2010 NBA Offseason: LeBron James Should Be Applauded, Not Vilified

When going through the (surprisingly) large amount of reader e-mail in my inbox, it seems that readers have noticed a personality trait that friends and family have criticized me about for years—I am insanely opinionated. About everything. My opinions are usually overwhelmingly negative.  

So, in the aftermath of "The Decision," an event whose reaction was so lopsidedly negative that its only apt comparison is America's reaction to the BP oil spill, friends and readers alike both expected me to have a firm opinion. 

The problem was...I had none. 

Friends and readers alike asked for my opinion regarding the situation and the answer I gave was disappointing: "I don't know."

The consensus response to my apathy toward "The Decision" was best described in an e-mail exchange with a reader named Anthony: "You mean you want to be a writer, but you can't even muster an opinion on one of the biggest off-court events in NBA history?  Pathetic."

What friends and readers like Anthony did not understand is I purposely avoided having an opinion. 

I wanted to have a clear head before creating an actual opinion regarding Miami Thrice. I did not want to serve up emotional rhetoric that would make me a hero in Cleveland circles, but also make me sound like a resounding idiot to the rest of the nation.  

At the same time, I also did not want to serve another heaping pile of "eff you" to Middle America, either.

Most importantly, I did not want to give readers some half-assed, capitalistic opinion on the matter simply to garner views.  

I wanted to take a look at the entire spectacle—beginning in 2006 when LeBron signed a short deal to allow for flexibility and ending with "The Decision"—and give readers a wholly honest and objective thought. If waiting to have an opinion led to the column having 5 views instead of 50,000, so be it. At least those readers got an honest opinion.

Don't get me wrong, I had a strong opinion on the self-aggrandizing, pseudo-charity event farce that was "The Decision" from the beginning. How a man could be so blissfully ignorant/oblivious/malicious that he thought going on television and announcing his departure from the place he grew up without any advanced notice to the fans was a good idea is beyond me. 

However, any fan, commentator, columnist, or blogger not from the Greater Ohio area (or a Cavs fan from elsewhere) feigning offense over "The Decision" is an absolute moron who is just capitalizing on the pulse of the nation. 

The fact is, "King James" is our creation. The media put him on the cover of Sports Illustrated at 16 years-old. Fans packed high school gyms so tightly that LeBron's Saint Vincent Saint Mary's team had to find larger venues. ESPN nationally televised his games. He was heralded as the ideal mix between Magic, Jordan, and Doctor J, a force so great that his dominance would be unparalleled. 

And this was all before LeBron graduated high school. 

Now we criticize LeBron for being unaware of the rules of society and being a narcissist?  How can we eviscerate a person's reputation for something we created?  The hypocrisy of it all is dumbfounding. 

Why wasn't James publicly chastised for being so "immature and downright disrespectful" that Olympic officials almost left him off the 2008 Olympic team altogether? Why did the behind-closed-doors rumblings leak after "The Decision"?

Why did Cavs owner Dan Gilbert try so desperately to retain a man who he called a "coward" and a "quitter" ? 

The hypocrisy of the criticism swayed me from a position of Cleveland empathizer to (what most will call) a LeBron apologist.

But in all seriousness, when you strip away the idiocy of "The Decision", should we not glorify James as an unselfish star willing to sacrifice his own legacy for winning?

In an era where the power of the almighty dollar trumps everything, LeBron sacrificed $15 million (well, six million if you take Florida's lack of income tax into account) in favor of winning championships with friends.

James, for all intents and purposes, is no different than (minus the money involved) a world class lawyer/doctor/etc. that leaves his current practice to start a new one with equally talented friends.

Sure, members of their former practice are upset, but does anyone blame the lawyer for wanting to work with friends?

If LeBron is happy, should we (outside of Cleveland) not be happy for him? Or, in our ass-backwards culture, have we become so cynical that selflessness combined with happiness is now negative? 

And, as for critics who say LeBron cannot reach his legacy's former ceiling in Miami—that's ridiculous. Sure, LeBron is never going to be the cold-blooded killer like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant.

Does moving to Miami make him a worse player, or simply a player who is finding his rightful place as the ultimate creator? 

Magic never had the cold-blooded gene and had a cast of Hall of Famers surrounding him, but he is widely considered one of the top five players in NBA history. 

We wanted LeBron to be the next MJ or Kobe. We wanted LeBron to stay humble and loyal as we glorified him with countless accolades. We wanted LeBron to be who we wanted him to be, and to hell with him if he chose otherwise.

The problem is no one ever asked LeBron what he wanted.