Hate him or love him, LeBron James was a catalyst of the NBA revival. He was a headline machine over the past two plus seasons and it made the NBA relevant again. This season NBA ratings were at the highest level ever, surpassing the previous highs during the Jordan era.

This season saw an exciting Dunk Contest (finally), the rise of a young superstar (Derrick Rose), the first ever player to become a majority owner of a franchise (Jordan for the Charlotte Bobcats), one of the most exciting playoffs in a long time and a terrific Finals. Then the Cavs win the lottery in a huge way that made even a weak draft class exciting.

On the top of its game, the NBA was relevant and exciting. Then the CBA expires and the players are locked out. Luckily for the NBA, next season was the big free agent class and not this summer. The NBA needs to work quickly to avoid an impact to the season, otherwise it risks losing what it has worked so hard to regain – dedicated followers.

Does the NBA lockout seem like a buzz kill to you?

[Photo Credit: NationofBlue.com]

Venus Williams and Serena Williams are infamously known as “the Williams Sisters”. The Williams sisters have built legendary careers, which are far from finished, that has witnessed Venus Williams win five Wimbledon appearances to go along with seven slams overall and Serena Williams setting the Australian open record by winning the open five times, not to mention her total of twelve grand slam titles. Aside from having storied careers at only the ripe young ages of 29 years-old (Venus) and 28 years-old (Serena), the Williams sisters have single handedly revived Women’s tennis.

It was the two young ladies from Compton, California with their tenacity, work ethic, determination, and will to win that put tennis at the forefront of the sports world. The Williams sisters are truly trailblazers of women’s tennis. They have used tennis to spearhead their entrepreneurial spirit and spark their business savvy getting involved with fashion, entertainment, even becoming part-owners of the NFL Miami Dolphins franchise. Serena Williams recently had a fashion line with Puma and currently has a line with Nike, which appears to be worth $40 million.

Before the Williams Sisters came around, their was a young and fresh new teen with a golf club that hit the scene ready to make his impact, Tiger Woods. The impact Tiger Woods made was not only on his own sport but on sports in general. Think about it, there would be no Lebron James without Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods broke down numerous barriers that allowed for the likes of Lebron James, Sidney Crosby, and almost every other young and talented athlete to endure the financial opportunities they have.

The notion of a superstar athlete was birthed by Magic Johnson, lived its adolescent years through the eyes of Michael Jordan, and became a mature adult through the likes of Tiger Woods.

If you devour through every athlete that has come through any and every sport, it is hard to find any other athlete that has impacted their sport more than Tiger Woods has in golf and the Williams sisters in Tennis. Yes, Lebron James is one of the biggest and brightest sports stars and will one day be spoken in the same breath as possibly being “the greatest” basketball player ever. However, has he been a trailblazer creating a brand new pathway for the next generation of athletes, or is he simply stepping in the footprints of Magic Johnson and Michal Jordan? His career is in no way, shape, or form close to being over so we shall see whether the imprint he leaves on the sport and culture outshines that of Magic and Jordan.

Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters have each catapulted their sports to a new level of mainstream. They have opened doors for other athletes in their sports and other sports to receive various opportunities. They each have changed the culture of their sports in ways that were once unimaginable but are now sheer reality.

This is a guest post written by Jonathan Velez