In Defense of LeBron James

The past two weeks have probably not been the best fortnight of Lebron James' life. And yes, he's brought that upon himself. The shenanigans surrounding "The Decision" last summer were a self-inflicted wound.

He's a superstar who teamed up with other superstars, guaranteed a championship and fell short while playing well below his normal level in the finals. You might say he choked. Like it or not, he'll be answering for that for at least the next 12 months (is there a player who needs the NBA to avoid a lockout more than LeBron)?

And he didn't try to be diplomatic when he said last night,

"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 before they woke up today. They have the same personal problems they had today. I'm going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that. They can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy about not only myself, but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal. But they have to get back to the real world at some point."

Needless to say, he's being vilified for those statements today.

LeBron's a fantastic player. I am confident that he will win one or more championships and do so before the Cavaliers win one (despite owner Dan Gilbert's dumb vow to the contrary). The sports world has mistaken its notion of good character for ability to perform in the clutch before (see Rodriguez, Alex. 2009). But, whatever. As I said above, he fell short on the biggest stage and there's nothing he can do to make that go away until and unless he wins a ring.

But here's what I really don't understand:

What did LeBron James do that was so terrible? Seriously. I don't get it. I am a Knicks fan (con-"Dolan"-ces accepted). I wanted LeBron to come to New York. I thought it was a mistake that he didn't, selfish rooting interests aside. I wasn't alone, of course, in thinking that, in some ways, he couldn't win in Miami, even if he won. But what is really so offensive to people, outside of Cleveland, about King James?

For a generation now, we've heard a non-stop litany of complaints about the selfish, spoiled athlete, who hogs the spotlight, thinks only about himself and how much money he can make, doesn't care about winning and disrespects the game. Of those central charges against the modern athlete, all of which, to repeat, have been made over and over again in every conceivable media outlet, of which is LeBron James guilty? He took less money to play in Miami than he would have made in Cleveland. He certainly could have put more in the bank on and off the court in New York. Of course, LeBron is incredibly wealthy. But he took less money than he could have and selfish, greedy modern athletes supposedly don't do that (and sports owners certainly don't, as a rule, do that).

Money aside, LeBron's decision to join Dwyane Wade in Miami ensured that he would have to share the credit if his team won more than he would have had he gone to any other team that was a plausible suitor. Whatever else one can say about this decision, how does that square with the modern athlete's supposed singular craving to hog the spotlight and take all the credit?
On the court, the single biggest criticism of LeBron is that he's too unselfish. That can be frustrating. It might, at times, reflect poor decision-making. But in what way can it possibly be argued that, in terms of his conduct on the court, LeBron James plays selfishly or disrespects the game of basketball?

Sugarcoat it all you want -- the fact remains that superstar black athletes, in particular, walk a tightrope. If LeBron James had called out a teammate the way Dirk Nowitzki did Jason Terry after game three, the sports talk universe would have been aflame. Superstar black athletes face acute pressure to be perfectly humble yet never shrink from the moment. They are to be selfless, but must constantly assert their will. They should be unfailingly cooperative with the media, candid and honest without ever being impolitic. They must express, at all times, their deep gratitude for the opportunity they've been given, even as their owners have license to act as if their own wealth is a divine right.

As for LeBron's remarks last night, who among us diehard sports fans can really deny that there is some truth in what LeBron said? That we project a disproportionate amount of our emotional energy and need for definitive judgment onto the sports world -- teams and players? LeBron was frustrated. He had just lost the championship. He didn't play particularly well. He's been brow-beaten for a year and especially in the past two weeks. And he responded by offering a peeved but perfectly valid insight about the nature of sports fandom. I know, I know, we don't actually want our athletes to be candid. We only want them to tell us what we want to hear -- to affirm all of those silly sports pieties about how teamwork and selflessness and heart and effort and will triumph over raw talent and bad character.

For one moment last night, LeBron decided not to play along. Personally, I'm not offended. I just wish I had something to do tomorrow night, now that there's no Game Seven.

 

 

 

Follow Jonathan Weiler on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jonweiler

Comments

[bullwinkle88]

08:30 PM on 06/16/2011

I think a better story is how James relates to Luongo - it seems that both didn't come through. The big story is the Stanley Cup Final. Look at the similarities.

[Merrell Michael]

04:22 PM on 06/16/2011

What Lebron did that was so offensive, is his mouth got caught writing a check that his skills on the court couldnt cash. And then, after he was called out on it, he attacked NBA fans, the same fans that help write that very same check.
Personally, I am disgusted by Lebron. He appears to be am arrogant, self center individual with no real heart or love of the game. Not only am a certain that if he continues on this path, he will never win a championship, after what he said, I am going to root against him everytime.
The NBA deserves better, and in D. Rose, Dirk Nowitski, Kevin Durant, and the many other hard working, humble players, they have it.
I will end with one thing- it was a great postseason. Having a villian made it all the more entertaining.

[JJinAZ]

05:53 PM on 06/15/2011

Kobe 5..LEQuit ZERO

[Nate35]

04:37 PM on 06/15/2011

I love when people try to rationally approach the inherently irrational topic of love and hate in sports. the basic appeal of sports fandom is that it is an alternate universe where blind loathing and unconditional allegiance don't have consequences. For whatever reason some sports fans are slow to acknowledge the joy that comes from hatred of specific teams or players.

