Let me make it crystal clear that LeBron James is an immensely talented athlete that could probably excel at any sport with considerable ability. His weakness is not his athleticism, his average free throw shooting, his non-existent low post game, his proneness to shoot three-pointers when he’s not great at it or even his fear of playing with even a paper cut — it is his character.
Recently, James said that he would like to try out for the 1-8 Cleveland Browns. Instead of telling him to worry about his own team, Brown Head Coach Eric Mangini said he’d welcome him. After that he expressed his unhappiness with the Bobcats getting Stephen Jackson before the Cavs could. So in a span of 10 days, the title-less “KING” has hinted that he could be a star wideout and star small forward at the same time and also again slapped his teammates in the face. He once said he wanted to become an international icon and the first athlete-billionaire. Then he decided that everyone should give up Michael Jordan’s number 23 just because he thought it would be nice. Jordan, always the classy individual, said that if you retire his number, you must retire several other players’ numbers including Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. A lack of maturity doesn’t begin to describe Mr. James yet barely anyone seems to chide him for it.
The smaller, less dynamic yet still amazing Dwyane Wade (who happens to be in the same draft class as James) already has an NBA Championship and a Finals MVP to his credit. Kobe Bryant got his 4th ring last year without the help of Shaq. Interesting that both players were criticized for having their championships with Shaq yet Shaq has now left the Magic, Lakers, Heat, and Suns on bad terms. We always assumed it was Kobe being selfish in LA and Dwyane wanting his own spotlight in Miami. Now Shaq joins LeBron and we’re supposed to believe this is it. How about realizing that Shaq has never won a title without a superstar on his team either? Everyone seems to make excuses for LeBron and rationalize why he hasn’t won a title yet. Why??? His team, which was superior heading into the Eastern Conference Finals last year, was destroyed by the Magic who live and die by the three-point line. He was given the MVP last year for playing on a team that is a 7 or 8 seed without him. D-Wade’s team will win 14 games without him. He also refuses to shake hands with the Celtics the year before after losing to them and then does the same thing to his Olympic teammate Dwight Howard this past year after the Magic beat them. He misses games for having a jammed finger on his non-shooting hand. He wears a Yankee fitted cap to a Cleveland Indians home playoff game against the Yankees. He openly and endlessly talks of playing with Chris Paul or Jason Kidd. He constantly disses his own teammates by engaging in this behavior. Let’s not even mention the fact that the city of Cleveland is actively holding its breath hoping and praying LeBron doesn’t bolt the Cavs to win more titles in another city. He wasn’t even humbled by playing on the Gold Medal Team USA. He didn’t learn anything from the selflessness of D-Wade coming off the bench in the Olympics or the fact that everyone on that team was a superstar playing a non-superstar role. Why do people defend this guy?
To his defense, it’s not entirely his fault. Since LeBron was 16, he was the next Michael Jordan. High school games nationally televised, number 1 draft pick in the NBA, his best friend became Jay-Z and the entire video of Drake’s song Forever is full of LeBron footage. I have never seen America celebrate someone so much who has never won a championship. Allen Iverson gets so little respect because he never won a title. Same goes for Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, and even Jason Kidd. They are all exceptional players but they have never won a title so they are not considered as good. Imagine if Duncan never won a title…nobody would consider him the best power forward ever. Somehow, LeBron is one of the greatest ever even though he won an MVP for being on a great team, won All-Star MVP’s for purposely dominating the game and for losing in conference finals after cruising to the best record last season. If anyone dares to say they won the Olympic Gold Medal because of him, that person just doesn’t know basketball.
I respect talent but in sports you are ultimately judged for your accomplishments because nobody can measure talent. So why are there only a handful of people who will stand up and acknowledge that the media has created one of the most arrogant athletes ever whose ego actually outweighs his freakishly high level of talent? Next time we defend him for missing a game with a jammed finger on his left hand remember two events. Kobe Bryant played with torn ligaments in his pinkie finger (on his shooting hand!!!) for almost 2 years en route to an Olympic Gold Medal and an NBA Championship. Michael Jordan’s best game might have been the “flu game” where he was unstoppable on the court but had to be carried to bench during timeouts because he was very sick with the flu. He is not tough, he is not well-coached, he has a mentor who is a self made multi-millionaire and has a massive ego of his own, and he thinks he has no competition. MJ, Kobe, Kareem, Russell, Bird and Magic never operated in this way and that’s why they were so successful. When LeBron grows up and matures, there will no absolutely no limit to what he can accomplish. The question is will he ever gain an inch of humility? Imagine what will happen if he wins titles with the same cocky attitude…then he will proclaim that people should retire number 23 because LeBron James wore it. Let’s stop praising him until he actually accomplishes something.
