Seriously, this is where people stop hating King James.
Tonight the Eastern champs from Miami tip off against the Western champs, Dallas. And it is on this stage that people will finally come off their irrational hatred for James.
For what he's done in his career, it's almost surprising that he hasn't won a ring yet- and then you remember that he was both playing for the Cavaliers and functionally WAS the Cavaliers. He carried them to prominence in the East while he was with them (mostly in his early twenties, too). Then, he bolts to Miami in free agency and suddenly people hate him. The only two real reasons I see as legitimate are: "The Decision was pompous and arrogant" and "he's not in it for the love of the game, just the love of winning". Let's look at them individually.
There is no possible way to defend The Decision as anything other than a grand showboating effort. But is this really a reason to continue to lambaste the guy? So he made a stupid, tasteless call on how to exit Cleveland... other players around the league do similar stupid stuff. In April, Kobe Bryant was slapped with a $100,000 fine for calling a ref a "fucking faggot", and in the waning parts of the Eastern Conference Finals Bulls' center Joakim Noah lashed out at a fan with a similar invective. These are stupid and tasteless as well- so why not hate Bryant and Noah?
The point here is that he made a bad, well, decision. But look at the numbers. The guy only puts up big numbers, even in the distributive role that he's taken on with the Heat. This season, James is shooting 51% from the field, 33% from downtown, averages 26.7 points per game, 7 assists per game, and 7.5 boards a game. The guy can PLAY. Even looking past this season, his career numbers are still phenomenal. He averages 27.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 7 apg, and shoots 47.9% from the field and 32.9% from three-land.
And in the playoffs, he's only increased the intensity and numbers. And this isn't even considering the fact that he's got Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade flanking him, either. If The Decision was about pomp and circumstance and putting a lot of money where your mouth is, this series will demonstrate that he is the real deal.
The second argument against LeBron (that i've usually heard, anyway) is that he just wants to win, not actually enjoy the game. Who doesn't, though? He left Cleveland because they were consistently unable to a) field a team that didn't rely on him to do everything and b) muster enough talent to win. The convergence of free agents upon Miami gives him the chance to win and become a real legend. Certainly, staying in Cleveland and trying to keep building up that franchise would have been a greater competitive thing to do- especially if he were able to actually win a title with the Cavs. But come on. They're Cleveland. What could they do?
The fact of the matter remains that the Big Three boldly declared that they would be champions for the greater part of a decade. This bravado will be recognized when they start doing that. And tonight is the beginning of the Heat dynasty that James predicted and took an accordingly South Beach-like heat for. After this series, you'll respect James the player much more.
And he will finally have a ring to prove that he is, in fact, the King.
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