We have a right not to be unloved in America. The double negative is inelegant but it is the most accurate formulation. We are not compelled to be around those who unlove or dislike us. We can retreat further and further away from such people. The right not to be compelled to be around those who do not like us is found within the right to privacy, itself not a recognized right by that name, but undoubtedly, a right not to be unloved would be found in a case of compelled association without legal exception with those who dislike us.
That is mere predicate. For if there were a positive right to be loved, the subject of this post, the "Heat" vice president for basketball operations and general manager, could assign his right to be loved to one in more need. For Andy Elisburg is that rare individual who is liked and beloved by all those who are touched by him. I do not know Elisburg personally but I know this. When he passes, and if there is a God, She will grant him many more than his current 58 years, for Elisburg has improved everything in Her creation that he has touched.
You can look at scores of photos of Andy with other people, some with his ultimate boss, Mickey Arison. Arison rarely smiles. Yet everytime he is around Andy he can't help but curl his lips up.
You see Andy telling "Heat" superfan Jimmy Buffett he has to leave after a referee ejected Buffett. Andy is gentle and wry with his hand on Jimmy's shoulder.
You see him in his ultra-competitive business making a scout for the Washington Wizards laugh, you hear of the early morning phone call that he placed from his car to his counterpart in Cleveland the day after LeBron James left to take his talents to Tinseltown. "Did the sun rise today?" "Yes." "It will rise every day." You see him renewing old acquaintances with then 76'er, ex-Heater, Josh Richardson laughing and finishing off with a hug (a bear hug is the only kind Andy gives).
I am willing to bet you that there is not a single person in the NBA who dislikes Andy. I am willing to bet a WHOLE lot more that no one detests or hates him. It would be like hating Santa Claus or Mother Teresa.
Everyone who Andy has touched in his 37 years with the "Heat", he was an original employee at age 21, is better, more joyful, laughs more, and has an incrementally better life for the golden touch of Andy Elisburg.
Why am I writing this out of the blue now? Well, because a year ago Andy was seriously, I mean seriously, ill. It is not exaggeration that his life was in some jeopardy. He had part of his foot removed and has been wheelchair bound since. So...you know. So that's why I am writing this now. Were it not so late I would post the photos that I have referred to so that you can see the undeniable, that there is no better person than Andy Elisburg, no person who brings more light to others lives.
