Call me a hater. That's ok. LeBron is a physical FREAK of unrelatable proportions. I can't fathom how gifted an athlete he is. He has an unselfish flare that makes him a likable team mate. Certain things in basketball are a birthright; size, agility, court awareness (I think that last one stems from a self awareness that is cemented at early ages when a child recognizes he is, in fact, gifted and capable of doing the things he wants to do very well). There are other qualities more of the Wes Welker mold that are earned through either being told you are not good enough or being held back by some seemingly insurmountable force. From my point of view, LeBron has never felt the need to harness these qualities. Has success been to his disadvantage?
Success may be the wrong word here. I mean, if you really think about it, LeBron "succeeded" as a 14 year old when his face was being slapped all over magazines, message boards, and recruiting sites. I first heard about LeBron in an article when he was a sophomore in high school. I wish I could find it now. From what I remember, we were being told you are about to witness a basketball phenomenon unlike any ever seen. A hybrid Magic Johnson/Karl Malone with Jordan skills. I couldn't really believe what I was reading. It wasn't until one year later at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton when I saw a Junior LeBron James vs. Senior Carmelo Anthony that it started to take form.
Walking away from that game, I tried to rationalize the pure skill. A 6'8 guard with a man's frame (not yet filled out but you could see from the shoulders to the legs it was only a matter of time), who surveyed the court like a Pro Bowl free safety, saw angles before they developed and had the athleticism to exploit them, embraced the palpable energy surrounding him, and (gulp) played within himself. It was all too much. Celebrities were showing up at high school games, Kobe Bryant was sending him text messages, the media was gushing. In Post-Jordan basketball, LeBron is the second-coming. The first true litmus test of the Jordan legacy. And that is not a knock at Kobe. LeBron is just in a rarefied air and everyone knew it from the very beginning.
But that was just it. The crown before the throne. The decadence was inevitable. Granted, LeBron has handled it all pretty well. Where many guys would have (or did) implode, he has kept it all together and thrived. He used the blue prints of the Michael Jordan's and Jay Z's to craft an image. But that image was of a singular icon, a persona larger than any arena, let alone locker room could ever hold in. And that is at the core of why LeBron will never be on the same level as Michael Jordan... on the basketball court.
Now let's go back to last spring when the Cavs, obvious front-runners in the East, were bounced from the playoffs by a versatile Magic team. LeBron has consistently owned the spotlight in big moments and big wins but was visibly absent in this big loss. He walked off the court without offering a single handshake, not even to his friend and Olympic team mate, Dwight Howard. Let's stop here for a moment. This is unsportsmanlike and shows a bad example to kids, but he is competing on the highest level. Of course we don't want to see him laughing and sharing hugs with Magic guys but at least face the music. At least acknowledge the loss and lead your team off the court instead of walking off alone, bare-chested, cementing your masculinity. What was worse and even more indefensible was the no-show at the post-game interview. Mo Williams was left to take the fire from the media alone.
I have a really hard time swallowing the second part. For a guy who is (in)famous for the pre-game look-at-me rituals with the baby powder and the elaborate dance moves in the introductions, a guy who has his own branded shoe line, a series of successful commercials, his face plastered all over the world, and a slogan "We Are All Witnesses", he failed at the most crucial role of a superstar... to take the heat when its hottest.
The problem here was that LeBron's ego was bruised and that is not something he is willing to stand up to. After all, he has been crowned already. He has been branded 'Chosen 1". This guy doesn't lose. But the Cavs do which means their front man does too.
Later that summer, LeBron's image would take another hit when he was engaging in a pick up game at his own camp. Xavier sophomore, Jordan Crawford ripped down a two-handed jam over LeBron. It was a humanizing moment, something that can draw fans even closer to the stars they love. But LeBron would have none of it, demanding all tapes be seized to "lock" the incident, which was pure foolishness in a digital age where the incident could have been tweeted as it occurred. A moment which could have cemented LeBron's lovable side in millions of viewers turned into an ugly insult to a kid trying to play Bron Bron's game, a lost lucrative opportunity for the struggling freelance cameramen present, another tarnish on the Nike face, and all the world got was this t shirt.
Contrastingly, at one of his own camps, Micheal Jordan was once beat in a one-on-one contest by the CEO of Ariel Investments. Rather than stink about being beat on his own turf, MJ made light of the situation admitting 'everyone gets beat, dunked on, and crossed over, it happens' and spun a little marketing gold out of it.
What's the point in all of this? The point is LeBron misses the point. There is a time to be a cold-hearted, ruthless assassin (which is when you are competing on the court) and there is a time to be the laid back common guy who everyone likes. Very few athletes understood that like Jordan. No one out-competed Jordan on the court when it mattered. But when the game was over, he knew his role and he lived up to it.
A few weeks ago, LeBron was playing a game in Oklahoma City and after barreling into the stands, proceeded to take some fries from the fan he landed on. He then mock cleared his throat and proceeded to brick the free throw. Later in the game he gave congratulations to James Harden of the Thunder when he made a nice play. Point? He doesn't get it. When its time for playing and laughing, he is afraid his ego will get hurt. When the cameras are on and everyone is watching, he will crack the jokes because it is good for the image. MJ may have the well-documented closed-eyes foul shot with Mutombo but that is hardly the same. Rather than a ploy to garner a following, it was a cold-hearted attempt to break the young Mutombo's psyche, mid game.
Don't be fooled. LeBron is a near-meticulously crafted specimen on two fronts- athletics and marketing. LeBron and his marketing team are going to great lengths to make you believe he is something. It makes for great commercials but that is not how a champion is made.
Michael Jordan refused to lose. He didn't take that lightly. And, even more important, he knew what carrying the load meant. He was fierce about it such as when a low-key intra-squad scrimmage between the '92 Dream Team became physical and players egos got involved. Jordan took over every facet of the game driving hard and often, stepping into passing lanes, screaming and hounding his defenders and d'ing the ball hard. When a call went his way, Magic barked "What is this, Chicago Stadium?" to which MJ fired back, "No, I'll tell you what it is. It's the 90s, not the 80s."
Jordan owned that turf. He never let up. Till this day, Bobcats coach Larry Brown still reminds his team not to incite the aging Jordan for fear he has one more comeback in him.
Now its a new decade, LeBron's decade. He will make the most money, wow the most crowds, sell the most sneakers, score the most points, and fill the stat sheets like no one else in the modern era but something tells me he will not have the most championships. And why should he? He has his crown. He is a made man. He is a global icon. And we are all witnesses.
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