The other reason why this has been a strange week is that a professional athlete made a decision on where he would play next season, and there has been an uproar over his choice. Obviously I'm talking about LeBron James. If you're reading this, you may be surprised that I'm writing about this now as opposed to a few days ago when all the hoopla went down. Well I was kinda busy/burnt out from the heat this week and much of the discussion I had on this subject took place on my friends' facebook walls (funny how that passes for discussion these days). Also I've had some time to collect my thoughts after the 'decision' was made and I'll try to coherently share some of those thoughts with you here.
First: I don't get the outpouring of negativity this decision has received. I'll say this much as a post-preface to that last sentence: I grew up as a die-hard Knicks fan and ever since the team collapsed under Isaiah Thomas I've been looking for a reason to cheer for them again. When Amare Stoudamire signed, I thought maybe we could get LeBron; but it didn't happen and that's that. Why didn't James come to the play in the greatest city in the world? Because he wants to win and win right now, he said as much when Jim Gray asked him what was the main factor in making his choice. When LeBron said that, I knew the Knicks were out of the running. LBJ was courted by several teams in this process. Only three ever really had a shot, I believe; but only two could really help him win sooon. The Chicago Bulls who have the most complete team right now and would've probably made the most sense. That brings us to the Miami Heat who had enough money to re-sign their perennial all-star Dwayne Wade as well as pursue LBJ and big man Chris Bosh. James is good friends with both those guys. Miami landed Bosh, the prospect of playing with both him and Wade was too much to turn down for LBJ and the decision was made. And, honestly, when I forget my tri-state area bias I can't imagine going anywhere else than Miami. I do feel bad for the folks in Cleveland who must feel as though they've had their hearts torn out again. But LeBron made them a relevant sports town again. He gave them seven amazing years and carried them to the NBA Finals on his back. There's no need to burn his freaking jersey. They need to ask Cavs' managment how they weren't able to give James a better supporting cast before they get mad at LeBron.
In addition to his former fans turning on him, virtually every one I know is using their facebook wall to slur James and call him a coward (to put it mildly). I just don't get it. Some are saying that he's taking the easy way out, refusing to stand on his own feet. I say, so what? Winning is not an individual achievement (unless you're playing tennis or golf). A 'ring' represents a team achievement. No great player has ever won a championship by himself. Jordan always had a great team and the 96 Bulls won 72 games en route to the title, a record that still stands. He also had Phil Jackson coaching those teams. Magic had the Showtime Lakers which featured Kareem Abdul-Jabar and a little-known coach by the name of Pat Riley. Kobe had Shaq for his three-peat, last year he had a veritable all-star team and Phil Jackson has been his coach for all five championships. Second, is the fact that during the post-announcement interview with Mike Wilbon I actually felt sorry for LeBron. He seemed emotional throughout the broadcast but especially so when Wilbon showed him footage of Cleveland fans burning.his old jersey. It must have broke his heart to leave his home state. It seemed to me like he would have stayed with the Cavs, but when Chris Bosh and Wade signed with Miami it forced his hand to join them. Yes the team is far from complete. But three all-stars is a hell of a start, especially when each of them has even more motivation to win now.
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