By this point, even the most casual sports observer knows that LeBron going to the Heat is a big deal. Consider: I have seen and read more about this one man’s decision than I have about the biggest sporting event in the world – which just so happens to be going on right now. From an unofficial survey of my Facebook friends, it seems like you guys have also.
You don’t need me to tell you why it’s a big deal. But I’m going to anyway:
1)
LeBron is a superstar. In the NBA, there are All-Stars (people who make the All-Star game, supposedly the best 28 players in the league), there are franchise players (household names, people who can be the best player on a team that goes deeper into the playoffs…roughly 14 of them in the league), and there are superstars. Superstars are the franchise players on teams that could potentially win championships. It’s an elite list that maybe includes 5-6 people.
The thing about superstars is that they don’t change teams very often. Sure, they make noise about it every now and then to scare more money out of their owners, but they never actually pull the trigger. Shaq did it. I can’t think of anyone else in the last two decades.
This completely changes the landscape of the NBA. The Cavs were, by wins, the best team in the league last year. They’ll have to fight for the eight-seed next year. In the East. That’s just sad. On the other hand, the Heat are suddenly instant contenders for the crown.
2)
LeBron’s worth to the Cavs can’t be measured in dollars and cents. But if we were to try, I think the price would probably be $150 million or more. People are willing to buy LeBron jerseys and pay to watch LeBron play. Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison? Not so much.
There’s an open letter from Dan Gilbert (the Cavaliers’ owner) that got published today. It is a nasty, NASTY letter. One of those things that I would never post for fear that my kids would unearth it with whatever futuristic search engine exists then. But can you blame him? Dude probably lost $100 million yesterday.
Side note while we’re here: in the letter, Dan Gilbert accuses LeBron of being a narcissist today. I think he has a point…these past few days have not been good for my LeBron > Kobe statement from before. On the other hand, I read this:
Gilbert hired one of James’ friends and paid him more than some assistant coaches to hang out with the team so James would be comfortable. Gilbert allowed members of James’ management team to fly on the team jet. He spent $25 million to construct a practice facility that was located 20 minutes closer to James’ home than the old one. He rebuilt the locker room. He hired a masseur to travel on the road because James likes massages.
I don’t think you get to complain about someone’s narcissism if you’ve been bending over backwards for the last seven years for him. It’s like a drug dealer accusing his client of being a junkie. Sure, it’s the guy’s fault, but you’ve been supplying him with the pills.
…
So that’s that. Huge ramifications in business and huge ramifications in basketball, huge ramifications for Cleveland’s economy.
So what do I think? I think LeBron is chickening out, and that he has completely forfeited any tiny chance he ever had of being the greatest player ever. Let’s take personal accolades: he’s never going to win another scoring title ever again. Save for the chance that the team wins 73 games (they won’t, smart teams rest for the playoffs), LeBron will never win another MVP award again. We don’t even know if he’ll ever be the MVP of his own team ever again; by all accounts, Dwyane Wade was the MVP of the 2008 Olympics.
I think what I feel can be summed up by an experience I had in VBS two weeks ago. I was trying to divide up the kids during a soccer game, but it was getting frustrating. Two of the better players wanted to be on the same team, but they were clearly two of the bigger and more athletic kids on the field. No matter how I divided them up, I kept hearing the same thing: “They’ve got three of the best players on their team!”
I didn’t say anything at the time (how can you talk about fairness with fourth-graders?) but I really wanted to encourage them to spread out. On a baser level, it’s just a smarter move for the ego. After all, if you win, you don’t gain anything…you’ve only proved what we already knew, that you are better than everyone else. If you lose, well, you’ve just lost with the best possible team. It’s a lose-lose situation.
On a higher level, I think you can’t improve the level of your game unless you compete against better competition. It’s a pattern that we see in real life all the time. Track and field athletes set world-records when they compete against other world-class athletes, not when they are training alone. Even horses race faster against other horses. It’s simply the nature of competition.
In other words, I think you’re cheating yourself if you always side with the best people all the time. And I think that’s what LeBron is doing: cheating himself of his potential greatness. I can’t blame him for wanting to win when we have all produced this “winning-is-everything” culture, but I think raising himself to greater heights of pure basketball would be better than winning with all the best people. But that’s just me.
The second problem with being on a great team is that everyone starts gunning for you. Like I said, when I’m one of the better people in the game (this does not happen often), I don’t like being on an overpowering team. But I’m totally cool with being the worse team. Just know that I’m going to be trying a lot harder than usual…just because I know that I have to. I think the Heat are setting themselves up for a few years of pain.
Anyway, that’s about 1000 words. Gonna wrap this up. Final word: to all the Lakers fans out there…Miami stacked their team, and I’d STILL bet on the Lakers if Bynum’s healthy. What I’m trying to say is…I kinda hate your team and I hope Kobe chokes next year.
-Tim
