LeBron James: The Monster We Made

Everyone who has any type of connection to the sports world can debate about LeBron James til the day they die (fingers crossed Skip Bayless is the first). First we loved him, then we hated him and now we really don't know what to make of him. But one thing is for sure, he is the most polarizing athlete in sports right now and possibly for this generation. Not only is he the most talented basketball player we have probably ever seen, but he is also a giant enigma. How can a guy single handedly carry a team to the finals one year, then completely disappear as the favorite to win it all in another year? It's fascinating because he has proven time and time again that he can dominate whenever he wants to, but than why doesn't he always want to? We can guess, maybe it's the pressure of being the next Jordan, maybe he cares about playing with his friends more than winning, or maybe he just enjoys getting Stephen A. and Skip Bayless riled up. Regardless of the reasons why we watch him, we all do, we all get sucked into his game, his off the court issues, his immaturity and then the possibility of him growing up. And you know what? It's our fault. We created this sports media monster, we are the ones who drove him to proclaim himself the King, heck we are the ones who drove him to Miami. 

Think about it, how old was LeBron James when he graced the cover of "Sports Illustrated" for the first time? 17 years old. Not only was he on the cover but he was emphatically proclaimed "The Chosen One". Think about what that kind of fame would do to a 17 year old Junior in High School. At 17 my biggest worry was passing my AP Tests, LeBron was trying to deal with being the successor to the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. Did he embrace it? Sure. Did he make sure all his friends and family got a copy? Most likely. But what would you expect from a kid who was just told he was God's gift to basketball? 

So LeBron comes into the NBA with the weight of the world on his shoulders and now the even higher expectations of saving the entire ensemble of Cleveland sports, and he just kills it, living up to everyone's expectations. Winning ROY and becoming only the third rookie in NBA History to average at least 20 points 5 rebounds and 5 assists. It was clear right away that LeBron was no bust, so we all got behind him and bought into the hype. We cheered and rooted for him as he rose from a potential star to a super star. His lust for entertaining was continually encouraged by us the fans, ESPN and most of all Nike. Does that mean LeBron handled everything properly? Absolutely not, but you have to have some perspective on his situation before ripping the guy. Picture a screaming child in the store wanting a candy bar, if that child's parent gives in and gives their kid that candy, the kid learns that they can get whatever they want by yelling and screaming, it's called positive 
                                         reinforcement. In a sense, isn't that exactly what we did to James? 

I am by no means giving him a free pass, at some point you have to take ownership of who you are and the actions you take. But after first thinking "Man, that kid is a brat" isn't your next thought "That parent is going to create a monster who will struggle in life"? Now imagine that kid in highschool, mom and dad suddenly don't know how to deal with the tyrant they have created and soon resent their kid. The kid becomes defiant, because all of a sudden his actions that have always been encouraged, are no longer tolerated. So he puts up a wall, he pushes his family away and he does things his way. 

Now we look at LeBron, who we have constantly adored, and fed his incessant ego over and over. He decides that he no longer wants to live in Cleveland, and let's be honest, we can't really blame him for that. But what we really hate about the whole thing is how he did it. He put his decision on national TV in a one hour long ESPN special and we just rip him for it. But think about it, haven't we always asked that of him? Haven't we jacked up TV ratings for every game he plays, bought his shoes, made his jersey number one in sales, mimicked his powder toss and begged him to entertain us night in and night out? LeBron was only doing what we have encouraged him to do throughout his whole career. 

Another thing we hate about LeBron is that he teamed up with a fellow superstar, something that Magic, Jordan or Bird would never do, it's the thing that bothers me most about all of this because he decided to defer. But again, at age 17 we dubbed him "The Chosen One" the heir to Jordan's throne, but to do that he needed to win championships (plural). I believe he could have won in Cleveland, but on paper winning with D-Wade looks a whole lot more plausible than winning with Anderson Varejao, and all we kept driving into him was "He needs to win now, he needs to win now, he'll never be Jordan without multiple rings." So what did he do? He made, in my mind, a panic move because we drove him to that point. Wherever he went, he would be tied down for at least 6 years and he bought into the need to win now. The argument to win on your own was never even a question so why would he think of it as a negative, he had been the man his whole life and why would joining Wade's team change that in his mind? The most important thing in his mind, and in ours was that LeBron simply needed to win and win a lot. 

Again, this is looking at this from LeBron's perspective but would teaming up with Wade and Bosh still be a big deal if they won? Magic had Kareem, Kobe had Shaq, Jordan had Pippen, Boston had the Big 3 and nobody questioned the greatness of any of those players so what would make LeBron think that his legacy would be tarnished by going to Miami? But then of course we hated that a championship level parade was thrown for his and Bosh's arrival. Which of course we would never support, and always judge any athlete who would ever be a part of something like that. Unless I'm forgetting something..... oh ya, Miami did this in 2004 with Shaq and from what I remember, we all "dug it". Everybody was behind Shaq in Miami, mainly because everybody hated Kobe at that time. So it's not like LeBron was doing anything that other stars hadn't done before, at that point, we just wanted to find any ammunition we could to use against him. Don't get me wrong, I still believe he deserves a lot of the criticism he has received because he never handled these tough situations with the right perspective, but more importantly is, neither did we. 

We have to acknowledge that the things we hate the most about LeBron are the things we drove him to become. It doesn't excuse him from his actions because at the end of the day you have to take responsibility for yourself. LeBron's biggest mistake is that he allows us to manipulate him, he's cared too much of our view and love for him, but what we have forgotten is that everyone makes mistakes. It's much like the penal system, many of the criminals that are incarcerated have had disturbing pasts that drove them to the people that they have become. Do we let them off for those reasons? No, they still do their time, but there is often opportunity for retribution. I believe LeBron has done his time for his mistakes. I personally will never cheer for him, I will never support him, and I will always try to dunk on him in NBA 2K12. But I will give him the opportunity to earn my respect, he deserves that. If Kobe was able to change our perspective on him and his career, LeBron can do the same. He's done a great job so far this post season but, to me, it's all for nothing unless he finishes the job and wins his first ring. You have two weeks LeBron, it's your time.


- Adam Baldwin