LeBron James has fooled us all these years. Not just Cleveland fans, but the NBA as well. He came in to this league with the goal of being the greatest player the league has ever seen. Up until this last season with the Cavaliers people were quick to anoint him the best player in the league. “He gets it” people had said. “He’s a born leader.” I bought it, and chances are you bought it.
Then the Cavs faced the Celtics in the playoffs last year. LeBron James within the course of 6 games regressed into a toddler, showing just how not devoted he was to winning a championship for his hometown. When that series was over I was convinced he would no longer be a Cleveland Cavalier. It does not surprise me he left. What does surprise me is the absolute lack of class he showed in the process, and his ultimate choice cannot be described as anything but the easy way out. LeBron James is a man who loves to hog the spotlight, but God forbid you put any pressure on him.
James has been adamant that all that matters to him is winning a championship. By going to the Miami Heat, he shows that this is true, and ultimately to a fault. This was not a decision he thought all the way through, and even though it has been reported the people around him tried to talk him out of it, his knowledge is so shallow he looked at the team with the shiniest features and was attracted. He may win a few championships there, but ultimately he has dramatically hurt his legacy. One could make the argument that he is now the second best player on the Miami Heat. (For the record, that’s probably not true.) He has forever diminished the LeBron James brand, because he will not be THE guy. If he went to Chicago, he would be THE guy. If he went to New York, he would be THE guy. If he stayed in Cleveland, he would be THE guy. He now goes to Miami, the only situation in the entire NBA in which he will not be THE guy. You know what? It’s easier on him that way.
This brings us to Mr. Happy-go-Lucky Dan Gilbert. His open letter to the fans of Cleveland is a stroke of genius as far as I’m concerned, minus his interesting choice in font. It may not do him a lot of favors amongst the national scene, but last night he had one objective: winning back the fan base of Cleveland which was about to desert him. He pulled that off incredibly well. There are reports that bars in Cleveland started cheering when they heard the letter. Gilbert now has the city back on his side. Now, I have a REALLY hard time believing Gilbert’s claim the Cavs will win a title before the Heat. Down, boy. The Cavs will likely not make the playoffs next year, and barring a nuclear explosion the Miami Heat will. Other than that, I thought the letter was something that needed to happen to the Cavs fans. Around the nation Dan Gilbert may look like a whiner, but Cavs fans are now ready to rally behind this guy.
LeBron scheduled his national television appearance with the intention of it seeming like a service to Boys and Girls Club, but instead it is an ego-stroking of mammoth proportions. He doesn’t tell anybody what his decision is beforehand, so he has some of the most respected figures in the NBA sitting on their couches watching television to see who the prettiest girl at the dance chooses. If he leaves Cleveland, he looks like he made the whole country watch him make a U-Turn. If he leaves Cleveland, he embarrasses the entire region on national television and says “Screw you” to every team he doesn’t choose. Obviously, he left for Miami, or as he put it: “I’m going to South Beach”.
Not only does the departure of LeBron ruin the Cleveland economy for the foreseeable future, but he might have destroyed the Cleveland sports culture forever. What major free agent in any sport would go to a region that could not keep their hometown player, not to mention he could have made a lot more money if he stayed? It’s all about perception, and the city of Cleveland does not come out good in any way.
ESPN also made a gigantic mistake by agreeing to broadcast this special. The media has been LeBron’s greatest enabler, and here they just keep appeasing the monster they’ve created. If LeBron simply announced it like a normal person the uproar would not resemble what it has been, but because ESPN agreed to this LeBron has now ruined his own reputation and humiliated many others. LeBron’s announcement should have been a celebration of one the NBA’s greatest stars announcing where he will be taking his talents, but instead I feel like I’m watching his star falling from the sky. The Miami Heat are now the New York Yankees of the NBA, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but most people who aren’t Yankees fans HATE the Yankees. Every NBA fan north of Tallahassee will be rooting against the Heat. LeBron will likely be greeted with boos wherever he goes, not to mention the thrashing he will receive when he returns to Cleveland.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers sit quietly in the Western Conference. No Twitter accounts, no free agency drama. All they do is go out and play basketball, and they do it better than any other team in the NBA. Maybe next year in the Finals the Lakers can show the Heat how it’s really done. Thank God for Kobe Bryant. Do you think it’s a coincidence the Western Conference is so much better and all the prima donnas are in the East? I think not.
