How Having Dwyane Wade's Back in Kobe Feud Would Repair LeBron James' Reputation

In the movies, sometimes the guy that starts out as the villain has a change of heart and becomes loved in the end.

For LeBron James' sake, hopefully that script is coming to South Beach.

Whether he deserves it or not, the minute James signed with the Miami Heat, he became the villain to almost every basketball fan outside of Miami. Not even a solid fourth quarter in the NBA Finals and a championship ring this year could likely get LeBron out of that role. Maybe until now.

Some guys are better at playing the bad guy than others and, quite frankly, James is a lousy villain.

Teammate Dwyane Wade said before the season that he would wear the black hat this year so James didn't have to and now he's going to have to live up to those words.

It likely hurts James to see people not like him and say bad things about him. After all, he's only human.

However, with Wade's hard foul on Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant in Sunday's All-Star Game that resulted in a broken nose and a concussion for Bryant, Wade took the place of James as the top heel in this small feud.

That could be good for James and it could begin to repair his reputation in the process.

Come Sunday, all eyes will be on Bryant and Wade, looking for a receipt from Bryant or one of his Lakers teammates.

Very few people will care what James is doing, and that's great for him.

A certain amount of attention comes with being the best player in the world. That's just par for the course. However, James is one guy that's better off with all of that. If he can maybe go one day without the attention or the criticism for every move he makes it could be good for him.

That day was supposed to be Sunday, but despite a fantastic performance in the All-Star Game, James found a way to attract the critics—especially Bryant, who commented on James not shooting the ball at the end of the game.

But come Sunday, it's mid-card status for LeBron as it's Wade vs. Kobe in the main event.

No one will be hating on LeBron. They will be to busy hating on Wade.

That's exactly what James needs, even if it's only for one day.