Let's be real. There will never, ever, be another Michael Jordan. At least not in our lifetime. It's time to get over it. LeBron had the whole world in his hands a few years ago. We cheered him for attempting to bring his hometown a championship. After failure, we thought he would be back soon. Cleveland, along with everyone else in America who didn't have a die hard allegiance to a team, were Witnesses, myself included. Then in one foul swoop last summer, we all despised him. We, 99.8% of us despised him. The other .2% were people in Miami and myself.
I don't consider myself a Miami Heat fan. However, I admit, I want LeBron to succeed. I didn't think it would happen this year. The Big 3 almost exceeded my expectations. But the hatred from everyone else is a tad bit much, very distasteful, and quite annoying. This man did what he had every right to do, accept another job. I still maintain that the media stream had as much to do with the "Decision" as LeBron did. It was the media that was going goo-goo ga-ga in '08, claiming that the summer of '10 would be a free agency explosion. It was the media that chronicled every millisecond of LBJ's life since the moment he took off his jersey after losing to Boston in the playoffs. The "Decision" was the easiest way to answer the question that hundreds of thousands of people asked one person everyday. Did Boston care? Were the Lakers worried? No. Cleveland was bitter because they have been once again relegated to cellar dwellers in the NBA. Chicago was mad because they lost the contest. Everybody else was mad because they didn't have a chance. Get over it. Cleveland, your best deal to help LeBron deliver you a title was Antawn Jamison? You deserve to lose. Chicago, LeBron and D-Rose would have been a great 1-2 punch. You're doing alright without one of them.
Is LeBron guilty for teaming up with another superstar or two? Perhaps. But if so, he's not the only one. What about Clyde Drexler not being able to beat Jordan, so he goes to Houston to win a title with The Dream? What about Boston's Big 3 joining together? Did Shaq not go to Hollywood and win a few? What about the future of the NBA? Are we going to hate every player from here on out who decides he wants to go play somewhere else to win? It's not realistic. This is a new era in sports. This isn't the 1990s. This is the 21st century. We fire coaches after one season. We thrive on the instant fix. We have no perspective on the future. We want what we want, and we want it now. And because the Heat did not win the championship this year, he's a failure.
Guess what? LeBron's not retiring, at least for another 8 - 9 years. The Heat need more role players in order to accomplish their goal. Pat Riley doesn't like losing. We have not heard the last of the Miami Heat. LeBron didn't have his best showing in the Finals. He probably will be criticized until he wins one. It's not his fault. There's 11 other players on the Heat's roster that failed. Eric Spolestra failed to make adjustments. And let's give credit where its due. Rick Carlisle did a phenomenal coaching job. All the role players for Dallas progressively improved throughout the series. And Dirk, well, he went to another level.
Lebron has been excessively and repeatedly described as an arrogant asshole. If we step back and look at both of those words, we should find that he isn't the only one. Throughout the time of sports, those who have been pegged as the "greatest" of their field, have been arrogant at some point or another. Face it, you have to be even a little arrogant to be great. Those who are great and humble are in the minority. They include Peyton Manning, Hank Aaron, and others. And even they were arrogant at some point. Others like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, even Kobe Bryant, are cocky. They had to be in order to succeed. I thought that Kobe was a pompous prick back in the day. Guess what? He has 5 rings to show for it. Did you see Michael's Hall of Fame induction speech? That was the most self-centered speech I have ever heard. As for asshole, or bad person, that's just not fair. LeBron has not committed a crime. He hasn't cheated on his wife (Tiger, Kobe, many other athletes). He doesn't have a problem (Charles and MJ - gambling). All he has done is play a game. And all he did was switch teams. If that makes him a bad person, then look at yourself in the mirror. Nobody is perfect.
