Long Live the King: Wednesday's Heroics Just the Beginning of LeBron's Dominance

As LeBron James drained a three pointer to seal the victory and the series for the Heat Wednesday night, a chilling feeling came down the spine for the rest of the NBA.

Sure, he didn't win the championship, yet. Sure, he hasn't won NBA Finals MVP, yet.

But who is going to stop him?

A Chicago team that has struggled against Indiana and Atlanta teams they should've clobbered?

The Lakers?

Oh wait, they couldn't even get a win against a Dallas team that doesn't have Caron Butler.

Folks, don't kid yourselves. The Heat have a pretty easy road to the title if they continue to play the way they've been playing. They could very well win the title this season. From the remaining playoff teams, nobody other than maybe Oklahoma City has an answer to stop both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

And when the Heat win the championship this year, gone will be the "LeBron James just bought a new phone, but it doesn't ring" jokes. Gone will be the "I wish I was LeBron. He doesn't have finals" jokes.

All of a sudden LeBron's critics will have nothing to say and King James will look like a genius for his decision.

And even if he doesn't win it this year, it will inevitably happen soon. LeBron and Wade together are not going six years without a title. They will win. This isn't like Tony Romo's clutch issues and the uncertainty of him ever winning a Super Bowl. We're talking about two of the top five players in the game on one team.

They're winning a title soon and something about that shot late in the game gave us a feeling that LeBron's ring will be delivered too him sooner rather than later, especially with the Lakers eliminated.

The sad part of this is that not a lot of people seem happy about it. A lot of people still can't get over "The Decision." It should be noted though, that LeBron James did not kill, hurt, rape, or severely injure anyone in that show.

Did it come off as arrogant? Perhaps. But which multi-millionaire athlete does not come off as arrogant? Kobe Bryant is difficult to work with because of his ego. Michael Jordan once punched a teammate.

Generally, successful people are hard to work with because they want to win more than other people.

Also, it should be noted that the Boys and Girls Club has been making good use of the money made from "The Decision" in a recent Yahoo! article.

Then there is the other group that finds fault with LeBron leaving his hometown. Give him a break. He was a free agent. The word free means that he is allowed to sign with any team of his choice. The whole point of free agency ever since it was created when Curt Flood refused to play for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1970s when he was traded after spending his whole career in St. Louis, was to give players the choice to play wherever they want.

LeBron was drafted, unwillingly, by a historically bad team who failed to give him a supporting cast. He did all he could for the Cavaliers. He even took them to the Finals without any help. And the series last season against Boston, where he supposedly quit on his team, he averaged 26.8 PPG and had a 19 rebound game in a losing effort in Game 6.

Generally, rebounds are accumulated because of hard work. That's not quitting. That's called carrying a team on your shoulders and failing to succeed because of lack of help.

Who wouldn't pursue a new place to play when everybody surrounding you is incompetent? LeBron's Cavs years are reminiscent of the old Monster.com commercials where the human being is in an office working with a bunch of chimpanzees, so he seeks a new place to work.

Don't blame LeBron for wanting to leave Cleveland. Don't waste anger and frustration on his successes in Miami. Sit back, relax, and enjoy what he's doing and what he will do with the Heat in the coming years. It's going to be legendary and reminiscent of the Kobe era and the Jordan era.

Do not resent greatness. Idolize it. Enjoy it. It's a waste of time to let one seemingly "arrogant" moment in a guy's career tarnish the enjoyment that one can get from watching him dominate the league.

Other athletes we die for and cheer for every night have done far worse things than LeBron has.

We all laughed at Ron Artest when he won his championship, made his own rap song and thanked his psychologist even after the brawl in Detroit. We seem to have forgiven Michael Vick after his dog killings. And this past April, we found ourselves cheering for Tiger Woods again during the Masters.

LeBron James is not a bad person. Instead he has to deal with people incessantly criticize him. He has to go through TMZ's stories regarding his mother. What does his mother's actions have to do with him? Yet, LeBron has to deal with that too.

More than half of the country views him as a villain yet he does not crack. He continues to work hard and dominate. As the cliche goes, he uses it fuel his fire. As the old Argent song "Hold Your Head Up" goes, "If they stare, let them burn their eyes on you moving."

That's exactly where LeBron finds himself.

Eight wins away to let his critics burn their eyes seeing him hold the Larry O'Brien trophy.