Ira Newble is Underpaid. Sort of.
Jul 17th, 2007 by totoro
Ira Newble is a seven-year veteran of three NBA teams. The casual NBA fan has no idea who he is. On a Cleveland Cavs team that features LeBron James, Newble is just an afterthought. Last season he averaged 3.1 points and played in only 15 games. The year before, he averaged 1.3 points in 36 games. He will be making $3.4 million next season, most likely spending the majority of the time on the bench or on the injured reserve list. He is what others may call “overpaid”, “bench warmer” or even a “scrub”.
Even without the notoriety, just being a professional athlete gives players like Newble power that an everyday person could not get.
Take for instance the release of the highly popular Apple iPhone. A first hand account from someone waiting at a downtown Celevland AT&T store with 60-70 others during the release saw Newble use his power to get into the store before everyone that had waited in line, some camping out the night before, and purchase “at least 4-6 total” iPhones.
At 5:55pm, A NBA Player by the name of IRA Newbie (no joke google him) appeared with 3 bodyguards and the AT&T employees just let him in. He came out with two bags of filled iPhones (there was at least 4-6 total)!! All of us were totally pissed off!!
An abuse of power? Probably. But in Newble’s case, I’ll give him a break. He made headlines in May when he wrote an open letter to the Chinese government concerning its support for Sudan in its ongoing genocide in Darfur and has been getting NBA players to sign it. Could the average joe off the street have that much influence? Probably not. But what if Newble was an All-Star player? I’m sure their would be even more publicity and awareness. NBA players (and sports figures) have a lot of power that can help influence the world we live in, but only a few choose to use it. Ira Newble may be overpaid as a basketball player but not in the game of life.
Didn’t all the other Cavs also sign the petition except for Lebron (he didn’t want bad PR in China) and Damon Jones (who was contracted with a Chinese company?
Despite Ira Newble’s lackluster career in the NBA, it is great to see that he uses whatever miniscule influence he has into making a difference. It’s important to note though, that some of the greatest changes in society have been made by ordinary people who decided that they despite their status in life, they could make a difference. Rosa Parks for one, come to mind. Unfortunately, social responsibility does not go hand in hand with presige and influence. Lebron would never do anything to jeopardize the relationships he has formed in China. Same thing with Damon Jones. The higher the social strata, the more numb these players become to the trials of the everyman. Take Michael Jordan for example. During the early nineties, he made no excuses for the exorbitant prices his shoes were reaching, which in turn created a large body count in lower income neighborhoods. I think at a certain point, we have to stop expecting great things from people whose interests are first and foremost, themselves.
You guys give way too much credit to someone who writes a letter. Yea, it’s a “feel good” story about a man who makes a lot of money and decides to use his high profile status to raise awareness of horrific situations. But it’s a letter. One stinkin’ letter that he got signed by other players. Imagine this. You are the military advisor to a country involved in a conflict and you receive a LETTER from some NBA player signed by other NBA players and it’s asking you to stop supporting said conflict. I’m absolutely sure that all of you would just drop everything and realize the error of your ways. It’s a silly notion to think that this would make a difference, and not only that, but crown this man a hero. There are problems that he could actually do something about. Bill Gates has donated billions of his own dollars for multiple causes, some stateside and some overseas. In a situation like Newble’s, you need to shrug and say “Big deal.” You could write a letter to the same people, have your friends sign it and it would make the same impact. Grow up and find yourselves a better hero.
Dear interrohater,
I wish you’d take time and read the blogs carefully before you share with your piece of didactic rhetoric. I for one never crowned Ira Newble a hero. Like I said, in the post above: “It’s important to note though, that some of the greatest changes in society have been made by ordinary people who decided that they could make a difference despite their status in life.” If you read that carefully, you’ll find that I don’t at all glorify Ira Newble. I think it’s nice what he did, but I’m not clumping him up to be the next Gandhi. I’m glorifying the every day man and woman. I believe that Lebron, Kobe and many of their brood have a tremendous influence not just in Basketball, but also in other social strata. Even in your short sightedness, you can’t deny that. Does believing in their influence marginalize my belief in the powers of the common man? NO. I find it hillarious that you glorify Bill Gates, when you don’t realize that a majority of the funds he received came from Warren Buffet, a man who has given billions back, who ironically enough, has taken Lebron James under his wing. Whether it’s just business, or further education into philantrophy, the influence is given to Lebron nonetheless. Assuming the character of a person based on an NBA blog, is immature and pathetic. Your remarks do not improve or better anyone. It’s just a crude form of mental masturbation.
