There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension

In the third quarter, Abdurraqib confesses that he “would like to be granted an audience with the architect of longing” (170). He finds longing to be a needless complicator of the already hard existence of a human. He points out the subtle shades of emotion that separate longing from loneliness or heartbreak. A great example of this, he argues, is the reaction Abdurraqib and his friends had to LeBron James’ loss with the Miami Heat in the 2014 NBA Finals. This loss kept LeBron from earning a three-peat, or three wins in a row, an honor that the Ohioans didn’t believe he deserved. His loss did nothing for them, and Abdurraqib admits that “so much longing is steeped in absurdity” (177).

Abdurraqib highlights “The Begging Song” as another example of the unique nature of longing (181). A staple of many genres, but especially blues, rock and roll, country, and folk, the Begging Song, usually performed by men, is “about both refusal and entitlement” (184). It involves admitting wrongdoing and imperfection, but at the same time insisting that the one leaving is doing them wrong, and so they’re begging for another chance.