I'm gonna start by saying that as much dislike as I carry for Lebron James I am gonna try my best to be as fair and objective as I can with this blog.
As we all know "King James" and the "Dream Team" aka the Miami Heat just lost in the NBA Finals to the Dallas Mavericks. Congrats to Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd on finally getting their rings. They have poured their souls into this game and it is a well deserved accomplishment.
But this is not about them, its about the self proclaimed "King"/"Chosen One" (which he has tattooed on his body). Lebron James has arguably become the most scrutinized player in sports history. I've have said/heard everything from choke artist to fraud to some people even saying he is shaving points. That's how crazy the past 15 months of Lebron being under a microscope has been or as I like to call it "Lebronathon".
I want to be fair in saying that a lot of this hype created was mostly our (as fans) and the medias fault. It was us who started with the comparisons to Jordan. It was us who said he was the best player on the planet before he had even finished a full season in the NBA. Before he had even bounced a ball on an NBA court NIKE had signed him to a 90 million dollar contract. That's outrageous. The kid was 18 years old, hadn't played a game and was already worth a 100 million bucks.
These are the reasons why I want to give Lebron some credit. He was only a kid and he had the whole world putting him on a pedestal, not to mention the fans of Cleveland calling him GOD and our savior. I can see how he would develop some sort of arrogance and entitlement. We gave it to him.
Fast forward to the present. Here is where he fails. He is no longer a kid. I don't care if he's only 26. He has been in the spotlight for a very long time and has not only grown more arrogant but he flaunts it in such a disgraceful manner. The man decides to leave Cleveland... fine I get it, you feel the franchise wasn't going anywhere so you wanted out. At least have the decency to let your fans and your owner know first. NO, what does he do.......he goes on national TV and does an hour long special to glorify himself and then tells everyone, more importantly the fans of Cleveland that he is "taking his talents to South Beach". He then goes to Miami within a few days and again on national TV celebrates on a stage dancing around like a clown.
Fast forward to the Finals. He and Dwayne Wade mock Dirk Nowitzki about Dirk faking an illness. Then right after losing to Dirk and the Mavs when asked how he feels about so many people loving to see him fail he responds with "well they still have to wake up tomorrow and have their same problems and I get to keep living the way I wanna live". I understand his frustration, he feels like he's constantly being attacked so he fought fire with fire. Problem is he used a terrible choice of words and those words once again carried a tone of "I'm King James and I'm better than YOU". This is why the media and the fans of basketball crucify him.
Let's go through some quick stats on Lebrons 4th Quarter numbers in the Finals.
Lebron had 19 total points in the 4th quarter of the NBA Finals. I repeat 19 TOTAL POINTS. Let's break those 19 down. He had 3 dunks, 1 layup, 1 mid range jump shot, 6 points in free throws which means he only got to the line 3 times and drum roll roll please........... one 3 pointer. So this is what you produce after all the talk? All the party's, all the celebration, all the mocking? People can say he doesn't owe anything to the fans all they want but when you talk the talk you better be able to walk it especially when we as the fans are the ones filling the stands, buying your jersey and putting the money in your pocket.
In the end it is us as the media and fans that made you and it is also us that can ultimately break you. I hope that going forward "The King" can learn some humility and do his talking on the court.
In the words of Dan Gilbert (Cavaliers Owner) "There are no shortcuts".
