INDIANAPOLIS — I’ve sat in the cut for a few days on purpose just to see how the adults at Center Grove were going to handle this situation. By now everybody’s seen or heard about what happened at Center Grove on Friday night with the kid mocking James Franklin Jr. about him having seizures. If you haven’t heard the story let me break it down for you real quick.
James is an outstanding basketball player over at Cathedral High School. He’s suffered from seizures to the point where last year he underwent brain surgery to address the issue. However, during the process they removed part of his brain to help correct the problem with the seizures.
So fast forward to Friday night during their game at Center Grove. There was a kid who shall remain nameless decided that it was a good idea to mock Franklin while he was on the free throw line. This same kid has been doing splits and being the class clown every time someone get’s on the free throw line to distract the shooter. I get it. It’s all in fun right?
Well…he goes way off of the deep end when he throws himself onto the floor to mimic someone having a seizure as Franklin gets on the foul line. Not only was this kid way out of line but the entire student section was yelling “Have another seizure” according to Franklin’s mother Tamieka. They were just as wrong. Let’s not get caught on the kid on the floor clowning but let’s remember the student section was in on this foolishness too.
Were they all dead wrong for their behavior? Absolutely they were and they all should be disciplined for it. However, the people that need to show some leadership and own this situation are the administrators at Center Grove. It’s time to step up and show those same kids that tried to clown James Franklin Jr. what being an adult actually looks like. Especially if you’re trying to teach them how to be adults.
I’m not going to get hung up on kids making a mistake because that’s why they’re called kids. They don’t think 99.999 percent of the time. However, the adults that heard this foolishness and saw the kid flopping on the ground and did nothing need to be held accountable. And who was the adult using a Center Grove Twitter account calling the flopper a legend? If that’s the mentality of the adults involved we now understand why the kids were acting the way they were acting. The adults have to lead by example.
I made the God awful mistake a couple of years ago of criticizing the NBA for telling people why Brad Stevens was not with his team as he went to visit Andrew Smith a former player of his at Butler who at the time was dying of cancer. It’s not typically the NBA’s policy to say why someone was not with the team and I challenged it. I got blasted on social media and on every radio station in Indianapolis. I was actually trending on Twitter as the village idiot for several days. It was the worst mistake of my life. I felt terrible about it.
However, I didn’t run from it. I owned it. I went on CBS Sports Radio on the Kent Sterling Show and publicly apologized for being an idiot. I wrote several articles admitting to making the worse mistake of my life and taking the heat that came with it. Why? Because that’s what adults have to do. When you make a mistake you’ve got to own it. Otherwise, people will never respect you. Isn’t that what we try to teach our kids daily?
That’s what the administrators, teachers and coaches at Center Grove that heard those kids yelling ignorance to James Franklin Jr. and actually saw the kid flopping on the floor need to do. They need to own the fact that they did absolutely nothing as it took place. They need to apologize for sitting in the cut and allowing the kids at their school to embarrass the entire community without saying a single word to them.
Not a single adult in charge said a word to those kids for their disgusting actions that attacked a kid just trying to play the game that he loves.
Here’s the beautiful part about this whole thing though, James Franklin Jr. made the free throws and kept on playing. Sure, it hurts but he held it down like a warrior. Keep your head up young brother because God didn’t make a mistake when he made you. He made you just the way he intended you to be so that you could inspire others with the same condition.
I was born with only one full arm and I asked the same questions that you’re asking now about why you had to be different. If he’d made you any other way you wouldn’t be as great and as special as you are today. I’m 51 years old and people are still laughing at me when I walk into a room. That laughter motivates me to work that much harder everyday to be great. You’ve got to face the fact that there will always be ignorant people in the world but you’ve got to use them and their words as the fire that keeps you burning with desire to be the best.
Always remember the day that some kid teased you at a basketball game in high school and use that as the fire to keep you going. God makes no mistakes!!! Allow your fire to keep burning bright. Now you can stop me when I start lyin’!