Usually, to be a world-class athlete is to be a world-class optimist. It’s practically a job requirement. The lottery-length odds against making it to the top level, the brutal competition once you’re there, the inevitability of injuries and bad bounces and cold streaks—staying positive requires a messianic belief that with enough effort and dedication, somehow things will work out fine.
As we’re all painfully aware, 2020 was a year to try the patience of even the most positive among us. “Man we cancelling sporting events, school, office work, etc etc.,” LeBron James lamented to his 48 million Twitter followers on March 12, the day after the coronavirus forced the NBA to suspend its season.