The Free Agent of Love

It’s that time of year in the basketball world where the NBA season is upon us, and it got me to thinking about free agency in today's NBA. When the Chicago Bulls opened the season up Wednesday against the New York Knicks, Carmello Anthony of the Knicks was the free agent of choice for many teams in the NBA over the summer, including my Chicago Bulls. I was so glad that he decided to stay in New York because it forced Chicago to get better talent, and it proved itself in a blowout win. In a conversation last weekend with some people in the barbershop, it led to me explaining that free agents and single people have a lot in common. Yes, we talk about it ALL in the barbershop. Today I’d like to share with you the analogy that I shared with them last week. If you’re a sports fan like myself, you’ll resonate with this seamlessly. If you’re not a sports fan, I hope I’m clear enough in my delivery. In any case, here goes...

Being The Free Agent - I explained to everyone that at some point or another we are star free agents in this game of love and lust.  At some point in our careers (lives) we will be scouted and we will be sought after. As free agents we get to scope the scene, weigh options and then we make decisions. When you’re a star player, you take many things into consideration. Truth be told some teams (prospective partners) are a better fit for you than others. But during this whole recruiting process, (dating) you wonder as the player “What’s in it for me?”  The teams seeking you are basically selling themselves to you. They will paint the greatest picture to entice you to go with them. No matter how well some teams try to make themselves look, you can still see some qualities in which you may not be interested.

Seeking The Free Agent - Now as the team seeking someone’s partnership or services, what picture are you painting? No team is perfect, that’s a given, but what steps are you taking to become a winner? In this league of love and lust there are teams that are proven winners and teams that aren’t. Now, what team are you representing? Are you the team that has been a proven winner? Or are you the team that hasn’t had a championship since the civil rights movement? Or are you a team dedicated to winning and are taking steps to do so? Here’s a quick overview of the types of people we can classify ourselves as.

1. Proven Winner: Has a clean track record, whether male or female, they are stand up people and are seen positively through most people’s eyes. More often than not, these people are blessed with the ability to make prudent decisions in the realm of dating. Their breakups mostly end amicably and without too much ill feeling.

2. Team That Hasn’t Won In Years: A person who has constantly been in bad situations with the opposite sex and still goes about things in the same way. They refuse to take steps on improving their strategies, criteria or even themselves; thus rendering themselves proverbial losers. They don’t change so they’ll continue to get the same results.

3. Dedicated To Winning: You’re in the rebuilding phase and you have consciously made efforts to make good sound choices. You have taken steps to improve your stock and offer something better than what once was. You maintain a positive outlook on love and know you have something special to offer.

Any star free agent either wants to go to a proven winner, or to a team that has shown through their transactions (decisions) that they are committed to being a winner in the future. So again, which team are you? To the free agents out there reading this, what are you doing to be considered a star? 

Can you relate to any of the teams I’ve listed? Fill me in with your thoughts, let me know if my analogy was on the money. Oh yeah, go Bulls!

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