Star-Maker Machinery

I think Chris Paul is awesome. Be happy to draft him at 12 (hopefully, RH) or 11.

He has played one full NBA season.

Damn, when the, NBA/media finds a star, all the stops come out. Since the World Championships, we have seen Paul get very positive press about a charity bowling tournament, and sending kids to college by doing promo work for Toyota. Both actions are worthy of praise, no doubt.

But it always amazes me how once a player is dubbed 'next,' the reverberations of greatness ripple through all levels of media. Yall remember the Vince Carter ascension? Back when Vince played crown prince, every nuance of his personality was celebrated as sophisticated and cool. Eventually, Vince un-Jordan-like qualities (aka winning the whole damn thing) caught up to the hype wave, and Vince was summarily destroyed.

And that is the thing that kills me about the whole deal. Build em up to knock em down. For every next Michael, every next Magic, and every next Larry there comes a brutal dress down for not reaching the projected immortality. Wack.

Part of what I love about DWade is he sorta f-'d up the whole deal by inarguably being the best young guy (he won the whole damn thing) while the spotlight shined brightest on Bron and Melo. Greatness can never be bestowed. Sh*t is earned.

All of which leads me to ask: Shouldn't the derision for unachieved potential lie at least as heavily on the prognosticators as the players?