|
12 July 2010
We're almost a week removed from "The Decision", yet it still is eliciting strong (i.e irrational and unintelligible) reactions from people who apparently were unfamiliar with the concept of free agency. I mean, from what I know, LeBron James decided to leave the Cavaliers and join the Heat to play alongside two of his friends for a better chance at a title. I missed the part where he beheaded some puppies, burned down an orphanage and professed his admiration for Hitler.
Anyone who has been around sports long enough knows that fans are prone to emotional reactions. But in this case, the illogical hyperbole has spread throughout the media and basketball world as well. Following are the top 10 most ridiculous, head-scratching, absurd things that have been said by analysts, journalists, radio jockeys, basketball officials and so-called experts since last Thursday. Sadly, none of this is made up. These gems all come from people who are either getting paychecks to give their opinions and thoughts on sports, or people who work in the basketball world.
10). "LeBron took the easy way out" Interesting. Apparently joining a team with two other stars and thus putting the entire franchise under an enormous amount of pressure is considered easy. I guess it also stands to reason that leaving your home town and subjecting yourself to a boatload of criticism from talking heads is also now easy. Leaving nearly $15 million on the table over the next six years must also be easy. Hmm...knowing all that, I wonder why LeBron said this was a difficult decision?
9). "Cleveland fans deserved better" Personally, I love this one. I've always enjoyed the fan/entitlement perspective. I'm not sure exactly what fans feel they deserve from athletes, other than their best effort when they step on the floor, which they got from LeBron for seven years (see point #6 for more on this). I understand Cleveland has had a rough sports history, between the Browns' ineptitude, the Indians choke in the 1997 World Series, or the Cavs woeful existence until 2003. But does that mean LeBron is required to stay with the team for his entire career? Is it really his fault that Earnest Byner fumbled in the 1988 AFC Championship Game? Does he owe it to the fans to play out his career with a less-than-stellar supporting cast in Cleveland just because Michael Jordan rose over Craig Ehlo to hit a game-winning jumper in the 1989 playoffs? Look - LeBron played his tail off for seven years and made the franchise more nationally relevant than its ever been. He owes the fans nothing else. Get over it.
8). "He's only worried about his own ego" As Mr. Cohron has accurately pointed out...if LeBron is so concerned with promoting himself, why did he choose to go to a team where he will share the spotlight? There's no question LeBron can be arrogant - what top-shelf athlete isn't? But if he was so worried about his ego, he wouldn't have gone to Miami, where the Heat have been regarded as Dwyane Wade's team for seven years. He would have gone to a franchise where he would be the face of the team, where he wouldn't have to share billboards, magazine covers or TV time. Instead, he is sacrificing all of that for a better chance to win a title. So let's move on from the idea that this was an ego-driven decision. It wasn't. Plain and simple.
7). "The TV special was a ridiculous waste of time" Was it absolutely necessary to have the TV special to announce his decision? Probably not. But let's not act as if he sullied the good name of national television. Have you seen the crap that's on TV now? Watch 30 seconds of "Jersey Shore", and then come back and tell me how big of a waste "The Decision" was. Besides, for all of the people who claimed they didn't care, ratings showed that just under 10 million people watched the show, which, by the way, raised close to $2 million for charity. Have 10 million people ever watched you do anything? Ever raise $2 million for a charity? Then shut up.
6). "LeBron quit in games" This gem famously came from Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert, who asserted that LeBron quit in Games 2, 4, 5 and 6 of the series against the Celtics this year, as well as in Game 6 against the Magic in the 2009 playoffs. Ignoring the fact that Gilbert was apparently still willing to give LeBron $120 million to play for his team, let's look a little deeper into those games. In the four games against Boston this year when LeBron allegedly quit, he averaged 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. I realize stats don't always tell the whole story, but I find it hard to believe someone could average close to a triple double at the highest level of basketball without giving their full effort. In the game in which he "quit" against Orlando, he put up 25 points and added seven assists and six rebounds. Again - not bad for someone who apparently didn't play the full game. In fact, armed with this new definition of quitting, I plan to quit in every game I play this year in my local rec league. It may be my best year yet.
5). "Kobe never would have done this" It's funny how we tend to rewrite history when it helps support our beliefs in the present. I seem to remember a very unhappy Kobe Bryant making his displeasure with the Lakers' roster known very publicly following Shaquille O'Neal's departure. There were rumors he would leave the Lakers, there was talk of Kobe forcing a trade, there was even a cell phone video of Kobe ripping the organization for not offering Andrew Bynum in a potential trade for Jason Kidd. The Lakers eventually landed Pau Gasol to placate Kobe, and now, two championships later, we seem to forget that Kobe spent a couple seasons behaving like the spoiled star people are making LeBron out to be. That's not a negative reflection on Kobe - he's one of my favorite players. But let's not make him out to be a saint. I believe LeBron would have stayed in Cleveland if they landed a Gasol-level player to play alongside him (and don't tell me Antawn Jamison is that guy). But they didn't, so LeBron had to go elsewhere.
4). "LeBron has no loyalty" Loyalty can be an odd concept. Would loyalty be Cleveland fans booing their team on their home floor in Game 5 against the Celtics? Would it be an owner firing a coach after two straight 60+ win seasons? Or would it be a player playing out his contract, then making a business decision to go take a better opportunity elsewhere? You be the judge.
3). "LeBron will never be one of the greatest of all time/His legacy is ruined" This has become one of the most common themes of the last few days. Again, a classic case of rewriting history. Magic Johnson is universally regarded as one of the best players of all-time, yet he played his career and won his titles with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy, and under the watchful eye of Pat Riley. Yet his individual legacy as a great player is intact. Who's to say 20 years from now that LeBron can't be regarded similarly if the Heat win multiple titles? I'm sure if the Heat win next year, there will be a faction of people who claim he had to go to Wade's team to win it. But once we get out of the emotion of the present and try to accurately look back a player's career, we tend to look at titles more so than "whose team" it was. Additionally, phrases like "best ever" are entirely subjective. No matter what LeBron did in Cleveland, he would never top Michael Jordan in many people's eyes. So if you're LeBron, and you can play your career to earn the superlatives of a fan base, or play your career to win something tangible like championship rings, which would you choose?
2). "No matter how many titles he wins in Miami, it won't be the same as winning in Cleveland" I just had to laugh when I heard this. So now there are requirements for how and where you can win championships? Do you have to win a title with the team who drafts you for it to count? In that case, I guess Kobe doesn't have any real titles, as he was drafted by the Hornets in 1996 before a Draft Day trade. Shaq's titles with the Lakers and Heat also don't count, and neither does Kevin Garnett's ring with Boston. And poor Robert Horry - all those years with the Spurs and Lakers for nothing. OK - I know those are ridiculous analogies. But so is the claim that a title in Miami will count for anything less than a title. If the Heat win multiple titles with LeBron, Wade and Chris Bosh as the anchors, each title will count the same as any other title won by any team or player anywhere. Anyone who claims differently is just ignorant.
1). "The Cavaliers will win an NBA Championship before the King wins one" The idiocy of this statement stands on its own. If you believe this one, then I wish you luck. Life is going to be a bumpy ride for you.
OK- hopefully we've put this LeBron stuff to rest now. I'm personally tired of defending him, because frankly, I see no need to defend him when he did nothing wrong. I know people disagree, and that's fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But strip the emotion away, and tell me exactly what LeBron did that was so wrong. He played out his contract and became a free agent. He listened to various teams' offers, as every free agent does. He made a decision to go to a new team where he feels he had a better chance of winning a title. He sacrificed money to do so. He announced his decision on TV to an audience of 10 million or so people, about 60 percent of which probably claimed at some point that afternoon that they "couldn't care less" about LeBron. So show me the part I missed, the one that has fans burning jerseys and millionaire owners firing off letters like a high schooler who just got dumped before the prom.
Until then, go Heat.
