He started out as a teenage phenom drafted straight out of high school. He was compared to the god of basketball, Michael Jordan, before he had even played an NBA game. Size, athleticism, and basketball ability appeared to have brilliantly combined in the Akron native, LeBron James—an undeniably amazing physical specimen.
In the beginning, he managed to fulfill these incredible
expectations. Drafted in 2003 (arguably one of the best draft classes in
basketball history) as the number one overall pick by the perennially terrible
Cleveland Cavaliers, he averaged better than 20-5-5 in his rookie year. This
stat line has been matched by only two rookies prior to James, one named
Michael Jordan. To top it off, the Cavaliers win total improved by a staggering
18 games. Endorsements flew to James, notably Nike. The now infamous “We Are
All Witnesses,” became a tag line for the basketball player who had “The Chosen One” tattooed on his back.
Inevitably, there were people that hated James. But as with
any great player comes fans who are jealous, prefer the underdog, or simply root
for rival/other teams. I can say I was not one of them. I respected the
relatively quiet LeBron James, a basketball player who stayed with the Cleveland
Cavaliers for seven years. Yes, he never won a ring, but he made a 17-65 team a
legitimate championship contender (2007 vs. the Spurs) virtually
single-handedly.
The infamous and much anticipated summer of 2010 changed
everything. As an unrestricted free agent, James had led his hometown Ohio fans
toward believing he would stay, and followed it up with the televised ESPN hour
simply titled The Decision.
The title alone is repulsive. The Decision? As if he was the be all and end all. The entire
basketball world—and more—was watching to see where he would go, wasn’t that
enough? James proceeded, with a crowd of children at his feet and the nation
watching, to announce after an insincere “this is tough” that “I’m going to
take my talents to South Beach.” Can you imagine how a diehard Cavaliers fan
felt, slapped on national TV? It was an extremely classless thing to do. The jersey burnings in Ohio that followed James’ announcement sum it up.
So how does “The Chosen One” do in Miami? First, he receives
a grand, excessive welcoming party. In the words of Howard Beck, a New York Times writer, “Everyone saw something: greatness, arrogance,
self-indulgence, boldness, cowardice, pride, friendship, collusion, joy,
cynicism, heroes, mercenaries.” LeBron James was shoving the tattoo on his back
in the face of the public, and to the dismay and disgust of Cleveland fans.
Numbers don’t lie, and LeBron
put up great ones in his first year in South Beach. He nearly grabbed the league
scoring title and combined with Dwyane Wade to score over 4,000 points – nearly
50 a game. But in the playoffs and Finals, LeBron became LeChoke. His 8.9 PPG
drop from regular season to the Finals was the greatest in history. Losing to a well-rounded Mavs team with Dirk
leading the way was only the beginning of the justified criticism that followed
LeBron. He gave up what seemed like every big shot.
The player compared to Kobe and
MJ, who made “The” Decision just a summer ago decides to forfeit the ball in
crunch time to Wade and relative no names.
In order to be the greatest,
you need to have that killer instinct. Jordan had it. Kobe has it. They are
assassins. You knew they were coming for you at the end of the game and you
simply couldn’t stop it. With LeBron, that simply wasn’t the case, and I was
disappointed. I watched the 2011 Finals hoping to see a player deserving to be
in the same sentence as MJ and Kobe. I was excited to see him perform at the
NBA’s grandest stage, and he didn’t show up. It was his time not only to shine,
but also redeem himself and justify The
Decision. Quite simply, he failed. And let’s not forget his mocking of
Nowitzki’s illness before Game 5…which was still won by the Mavericks.
So how do we feel now? I’d
argue just as mixed as before. Personally, I still manage to give him the
benefit of the doubt. As much as I despised The
Decision, the tattoo on his back, and his attitude toward Dirk (among other
things), I find myself rooting for LeBron. It’s a combination of multiple
reasons. Sports are entertainment and I, and many Americans, want to be
entertained by the best athletes. Like we knew when he was in high school, LeBron
is a once in a generational type player, something we all should enjoy to be witnesses
of. But perhaps the main reason for continued support the controversial
superstar is because America is a land of second, third, and fourth chances.
It’s hard not to be after baseball’s steroid era and the doping allegations
with Lance Armstrong and other international icons. Maybe as a result of how
American sports culture has conditioned me, I will probably be rooting for him
the next time he makes it to the Finals. Plus, he’s a monster in NBA 2K12.
I enjoyed your analysis on this manner. I agree that he should be given another chance yet he will be criticize and devalued unless he wins a ring and acquire a "killer" instinct.
ReplyDeletei agree with you 100%. lebron reminds me a lot of cristiano ronaldo, arrogant and undeniably talented. however, ronaldo's accomplished a lot more. and like that guy above me mentioned, lebrons critics wont stop until he shows up in the fourth quarter and wins a championship. and you know what, some of them wont stop even after he accomplishes that. the fact that he had to go to miami and join two fellow NBA all stars will sort of devalue his accomplishments.
ReplyDeleteWhat's very interesting is that many famous legends of basketball have "choked" before. Magic Johnson, in the 1984 Finals, bricked several crucial free throws, failed to get a shot off before the buzzer, among several other crucial mistakes. However, he is not remembered for that now. So, I think that if LeBron wins a ring or two, and plays well during the finals while doing so, he will be more rememered for that rather than his abysmal showing in the 2011 Finals, especially Game 4. That remains to be seen, however...
ReplyDeleteYou said it all in the title! I hate him but I would love to see him show up in Oakland tomorrow. Have to pay him in IOU's but promise to pay by 2019 or sell him the team for a bargain price in exchange for salary owed. lol. S
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