No offense Chris, but who was talking to you anyway? I was talking to the writer of the article. You know, you can use all the big words you want, but “your remarks do not improve or better anyone.” What a clown. By the way, Ira Newble was a member of the San Antonio Spurs, my hometown team and I did meet him quite a few times, along with many others. Assuming someone’s knowledge of a subject based on a comment left on insidehoops.com is incredibly “immature and pathetic”.
Dear interrohater,
This is either a simple misunderstanding on my part, or grammatical error on yours. But to be honest, I don’t think you were just critcizing Kenny because you kept referring to him as “You guys.” Either Kenny Chen consists of two people, or you’re referring to us on your posts. “You guys give way too much credit to someone who writes a letter.” Are you sure you’re referring to just Kenny Chen’s comments? If you did, you would have said: “Kenny, you’re giving way too much credit to someone who writes a letter.” You wouldn’t have used “You guys.” I took offense because you used the plural form, “You guys,” thereby directing your attack not just on Kenny, but also bigboi_baller and myself. Once again, you used the plural form on your last quote: “Grow up and find yourselves a new hero.” If you had meant to critique only Kenny, you would have said, “Grow up and find yourself a new hero.” Singular over plural. Regardless of how much spin doctoring you’re trying to do, your post was a perceived attack on both bigboi and myself. Just look at your post again. If you want to target a specific person, make it clear, so that others won’t take offense.
Dear Way too serious for a sports blog,
Fine. It was a grammatical error on my part. twice. Bigboi said nothing about “making a difference”. You did. I found it hilarious that you think writing a letter is “making a difference”. Whatever dude. It WAS funny until you got all hurt about it.
signed,
The guy who will not come back to see if you responded
That was fun, interrohater. Too bad we couldn’t keep this going anymore. Have a good one.
Chris - Just a note to thank you for your approach. For me, the point is, if we ALL do little things, the difference we make will be huge. Imagine how remarkable things would be if folks like Interohater used their time to join in making things better, rather than criticizing those who make the attempt. Yes, a letter signed by a few NBA players is something small. But small isn’t nothing. It’s something, and you never know where something might lead. It can’t lead anywhere if there is no attempt.
On the other hand, attacking the attempt is supporting the status quo, which in this case means genocide, children being murdered, women being raped, and people starving by the tens of thousands. Is that what Interohater wants to stand for? I doubt it. But trying to exercise power, by ridiculing and trying to squelch others, unwittingly does just that.
Imagine a letter signed by tens of thousands, including people like LeBron and MJ — who both have influence over consumers who buy Chinese products, and are heores in China themselves. If it were me, that would be worth the risk of losing an endorsement deal. There are moments when people need to stand up.
Thanks for the kind words, traveler. You are right. If people only knew about how their actions and their words impacted the rest of the world, things would be very different. In America, we live in a bubble, where words like disease and genocide are abstract. We think that change must be drastic, powerful and fast. What we don’t realize is that it’s the small things that remain tantamount. If Lebron deals with China, and their efforts undermine the people of Darfur, and their own citizens, why not boycott Lebron James himself? Stop buying his shoes, his clothes, his apparel. Would a freeze on purchases make him reconsider more humanistic approaches? Absolutely. Ironically enough, Lebron has already felt this in China. Two years ago, when his first sneaker line came out, a commercial was placed, where Lebron battled a Dragon. For the Chinese, the dragon is a holy and mythical creature. It is a big part of their religion and belief system. Within a day, China threatened to boycott Lebron and his shoes. Nike offered an apology, and pulled the ads immediately. It may not be the same, but is shows a glimse of the collective power of individuals, and government, when they choose to act. Whose to say, that the American public cannot react in the same vein and push our political system to new heights?