Donald Trump is the Steph Curry of Politics

Stephen Curry has changed basketball. Forever. The "three-point shooter" has turned the NBA championship process on its ear. He did it by doing nothing wrong. He played by the rules. But he and the Golden State Warriors completely changed the dynamic of the game.

Michael Jordan. Need I say more? MJ made it OK to make bucketloads of cash, endorsing products while making more bucketloads of cash from the team. This guy could dunk the ball from the foul line! He scored like a banshee and his likeness was EVERYWHERE. Cereal boxes, shoes, billboards, hats, TV, movies, EVERYWHERE. Even today, after 15 years of retirement, everyone knows who belongs to the number 23. Michael.

To say Allen Iverson broke the mold is to be unfair to molds. The Newport News native rocked the NBA like no other player besides Dennis Rodman. His cornrows, massive tats and uncharacteristic off-court style brought a swagger to basketball which exists to this day. At 6' 0", he made up for his lack of height with huge doses of attitude, massive skill and fearless scoring.

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson came on as rookies in the early 1980s and gave the moribund NBA a shot in the arm with their artistic playing style, scoring prowess and their unique rivalry. They created a compelling story-line that brought fans back to games and cemented their own legacies. The yin and yang of conflict made the game interesting and fun.

When we look back at the past forty years of professional basketball, the memory and reputation of these men and others like them are held in high regard. Sure, during their moments there was controversy. There were folks who said that the game shouldn't be about shooting three pointers from the suburbs, that the purity of the sport is debased by someone who has become a walking billboard, that loud, rude and crude behavior was unbecoming of an athlete, and that smack-talk takes the sportsmanship out of the game.

The game... as if it was something pure and chaste. The game... as if it should still be played with tall white guys and peach baskets in the YMCA. The game... as if it would be ruined with the introduction of money which moved the focus from the team to the superstar.

Oh, the game. But isn't the game of basketball now more popular than ever and doesn't it make more money than ever? Where was the seething, raging, coordinated hate for Steph or Michael or Allen or Larry and Magic? These guys, and others like them, disrupted and transformed the game. They caused rules to change even though they really didn't break any (well, maybe Allen did...) They changed the game and it ain't ever going back.

How does this intersect with President Trump? Except for the rigid, winner-take-all-at-any-cost tactics of the Democrat party in the House in recent years, the American political scene has not changed much since the end of WWII, some 75 years ago. While our society, our entertainment, our technology, our environment, our sexuality, our education, our religion, our everything has changed in those 75 years, the conventional wisdom is that our politics should not change. It could not change. Rules were in place. Decorum was king. Presidents had to be, well, Presidential. Well, that ship has sailed.

When I said that Trump is the Steph Curry of politics, I meant it from the perspective that his activities and tactical method to win the game are causing the political league to change. Overnight. He also brings to the league a lot of Iverson and Rodman, without the look. He is changing what is acceptable or at least what is visibly acceptable. Many politicians have used unconventional methods, but none of them want to admit it or wear the mantle in public. Trump revels in it and dons the cape proudly. Folks wanted transparency in government? Well, there you go.

The biggest casualty of having the game change in front of you is that you no longer know how the game is played. Notice that Donald Trump plays by the law but not by the rules. This is a big difference although many conflate the two. When a random federal judge in Idaho strikes down an Executive Order, his administration stops and respects the ruling. Trump may fume about it, but his people follow the laws a lot more faithfully than our previous administration did. He breaks the unwritten rules, in fact, he shatters them. He may bend the truth, but since when did political figures always tell the truth? Obama told some major whoppers but he had the media to cover for him. Trump has no cover from the fake news media. I don't think that Trump truly cares about the fact checkers anyway.

Bottom line, the political league has changed and it will never be the same. For once, the Democrats are the ones being pushed back on their heels. They will try to counter Trump's disruptive superpowers by endless investigations and attempts to impeach him. The Dems will come out of this looking smaller and more petty, like Lilliputians tossing strings and twine across the Gullivarian Donald Trump.

He never ceases to amaze with what he comes up with next. The big question is which team will be the first to fully embrace these new tactics and push forward to do the bidding of the American people? That remains to be seen. Sen. Sparticus and Sen. Harris have already tried to "get their Trump on" to not so rave reviews. Will the Republicans get together an unbeatable team or will they let the advantage inure to the Democrats? Perhaps the conservatives have finally learned and are willing to adopt the new strategy and tactics.

If history is any guide, the Republicans will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Here's hoping they prove me wrong.

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