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You might be able to read that story in his new book, “Dr. J.,” but I’m not sure how much meaning it will have after being overshadowed by headlines about his affair with sports writer Samantha Stevens. Here’s the quote from his autobiography that has gone viral:

She becomes someone who helps me unwind if I’m feeling high-strung or stressed. I can drive over and spend a relaxing evening that might even include oral sex. I can only remember one time that we actually had intercourse, and that was because she had just gotten this new orthodontia to straighten her teeth. With wire and gleaming metal bristling in her mouth, oral sex was not an option.

During that one sexual encounter, Dr. J. conceived a child with his mistress.

He goes on to say how bad he felt when his daughter was competing in Wimbledon in 1999 and the news of the affair with her mother was leaked.

“I’ve paid a terrible price for my sins and there is some justice in that. But should Alexandra have had to pay a price? What sin did she commit?” he writes.

Everybody makes mistakes, but by bringing this up again in his new book, look at all the people he’s hurting. His ex-wife, his children, the child’s mother and all of the people who thought he was a better man than that.

I don’t know what Dr. J.’s financial situation is or how much he was paid for his book, but I can’t imagine it could be worth ruining his reputation.

Before you say I’m being judgmental or naïve, let me stop you. Dr. J. isn’t the first athlete to write a tell-all book and if I don’t like it, I have the option not to read it, which is what I’m choosing. But the story is still out there and it’s not like it would have been out there if he’d written this book 20 years ago. There are more media outlets now, plus social media.  So, on one hand, it’s a story that will never go away and on the other hand, it’s a story that people are already done talking about. Beyond the shock value, it really served no purpose. Who ever told Dr. J. that revisiting this part of his life would sell books probably didn’t bother to remind him he’d be selling his soul along with it.

Dr. J., Why Sell Your Soul to Sell Books?  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com

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