Is Lebron James a national hero?

Hero is subjective. And I guess the "list of 1000 greatest Americans" is too. But I think it's absurd to include him on such a list.
 
rodoheel said:
Plenty of people who play sports for a living have been heroes. I'm not sure I would use that word to apply to Lebron, but it's not because athletes can't be heroes.

I would certainly say Lebron is a great American cultural ambassador. Like MJ was. And MJ was way more of an asshole than Lebron sometimes, lol.
Click to expand...
Sure. Athletes who sacrifice their careers to fight in the military would be a good example of heroes. I'd call Pat Tillman a hero because he chose to not play football.
 
ZenMode said:
Sure. Athletes who sacrifice their careers to fight in the military would be a good example of heroes. I'd call Pat Tillman a hero because he chose to not play football.
Click to expand...
I mean - that is pretty obviously not the only way for an athlete to be a hero. As noted above, I think Nikola Jokic would be widely considered a Serbian national hero largely for what he does on a basketball court. In the American context, I think athletes like Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, the members of the 1980 Olympic hockey team, and and Kerri Strug could legitimately be called national heroes due almost entirely to things they did as athletes. Other athletes, like Sandy Koufax or Serena Williams or Tiger Woods or Wilma Rudolph, might be considered heroes by people who see their accomplishments or efforts to overcome obstacles as inspiring. (I am not by any means trying to make an exhaustive list, just giving examples.)
 
rodoheel said:
I mean - that is pretty obviously not the only way for an athlete to be a hero. As noted above, I think Nikola Jokic would be widely considered a Serbian national hero largely for what he does on a basketball court. In the American context, I think athletes like Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, the members of the 1980 Olympic hockey team, and and Kerri Strug could legitimately be called national heroes due almost entirely to things they did as athletes. Other athletes, like Sandy Koufax or Serena Williams or Tiger Woods or Wilma Rudolph, might be considered heroes by people who see their accomplishments or efforts to overcome obstacles as inspiring. (I am not by any means trying to make an exhaustive list, just giving examples.)
Click to expand...
I would add Muhammad Ali to that list. A national hero who sacrificed part of his career for standing in opposition to the Vietnam War.
 
PTOHeel said:
I would add Muhammad Ali to that list. A national hero who sacrificed part of his career for standing in opposition to the Vietnam War.
Click to expand...
I agree. I didn't add him to my list precisely because, as you noted, a big part of what would make him considered a hero is something he did outside the context of athletic competition.
 
rodoheel said:
I mean - that is pretty obviously not the only way for an athlete to be a hero. As noted above, I think Nikola Jokic would be widely considered a Serbian national hero largely for what he does on a basketball court. In the American context, I think athletes like Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, the members of the 1980 Olympic hockey team, and and Kerri Strug could legitimately be called national heroes due almost entirely to things they did as athletes. Other athletes, like Sandy Koufax or Serena Williams or Tiger Woods or Wilma Rudolph, might be considered heroes by people who see their accomplishments or efforts to overcome obstacles as inspiring. (I am not by any means trying to make an exhaustive list, just giving examples.)
Click to expand...
That's just representative of the fact that people take sports too seriously!
 
ZenMode said:
That's just representative of the fact that people take sports too seriously!
Click to expand...
Really? You think that the idea that people like Jackie Robinson and Jesse Owens are heroes is evidence that people take sports too seriously?
 
rodoheel said:
Really? You think that the idea that people like Jackie Robinson and Jesse Owens are heroes is evidence that people take sports too seriously?
Click to expand...
To a point, yes. I'm sure there was a first black principal and a first black head chef and a first black police chief. None of those race accomplishments got the same attention as the first black baseball player in the majors... because we, as a society, put so much importance on playing games.
 
I suppose sports guys who are national heroes would be the ones who transcended their sport for the betterment of the rest of us.

Perhaps history will look kindly on Colin Kaepernick. Hopefully he will be seen as a hero.

Lou Gehrig continues to inspire people, so maybe he is a national hero.
 
ZenMode said:
To a point, yes. I'm sure there was a first black principal and a first black head chef and a first black police chief. None of those race accomplishments got the same attention as the first black baseball player in the majors... because we, as a society, put so much importance on playing games.
Click to expand...
Lots of other "firsts" in that regard are also people I would consider American heroes too. Thurgood Marshall comes to mind. Or, say, Sally Ride.

I understand that you wish that sports weren't so prominent in society, and I have some sympathy for that position, but the reality is that they are and that their visibility lends them cultural importance. Jackie Robinson was heroic precisely because so much attention was on him, and because by his very existence and excellence as a black professional athlete (and the way he carried himself in the face of significant pressure, prejudice, and hate) he became one of the most powerful arguments for integration of other aspects of American society. You can wish that we didn't care so much about sports and still acknowledge that he was heroic in that regard.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top