In the last 48 hours, we have seen a whirlwind of hatred placed on the man known as "King James" the likes of which we haven't seen nor expected. After all, Kobe Bryant was our designated bad guy. Even before LeBron announced his intentions to join Wade and Bosh in Miami(a smart move, which I will elaborate on later), the darts thrown at LeBron were slung with the speed and ferocity of a Stephen Strasburg fastball. To be fair, it was deserved. If Gilbert Arenas has taught us anything, it's that one huge misstep will force people to erase all the good you do and replace with it with a consolidated ball of all your sins. LeBron James, once the smiling, fun-loving ambassador of the NBA, is now the NBA's biggest villain. After all, this was the same kid who caused a great deal of controversy by rolling around high school in a brand new Hummer despite growing up dirt poor in Akron, Ohio. He was the kid on Sports Illustrated covers as a high school junior. ESPN The Magazine's cover as a senior. Televised high school games. The moniker "King James" emblazoned on his shoes and other merchandise. He was a walking endorsement from the minute he passed 10th grade. So, naturally, the idea of a press conference to announce his free agency decision only added fuel to the "LeBron is a shameless self-promoter" flames. He's the guy who thumps his chest after every dunk. All of the acts that were once passed off as LeBron just being a fun, carefree kid were now used as character defamation.
My take on LeBron's press conference is this: It was unnecessary. This isn't National Signing Day. You don't upstage your peers by making your decision seem more important than theirs by giving yourself your own soap box, especially when you used said soapbox to announce you will be teaming with two other superstars. ESPN is even more at fault for feeding LeBron's ego and pitching the idea of a press conference to him. On top of that, all of the suspense that would have went into LeBron's decision disappeared when ESPN busted its nut early and announced LeBron was signing with the Heat on the 3 a.m. SportsCenter. We always knock guys like Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco for being shameless self-promoters and being very me-first. We, including myself, constantly tear down Brett Favre for his never-ending saga of "will he or won't he" controversy that ends up overshadowing the team. We always blast these guys for acting like they are bigger than the game. For LeBron, this press conference was exactly that.
Now, as for LeBron signing with Miami and essentially declaring that his best shot at a title will be tag-teaming with a star like Wade and another super-sidekick like Bosh, I think it was the right move. Amare Stoudemire's knees and Donnie Walsh's brainfarts made the Knicks too risky. The Cavs were too undermanned. The Nets were too young. The Bulls....well, there was the potential tug-o-war over the basketball that could have presented itself between Derrick Rose and LeBron, not to mention the bad blood between James and Joakim Noah. People will look at this move to the Heat as LeBron admitting defeat and choosing to be a follower and not a leader. I think it's an admission that he can't do it all by himself. Every great player needs another great player to help him win the big one. Jordan needed Pippen. Magic needed Kareem and Worthy. Bird needed McHale. Kobe needed Shaq. LeBron's decision was going to come down to "Who gave him the best chance to win a title?". Once Wade and Bosh decided on Miami, the Heat became the answer to that question. Would it really have been wise for LeBron to go somewhere else and now have to, not only compete with the usual foils in Boston and Orlando, but face a Miami superteam as well as Kobe's Lakers out West? In the end, winning erases alot of the criticisms everyone has about you. If LeBron wins multiple titles with Miami and is forever cursed by the "Well, he needed Dwayne Wade to be a champion" knock, at least he can hang his hat on the fact that he's a champion. You think Charles Barkley wouldn't have liked to join MJ with the Bulls and win a few rings? You think Patrick Ewing wouldn't have loved to be a Laker at the turn of the new millennium? Nobody killed Karl Malone and Gary Payton for trying to ride Kobe and Shaq's coattails in 2004 to get their first ring. Nobody threw darts at Alonzo Mourning for his willingness to take a backseat to Shaq and D-Wade in 2006 so he could be a champion. LeBron did what was best for him in a basketball sense. In the irony of ironies, the man who has spent so much time being concerned with his image and promoting his brand decided in his biggest moment to throw up a middle finger at his perception and do what he felt is best. I agree with the move. I disagree with how he went about it. You don't rip your hometown's fans heart out on national television.
With that being said, while I was prepared to dedicate this space to ripping LeBron for being selfish, someone stepped up to take "King James" off the hook.
Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is a douchebag of epic proportions. Merely hours removed from LeBron announcing his decision, Gilbert took to the media to sandbag the man who lined his pockets by selling out home games for the last seven years. Gilbert, in a letter to fans(most of which, mind you, who only cared about Cavs basketball BECAUSE of LeBron) called LeBron's road to "The Decision" a "several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV speech of his "decision" unlike anything ever "witnessed" in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment". Now, naturally, I don't disagree with Gilbert's assessment of the route LeBron chose to make his decision. What I do disagree with is Gilbert wasting little time to bite the hand that fed him. LeBron James left Cleveland because Gilbert hired people who failed to build a winner around him. The fact that Gilbert expected LeBron to stay on a team whose 2nd and 3rd best players were Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams(two guys who probably wouldn't even be mentioned within the top 30 or 40 in the NBA) shows how very little Gilbert knows about basketball. Gilbert then went on to personally guarentee a ring before the "self-titled former king wins one". Really, Danny? Where was this motivation the last seven years when your front office constantly botched draft picks, made half-assed trades like the Shaq disaster and then froze at the opportunity to make the type of moves that could have kept LeBron in Cleveland(like failing to move Wally Sczerbiak's expiring contract for something worthwhile or the unwillingness to part with J.J. Hickson in deals for guys like Amare Stoudemire).
Gilbert continued with this: "If you thought we were motivated before tonight to bring the hardware to Cleveland, I can tell you that this shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own has shifted our "motivation" to previously unknown and previously never experienced levels." Tell me, Mr. Gilbert, what is your grand plan to stop Miami, Chicago, Boston and Orlando. Is it by trying to "motivate" Jamison and Williams to play out of their minds? Because many have tried and all have failed. There's a reason why this is Jamison's fourth stop in his NBA career and there's a reason Milwaukee parted with Williams so easily. They aren't exactly world beaters. Furthermore, who is out there that's getting you to the Promised Land? You think Carmelo Anthony is coming to Cleveland after the way you just lambasted his friend LeBron? You think Chris Paul is coming to work with the coach that his current team fired last year, Byron Scott? You think Dwight Howard is leaving the beaches of Orlando for rust belts in Cleveland? Need I remind you, Mr. Gilbert, that the reason LeBron was a Cav in the first place was because your team sucked so bad that they were able to take him with the #1 pick. I'm glad you are suddenly motivated to win a title. Perhaps if that kick in the ass came before tonight, LeBron would still be a Cavalier. "This shocking act of disloyalty from our home grown "chosen one" sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn. And "who" we would want them to grow-up to become.....The self-declared "King" will be taking the "curse" with him down south. And until he does "right" by Cleveland and Ohio, James(and the town where he plays) will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma." Ah, yes, the dreaded Cleveland curse. Surely, that would have disappeared had LeBron stayed in Cleveland. Surely, the fact that the Cavs couldn't get it done the last seven years(especially the last two, when they were the favorites in the East) is due to a mystical curse and not the fact that Gilbert and his team of suits dropped the ball to make LeBron's Cavs anything more than a one-man show. As for the "self-proclaimed King" comment, you mean to tell me that Gilbert has NEVER uttered the words "King James"? He never participated in this "self-proclaimed" moniker? Gilbert would also follow up his letter of extreme bitterness by claiming LeBron quit in the playoffs. You know, when LeBron was out there with a busted elbow and trying his damnedest to drop an aging Celtics team but couldn't because his supporting cast shit the bed night in and night out. Funny how "LeBron quit on us" never came out of Gilbert's mouth during the courting process. Also funny that Gilbert still pushed to keep this "quitter" last week.
Look, I know Gilbert and the city of Cleveland are bitter that their hometown hero left, but to put all the blame on LeBron and paint him as some back-stabbing coward is ignorant and irresponsible. It also is counterproductive. Do you think stars are lining up to play for an owner like Gilbert after this crybaby tirade? LeBron did what was best for LeBron. That's what free agency is. It's about making business decisions. He gave you seven years of everything he's got. He sold our your arena. He put merchandising money in your pocket. If you are so disgusted with his "betrayal", Mr. Gilbert, then perhaps you should go give up all that money James made you over the years since he's such a disgrace to the city of Cleveland. You had your shot, Gilbert. You blew it. You couldn't get Chris Bosh because nobody wants to play in your town. So your franchise left and now you're bitter. So, rather than take it like it a man, you write some bullshit letter so an enraged fan base won't blame you for driving away the greatest thing to ever happen to them. Rather than look in the mirror and said "I screwed up. I couldn't give LeBron what he needed.", you chose to play the role of the scorned wife and blame everything on the suddenly disinterested husband. Shame on you, sir. Shame. On. You.
LeBron James made the decision that was best for him. He just did it the wrong way. Dan Gilbert acted the way he felt was best in his heart. He just took the wrong approach. Two wrongs don't make a right. It's a shame LeBron didn't re-sign with Cleveland, because we know now that these two "cowards" were perfect for each other.
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