Monday, June 13, 2011

LeBron James Still Doesn't Get It

And you wanted it all
Now you’re taking the fall
You don’t know why

--Red Line Chemistry, "You Don't Get It"

I'm not a huge NBA fan. Probably never will be, though it would be greatly helpful if the league put in a system that made it possible for more than about five teams to win a championship.

But if someone tells me that Miami is trailing throughout in their bid to stay alive in a series, and the Dallas Mavericks -- owned by Mark Cuban and led by the exceptionally likable Dirk Nowitzki -- are the opponent, I'll flip it on and watch.

No one outside of Heat fans wanted to see Miami win this championship. Their fans are insufferable bandwagon-jumpers, many of whom probably couldn't name three guys from the 2006 championship team. The team is led by Dwyane Wade, one of my favorite players, but no one gives him the credit he deserves for being the alpha dog. Instead, everyone wants to know why LeBron James isn't the alpha dog.

Well, folks, for starters, he's not the best player on the team. Wade is. Shouldn't the best player be the guy you run the offense through, instead of the second-best player?

James is a fantastic talent, but he typecast himself as a secondary piece the second he decided to "take (his) talents to South Beach."

That moment ended any opportunity for James to ever be considered one of the sport's all-time great players. He decided to ride Wade's coattails, instead of being a leader of his own team.

Mind you, that's okay. It's not the end of the world that someone doesn't want to be the greatest of all-time. Most of us are okay with our roles. We don't need to be the president of the company we work for, and we don't need a fancy title in front of our name to feel important. It doesn't make it a good or bad thing to want or not want those things. It's just the way we're wired.

In the case of LeBron James, he's not wired to be the best of all time. Wade? Well, he kind of is, and that's why he is the leader of the Miami Heat.

After Game 6 Sunday night, James showed the world that he isn't just a guy not wired the way Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are. He's also a very bitter and immature fellow who just doesn't get it.

“All the people that were rooting for me to fail… at the end of the day, tomorrow they have to wake up and have the same life that (they had) before they woke up today,” James said. “They got the same personal problems they had today. And I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things I want to do.”

Just remember, LeBron haters, that your life sucks compared to LeBron. Just ask LeBron, and he'll tell you.

It's the typical arrogance of a man who thought it was a good idea to knife an entire fanbase in the back on national television, and didn't bother to tell the franchise he was leaving of his intentions before said knifing.

In the world of public relations disasters, "The Decision" will live on forever. Sunday's interview will be high on the list for LeBron, because he showed again how insanely immature he is, and how far he has to go before he can ever be considered in the class of a guy like Nowitzki.

Meanwhile, as Dan Wetzel writes, Cleveland isn't hating anymore.

They're just laughing.

So are the rest of us, especially Mark Cuban.

No comments: