LeBron James, fondly known as the king to fan boys, back handed Isaiah Stewart during an LA Lakers x Detroit Pistons ball game on Sunday night. In plain language, LeBron punched Isaiah in the face opening up a gushing wound. LeBron was subsequently ejected from the game for a flagrant foul penalty 2 and handed a 1-game suspension.
LeBron needs no introduction, he is in the conversation for the greatest basketball player of all time. Stewart’s career on the other hand is on the diametric opposite of the spectrum with only a year’s experience playing professionally. He’s at the tender age of 20.
It is not clear if LeBron meant to punch Isaiah in the face. In his almost 2-decade playing career, LeBron does not have a reputation for dirty plays. This is only the second time he has ever been ejected from a game.The incident has divided opinion.
Basketball is a contact sport and these sort of things can happen. And they do. What is making this a “story” is how Isaiah reacted. He showed his immaturity. He wanted to start a fight with an ostentatiously apologetic LeBron. He caused a scene in the end. It was delayed though. He was standing eye-to-eye with LeBron for 4 seconds and did not do anything until his teammates started pulling at him. Then he realised that he was bleeding and wanted to throw hands. It took the entire floor to restrain him. He pushed over crowds trying to get to LeBron. He even chased him down to the locker rooms.
I can’t legislate for how he should have felt after getting gobsmacked in the eye by a 7-foot tall man that has not left the gym since 2004. But you do not bulldoze over your entire coaching staff who are attempting to restrain from doing something stupid.
Isaiah got himself suspended for 2 games for his diva moment. Nobody wants to see violence at sport games and I do hope the young man has gained some perspective since. It is reported that LeBron has attempted to reach out to Stewart to apologise off the court.
Sayings Are Meaningless
In the spirit of Isaiah Stewart, I want to pick a fight. I’m tired of sayings, proverbs, aphorisms or whatever you want to call them being used in arguments in lieu of actual evidence. We, humans, associate with people similar to ourselves. And I often hear people say, “Great minds think alike” every time they hear something with which they agree. You agree with what you hear because you surround yourself with people that are similar to you. You create an echo chamber of monolithic ideas wherein you hear your own opinions repeated back to you. This is the root of all ignorance including sexism, racism, religious intolerance, xenophobia and so on. The more fitting saying for these people should be “Fools seldom differ.”
These are by no means the only sayings that exist in conflict. You’ve heard of “birds of a feather flock together” which alludes to similarity being the causal factor in relationship building. Well. Here comes another popular saying, “opposites attract” 🤦🏾♂️.
“The early bird gets the worm,” but at the same time “Haste makes waste.” I think I’ve made my point but I am not known for knowing where to stop. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Oh… does it? What about “out of sight, out of mind?” I am tired!
If I have a pet peeve, it is this one. There are proverbs for every outcome. That is what makes them meaningless. Please use evidence for your arguments. Not sayings. Not hopes. Develop a culture of seeking better explanations. Study history, microeconomics, game theory, psychology, ethics, mathematics and physics.
Bitcoin is legal tender in El Salvador
While the great subcontinent of China is banning Bitcoin again and again, the Americans are listing Bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs). The central American country, El Salvador is taking it even further than that. Bitcoin is official legal tender in El Salvador as of September 2021. You can purchase milk with your Bitcoin and access services too.
Vendors who are uncomfortable with receiving payment in bitcoin may request a patron to convert the bitcoin into dollars using the government crypto wallet called Chivo, a word that is slang for cool. The government is yet to publish data on uptake of this bold proposition. The whole world is watching and we should be seeing FOMO get the better of similar nations in no time. The global super powers are probably not going to surrender their power and influence to the decentralised marketplace anytime soon. I wouldn’t either.
Dr. Mpho Phalatse is your new Jo’burg Mayor
Johannesburg has spoken. Not only has Johannesburg swapped ANC for DA, they have put the other gender behind them as well (pause), electing a woman for mayor for the first time ever *cue glass breaking audio.*
Dr. Mpho Phalatse won this election and her prize is a Jo’burg in quite a state. Power and water systems are near to collapse and the 12,000km road network is dilapidated. Jozi is notorious for being something of a crime headquarters. The inner city is out of control and it’s getting worse. Crime rates are growing by double digits quarter on quarter.
The Rand is the weakest it’s been in 12 months trading at 15,88 against the dollar on Tuesday morning. Of course the Rand is not Jo’burg’s fault but I think it’s worth mentioning here as the city is still South Africa’s economic heartbeat and generates 15% of GDP.
Let’s not get distracted. The ANC is officially politically wounded. During these just passed local government elections, the ANC approval ratings fell. For the first time in democratic history, the ANC failed to attract at least 50% of the vote. The ANC has a lot of in-fighting and they still cannot get to grips with basic service delivery. Or at least that’s what voters say. How long before they surrender their position as the ruling party?
More News
The videoconferencing platform, Zoom, was having such a great time of it. This was the most popular platform during the transition from traditional work to remote work forced upon us by the invisible enemy, called the… I’ll let Cardi B say it. (The linked video clip contains explicit content. Viewer discretion is advised). Zoom stocks slid 34% this year because of respective countries’ successes in rolling out vaccine programmes that encourage the opening up of the economy. At the peak of Zoom’s popularity last year, the company shattered earning records growing by 355% in revenue and 458% in paying customers in September 2020 when compared to a similar period the previous year. Zoom shares rose 4-fold during 2020. Zoom was one of the stars of the pandemic era that now looks to be coming to an end. In September 2021, they reported lower than expected customer numbers. It looks like the growth is over.
Uber eats to deliver cannabis to your door in Canada. Okay. Not exactly. But you can order marijuana on the Uber Eats app for collection. In the US of A, only 18 states have legalised recreational use of marijuana. South Africa also decriminalised private use of marijuana. Whenever you’re ready, Eswatini.
Shoplifting epidemic in California! Several retailers in the state are reporting severe losses due to a spike in shoplifting rates. They are blaming the homeless and addicted. Particularly fentanyl addicts - a drug that is 50x stronger than heroin. The rising unemployment is not helping the situation either. And the cherry on top is inflation. Better days are coming bathandekwayo. But first, we need to survive 2021.
What I’m Reading
I’m reading Superfans by Pat Flynn. The reason I started reading this was because I thought it was an expansion on the legendary Kevin Kelly 1000 true fans blog post. It’s not quite that exactly but it’s in the neighbourhood.
A superfan, Pat claims, is someone who likes what you do - entrepreneurially or creatively - so much that they will support you no matter what. They’ll drive miles to attend your event. They’ll commute another time to attend the same show on a different date. They protect you from trolls. They share what you do voluntarily. Loudly. Often. All you need is 1000 of these true fans and you can make a living. If you’re not convinced, please read the linked blog and/or the book for the Mathematics.
Pat presents a 4-tier pyramid to distinguish your customers, subscribers, followers or whatever name you use for your tribe. The most casual fans are called that, Casual. Then they graduate to Active. The tertiary tier is the Connected tier and at the summit, that’s your Superfans. What characterises these different classes is well articulated in the book.
The key takeaway is that you do not need 1 million followers. If you impact 1000 lives, you’ve done your job. That is so achievable. If you’re building a business or you are looking for ways to share your art, I recommend that you read this book and this 4-minute read.
If anything else happened this week, I missed it. Till next Sunday 👋🏾.
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