If there is one thing I have learned in 26 years about sports, it is this…

Winning cures EVERYTHING!

The list of athletes walking this planet or 6 feet under who have received a pass for poor behavior is endless. Why do they get that pass? Because they won.

How many fans does Floyd Mayweather have? The money he makes and his net worth speaks for itself. This guy is a notorious woman beater, yet he still has a loyal following who purchase Money Team gear because he wins. And yes if you wear TMT gear, I judge.

Perhaps we can turn to Brett Favre. While Brett Favre was one of the most exciting QBs to ever grace a football field, he was also a sleezeball. The lawsuit filed on him by a reporter for flashing his junk was forgotten about rather quickly. Or what about the arrogance to keep leaving a franchise in limbo year after year? But, he won a lot of games and threw a lot of touchdowns.

Ray Lewis was allegedly involved in the killing of two people. There is still speculation about that bar fight that will never be solved. People swept that under the rug rather quickly. All people talk about is how great of a linebacker he was and how his speeches make you want to run through a wall. Probably because he is a nut job. But he won a lot of games though.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Ben Roethlisberger allegedly raped two women. Both of those cases went bye bye. He’s a great QB and leader on the field, but let’s see what happens if he ever wins another Super Bowl. Will there be another incident? Will it be looked at seriously? But hey, he wins too.

Another person who had a similar situation…Kobe Bryant.

Then we have good ole Michael Jordan. The same guy who bullied his teammates…look up the Cartwright story. The same guy who delivers a petty Hall of Fame Speech. The same guy who looks at his wife as non-equal because she has a vagina…look that up too. The same guy who “retired” when there is speculation he was run out of the league because he had a terrible gambling issue. He is a walking piece of garbage. But he won…a lot. Therefore, he gets pass.

We all knew the athlete in high school who was super talented, but was a total moron academically and in general. I went to school with dozens of them. But, they knew how to score touchdowns and hit people.

This issue goes beyond the sports world.

You remember the students in class who made the best grades? They seemed to get away with more in class than the guy who made C’s and D’s…I can vouch for that. I was a C and D student mostly. I was lazy and I did what I could to get by. Let’s say little Timmy talked out of turn, it was no big deal. If I did it, it usually was punish work or a detention. Why? Because I wasn’t winning in the classroom.

What about the guy at the office who is a total asshole to everyone, but he can say more to your boss because he does his job better than anyone.

The reason I bring all this up is because of what is happening right now in the NBA.

The shift in culture where players now join other stars to win championships seems to be the norm. That shift came full circle when Kevin Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors to chase championships.

And now all of a sudden people hate the idea winning? Come on.

I don’t like the fact Kevin Durant went from a conference final team to a 73-win team as much as the next person.

But if your goal is to win, why the fuck wouldn’t he? Why wouldn’t the Warriors go after him? That just makes no sense. You do what you can to win. If you can afford the best, you get the best.

If you find yourself comparing what Durant did to LeBron, your head probably whistles in a crosswind.

LeBron joined a Wade led team who hadn’t made it out of the first round in four years.

As for Chris Bosh…the same guy who lead his team to just two postseason appearances, both of which ended in the first round as well.

You’re totally right though. It was the same thing as joining a 73-win team.

If you even sit here and act like the other two of the “big three” (Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love) in Cleveland were amazing prior to James returning, you’re once again sorely mistaken.

He took a chance on two up and comers who had never even made the playoffs before.

I know that was a little bit of a side rant, but it all falls under the same category…chasing titles. But who is at fault, really?

It isn’t the Boston Celtics when they began the Big 3 fad. It isn’t LeBron James. It isn’t the Golden State Warriors. It isn’t Kevin Durant. Hell, it’s not even the NBA’s fault.

It is YOU. It is the media. It is the fans.

This can all be wrapped, bowed and shipped back to YOU.

Remember when I was talking about how winning trumps everything?

Well how many times do we hear the stupid argument of “how many rings” to determine greatness and legacy? The answer is always.

When players are constantly casted off because they can’t win in an ultra competitive league despite what people think, what do you expect them to do? Of course they are going to “chase” rings because that is what you as a fan have been demanding. That is what you as a fan said they needed to do to be great.

More than likely it is because you don’t want to see your god that is Michael Jordan knocked off his throne.

If you read the message boards or comments…

If you listen to the talking heads…

There is so much of the same narrative that player B isn’t as good player A because he doesn’t have championships.

I find it so funny when yesteryears buttplugs talk about the good ole days of the NBA and how it was so much more competitive. You mean the same guys you casted off back then because they couldn’t win titles? Guys like John Stockton, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller.

Now all of a sudden we want to give them their credit. No, it doesn’t work like that and you can’t have it both ways.

Winning skews the perspective of people and how we evaluate greatness. Of course winning is important. But it is only a small fraction of the equation. After all, it is a team game.

For the love of all that is holy, Instagram didn’t even exist the last time LeBron missed an NBA Finals. We just cast that off because his record is 3-5. Seven straight and it’s no big deal? Get real. Especially when you consider that his teams have only been favored in two Finals.

We live in a world where NBA fans believe it is actually better to miss the Finals instead of making it and losing. How fucking dumb is that logic?

The players of today aren’t stupid. They know how they are measured and they act accordingly. The NBA talent is just doing what the fans and media are calling for, winning championships.

The NBA doesn’t have a disease among it’s players. It has a disease among it’s fans. This disease is only getting worse.