In order to survive the Metta World Peace debacle,we need help so that we don’t make judgments based on media hyping of an incident that gains more importance than it should. What do we need to do? We need to play some BonesBall .

“BonesBall is the game of life played in the mind, where standard definitions of right and wrong and the traditional oppositional ‘them against us’ mentalities are understood as inadequate to serve the moral issues of the day. It’s the BonesBallers in every walk of life, with their unbridled need to succeed, who are everywhere adjusting the scales of judgment, playing a day-by-day, moment to moment game of life to become heroes, sometimes in the world but more often, in their own souls.

As I was writing this I realized that I had forgotten that I was once a pro basketball player and was often feeling very stressed about the need for redemption through excelling in sports – especially after my team lost. Where was psychotherapy for athletes when I was playing? Well, it may have helped me but now we know that such man-made tools don’t solve the problems of our challenging global society. As James Hillman, the father of Archetypal Psychology has remarked about Psychotherapy. “It makes every problem a subjective, inner problem. And that’s not where the problems come from. They come from the environment, the cities, the economy, the racism. They come from architecture, school systems, capitalism, exploitation. They come from many places that psychotherapy does not address. Psychotherapy theory turns it all on you: you are the one who is wrong. What I’m trying to say is that, if a kid is having trouble or is discouraged, the problem is not just inside the kid; it’s also in the system, the society. I don’t think anything changes until ideas change. The usual American viewpoint is to believe that something is wrong with the person. We approach people the same way we approach our cars. We take the poor kid to a doctor and ask, ‘What’s wrong with him, how much will it cost, and when can I pick him up?’ We can’t change anything until we get some fresh ideas, until we begin to see things differently. My goal is to create a therapy of ideas, to try to bring in new ideas so that we can see the same old problems differently.”

Watch for new ideas from “Bonesball” and feel free to send us some of yours.

Barry Orms
Former NBA player and now BonesBaller

We are all desperate for a moment of redemption in today’s world. Rebellions are going on all over the world and people are dying so that the World Peace’s of our societies can feel a sense of redemption and no one had better try to get in the way. We cannot excuse World Peace’s behavior but we can forgive it for we are all perpetrators of and in the kind of society we have today. Forgiving World Peace would be a start for all of us who love our sports and our sports heroes. Of course he must pay the price in terms of suspension, loss of income and further damage to his already fragile psychological state – but we cannot pass judgment as if we were incapable of violent acts. Just take a look at the “Stand Your Ground” laws in 21 or more states. Was World Peace doing nothing more than standing his ground as George Zimmerman claims he was doing in the Travon Martin incident? (It isn’t death but a brain concussion can destroy a life!)

While the jury is literally out on that one- we can’t have it both ways people. Thank God we got those Lehman Brothers guys that created some financial concussions of their own. Oh I forgot. We didn’t get them. Oh well, but we are gonna get Metta World Peace. We can’t try to make role models out of athletes and then show video of the World Peace incident over and over as if it is a special brand of violence that cannot be tolerated especially from someone we already forgave multiple times. But we can praise the ratings improvements in NHL games as horrible violence is not only condoned but quietly celebrated for bringing success to the sport. “Yes we can”! It’s a story that could only have been better if James Harden was white. Well he does have a Mohawk, so the crime was actually even worse in some ways if we see James Harden as a Native American. Everybody knows that Blacks hate Native Americans don’t they? Now that would be the real story. Yes I can find a way to make this a story of race if I try hard enough. Wasn’t the whole thing Obama’s fault because he loves basketball? Ok enough already!!

Barry Orms
Former NBA player and now BonesBaller

Metta World Peace?

But wasn’t he in therapy? How could this happen?

The Metta World Peace violent elbow to the head of James Harden of the Oklahoma City Thunder should end our dependence on traditional psychotherapy as “the” way to control the very fragile personalities of today’s role model athletes. When do we realize that the professional athlete cannot be utilized as the beacon of moral perfection we feel necessary to have in our culture? But without Psychotherapy and with the trouble we’re having with our various traditional religions, the scandals all around, the breakup of the family, high divorce rates, and terrorism, where do we go? If Ron Artest/Metta World Peace, the 2011 “Citizen Of The Year” in the NBA can do something so horrible, what ever shall we believe in? Maybe Ron should just become a UFC fighter. Then he would be celebrated for his potential for accessing his violent side. Change his name to “World War Maker Of Mahem” and it’s a done deal.

We have the solution to it all. Let’s first of all just admit that we need a 13 step program of some kind (one better than 12 steps) to get ourselves into a healthier concept of how we see things like the continuous media driven video loop of the World Peace/ Harden incident. But isn’t what World Peace did characteristic of our approach to freedom and democracy for all? World peace pulled himself up from nothing and became a star and won a NBA championship ring and gave it to charity!

But let’s remember that he had not been having a very good year on the court this year until recently. Then on Sunday, as we basketball junkies watched two great games, World Peace made a spectacular left handed dunk in a game the Lakers really needed to win to be able to show their potential to win in the playoffs. World Peace, desperate to please his teammates, fans and all those who were doubting him, celebrated by pumping his chest –something we love to see our favorite athletes do in victory. Quite simply, he did not want anyone getting in the way of that moment of redemption and James Harden got in the way. But can’t we just stop for a moment and reflect on the fact that the man re-named himself “World Peace” for a reason? Don’t we realize that this was his attempt to exorcise the very demons that may have crept in on him with a National TV audience staring in disbelief. Was he supposed to say “Oh get thee behind me Satan, I’m on National TV!” No! It doesn’t work that way. World Peace was reveling in that moment of revelation that maybe only a pro athlete can experience. Maybe he was saying as he beat his chest. “See I am good, I can do great things for you and dammit love me now!!!”

Barry Orms
Former NBA player and now BonesBaller