And so the Cavs faced a horrendous uphill battle against a superior roster of frictionless, algorithmic basketball avatars. They were as good as ready to be swept by their more perfect, more polished rivals in four games, a heavily-publicized embarassment for all the world to see. Lil B had used the curse to his own ends, it seemed. With nothing to fight the curse, its impact now irrefutable, The Warriors had it tied up.But Wednesday, June 8, at 11:57 AM, The Curse met its match when Chance the Rapper conjured light and deigned to fight:A photo posted by LIL B "THE BASEDGOD" OFFICIAL (@lilbisgod) on Jun 5, 2016 at 10:20pm PDT
Blessings. Let’s think about those for a moment. They are the Hand of God reaching down from above to nudge humanity towards Truth, a prayer answered or a challenge presented by a Higher Power that promotes our happiness or wellbeing. They’re not always easy, they’re not always perfect, but we, as mortals, can acknowledge our blessings and converse with them, accepting our fate and basking in the Higher Power’s will. To quote Chance himself, we must “know the difference between blessings and worldly possessions.”The Blessing is the anti-Curse. It is opportunity over damnation, hope over fear. What Chance the Rapper did Wednesday, in one tweet, was present a counterweight to The Curse, a Batman to The Curse’s Joker, through a Blessing of his own. His friend Lil B, spiritually at one with The Based God but not, in himself, The Based God, had held sway over the world of basketball for too long. Something had to be done.It wouldn’t have been important had the Cleveland Cavaliers not done what once appeared to be the impossible by rolling over the rampant Golden State Warriors Wednesday night, but they did and so it is. Chance The Rapper knows this better than anyone. When the buzzer sounded its lonesome, inevitable horn at the end of the fourth quarter, putting the Cavaliers’ 30-point victory into the history books, he tweeted this:Ay @KingJames thanks for the follow. Are u ready for your blessing? cc: @KyrieIrving @imanshumpert
— Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) June 8, 2016
“When the praises go up,” he sang on Coloring Book, “The blessings come down.”When the praises go up
— Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) June 9, 2016
The Duality of The Based God
To see this duality in action, we need look no further than Lil B’s appearance yesterday on ESPN's Sports Nation. Carried in on a throne, wearing a cowboy hat and dangling earings, it was there that Lil B, the prophet, announce that Los Angeles Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell was officially cursed. And that is what the headlines said. “Lil B Officially Curses D’Angelo Russell,” they read, almost in unison.These headlines not only ignored the inherent duality of Lil B, they ignored the evidence of the video itself. Watch it again. “Right now, is he [Russell] cursed or not cursed?” asked one host. Lil B, The Messenger, does not respond immediately. He stammers and forces out some non-sequiturs. Nine seconds pass before The Messenger holds up a card and announces that, yes, “He is officially cursed.”Just got word from " The BasedGod " that the thunder will not be beating the Warriors in the playoffs series,Durant is still cursed - Lil B
— Lil B THE BASEDGOD (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) May 16, 2016
Speaking to God in Public
It fell to Shumpert, shaken by the knowledge that The Curse is all-powerful, to relieve the situation of its tension and banish the hex:Sending a warning to lebron James Kyrie jr smith and iman shumpert yall stealing swag Lil B cooking dance what yall doing #warned - Lil B
— Lil B THE BASEDGOD (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) May 27, 2015
A Numbers Game
I tried to listen to Lil B and my mind wouldn't let me do it….can't believe this guy is relevant
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) January 29, 2011
66+32=98Farfetched, you might say. Well then consider this: add James’ box score statistics together from the Game 3 rout of Golden State: 11 rebounds, six assists, one steal, two blocks, five turnovers, two personal fouls and 32 points. The result: 59.Think back again to “Blessings” and its second verse. “They booked the nicest hotels on the 59th floor/With the big wide windows, with the suicide doors.” This was pre-ordained. Perhaps Chance himself wasn’t even aware when the spirit moved through him and he put pen to paper on “Blessings,” but in another realm, beyond our understanding, things had aligned.That doesn’t mean that Chance’s Blessing will overcome The Curse. Lil B, The Messenger, has been informed by The Based God that The Curse will not only remain in effect, but that it will grow and expand, now punishing a young man from the Los Angeles Lakers as well as controlling the fates of the First Offender and the Flopping Chef. Its power has not yet been broken, it has merely met a significant challenge for the first time. We will know the victor of this war by the winner of the 2016 NBA finals. And in the interest of humanity and our collective future, we should be watching more intently than ever.Alex Robert Ross fears for our collective tomorrow. Follow him on Twitter.--