was part of the NBA's mass kneeling during the national anthem that took place throughout the 2020 season – a move most players supported as part of their like-minded agreement with what BLM and Colin Kaepernick's opinions on America were during a time of unrest.

James at the time said he wanted to "make Kap proud."

And that was great for half the country. And it was an offense to the other half. So, yeah, divisive.

But James on Monday? That dude made me do a double-take because he was proud to represent America and carry that same flag he knelt in front of four years ago during the national anthem.

Makes you think there is more to him than just that one act.

That, of course, doesn't fit the media narrative because the media likes antagonists and protagonists, and it profits when it can pit one side versus another. You know what also doesn't fit the media narrative?

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese getting along. And liking each other. Respecting each other.

The two young women, we've been told, are rivals because they come from different schools, different teams, different backgrounds. And different races.

Clark to Reese For The Layup

But amid that narrative, I watched Clark and Reese play on the same team over the weekend. (No I didn't, I don't watch the WNBA's below the rim brand of ball when there's a beach to get to).

But, you know, I heard they played together. So I caught up and eventually watched one play on which Clark dished to Reese for a bucket.

Then the two women celebrated the play as they ran back on defense.

It was antithetical to everything I had read about their relationship dynamic. 

And it led me to believe they actually don't hate each other. Certainly not because of race. 

They're athletes who play hard when they're on opposing teams. And they play hard for a common cause when they're on the same team. There's a name for that:

Team sports.

TOPSHOT - Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face surrounded by secret service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. Donald Trump was hit in the ear in an apparent assassination attempt by a gunman at a campaign rally on Saturday, in a chaotic and shocking incident that will fuel fears of instability ahead of the 2024 US presidential election. The 78-year-old former president was rushed off stage with blood smeared across his face after the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, while the gunman and a bystander were killed and two spectators critically injured. (Photo by Rebecca DROKE / AFP) (Photo by REBECCA DROKE/AFP via Getty Images)

A Confession About Trump, Biden News

And now a confession: When President Trump survived his assassination attempt, one of the things I did was open social media to see who was going to say the exact wrong thing about the horrible event.

And when President Biden broke the news he was going to "stand down" from his re-election campaign, I looked through social media again to see who was going to say the exact wrong thing about this sad event prompted by his ill health.

But these searches found no missteps from the NFL, or Major League Baseball.

No controversial divisiveness. No glee somebody was shot. No celebration someone is obviously cognitively diminished. Nothing of that nature from the sports world that I found.

Sports avoided the landmines.

Oh, other people weren't so careful. Pundits. Politicians. Your neighbors. They said a bunch of cringe things. But sports stayed thankfully clear of exacerbating the mess, I think.

I cannot promise it will remain that way for long. Or even beyond the moment you finish reading this. People, after all, are people.

But for right now, American sports is playing games and not dividing us. It's pretty cool while it lasts.