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LeBron James is arguably the best basketball player walking the planet. The 26-year-old Ohio native has the ability to perform in ways never before seen on the court.
He should be adored for his talents, held up as the shining beacon of his sport by all fans, regardless of team alliances. The basketball world should love LeBron James. And they did.
However, LeBron James has become the greatest villain in all of sports. He has completed a “heel turn” so grand, that it would seem more suited for the WWE than NBA. Whilst they once loved, fans now love to hate James.
After losing Game 6 – and the NBA Championship – to the Dallas Mavericks, James didn’t do himself any favours, as he fired a message to all his ‘haters’.
“All the people that were rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day, they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had,” he told reporters in the bowels of the American Airlines Arena in Miami. “They have the same personal problems they had. I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live.”
This was James acknowledging his critics; his blunt statement to the fans that have packed out opposing arenas, only to boo and heckle the once-proclaimed King. He hears them, but he isn’t listening. In his mind, he has no reason to listen to them.
If James truly wants to win back the fan base that has deserted him last July, then this probably wasn’t the best way to go about it. Given another chance, he would certainly choose his words differently, but James is not entirely to blame.
James was an emotion and physical wreck. The seemingly endless stream of criticism appeared to have caught up with the Miami Heat star.
He has been vilified ever since his infamous “Decision” ESPN special, with all fans jumping on any opportunity they had to further slam James. He has played an entire season under the most intense scrutiny imaginable, enduring a level of prolonged concentrated pressure that no other athlete in history has faced.
Sure, James made an incredibly blunt and offensive remark in a press conference immediately after losing the NBA Finals. But it as has become the case with James; it was far from a normal press conference.
Instead of giving James soft, cliché questions to answer, he was subjected to repeated personal attacks. The blame for the Miami Heat’s failure was planted squarely on James. He didn’t perform, he didn’t attack, he failed. Then came the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
Why does everyone want you to fail, LeBron?
James gave a poor answer to a poor question. The question deserved nothing more. Yet has again been persecuted as a result. The hatred that many people carry for James means he isn’t given a chance.
People hate James for “The Decision” but they all still watched it. Let alone the fact that it was not even his idea, it was created by ESPN – who sold advertising during the program – yet James still gets the blame. James is slammed for teaming up with a fellow All-Star in Dwyane Wade, a move that even drew criticism from some of the NBA’s all-time greats.
People say that he can no longer be compared to those great players after teaming up with Wade, conveniently ignoring the fact that Magic Johnson had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen and Kobe Bryant had Shaquille O’Neill. Even Dirk Nowitzki – the man who led the Dallas Mavericks passed the Miami Heat – teamed with a future hall-of-famer in Jason Kidd. Yet it’s still James that gets the blame.
LeBron James gives the NBA something that all great stories need – a villain. The dastardly antihero, someone who we can all root against. James clearly understands this. He does not try and fight it. In another post-game press conference this past season James said, “I’ve kind of accepted this villain role everyone has placed on me. I’m OK with it. I accept it.”
So LeBron James will continue to play the villain, he knows it’s what he has to be for now. But not forever.
When LeBron James decides to call time on his NBA career, he will undoubtedly be one of the most amazing players that ever graced an NBA court. Hopefully by that time he will once again be appreciated for those gifts, not hated because of a poorly thought out TV special.
Whether you love or loathe James, he is the most ‘watchable’ NBA superstar since Michael Jordan. Instead of finding ways to tear down James, basketball fans should enjoy the chance to watch the force of nature that is LeBron James.
Greatness only comes along every so often, and in regards to LeBron James, “we are all witnesses.”
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