Why LeBron Ultimately Hurt Himself

Shocking, but not surprising.  Catastrophic, but not unprecedented.  Disappointing, but not, well, aren’t Clevelanders used to this by now? 

First of all, LeBron James is a Miami Heat.  Doesn’t sound right, doesn’t look right, doesn’t feel right, but it’s true.  With all the worry about LeBron bolting for a New York or a New Jersey, Pat Riley pulled off the most brilliant free agency haul anyone has ever seen, not only keeping his own franchise player, but stealing two other franchise’s as well.  These are the facts.  We move on.

Is this as bad as a whole team being sold and moved to Baltimore?  Probably not, although some would argue that it’s close.  Believe it or not, come November the Cavaliers will still put a team on the court, with uniforms and everything. 

Dan Gilbert now faces a few options.  As it looks like the Lakers and Heat will dominate the scene for the next few years, is it even worth paying an Antawn Jamison $14 million or a Mo Williams $9 million a year for a 35 win team?  Is fighting the Charlotte Bobcats for an 8th seed in the playoffs only to be swept by a team like the Heat really worth it?  As he stated in his letter, the goal remains the same.  But how can the destination be the same if the engines been ripped from the car?

Rebuilding is a word Clevelanders are all too familiar with, but is it necessarily the worst option right now?  The Cavs didn’t make it to the playoffs the last five years because they paid average guys big money.  They had to let it get bad before it got better.  The ping pong balls had to bounce the right way and the draft process had to take its place.  I love Jamison, but how motivated is a 34 year old guy who’s due to make nearly $30 million over the next two years gonna be?  Why not let guys like JJ Hickson and Danny Green get major minutes and keep the payroll low in hopes of snagging a star player or two in the future?  Seems to be working for other teams.

Now to Lebron itself.  Trying to approach this as a neutral party, I think the move does seem a bit cowardly.  Cleveland has seen athletes bolt in the past for more money, but this was a different situation.  While you can never blame an athlete for wanting to win, this circumstance was not the same.  When you have the chance to be the best ever at what you do, why do you refuse this opportunity? This was Frank Sinatra deciding he wanted to rap, Bobby Fischer trading in his pawns for poker chips, and Abraham Lincoln going into the plumbing business all rolled into one.  Sure the intentions may be noble, but the eventual outcome wouldn’t be nearly as great.  This was LeBron saying “I’m not good enough to carry a team to a championship, so I’m going to a team with a guy who already has.”  Could you imagine Michael Jordan doing this?  What about Kobe Bryant?  Lebron is a dog walking home after chasing cars with his tail between his legs saying, “I give up, I’m never going to get it”.  It was an act of surrender, of weakness, and one that will ultimately damage his legacy for life.

To be considered the best at any sport, I believe it takes two ingredients. 

1.)    Outstanding personal achievements

2.)    Repeated team success.

The first category would include athletes like Charles Barkley, Dan Marino, Ted Williams, Karl Malone, Ty Cobb and Ken Griffey Jr.  Athletes who have all enjoyed Hall of Fame careers without ever winning a ring, and will likely never be considered the best to play their sport.

The second category is home to athletes such as Robert Horry, Bill Russell, Yogi Berra, Byron Scott and Steve Kerr.  All fine athletes, but again, likely never to be considered the best to play their sport.

Then there are the rare breeds that accomplish both in their careers.  Jordan.  Montana.  Ruth.  All matched up championship rings with MVP awards while being the undoubted leader of their team.  With this in mind, who leads the Heat?  Is it the guy who’s been there seven years, won a scoring title and a championship?  Or the new guy, who wasn’t even the first free agent to sign on?  This is Dwayne Wade’s arena, his fans, his home, his team.  LeBron has taken a back seat to a teammate, something in which the sports world has rarely seen from one of its greats.

Critics are quick to point out that LeBron had seven years to get it done in Cleveland, but not so quick to mention that it took Michael Jordan seven years to win his own title.  Both teams flat out stunk when they drafted Jordan and James.  Both slowly got better adding piece by piece.  The difference is Jordan was actually two years OLDER than LeBron is now due to Jordan’s stay at North Carolina.  Just because a team gets a late start on their championship run, doesn’t mean that run won’t be worth it.  Just like the Bulls had to get rid of Doug Collins for Phil Jackson, so did the Cavs have to exchange Mike Brown for Byron Scott.  LeBron just wasn’t patient enough. 

The Cavaliers, despite being close to Akron, were really a great fit for James.  He had good pieces around him, but no dominating scorer to steal away MVP votes.  He had an owner willing to spend whatever was necessary to win, a GM who stole Mo Williams and Shaquille O’Neal for Damon Jones and a bag of peanuts, and a fan base unlike any other in the NBA.  The MVP award was his to win for the next ten years.  Now with Miami and two other stars sharing stats, he may not even be MVP of his own team.

LeBron’s legacy was supposed to be the hometown guy who lifted a franchise and a city on his shoulders and led them somewhere they deserved to be for decades.  While everyone looked to him to be a leader, he is now playing follow the leader.  While Boston, New York, and LA dominate the ESPN headlines everyday, this was the one sport in which Cleveland got any positive recognition.  We were the Cinderella of cities, the one that once drew people’s sympathy but now were stealing the spotlight of success.  While Dan Gilbert’s letter came off as less than professional, look at it this way.  If something you owned had just decreased in value by oh, a couple hundred million dollars, you’d be pissed too.  And for anyone who watched the Celtics series it was clear that LeBron did give up in some of those games, and I’m glad someone stood up and called him out on it.

I loved LeBron.  I loved his game, his swagger, the attention he brought to Cleveland and the University of Akron.  I will never forget seeing him at our basketball and even football games, cheering on the Zips.  I do believe he had the opportunity to become the greatest basketball player who ever lived, better than Bird, Magic and even Jordan.  No matter how successful the Miami Heat may become, he has ruined his legacy for life.  LeBron, you once said when referring to Akron and Cleveland that you weren’t going to disappoint anybody.  One day you’ll look in a mirror and realize you disappointed the person who’s always mattered the most to you.  You.