Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Lebronalypse Now

Well its been about two weeks now since the "self proclaimed" King Lebron James made his move to Cleveland. I had wanted to write something about it earlier and truth be told I've got another post about Chris Bosh and kids and heroes that I wrote just before the Lebron announcement but I couldn't bring myself to or find the time to write about Lebron's big decision before now.

What can I say that hasn't already been said. Not much really.

Lebron may win championship(s) in Miami but dude has done some serious damage to his image and his brand. Not that he had no right leaving for Miami but dude could have shown some class and done it a bit better. The Decision TV show was just silly and really showed up his immaturity but then again he's a pro athlete who's been pampered all his life how's he supposed to know the right way to act in public lol.

However I did think his people would or should have spoken to him beforehand and said hey guy consider your image. By going to Wade's Miami the team isn't even yours anymore. You're not even clearly the alpha dog. Kobe fought to rid himself of Shaq who shared the spotlight but Lebron willingly steps into a situation where he's sharing the spotlight. Go figure! Maybe its just symbolic of the new generation and the way we raise our kids. The phrase used to be "without struggle there is no progress" but these guys are now likely to give up the struggle or try to find help in shouldering the burden instead of trying themselves first.

Not sure I'm down with that. Yea sharing the burden is cool but sometimes you gotta be the man and try to overcome the hump yourself. Jordan did, Barkley, Ewing, Malone etc tried but failed but at the same time we respect them for rising to the challenge and taking teams on their back and trying to win. You can always jump teams later on and try to win as a second fiddle and ride a younger cats coattails but in your peak naa man you want the glory all for yourself.

But who knows! I am sure this move does take Lebron out of the G.O.A.T equation though. Jordan, Kobe, Dr J stay ahead cause they were/are the man and willingly accepted it.

but maybe Lebron is onto something. A new kinder more top dog. No longer alpha dog, a beta dog perhaps? Maybe this teaches kids valuable lessons about sharing and combining forces to reach a goal instead of being obstinate and hardheaded and not making it over the hump. Perhaps.

Oh well, all I know is that for now Lebron gutted Cleveland which from what I've read was already a sports town with somewhat lowered self esteem and I cant back him for that. Yea owners do players dirty sometimes so you can say he owed the team nothing but what about the fans. The guys who loved you as their hometown saviour? Got to be hard on them. And its not like the team didn't try to accommodate you. You think they didn't made that Shaq deal to please you or that deal for Antoine Jameson? They built around you, it just didn't work and hence this oh so messy messy divorce necessitates counseling on the part of some of the Clevelanders.

C'est la vie though. As they all say its a business. Do your thing. Just hope you win some championships in South Beach and don't tire of being the Beta dog. Oh and can you even go home again after what you did to the guys there? I don't know man I just don't know.

3 comments:

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

Here's what I don't understand about sports..why is 'image' so important?

Jdid said...

cause image duz get the athletes more money

Dee said...

I say, he needed to cut the apron strings and step out of his comfort zone. . .he was born and raised in cleveland. Time to experience things from a different p.o.v.
And, oh, it's lonely at the top so maybe he got tired of carrying the weight since he was a boy (as he liked to point out he's a 25 year old man now).