Lebron: Decision Accepted. I Think?
If you google Lebron James’ name, there’s a possibility that, A) Your computer might crash because of the influx of news regarding his departure from Cleveland. B) You might come across a myriad of “I Hate Lebron” links with the now infamous burning of his #23 jersey gracing the page. Or, C) You might not really care anymore. Regardless, Lebron owned the night, and possibly made the biggest and smartest decision in his basketball career.
I’ll be honest, judging by Lebron’s mantra, and climactic swagger, I thought he was going to surprise everyone with a move to either New York or Cleveland. I thought Lebron had one more no look pass underneath his 6’8 frame. Surprisingly, Lebron sat down with Jim Gray, revealed his intentions of moving down to South Beach, and formed this Death Row like conglomerate featuring himself, Wade, and Bosh. Now, even though news leaked throughout the day that Miami was the front runner, I assumed people tuned in anyway just because they wanted to see the aftermath unfold in the city of Cleveland. Though Lebron’s attitude appeared melancholy with a twist of optimism, you could tell the kid didn’t want to leave. Poor kid, I mean, can you blame Lebron for chucking the deuces a la Chris Brown to a team that within his seven years reached the finals only once? Can you blame Lebron for giving his beloved city of Cleveland the “It’s not you, It’s me” treatment? I’ll admit, Lebron took the easy way out. The funny thing about that is I’m actually proud of him. The man is smarter than he actually looks. Something kept telling me that he didn’t possess that killer instinct that Jordan or Kobe had. Something kept telling me this guy wasn’t built to be “that dude”. Something kept telling me he was more of a Lloyd Banks than a 50 Cent. No disrespect to Banks, we all know what’s he capable of, but, lets face it, dude isn’t a leader, and needs that virtuoso genius to help max out his potential. Lebron realized in order to win, and win now; he had to do not the unthinkable, but the commonsensical. Yes he could have gone to Chicago, played with Rose & Boozer, win 55 games, and have his own team. But, as previously mentioned, Lebron was scared. I don’t think Lebron could have handled walking into work everyday, and seeing Jordan’s massively sculpted stature in his grill. Yes he could have gone to New York, and develop an explosive pick and roll dynamic with Amare. But, we’ve seen what A-Rod has been through. Tabloids shredded his ass up into pieces. There were even times we’ve nearly seen tears come out of his eyes. Hypothetically speaking, if Lebron missed a dunk or lay up a la Ewing in a decisive game seven, he would probably be overemotional because the media would chew him up, resulting in him undergoing a Rugrats episode with all the waterworks.
Lebron used his head for once. Can I be mad at that? No. Can I sit here and say he diminished his legacy from potentially being Jordanesque to Scottiesque? Yes. Is there anything wrong with that? No. Like I said, dude came to grips and realized he wasn’t built like that. More importantly, Lebron wanted to be with his friends. How could Krammer survive without Seinfeld? How could Will survive without Carlton? How could Dawson survive without Joey & Pacey? Lebron, its ok, I understand. I hope you do win your championships in South Beach. I candidly respect your decision to put your ego aside, take less money, just to win. You actually proved you’re really a ball player. That takes a lot of guts. With that said, if Kobe wins a ring against Miami next year, what’s stopping him from surpassing Jordan? I’m just saying.
