"King James! Going to Miami!!!"
This news wasn't much of a shock really; in today's 24 hour news cycle it is increasingly rare when a broken story isn't true, and this story has been broke for awhile. No, James to Miami had become common knowledge, and anyone who didn't feel that way in the last few days was simply in denial. But there are a few things that need to be said about the choice Mr. James made, and the way he made it. And, of course, I'm willing to take that challenge. Without further delay, here are the top story lines of LeBron's decision 2010 (and don't kid yourself, there will be another round of this the next time he's a free agent):
1. LeBron decides he doesn't have the fortitude to be Michael, and chooses instead to be Scottie
Let's be clear on one thing: the Miami Heat have been, and will continue to be Dwyane Wade's team. Wade is the alpha dog, and Wade has already won the title. Wade was the person who Pat Riley sent out before the free agent period started to talk people into coming to play with him. Moreover, Wade has proven that he has the fortitude, that when the game is on the line he wants to ball, and that his team will live and die with him. Call this the "Jordan quality" if you want, but it really predates Jordan. Bird had it, and so did West, any number of Celtic greats, and even Kobe Bryant today. These players wanted the rock in their hands when the game was on the line. This quality is what separates the greats from those who are really, really good. It creates a differentiation between the Batmans and the Robins of the world.
We all know that Kobe has it today, even if he isn't quite good enough to capitalize on it as often as Jordan or Bird did. But that's missing the point: nobody has done it better than MJ or Larry Legend, not in the history of the game. Watch tapes of the Celtics before Bird's back went out, or watch Jordan between 1990 and 1998: they didn't miss too often when they took over. Time tends to help us forget what has happened, so feel free to watch the following clip to refresh your memory; it comes from game 6 of the 1998 NBA finals:
Jordan's ability to take over a game was unprecedented, but the final 40 seconds was something that only the most elite ever could hope to accomplish. In the ultimate team sport, Michael Jordan won the game by himself through sheer force of will.
Wade has shown this desire, as well as the ability to finish. Look at the 2006 NBA Finals: the referees might have been bailing him out with all kinds of foul calls, but Wade was smart enough and fearless enough to keep going at it. And since that time, since he won an NBA championship with a pretty talentless team, the fortunes of the Heat have ebbed and flowed with him. Wade and Kobe, that's the list in the league right now of players who are capable of being all time greats. Maybe Kevin Durant gets there; I think he will, others are less certain. But there is one things we know: LeBron isn't there, nor does he even want to be.
Consider games five and six of this year's playoff series with Boston. Not only did LeBron crap the bed with one of the worst games of his career in game five, but he followed it up by turning the ball over NINE TIMES in game six. His season, and perhaps his legacy, was on the line in that game and he failed. But even that isn't the ultimate statement of LeBron's lack of fortitude. After turning the ball over at the 8:30 mark in the fourth quarter, LeBron basically disappeared, and he stood by passively and allowed his teammates to let the Celtics run the clock out on his season. There have been many times in Kobe's career when he has shot his team out of games, but he has always wanted the ball. LeBron almost hides from it.
All this adds up to one thing that makes perfect sense: of course LeBron wants to go to Miami to play with Wade and Chris Bosh, because in that scenario he won't be asked to be "the man." He can take over the game in the first three quarters and look great, but when the going gets tough it'll be on D-Wade. And that's what LeBron wants. He has actively decided to become Scottie Pippen, rather than trying to be Michael Jordan. When he announced last year that he was going to be changing his number from 23 little did we know that it was because he had decided that he no longer was up to the challenge of taking on MJ's legacy. And you can take this to the bank: if the Heat win a title or two (and that is a much bigger if than you think) it will be more glowing on Wade's resume than LeBron's. LeBron is going to be remembered as the coward who couldn't come through when he needed to. Wade will be remembered as the visionary who went and got himself a supporting cast.
