LeBron James' Disappearing Act a Mystery to NBA Finals Fans
His image appears everywhere—gracing covers of magazines, touting sports drinks in television commercials and dominating basketball coverage on the web.
However, his likeness may soon be surfacing in the least likely of places.
Who would have predicted that sports fans might soon see his mug plastered on the back of milk cartons or as the focus of missing persons’ reports?
Inexplicably, the NBA’s biggest star is making the smallest impact on the grandest stage of this year’s NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.
He’s not out of rhythm, as some might surmise. He’s out of sight, as basketball fans can clearly see. Invisible. Absent. Checked out. Thwarted and thumped. Nowhere to be found.
Search and rescue teams may need to be deployed, trained investigators may need to be dispatched and, ultimately, NBA insiders may need to be more intimately involved. NBA commissioner David Stern may need to join the hunt to search for his league’s king without a ring.
Scribes speculate that LeBron James has shrunk from the immense pressure of stardom. Competitors claim he’s disappeared, knowing he can’t compare to the clout of Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan. Exasperated fans are now fuming because LeBron's recent eight-point, four-turnover, 3-of-11 shooting performance belies this NBA MVP’s brawn, bravado and basketball brilliance.
Miami Heat haters have piled on unmercifully, especially after No. 6 excoriated a columnist for questioning his closing ability in the fourth quarter of Game 3.
The now Missing One cockily commented after Game 3 that sports fans should just watch the tape to see what he does during crunch time.
In the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the NBA Finals, we did just that. We waited and watched for him, but he failed to show up...again.
So where will LeBron be in the waning moments of tonight’s Game 5 in Dallas?
Will this Witness withdraw, wallow away and leave us wanting?
Or will he be the warrior we’ve all waited for him to be?
Straight talk. No static.
MIKE—thee ultimate talking head on sports!
