I have been meaning to write a new post. There are many things of greater importance that I want to weigh in on, such as the BP oil spill. But, yet again I find myself writing about my favorite target, Lebron James. The Queen himself. As this is a day that will be remembered in sports history, I felt it important to express what I feel about Lebron defecting to Miami.
Let me begin by saying I hated Lebron before he decided to go to Miami. I found him to be, even by NBA and professional athlete standards, to be a pampered, whining, immature man-child. All he has ever heard is "yes, Lebron" from his handlers and the ownership and coaches of the Cavaliers. He has never been accountable. He has always been the portrayed as the good guy, even when things he has done on the court have warranted otherwise, the media has given him a pass. He is, like he is to so many, too valuable to them. After all, he is a self proclaimed global icon and the tv networks stand to make too much off him, as his laughable one hour tv special just demonstrated.
Lebron's move to the Heat seals his fate. He no longer can be discussed in the conversation as a top player of all time. Top players want to dominate. They do not change teams and team up with another alpha dog. Make no mistake, the Heat is Dwyane Wade's team. Lebron is his Scottie Pippen, and even that might be giving him too much credit. Scottie Pippen was a lock down defender and proved himself to be one of the top players of his generation. Lebron has played for 7 years and has nothing to show for it. Let's also be clear, if the Heat manage to win it is much different than Lebron winning. Pau Gasol may have two rings, but Kobe was the franchise player on those Lakers teams. That's not a knock on Gasol, but at the same time no one is putting him in the best player ever discussion.
Another point of the Lebron saga that hasn't been discussed enough is the moves that didn't happen when he was with Cleveland. People want to slam the Cav's for not making moves to give Lebron more talent and it's true Mo Williams and Antawan Jamison, though good players, aren't the top flight players that will get a team the elusive championship. However, the Cav's were in the difficult position of trying to get players with no guaranteed from Lebron that he would be there after free agency. That part has to be on Lebron. He could have signed an extension and begun lobbying for free agents to come to him with the assurance of his being there as well. The next best option would have been for him to go to Chicago where he would go play with a solid team, but would still be the leader of that team. As it stands, Lebron has become one of the guys in Wade's travelling circus.
Finally, the Heat, as they are currently constructed, are not winning a championship. They have no one else to speak of in terms of talent around Wade, Lebron and Bosh. The other shaky position is at coach and anyone that is watching must have the feeling that it is only a matter of time before Pat Riley orchestrates his return to the bench and shamelessly trys to add to his ring count. If he has any class, he will stay off the bench and let the coach that he hired do his job.
This post is the culmination of seven years of arguing that Lebron is an overrated media darling that does not deserve the attention he so badly wants. I feel justified now in saying that Lebron was at best the third best player in the league. Now, he isn't even the best player on his team. I will revel in this as I watch (hopefully) the Heat go down in flames.
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