Two full NBA seasons have passed since LeBron made his infamous "Decision" on national television. Nobody could have known just how much grief, criticism, and hate he would receive for that hour long special on ESPN.
To be fair, there are different "sects" of people who dislike LeBron. There are people who cannot stand him because he left Cleveland, citing that he turned his back on his hometown. Another group is simply fueled by his show on ESPN alone; these people found the special to be an arrogant and selfish move on LeBron's part. A third group has derived their anger from LeBron teaming up with fellow all-stars Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. The last group of people could not stand the Heat "Pep-rally" in which James famously said, "Not 1...not 2... not 3..." and so on. This declaration was referring to how many championships he thought the Heat were going to bring to Miami. There are also people out there who belong to several of these groups or even all of them in some cases. I think that covers just about every reason to dislike James outside of same division hatred, which is unavoidable.
During his 2 year term in South Beach, LBJ has been to the NBA Finals in both seasons. The Miami Heat have one NBA title to show for their most recent efforts. I find it difficult to root against this man after going through all that he has. He was the crown jewel of the NBA in Cleveland. Fans of all teams seemed to love him and he could do no wrong. Upon his departure, most of his supporters jumped ship and turned their back on him for any assortment of the reasons I provided above. Seemingly overnight LeBron became the villian of the NBA and one of the most hated people in sports without any type of criminal activity or social wrongdoing. This irrational hatred needs to be quelled. I'm looking to help dispel the unchecked hatred I see.
Before you read any further, there are two things you must know: 1) I am by no means a LeBron apologist. I am not making excuases for him, nor am I agreeing with every decision he has made. I am simply presenting the facts and working with those facts. 2) I am not a fan of the Miami Heat, so there is no bias to call me out on here. That being said, I see no reason for such a negative outburst against James given all the facts surrounding his time in South Beach.
First, for those of you who don't know LeBron is from Akron, Ohio. Akron and Cleveland are nearly an hour apart. Simply put, how would you react if I referred to your hometown as Rochester, when you knew your hometown is Buffalo? James did not turn his back on his hometown at all. He played out his contract and gave Cleveland 7 of his best years of basketball. The Cavaliers gave James very little supporting cast to work with during his time in Cleveland. LeBron played with Antawn Jamison, who has arguably never been among the 50 best active players in the NBA during his career. LeBron also had the "pleasure" of working with Shaq, who was nothing more than the "Big Has-Been" by the time he arrived in Cleveland. Was LeBron supposed to carry the Cavs for his entire career? I don't think so. He owed nothing more to that city and quite honestly gave too much to them. Need I remind fans he took less money to play on the Miami Heat?
The next big problem people have with James is that he went on ESPN with a one hour special entitled, "The Decision" in order to announce to the world where he would be playing basketball in 2010. LeBron has admitted that he wishes he would not have announced his decision on national television. However, the money generated by "The Decision" was donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Knowing that information, I do not care what LeBron went on-air to say. Using that stage to donate to charity does not come off as selfish to me. James used his popularity to do something good for communities across the country. If that was the result of his biggest mistake as a professional to date, I would say he is a pretty innocent man and doesn't deserve such harsh criticism for it.
Another issue people have is that LeBron teamed up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh to form the most talented trio of superstars in the NBA. I would argue that teams with stars are what drives the NBA. Larry Bird had McHale and Parish. Magic had Kareem and Worthy. Jordan had Pippen. Shaq had Kobe. Duncan had Ginobili and Parker. These are just a few examples. Stars do not win titles on their own, they need some talent around them. If you criticize LeBron for not winning on his own, realize that you are discrediting all the NBA legends that won within the same model. Kareem left Milwaukee for L.A., Shaq joined Bryant, and Parish headed for the Celtics. Some players choose where they are traded, others move via free agency. I would also like to emphasize the presence of the word "free" in free agency. Players have the freedom to go where they want after they play out a given contract. That doesn't make James any worse than the next superstar free agent to leave the first team he played for.
The last issue fans have with LeBron is that he participated in a Heat "Pep-rally" before his first season with the team. In the Pep-rally, the new "Big Three" in Miami attempted to generate some excitement for the upcoming season. Bosh, Wade, and James rose up from beneath the stage with smoke all around them. Bright lights flashed as they ambled across the stage defiantly. The Heat had risen in Miami and were poised to make a deep run into the playoffs for years to come. LeBron spoke confidently that the Heat would win, "Not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, not 6, not 7... [championships]." He said he truly believed in that. This turned many people away from James as well as the Heat. What so many don't know, is that the Pep-rally stunt was orchestrated by Pat Riley and the higher-ups in the Heat organization. As if signing James and Bosh wouldn't increase ticket sales enough, Heat management decided to stir the pot a little more and have the three stars parade around the stage to create more hype around the Heat. This greatly damaged LeBron's image, which he has still been unable to repair.
I look at many of the reasons people hate LeBron James and shake my head. This article puts many of those reasons to bed. Many people do not like the business side of sports or choose not to come to terms with that reality. With each passing season, sports become more about what happens off the playing surface and less about what happens on it. That does not make it sensible to display unconditional hatred toward an athlete throughout his career. This is something we all need to understand. James might be the most unselfish superstar I've observed in my lifetime. He is the most gifted player since Jordan and is already one of the 10 or 15 best players the NBA has ever seen. Hate him if you want since it is indeed your perrogative as a fan, but now you know the whole story. King James finally has his crown and he deserves it. I hope he wins 10 more before he calls it a career.
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