Warning To Miami Heat Fans: You Aren't Getting 'King' LeBron James

It's no secret to anyone, at this point, that LeBron James left his childhood hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, on national television on Thursday night. He left for greener pastures and the Miami Heat, who had just acquired free agent Chris Bosh while retaining Dwyane Wade.

In doing so, the Heat demoted LeBron from "King" James to prince.

I don't know a whole lot about basketball, and I don't pretend to. The extent of my attention to basketball has been the occasional Boston Celtics game at my friend's apartment, but I hope to pay attention more closely to the NBA this year than in year's past, and that shouldn't be hard to do with all the media attention that will inevitably surround the season.

I could be sorely mistaken, but the hype that's surrounding King James' new ruling domain seemed to have been built on the premise that teams had a chance to gain a new star. No longer would the masses wander aimlessly; they would finally have a direction, a clear-cut leader that could carry the team to greatness.

One of the characteristics that has made him such a sought-after acquisition this free agency period was his leadership. When Prince James signed with the Heat, he decided not to be a leader.

LeBron has already made it clear that this is Dwyane Wade's team. Sure, any of Miami's free agent tandem could score the most points on any given night.

And of course, a team can have more than one leader. Leadership is what makes a team great.

That's not the issue here.

LeBron's game will be negatively impacted by not being the No. 1 guy.

At least a few analysts have pointed out that either LeBron or Wade will have to play a different style than they're used to since both are "ball-in-hand" type of players.

Only one guy can have the ball in his hands at the end of the half or, more importantly, at the end of the game.

That's why there was so much pomp and circumstance surrounding LeBron being a free agent. Every team had a shot at gaining a proven leader for their team, a guy who wasn't afraid of having the ball in his hands, and a guy who the fans could trust with the ball in his hands.

What made LeBron so great in Cleveland, though, was his place as "The King."

Those hands were his hands. He was the guy.

Forget the "No. 1 and No. 2" argument. Although I believe James to be the latter in this situation, even making him a "No. 1.5" makes him substantially less effective at what he does.

How long will it be, then, before Prince James grows impatient with Miami's real king?