“I always have been that way…
would rather dare, try, make mistakes,
fall down and screw up
than spend any time stuck in an image
of what it is to be good and/or right 
and/or strong and/or perfect…

I’d rather be the fool.

– Shellen Lubin

Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door

– Kristen Jane Anderson-Lopez and Robert Joseph Lopez

There was a summer of my life I decided to be frozen. Sort of. Stuck on purpose, as it were. My goal became possible with a roommate that was mostly gone, a gig that was fully remote, services that would bring needs to my door, and a real dedication to not seeing another human. For north of 100 days, I did not leave my house, except to start my car in the driveway on occasion so the fuel might not go wonky. I read a ton of books, I puttered away in my kitchen, and I occasionally saw my roommate wander by. It was glorious. Mostly.

And… awful. Just terrible. In ways, it was all I imagined it to be. But in the long run, it wasn’t loneliness or doubt that got under my skin, it was the lack of growth. The lack of change. The lack of a challenge. I was happy down in my hidey-hole, but I was also completely stuck. Frozen. I’d love to do it again sometime, but maybe for a few days instead of a few months. You stay stuck too long, and things start to get a little weird while everyone else who wants anything to do with you is left waiting.

Sort of like a couple of sizable somethings the NBA currently finds itself hanging out on, frozen in moments until a couple of decisions are made about/by players of a caliber that hold up a lot of other decisions. You’d wish that everyone concerned could just let it go.

On one front, you’ve got LeBron James, who (in theory) is still contemplating suitors amongst the 6+ teams he’d said he’d entertain playing next season with. Your Denver Nuggets are theoretically amongst the teams on King James’ short list. His decision has those teams, plus a few around the fringes all awaiting news about something which he had surely had decided about days ago. There’s even a new rumor rolling around that his decision might have already been announced had he not felt pushed by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. If not for Adam’s ill-fated nudge, the Nuggets might already know that they are not LeBron’s selection. On a side note… as brilliant a player as he has been all career, should Denver be at all upset when he says he’s not coming? Would you prefer LBJ to Aaron Gordon or Cam Johnson? Or even Peyton Watson? Smarter minds than mine might disagree, but… it almost feels like the Nuggets are on hold for a possible honorific downgrade. So… thanks, LBJ?

Across the aisle, and also theoretically leaving Los Angeles, is Kawhi Leonard, and the now year-old news and months-old investigation into the possible off-books payments made to him by a company called Aspiration. A firestorm of a topic that was no small factor in winning whistleblower Pablo Torre the Pulitzer Prize has now been “under investigation” for the last 10 months. And that with a few undeniable facts… Clippers invest in Aspiration right before Aspiration signs Kawhi to an endorsement deal, said endorsement deal doesn’t require Leonard to actually… endorse anything. I’m not a crack legal investigative team, but that seems like a topic that is pretty simple to investigate. While there are probably layers of complexity beyond the simple bullets I just threw out, you’d think a well-renowned legal firm with a reputation for getting to the heart of such matters could have nailed something down after 300 days. But all Commissioner Silver will say on this front is “it’s complex”, it’s ongoing”, and “it’s out of our hands while they investigate”, as if he hadn’t had the power to say “wrap it up before the draft”. Silver being the one signing the checks to get it all done and all. And oh, by the way, Leonard no longer plays for the Clippers… or does he? The Raptors may be Kawhi’s old/new team, assuming they figure all of this out soon. He and James have both made their escape from L.A.

Hard not notice a consistent theme running through both of these stories, and it’s a gent sitting at the very top of the puzzle, pushing the buttons as he sees fit. A guy who is rather consistently speaking about the ways in which he wishes to move the league forward, while in these cases, he seems perfectly happy to have it in some sort of stasis. While the league legislates its needs on topics like tanking, gambling, and parity, it seems to be missing out on a couple of newsworthy chances to move on from some easily put-to-bed decisions. Decisions that have about a third of the league’s teams frozen. As long as it may take everyone to get their pieces in place after this all comes unstuck, who knows? Maybe the continuity from standing pat that Denver fans have been worried about all off-season will actually end up playing out better for the Nuggets in whatever is left of the Western Conference. As long as Mr. Freeze-Meister gets a few things thawed out before too long. Hi-yo, Silver!