We don't love players or teams based on any real world criteria, why should we get the pleasure of hating a player only when they commit a crime or do something wrong? In fact, sometimes I start to like a player only when they've done something wrong and made themselves into the "bad guy".

[Mr Muckle]

04:16 PM on 06/15/2011

A question for Mr. Weiler. Since you brought Muhammad Ali into the conversation, how do you imagine Lebron would have done against Sonny Liston?

[shlack123]

04:01 PM on 06/15/2011

Love or hate LeBron, he is highly paid due to those very fans, which he insulted, buying tickets and watching the big-time games he played in - thus justifying ABC to charge good money for ad spots, etc.

I know he was frustrated, and I truly cannot blame him, but lashing out against the market that pays your salary is insane. He does deserve some chastising for his rant. He doesn't deserve the sheer hatred he has continued to endure, however.

[Nate35]

04:44 PM on 06/15/2011

No sports figure 'deserves' much in the way of love or hate. They are, in the end, merely overgrown kids playing games for our enjoyment. The magic of sports is that they elicit emotions, such as utter triumph or bitter hatred, that we don't get to experience much in our everyday lives. If Lebron elicits sheer hatred it is because that is the part he has come to play on the stage of professional basketball, not because he deserves it as a person.

[Mr Muckle]

02:40 PM on 06/15/2011

Perhaps a little investigation of sports history might help out this author. A look at the behavior of some of the fantastic athletes of the past, those with and those without rings in their respective sports. They saved the dance for the victory party, that's just one simple thing that differentiates. Most were well schooled and fundamentally grounded in their sport, something which Lebron James is not. Dwight Howard, another HS to NBA players sought out the guidance of Hakeem Olajuwon to work on his game.
Lebron brought that WWF thing into the game. In an era when so many are touted as the "next" whatever before they have for the most part, not done anything to merit such claims, his failure stands out. In a team sport, he promised what he could not deliver. Dude is 6' 8" around 260 and has no post game? Unfortunately, there is still a difference between being a fantastic athlete and know how to play the game. Unfortunately as well, the fact that Cleveland didn't do this or that, they made the finals with Lebron. You make the finals, you are eligible to win. They didn't. Someone did not bring it home.
Simply, he needs to shut up and play ball. Take a lesson from the best, who let their game speak for them.

[shastaman]

12:42 PM on 06/15/2011

Thank you!
Great statement which cuts to problem with the negativity of the media in general!
It's so easy to put people down and that seems to me to be the favorite American past time!
I had hope LeBron would land in Phoenix. Miami seems like an awsome place to go and to live.
Good luck to this guy in the next season
enough about basketball
Go PACKERS

[MrTown3]

12:14 PM on 06/15/2011

LeBron has more class than me...I'da taken picture of my d*k next to a stack of money and my endorsement contracts, twittered it, and then gone on vacation...

[Uncontainable Spirit]

07:14 AM on 07/05/2011

lol! Yup... I can't believe that people are upset with this guy to this degree. I personally hope he gets at least 5 rings. This is ONLY motivation.

[GEORGE W TUSH]

10:49 AM on 06/15/2011

New slang: LeBron (v) to not finish; "I started my homework too late and totally LeBronned it."

[tqcobb]

10:10 AM on 06/15/2011

FINALLY an article that tells the truth...thanks a million Jonathan...you have given me hope that there are some rational journalists out there...LeBron is the current version of the Uppity Black Man in sports that needs to be put in his place ala Muhammad Ali, Barry Bonds, the Fab Five, Kareem, and others that have had to serve that role for the society as a whole

[Greg Petty]

10:20 AM on 06/16/2011

No he let his mouth write checks he could not cash

[LiberalDem]

09:10 PM on 06/14/2011

I don't hate LeBron James. I simply find him to be an athlete who has been hyped over, and over, and over again, beyond what he has actually achieved professionally.

[wildflowermaven]

06:51 PM on 06/14/2011

I really don't think it has to do with race, or that many (most?) of those who root against the Heat are "haters". That's a media term. I am glad they lost, as if they'd won, it would have justified the hubris they showed, the unearned swagger of the pre-season championship celebration. Not that they're the only athletes to celebrate before they've earned anything. But they did it on a national stage, right after LeBron dissed his team and home state on national TV.

I think many saw reflected in James what we dislike most about a certain strain of the current generation, they want all the rewards without doing the hard work, the corner office before they've made a sale. And instead of letting the emotion run its course, instead LeBron periodically runs his mouth like he did after the loss, further cementing his reputation as immature and selfish. Can he turn it around? Of course. But he'll have to do a bit of self reflection and perhaps widen his contacts beyond those of his "posse" to do it. And win a championship or two.

[grailknight]

06:10 PM on 06/14/2011

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bryan-maygers/nba-finals-karma_b_875934.html

[bsultan]

05:18 PM on 06/14/2011

I've always defended LeBron and I thought the reaction to the decision was an extreme overreaction, especially in Cleveland where it spiraled the city into universal depression as if their lives had just ended. However, there's absolutely no defending LeBron's performance in the finals. Fact is, superstars deliver on the biggest stage, and all LeBron did was try to get rid of the ball to avoid having to take the shots that would have validated him as one of the true superstars of our time. Moreover, his apathy towards his performance cannot be justified or defended by anyone. He does not have the will to win like Michael or Kobe or even D-wade before him. There's no sugarcoating it, it is what it is.

[tmsilk2003]

07:22 PM on 06/14/2011

TRUTH!! It was hard to watch.