Pssssst, big secret — every athlete of a certain caliber (the kind sports legends are written about) is secretly a narcisstic, sociopathic asshole.

Don’t believe me? Look through your favorites, and I mean the ALL FUCKING TIME/GOAT ones, and tell me one who isn’t.

I’ll wait. https://twitter.com/thelonghorns12/status/1264725864278884353

Am I saying it’s okay? Of course not.

What I’m saying is that to be an athlete at that level, you have to be broken in a very specific, very focused way — the kind of way that death matters less than not winning.

Lying?! That’s peanuts.

Sports culture enables and endorses it.

Y’all are finally calling MJ an asshole, and in ten years you’ll call Kobe a rapist. Lindsey Vonn will come out for whatever she’s gonna come out as, and on and on and on and on and on again.

Because athletes like that don’t exist without a hole in their souls.

They can’t.

But to exist as a superhuman sports machine, there’s a disassociative mindset that has to be present — a win-at-all-costs.

Do they all end up hurting people and ruining lives? Of course not.

But every single one would raise flags on the psychopathic triad/tetrad.

In order to prioritize a win above all else and to endlessly prepare for something that could be stolen in a second — that requires a human being to be a narcissistic, controlling, self-involved, me-first, critical, unyielding, apathetic jerk.

Just ask anyone who’s dated one.

The psychology of performing at the top of any endeavor is one of deeply-held self-biases and personal beliefs, but incredibly so in legendary athletes... That’s why superhuman feats are nothing. It’s also why so many struggle with substances, sex addictions or criminal behavior.

And society indulges it with athletes in a way that they don’t with anyone else — and I mean ANYONE (except the current president, because celebrity culture, etc); because those athletes can do things the ‘common human’ can’t, they get a pass, reinforcing their Jesus complex.

Look up ‘sociopathy’ and tell me that in a certain light and with years of discipline, the markers of deep psychological trauma wouldn’t actually be beneficial to an elite, GOAT athlete.

Disassociation? Rage? Lowered inhibition? Increased risk taking? Superficial charm?

Manipulative; grandiose sense of self; pathological lying; lack of empathy, remorse, shame or guilt; shallow emotions; poor impulse regulation; need for stimulation; aggression; recklessness....

Now ask yourself how many of the greatest athletes of all time have displayed those.