If you stumbled upon this post expecting me to reveal some tabloid story about affairs or controversy, you will be sorely disappointed. Instead, I intend to deviate from the traditional narratives that are undoubtedly running rampant following the Miami Heat’s victory over the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Wednesday night. It is no secret that the world’s biggest spotlight has been focused on the Big 3 of Miami the entire season and that spotlight only gets brighter as they advance through the playoffs.
After LeBron’s struggles with the Cavaliers against Boston, the mainstream media quickly created the most apparent storyline to define James as a basketball player. You’ve heard it all before.
“LeBron isn’t clutch,” or ”LeBron doesn’t have the killer instinct” or ”LeBron is a quitter” or ”LeBron can’t get past the Celtics.”
While the last point was certainly true (before tonight), I refuse to take the laziest route and start to slap labels on players when they are merely entering their prime. The Decision understandably had some backlash on how people viewed James and quite possibly cost him the MVP this year. Lots of people have disdain for LeBron and many of those people can be found in my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. Now, before you immediately roll your eyes at the notion of yet another writer from northeast Ohio commenting on LBJ, give me a chance to approach the topic with as little bias as possible. You won’t be shocked to find out that I am actively rooting against the Heat or that I am not particularly fond of LeBron James. However, I hope that does not prevent me from providing some relatively intelligent insight on the issue.
Wednesday night, against the Celtics, I came to a revelation of sorts. I do not hate LeBron James, but rather I am supremely disappointed. For the past year now, I’ve heard both sides of the argument. There are those that say it was a classless betrayal and there are those that question what he ever “owed” to the Cavaliers. To respond to the second part, the answer is, of course, nothing. James owed nothing (apart from a little decency) to the Cavaliers fans or the organization. Those who believe that he did are misguided (read: wrong). But that’s not the reason that I have so much disdain for LeBron James. It seems that so many people are shocked that LeBron was “finally” able to get past the Celtics and “finally” come up in the clutch. The notion of James exorcising his demons by taking down Boston is overblown and quite frankly, stupid. I, for one, am not all that surprised by it and after watching him play for 7 years in Cleveland, know that completely dominating the end of the game is nothing new to him. The truth is that LeBron James is the best player in the league and it’s been that way for several years now. And as long as I’m being completely honest, it’s not even close. This lone fact is what frustrates myself and other Cavaliers fans to no end. That which comes off as pure hatred is actually bitter disappointment.
I had the pleasure of watching one of the most supremely gifted athletes of our generation on a nightly basis and he was dominating games for my team. He carried us to the playoffs year after year and regardless of how they looked on paper, the most recent Cavs teams were really good. As you know, however, not quite good enough. I knew the opportunity that he provided for my city and was absolutely crushed when he took it away. The objective, basketball analyst in me truly appreciates the greatness of James but the Clevelander in me will never forgive him.
As far as I am concerned, the media narratives are bunch of nonsense. LeBron did not magically gain the ability to execute down the stretch this year or step up his game in the playoffs. Rather, he now has another superstar playing alongside him and the Celtics were therefore less of an obstacle. I understand that the NBA is all about winning at any cost, but every part of LeBron’s character now leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. He took the easy way out and teamed up with Dwyane Wade. Was it a wise basketball decision? Yes. He plays for fans that can barely fill the arena in the postseason. Is that his fault? Of course not. Regardless of who’s at fault, the result remains the same. Cavs fans came to know a player that was capable of taking virtually any team to the NBA Finals and in the blink of an eye — he was gone.
If the Miami Heat end up winning the title as I believe they will, the national media and casual NBA fans will jump all over the notion that LeBron has evolved into the champion that he never was in Cleveland. While on the surface this is true, I see no real difference between 2010 LeBron and 2011 LeBron. The only difference I notice is the added pressure for him to win a ring and the fact that he will soon be doing it for a franchise other than the Cavaliers. The point I feel the need to reiterate is that he earned the right to “take his talents to South Beach.” He fulfilled his obligation in Cleveland and gained free agent status.
Ultimately, there is nothing fundamentally wrong about what LeBron did and none of it truly warrants the venom he receives. Instead, when we hold The Decision against him, it’s due to disappointment. Not because he did anything wrong, but because he failed to live up to our own contrived, personal expectations. The fact of the matter is, the dominance that James showed in crunch-time against the Celtics has been in him all along. As with most great athletes, it just took a little bit of prodding and a lot of losing for it to be channeled effectively. LeBron probably could have dragged a team with Mo Williams as the 2nd best player to a world championship, but didn’t want to wait around to find out. He has every right to do as he desires. Conversely, we have every right to criticize him as we please. As an NBA writer, I’ll appreciate him but as a Cleveland native, I’ll hate him.