This season is all said and done. We overanalyzed, overwatched, overdid every single little thing that the Miami Heat did this season. Next season, let's just watch basketball, as fake and entertainment-driven as the NBA is. LeBron is guilty because of our jealousy and bitterness. Not because he did something wrong. His punishment: expansion of the "HATE HEAT" and "LeBum" population. Not even winning a title soon will drop the charges. I'm convinced he's OK with that. I have lived life not letting things that you cannot control bother you. I'm sure LeBron is thinking the same way.
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ReplyDeleteIt's not that he joined with the others in Miami, or even ultimately about "The Decision" ugliness, it's the attitude he's had.
ReplyDeleteThere was no reticence, no outward discomfort at how things went for Cleveland.
Antawn Jamison? Shaq?
Absurd attempts to be sure.
But for a second, ponder, could it have been LeBron leading those moves?
You know why they weren't in the market for better free agents in 2010 or the years leading up to it? As I see it, it was most probably because he was pressing them to do everything they could to win a title as soon as possible. There's the difference. Anyone remember 07-08? The Heat ate some salary saving moves and floundered. But, why? Because the Heat... particularly Dwayne Wade... saw that there were no really useful pieces available at the time, and they were better off looking towards the future? The Celtics, Magic, even the Lakers stars have accepted off years in recognition it was the process that would build a better team. LeBron wouldn't let the Cavs do that. Whether that was by directly telling the front office to make the moves, as I'd expect, or just by staying menacingly quiet on his future intentions such that he would lead the team to believe it needed to do more to keep him, he orchestrated that. Firing Mike Brown was just the capper on that. If he was going to leave, make it more open. And show that some part of you cares about the fans, the team, the community that spent so much effort on you.
Suggesting that the whole world is particularly jealous of LBJ just doesn't cut it. There wasn't this same jealousy towards Jordan, Bryant, etc. I'll be straightforward and suggest that as teams keep winning titles, us regular fans get a little tired of it. But how many other players has the whole nation gotten jealous of like this before they won a single title?
I know quite a few were anti-Celtics. But nothing like this. I thought the Celtics first run was awesome. Because it was three guys who had worked hard their whole careers, played hard for losing teams, stuck through tough years, and even still seemed more soft and honoring to their past cities than LeBron has been.
You're right, I was an LBJ fan once upon a time. I saw a young kid who would overcome the world. Now I see a punk who thinks everything is a party and doesn't own his mistakes or shortcomings. Will be interesting to see if last night was the Heat's "Kobe moment" from the 08 finals, if they'll step up. But they sure didn't play like champions last night.
ReplyDeleteIt looked like a miracle the Mavs stayed in the first games, nipped game 2. Then they blossomed into the better team the next couple... but in 5 & 6, they struggled a lot more, got lucky with 3s, and the Heat responded by imploding in increasing desperation far too quickly. It wasn't just the Mavs work that won this series.
You're right, we do have an instant fulfillment oriented society. It's ugly and shortsighted, and if the whole world lived in such an entirely shortsighted fashion, we'd have no roads, no businesses, no education. And LeBron, coming from a team who sacrificed so much for him, brushing them off like they were always holding him back, is the epitome of that shortsightedness, so he should be prepared for the response he has gotten.
I was never passionately married in love with Michael, and never cared for Kobe. Likewise with Tiger, generally. Yet I had respect for them. Because each knew when to shut up and play the game. Because each went through serious bumps in their lives (baseball; affair; swing change [jury is still out on how Tiger responds to current stuff]), but each let the topics die away. By just not being interested in the topic anymore, not wanting to talk about it. Partially because they knew it was a distraction, partially because they knew they hadn't been the greatest things. And then they came out and willed so hard that they did amazing things.
And LeBron just hasn't done either of those. He's still acting childish, still jawing with Americans about their feelings with him. Still thinks he should be more special than he is. He's proven to be a lot more like second-rate guys like TMac, Barkley, or Larry Johnson (NFL) [I'm sure there are better NFL examples] (Keyshawn for most of his career???) than the hardworking superstars who carry themselves with some dignity when the haters come.
When he grows up a little, shows he respects adversity, America can still grow to love him.