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Last year LeBron James became the most hated sports star in America after announcing that he was “taking his talents to south beach” on a cringe-worthy special named The Decision.
James has since suffered an intense backlash throughout the season from basketball analysts and fans alike.
The average sports punter hated the fact that James had given up on his team; they hated that he left his hometown; and most of all they hated what the move from Cleveland to Miami represented.
There isn’t a whole lot going on in Cleveland. Cleveland is a working class city, with only a few attractions that include the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and, until last year, LeBron James.
Touted as the “most tortured sports city in America” by ESPN, due to the fact that since 1964 not one Cleveland professional sports team has won a championship, James’ departure proved to be one of Cleveland’s biggest sport-related tragedies.
Miami, on the other hand is known for beautiful people, sun, beaches, clubs and partying. Despite winning the NBA championship in 2006, Miami Heat fans aren’t known for being particularly passionate, often turning up late to games leaving the American Airlines Arena half empty.
It’s a common belief amongst basketball die hards that Miami’s fan-base is undeserving of such talented and unique players as James and Wade.
But therein lies the problem – LeBron is not average; he’s an elite athlete and a big-name celebrity.
The move to Miami was an admission by James that he wasn’t good enough to win a championship on his own (something that he admitted while apologising to Cleveland fans after recently beating the Celtics), confirming for many that he lacked the killer instinct that has made so many past basketball champions great.
After the announcement James was slammed by the basketball elite, with legends of the game such as Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird all agreeing that they would never have joined forces to win a championship.
Suddenly The Decision had made the comparisons between Jordan and James seem laughable. James and Jordan’s names will never be mentioned in the same sentence again. But perhaps James didn’t want the added pressure of being compared with Jordan, perhaps the comparisons were more a reflection of what the fans and commentators wished for, and not what James wanted.
Towards the end of the regular season James showed signs of emotion when the NBA announced that his No. 6 jersey was the worldwide top seller.
“It just shows that I’ve still got a lot of fans out there, man… I’m not perfect. I’ve made mistakes. I’m trying to move forward. But as a basketball player and a role model I am trying to do the right thing.”
James was showing signs that he regretted his actions in the off-season. It was becoming apparent that James never wanted to be a villain, he didn’t want to be booed and jeered at every stadium, he just wanted to be appreciated.
Today James and the Miami Heat will begin their NBA Championship campaign against the Dallas Mavericks, a highly anticipated rematch of the 2006 finals.
However, even if Miami win and James finally gets the championship he has so desperately sought, he will always be remembered as unfulfilled potential, the most gifted player we’ve ever seen, who could have been mentioned in the same breath as Jordan, but instead shied away from greatness.
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