Jay Smooth notes, in the context of the NBA Finals, that the masses pay well for their opiates and LeBron James broke a cardinal rule of sports by reminding people that they don’t really matter:
I’m not ready to say “sports don’t matter” in a world where terrorists are willing to murder and mutilate World Cup fans because they see national identity as a threat to their plan for a worldwide caliphate. Even here, sports, like any kind of national drama, provide important insight into our own cultural identity and the rage towards James in particular seems like a perfect example of that.
