LeBron Isn't Being Ripped for What He Did, But Who He Is

Walking off the court without shaking hands isn't a very big deal. Bill Belichick, Randy Shannon, and Isiah Thomas have had some kind of handshake mishap before and been ripped by the media. So nothing new there, he's getting the same treatment.

Not giving his friend, Dwight Howard, props after a hard fought series and possibly damaging a friendship is the only real consequence there.

Now the big deal. LeBron James blew off his post-game interview when he is only the best player on his team, but the face of the NBA.

He hasn't won a title and you can argue whether Kobe is a better player or not. These things are inconsequential. He is the face of the NBA.

There has never been another person so hyped. He signed a $100 million deal with Nike before he played an NBA game. He's been touted as the second coming with Cleveland using sayings like "Witness" to describe themselves.

His high school games on TV with a year to go. People who know absolutely nothing about sports know who he is and what he does. My mom knows who he is and she couldn't name three NBA teams or players other than him. We live in Florida and she barely knows who Tim Tebow is, but she knows about LeBron James. She even knows he plays basketball.

That is why he is being torn apart by the media over this. He is the one guy who can't do this.

Advertising is what pays for all of it. The television, radio, the NBA, the Cleveland Cavs, and LeBron James. He's their most marketable asset, and he acted like a child with millions watching around the world. 

Everyone is making money because of LeBron James and he might have endangered that. The public doesn't like heels, they like heros.

LeBron has the rarest of pro sports marketability these days. He doesn't do drugs or roids, beat his significant other, commit random crimes, be an asshole to his fans. There was no chink in the King's public persona armor.

Until now.

Nobody wants to believe he's a poor sport, and he's being treated like any other hero that falls from grace. No one is perfect and James obviously will not lose any of his marketability over this, but he is feeling the scorn of the media for his mistake.

Hopefully he will learn from this like all other pros who slip up and have the media take their pound of flesh, and we probably won't ever see it again.