Summer of LeBron about to come to an end…finally
LeBron James is undoubtedly a great basketball player. He’s a global brand for Nike and even non-sports fans know his name and face. Hailing from Akron, Ohio, he’s already a legend in the state having now played for the Cleveland Cavaliers for the past 7 seasons. But the fact is, I didn’t actually start to hate LeBron until over the past few months. It started even before this free agent ridiculousness. A couple of months ago, I watched “More Than a Game” on MTV. “MTAG” details LeBron’s high school team, with a heavy focus on “The King,” as he was clearly the straw that stirred the drink. In this movie, LeBron’s immaturity and ego were on display if one knows the signs to look for.
Without a doubt, it would be practically impossible for anyone, let alone a high school student with a single mom, to keep a level head with the amount of pressure, scrutiny, and praise being heaped upon them. I get that. Unfortunately, he simply hasn’t matured. A number of times during this year’s NBA postseason, LeBron could be seen completely disregarding his coach’s commands. Not surprisingly, the coach, Mike Brown, was dismissed at the end of the season. Since the end of the season, one in which the Cavs had the NBA’s best record, LeBron has been on a whirlwind tour of prospective suitors for his services.
Today, it is being reported that LeBron will finally announce his decision during a one hour event on ESPN Thursday at 9 p.m. ET. Of course, it has to be a one hour special for what should be a five minute announcement. More ego stroking by a player that to this point hasn’t won anything. Make no mistake about it, ESPN would have given James an hour regardless of when he wanted it. He wanted it Thursday. Is it really a coincidence that he waited until Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh made their intentions known before he announced his announcement. No way. LeBron wanted to be the last free agent domino to fall. Anything else would have been to sell his ego short.
Here’s what it boils down to: If James stays in Cleveland, he will not win an NBA title anytime soon. Other teams will simply not give Cleveland a sign-and-trade, even though the Raptors said they were willing to do so with Bosh. While this little free agent soap opera is most certainly about money, it also should be about championships. An NBA title isn’t the most important thing in the world, but there are few men alive that are not driven by ego at least in some part. For someone like James, whose sole purpose since high school has been to win basketball games, an NBA championship is the only thing that can come close to satisfying his now huge ego.
Do you think Chris Carter feels like the Alpha male hanging around with someone like Michael Irvin? Or that Dan Marino does when playing golf with John Elway? No way man. Because above all else, egos can only be satisfied by domination. And that, my friends, is something that LeBron has not been completely capable of yet.
