If you’ve remotely been following the news, you’ll know that something big happened today in basketball…namely Lebron James joined Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade in Miami to play for the Heat in the foreseeable future.
Before I go into what this means for the future of the NBA, I want to say that I’m really disgusted by what Lebron James did tonight. He felt a desire to fuel his already enormous ego by having a 1 hour special on ESPN all to himself where he explained to the entire nation why he decided to choose Miami. In the process, he broke the hearts of thousands of Cleveland fans on national television. Bill Simmons put it best in a tweet tonight,
Totally fine with LBJ switching teams. But doing that to Cleveland via a one-hour TV show was absolutely brutal. An unprecedented Eff You.
Having spent 5 years in Pittsburgh and growing to love the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ive come to develop a “sports hatred” for the cities of Cleveland and Cincinnati, two of the Steelers biggest rivals in the AFC North. However, after seeing what Lebron did on national tv, I cant help but feel the pain of Clevelanders. He pretty much insulted the entire franchise and told the entire country that the team wasnt worthy for him. He talked about having an opportunity to play with some of the best players that he never was able to play with in Cleveland.
The backlash against Lebron is nothing what he expected it to be. However, he brought it upon himself by doing this on national television. He essentially humiliated the entire city of Cleveland, and caused numerous fans to burn his jersey in the streets and caused the owner, Dan Gilbert, to write this insanely scathing open letter to his fans, which I think was the stupidest thing he could have ever done. I stand by my criticism that Gilbert was a horrible owner who never brought in a good player to play with Lebron.
Had Lebron just released a statement and held a press conference in Miami, I dont believe Cleveland would have reacted in this way. It would have been tough for the city to accept, but there wouldnt be cries of betrayal and such.
I love Lebron’s game. Without talking about championships and winning, Lebron James is one of the most special players to have ever played the game of basketball. Any impartial and unbiased fan would readily admit that Lebron James possesses a talent unseen in the league in such a long time. I respect his game, but as of now that’s about it.
Ever since Lebron walked off the court without shaking his opponent’s hands, I started to lose respect for him. Then there was this incident at his camp where he was dunked on and posterized by a college player and immediately had the videos confiscated. Now there this incident. I feel I cant respect him or admire him as a person anymore, only as a basketball player.
Take a look at what Kevin Durant, one of the best young rising stars in the league, did this week. Unlike Lebron, he simply signed a 5-year $85 million deal and released a statement. No press conference. No hoopla. Nothing. Just plain modesty.
Lebron needs to take a page out of Durant’s book.
Coming in a future post: The implications on the NBA championship for years to come….
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