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Last night (“she said oh baby don’t feel so down...”), I finished Bill Simmons’ 700 page Book of Basketball.

I knew the book would be funny; I knew it would be full of pop culture references (Simmons compares Shaq to porn star Peter North—“dominant, but not the best”. He also compares Larry Bird to the NY Times and Wall Street Journal—Simmons says that if Bird played today, he may not be as effective because of the superior athletes...similar to like how NY Times and WSJ still matter today, but are no longer iconic due to the internet killing newspapers)

What I didn’t expect was how blunt Simmons was and how he tackled so many sensitive topics...stuff that we all KNOW but most are afraid to say publicly. You know, stuff like “black people are the best in basketball and better athletes than white people”.

Anyway, I’ll get further in depth into the basketball-specific stuff in another entry. This entry isn’t about basketball.

Bill Simmons ends his book with an anecdote about his interview with NBA all time great Bill Walton. Simmons interviewed him for two reasons: to talk about Kobe, aka the most polarized figure in all of sports, and to discuss the cruel luck that Walton had to endure in his career.

Let’s start with Kobe. Simmons doen’t like Kobe. He thinks

Kobe’s contrived, fake, and still to this day—“me first, team second”. Yet Simmons accepts that he’s one of the best in the game.

Walton replies with:

“ Kobe only wants to win. It doesn't matter what your motivation is, or that your game or your style is different, or that it's not perceived to be right or acceptable. We have seen an entire spectrum of things from him this decade and right now he's really really good. Look, you want him to be perfect for you. This comes back to your choice - who your heroes are. You chose a certain type of player over anyone else. He has the right to make his choice too.”

Simmons then ends the paragraph with “Game, Set, Match, Walton”. He knew he just got had.

Bill Walton is right. Just because we have expectations of what’s right doesn’t mean others have to follow it. It’s Kobe’s choice to be somewhat selfish and me-me-me. As long as he’s all about winning—which he is—then that’s all that matters. Kobe doesn’t owe Simmons anything.

This applies to beyond basketball, of course.

I’m writing about this because Weezer, one of the bands that shaped my youth, just released a new album. It’s a wacky album with one track featuring Lil Wayne and another track produced by a Jermaine Dupri. The title is absolutely atrocious (Raditute) and the songs are not exactly my cup of tea.Naturally, longtime Weezer fans such as myself and HKHonesty didn’t have good things to say (gee, what a surprise). We exchanged a few “man we disappointed with Rivers” comments on Facebook.

Now, what Walton said earlier is kicking in: just because I have some expectation of Rivers Cuomo and I think they should be putting out genre-defining emo with awesome basslines doesn’t mean Rivers needs to do that. I think Raditute sounds ridiculous and Rivers singing about hitting the clubs with Lil Wayne is LOL-worthy....but that’s Rivers choice to do that.

I also have the choice to either be a Weezer fan or not be a fan. What I shouldn’t do is continue to be a fan but moan and complain about how Rivers isn’t doing the stuff we think he should be doing.

Make the choice, make the decision, STFU, then go from there.

Bill Walton is one the greatest players to ever play the game, only most people won’t know because his foot gave out. Even today—after twenty some surgeries, he doesn’t walk right.

But the man isn’t bitter and he’s humble. You talk to him about other great players and he gushes. You talk to him about his own greatness and he puts his head down, almost embarrassed.

If his foot had held up, Walton would be on Jordan/Magic/Bird/Kareem level. Instead he’s a full level lower because he was blessed with a gift, but cursed with a body that couldn’t handle the gift.

To quote Bill Walton quoting The Grateful Dead...

It’s not about the destination. It’s about the journey