2. The Three Biggest Free Agents Choose Insane Pressure To Win Over Better Chances To Win.
Let me ask you this: which roster would be better set up to win next year? Chicago with a starting lineup of Derrick Rose, LeBron James, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah, Miami with a starting lineup of D-Wade, LeBron, Chris Bosh and two veteran minimum signings, or New Jersey with Devin Harris, LeBron, Brooke Lopez and young talent around them? I point this out only because it is far from a sure thing that these three will win in Miami, but if they fail to win the pressure will be even greater than if they had gone their separate ways. By choosing Miami and assuming they will win, they are assuming the following:
A) LeBron, Wade and Bosh will all be willing to see a noticeable drop in their statistics
B) Quality talent is going to be willing to take the league minimum to play with them, when they could make four or five times more playing elsewhere
C) Orlando, Boston and Chicago will fail to improve their rosters significantly
D) The Los Angeles Lakers won't be able to beat them, nor will Dallas, Utah, Portland, Oklahoma City, or any of the other potential Western Conference foes
E) All three "stars" will stay healthy
If you ask me, these are a bunch of crazy assumptions. First, NEVER in NBA history has a team with three alpha dog stars won an NBA title. All NBA teams have a hierarchy, and this team won't have one easily because my bet is that LeBron won't like playing the Pippen role as much as he thinks he will, and that Bosh will HATE the Horace Grant/Lamar Odom/Otis Thorpe role. These guys have egos; look at how they've handled this entire process. Furthermore, they won't have any talent around them except, maybe, Michael Beasley (who, for what it's worth, is an enigma who will hate being the fourth banana when he was supposed to be number two). They won't have the Steve Kerr or John Paxson type. They won't have any of that. They will have the big three, and little else.
The second part of this lack of logic is that they assume other teams will roll over and die. I don't, for one, believe that. What if the Bulls manage to be smart, keep their cap space, and sign Carmelo Anthony next offseason? A team of Rose, Anthony, Boozer and Noah with better role players around them would easily be able to compete with Wade, James and Bosh. Can you count the Celtics out after what we saw this year? I don't think so. And Orlando is also dangerous. All of that is also completely ignoring the Western Conference, and the Lakers in particular, because you know Kobe is foaming at the mouth dreaming of beating these guys in the finals next year so he can continue building his "Greatest of All Time" case. The target these guys just put on their back is tremendous, and the first three game losing streak they have will lead the media to go into a slew of "what's wrong in Miami" story lines. They will be expected to break the record for wins in a year. They won't come close. This strategy of piling up superstars in their prime has never worked, and it has rarely worked even when the players are older and wiser. I've got no reason to believe it'll start now.
3. LeBron Just Put Himself In Contention With Tiger For Most Impressive Character Suicide Of The Decade
Before the start of the playoffs, as I've recounted here, I debated with my friends that LeBron wouldn't even be the best player of his generation, that Durant would be. I was laughed at then, but I hit the nail on the head thus far, especially if you factor in likeability, which is a huge part of being a superstar. Durant quietly accepts and extension in OK City, while LeBron has an hour long TV special to announce what?
That he is stabbing Cleveland in the back.
If you're going to leave your hometown, you do it with more class than this. LeBron just mailed the entire city a veritable turd sandwich, then stabbed them in the back while they were vomiting from the smell. His move was that of a villain, not a superstar. And, for a young man who has been savvy thus far, it was remarkably stupid from a marketing standpoint. Let's get it out there: I don't have any love lost for Cleveland or their whining fanbase. All they do is complain, talk down Jordan and Payton, and generally over glorify their own. It's their own fault as much as anyone that LeBron has this big of a head because they immortalized him for doing jack. Maybe they felt they had to do this in order to keep him happy, but all the "Witness" crap didn't amount to anything when the chips fell. LeBron was just gone.
All that said, I now feel bad for the city. The poor schmucks actually thought he was staying. Bryan Bucher, my favorite Cleveland fan, actually spent his time writing this about how LeBron was staying. He believed it. So did most Cleveland fans. They thought they had a chance, but I promise you they were only ahead of the Clippers in this race. He was never coming back. You could see it in his face when he quite on the team in game 6 this year. He was done with the city. He'll tell you that it's okay because he's donating money to the Akron, OH Boy's and Girl's Club. I hope he sees his "fans" who he is asking to follow him to Miami now burning his jerseys. Much like he burned his own chance at being a global icon.
4. The Sickest Part Of This? The NBA Will Be Done Next Year.
They say that those who don't learn from history are prone to repeat the same mistakes. The NBA just had a spending frenzy (sadly, it's not over) akin to the mid to late 1990s when Shawn Kemp, Shaq and others took down huge contracts. The NBA reacted to their own overspending by locking the players out during the 1999 season. Now they reach the same bridge again, and because of the way they handled it they are set to ruin another generation of NBA fans much like they did me. Growing up the NBA was my favorite sport, now it's lodged in a heated battle for my third favorite with Hockey. I'm not special; this will happen again.
And, to that end, all I can say is that I will now root against the Heat, and for any team they play. Not because of Wade or Bosh, because what they did actually made sense for each of them, and the league. The Association is better off with Wade and Bosh teamed together. No, I'll root against the Heat because LeBron James has decided to become the biggest villain in all of sports. And that's saying a lot. Because we all know how I feel about this guy:
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