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Anthony always feels the impulse to kiss LeBron. Thousand times over.
Not in the scarily silent night, streetlights going out and the rest of the world fading away, the only remaining light source is the faint starlight illuminating LeBron's eyes and lips. Not in the locker room, clamor and roaring falling back to deadly silence after either a win or a loss, they snuggle up to each other as if they are left alone in this malicious, frantic world.
He wants to kiss him on the demo stage at the LeBron James Skills Academy. He wants to kiss him on the sidelines at the London Olympics. He wants to kiss him in the locker room at the All-Star Game. He wants to kiss him during the postgame interview at nationally televised games.
LeBron is the collapse of spacetime where nothing, even the infinitesimal particles and electromagnetic radiations, can escape his gravity. He spontaneously captures all kinds of attention both on and off the floor. You can either love or hate him as other billions of Bronsexuals/haters do, and there is no inbetweenness. Anthony is for sure one of his captives.
Love is irritable, destructive, insolent, and jealous. A kiss emblems possession, label, stamp, and declaration. The moment Anthony kisses LeBron will leave a permanent mark on American, even global sports history, as LeBron James, one of the most influential ever athletes, will forever wear the scarlet letter on his forehead – he will always be Anthony Davis’, so it is definitely worth the risk of breaking up, becoming the laughing stock, attacked by the homophobic culture, whatever it is, to give it a try.
But LeBron, one of the most conscious, observant, and sagacious people Anthony has ever known, easily sees through human nature, as he could depend on nothing but his clairvoyance and soberness to get through all the chaos, perils, viciousness, and schemes in his life. He doesn’t particularly favor those young boys meticulously calculating to get his love, as they always remind him of the danger of betrayals, but maybe because he has known Anthony since 2010 in his training camp, he subliminally tolerates Anthony’s immature plotting, friend zones him before they eventually date, and still continuously pushes Anthony to a safe distance away even now. He behaves in such an innocent and natural way that Anthony can’t even resent his nonchalance.
And now, LeBron is kissing him. With the shot clock still running, the only sound in the audienceless court is the ball hitting the floor and hoop. Dwight hits a 3-pointer; the bench explodes with the level of enthusiasm only Philly home court after Ben Simmons' 3-pointer can match. LeBron has always preached to his teammates they shall never celebrate until the very last moment, as he learned this through the hardest way. Yet Anthony, similar to LeBron’s previous partners, isn't that obedient.
For many times Anthony has disregarded LeBron’s words.
Sometimes it is just trivial. LeBron will hold his exclusive four-page pregame scouting report, sermonize the mysterious advanced statistics on it, teach his teammates how to defend particular players according to their skillsets, habits, and career averages, and explain how to run a complicated play. Anthony finds it overly perplexing and decides not to follow word by word.
Sometimes it involves more consequential stuff. Before Anthony made by far the most significant and risky decision in his life to inform the Pelicans front office he wouldn’t stay in New Orleans, LeBron called him and asked him to think it over. Anthony hanged up his phone, as he knew he would never regret his decision.
So he disobeys LeBron for another time. He gives himself a minute to indulge, turns around, and heads to the tunnel. LeBron catches him up, kissing him in the blind angle of the camera.
LeBron's lips get slightly chapped from mild dehydration after strenuous exercise. The smell of sweat conceals the aquatic flagrance his aftershave carries. He’s neither posh nor stylish as he always appears, but this version of LeBron is so real. Anthony admires LeBron’s godly dignity and gravitas, but what makes him fall in crazy love is the fragile, amicable, in all words, the mortal part of LeBron.
He should passionately deepen the kiss, showing off the sweaty, overjoyed, and real LeBron to the entire world, yet when the distant dreams involving love, ideals, and legacy all come true, he eventually realizes his previous envy, paranoia, and possessiveness are all childish and ridiculous. So Anthony just quietly enjoys the moment of intimacy, looking into LeBron's eyes.
He has long thought that LeBron's eyes are beautiful, brooding and soulful, like pools of still water. His delicate eyelashes are calamus and reeds growing on the shore. Whenever LeBron gazes at him, he feels almost like losing his soul and wants to sacrifice everything to make him happy. Age has added wrinkles and fine lines around LeBron's eyes, but his eyes are as lucid as ever.
Shot clock running down, at the final whistle, LeBron loosens his arm and walks back onto the court to hug Udonis and Spo. Anthony has closely followed him since his Cleveland years, so he understands what the Heatles means to LeBron.
Unidentifiable sentiments overwhelm Anthony. He sits on the court side and weeps silently, thinking of his seven years of hardship, pain, and loss, and LeBron's seventeen years in the league, during which he endures captious scrutiny, repeatedly falls into the abyss, and tenaciously comes back.
Neither he nor LeBron has great luck, but it's just surreal for African American kids to avoid getting on the other road, become a statistic as LeBron always says, earn some respect worldwide, survive this difficult year, complete their redemptive journey, and win the title, together.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Three years before LeBron got dumped by Kyrie, exhausted and haunted by gaslighting. Anthony lowkey took advantage of him and confessed his love, but when reciting the Bible, he meant genuinely. Now he appreciates his sincerity and courage then.
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.
——FIN——