LeBron James Lacks a Killer Instinct? Uh…He's About To Kill Cleveland
After LeBron James threw up a Game 5 stinkbomb, media members nationwide began to call into question LeBron’s supposed “killer instinct.” More specifically, it suddenly became hip to start asking whether he had one.
Um…did we forget something here?
LeBron’s about to show more of a killer instinct than Kobe or MJ ever did.
He’s about to crush a city’s dreams.
His own city’s dreams.
Make no mistake: After losing in the conference semifinals and seeing the Cavaliers already cap-crunched, LeBron is leaving this summer in free agency.
Cleveland, a city who placed 46 years of championship heartbreaks on LeBron’s broad shoulders, will have but a shell of a basketball team remaining, whose two best players are Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams.
To make matters worse, LeBron’s from Akron. Akron’s all of about an hour outside of Cleveland.
Can a hometown hero leave his people without fulfilling his ultimate promise? Will the King leave his court without hanging a banner in the rafters? It’s looking more and more that way.
The Summer of 2010 has aptly been named the Summer of LeBron, as well it should. As incredible as Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh may be, there’s one prize that every NBA GM will be dreaming about acquiring this summer…LBJ.
As Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer pointed out in his Game 6 recap , “The Cavs might not be the best team for him. It is known now that they are not close to a title, it only seemed that way. He's 25 years old. The seasons are racing past. He's in his prime. Despite all the stats and the trades and the money spent, the Cavs are farther from a title than when he was 22.”
It’s hard to argue there. While a supporting cast of Jamison, Williams, and Shaquille O’Neal sound leagues better than the Donyell Marshall-Larry Hughes crew of a few years back, the fact is, Cleveland’s had seven years to build a championship contender around LeBron. The best they can do is a 38-year-old Shaq?
Then take a look at a team like the Thunder, who’s gone from blowing up their entire roster to legitimate playoff team in three years flat.
Instead of catering to their superstar’s every wish , the Thunder built a roster of complementary players to Durant through the NBA draft, and voila! They’ve got the NBA’s youngest roster and the team with quite possibly the brightest future.
So yes, seeing all of the other tantalizing opportunities abound in the rest of the NBA, LeBron will leave Cleveland this July. Where he goes is anyone’s guess at this point, but if he’s motivating his move purely based on basketball reasons, Chicago’s the most logical landing spot.
And when LeBron James leaves Cleveland, he will shatter his entire city.
Kobe never left L.A. MJ only left the Bulls after retiring twice and winning six championships…safe to say, the Bulls fans didn’t feel too cheated by Michael.
Kobe and Jordan each had their chances to leave their respective cities in free agency as well (granted, neither were from those cities), but each decided to remain with his respective team, becoming an icon for the team and city in the process.
Yes, MJ's Chicago teams were leaps and bounds better than LeBron's Cavs teams, but remember, Kobe got on the radio with Stephen A. Smith a few years back and demanded a trade from the Lakers. Cooler heads prevailed, Kobe stayed, and brought home L.A.'s 15th championship in the process.
Cleveland fans won't be able to stop feeling cheated if LeBron bolts this summer.
This is the city that banded together in desperate song to convince LeBron to stay. And this video popped up the first day after the Cavs’ season ended.
Who knows what some of these Cleveland devotees will come up with in the next six weeks? (Here’s hoping the guy who made that awesome Cleveland tourism video gets in on the fun.)
Windhorst said on Bill Simmons’ B.S. Report podcast on Thursday that all of Cleveland will hate LeBron now and forever more if he leaves, and Cleveland will never be able to forgive him.
Is that enough to deter LeBron from choosing a team that gives him a better chance at a championship?
And does it matter when that hatred’s coming from his “hometown?”
When LeBron received his most recent MVP trophy at the University of Akron, he said, "No matter what might be ahead for me, this will always be my home."
As CBSSports.com’s Gregg Doyel pointed out on Thursday, this meant Akron, not Cleveland. So...no, Cleveland's all-consuming hatred may not be the selling point you'd think.
LeBron’s focused on one thing as July 1 approaches: winning. Not loyalty. Just winning.
After Game 6, LeBron said: "I want to win. That's my only thing, my only concern. I've always prided myself—it's all about winning for me, and I think the Cavs are committed to doing that.”
After seven years with a team, you think a guy would know one way or the other if his team was committed to winning. Guess not, when it comes to LeBron and the Cavs.
And after providing so many wonderful memories for Cleveland fans—be it scoring his team’s final 25 points in Game 5 against Detroit in 2007, or one of his Top 10 SportsCenter chase-down blocks—LeBron’s about to rip all of their hearts out this summer.
If that’s not killer instinct, I don’t know what is.
