LeBron James has formally announced "The Decision": that he will join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami.
Well, it is not unexpected, really. We all knew that LeBron was going to leave Cleveland, and that he was going to choose either the Bulls, the Nets or the Heat. (Please, the Knicks and the Clippers never had any real chance.) And after Bosh had committed to join Wade, it was logical for him to go down to Florida and to create possibly one of the biggest "Big Three" in the history of NBA.
And I just hate that.
Makes no mistake, I know LBJ gave up not less than $30m of money for the chance to play with his two friends. And I do not think that there will be any major chemistry problem between the three, after they had played together in Team USA for a few years. I too do not think that James and Wade would argue over who is going to take the last shot. Well, not until they fail to score the champion after 3 years. And I genuinely believe that Pat Riley can somehow work things out and fill up all the now empty roster with serviceable role players.
But I still hate it.
1. I Hate the Reality Show
First and foremost. I hate the way James revealed The Decision by way of a national televised 1-hour reality show. This is ridiculous. Why on earth did he still need such publicity? That's just narcissistic. Such a prima donna. What didn't he just make a simple statement to the press, or at most hold a press conference and announce the decision just like the way MJ made his comeback announcement? Why did he need a freaking "show"? What so special? Has he ever considered the feeling of the Cavs supporters? That is so cruel to Cleveland fans. Quoted from the mailbags of ESPN's Sports Guy:
"Imagine you're an average dude in high school. Somehow, you begin dating the hottest girl in school. It goes good not great, but hey, she's beautiful and you aren't really going to complain. Senior year, she breaks up with you and begins dating the new quarterback that just transferred into the school. Exceptshe did this on stage at the homecoming coronation, embarrassing you in front of the whole school. This is what LeBron did to the city of Cleveland."
Read more.
The thing is, I think The Decision had been made long before. It was particularly obvious after Bosh's commitment to the Heat. These three players had planned to play together FOR YEARS and somehow they finally found one genius (Pat Riley) who managed to dump ALL players to create enough salary space to do that. LBJ had known that he's going to Miami. Despite that, somehow, LeBron and his buddies decided to play around with the world, inviting all the potential teams to make their pitches, sending all the mixed signals via unofficial sources while keeping their mouth shut officially. And then finished the whole bonanza with a "grand finale" on TV. That's real bad. That's so self-absorbed. The worst is, LeBron had the gut to say during the show that the decision was made that morning? Who on earth is going to believe that? It might make him feel better by saying so, but it did nothing but harm to all the sports followers around the world. I feel bad about all those teams that had made their pitches. I think this reality show has really alienated LeBron from not only the Cleveland fans, but also other NBA teams, other NBA fans who do not support the Heat.
And, why did you need a reality show to make The Decision? I know I had asked before, but tell me, why? Why?
2. I Hate His Cowardice
I hate this because it is a loser's play. It is a coward move.
When LeBron said it's all about winning, I believed him. That's because he needs it. He wants to be a global icon, and he needs one. Without a ring, he will never be a global icon the way Kobe or MJ or Tiger are. So I genuinely believe that the decision is about ring and not about money (which he has way way more than enough). Also, LeBron is a smart guy. After having tried for 7 years, he knew he could not win with this team (which I have reservation, we will revisit this later.) He thought he needed help. Give him credits, he had tried to stay in Cleveland. He had tried to lure Bosh to come to Cleveland and the Raptors had principally agreed to a sign-n-trade with the Cavaliers. The deal-breaker was that Bosh did not want to go to Ohio. He prefers Miami, which makes sense because of the weather and the state tax free of Miami. So with Bosh joining Wade, James can either (1) join Wade and Bosh in Miami to form The Big Three; (2) go to Chicago (Rose, Boozer, Noah); or (3) stay in Cleveland (Mo Williams, Jamison, Varejao). Eventually he chose the easiest way. James is so calculating. He knew that no matter he goes to Chicago or stays in Cleveland, he needs to fight hard to beat the Heat AND the Magic. Objectively, the best chance for him to win a championship is to join Wade and Bosh. He did not want to fight hard. He wants the safest way just to get a ring. In that sense, he made the right choice.
But that also is a shameless and coward choice. He simply shows that he has no balls. In fact, that's the main difference between him and the guys like Kobe and MJ. Balls. Guts. He is just not competitive enough. He thought he was competitive but he is not. He always goes for the easy way. He quits easily. To me, he has never lived up to "The Chosen One" label. If he is indeed THE Chosen One, he should have stayed in Cleveland and fight against all odds to beat out Wade and Bosh's Heat, Howard's Magic, the Celtics, Kobe's Lakers and grab the championship. That is what a Chosen One should do. A Chosen One should go through a lot of tests and obstacles, fight all the battles and play it all out and eventually win the ultimate prize. If he fails to do it after repeated tries, then he is simply proven that he is NOT the Chosen One. But at least he tried. Alternatively, he could still keep the "Chosen One" name tag somehow even if he goes to Chicago, because that would be another challenge for him. The Chosen One should win the championship on his own. No Chosen One would admit failure and choose the easy way to be PART of a championship. I tell you, if the Heat won the championship, it would be remembered that it is won by three players, not the Chosen One.
Further, don't blame your teammates or Cavs' GM. I've said it again and I will say it once more, the Celtics series was lost by LeBron James. He played horribly in game 5 and game 6 which led to the early exit of the team. Don't blame Mo Williams or Jamison for not stepping up. Think about it, other than Scottie Pippen and later Dennis Rodman, who did MJ have? BJ Armstrong? Will Purdue? Steve Kerr? Horace Grant? If you ask me, I think MJ can still win the championship with Mo William, Jamison and Varejao.
After this decision, I am glad that we can settle all the arguments about how great LeBron is. He's far from MJ or Magic. He's not even Kobe or The Dream. At most he would be in the rank of Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing and David Robinson. KG quitted the Wolves too, but I respect KG more than LBJ because at least he did try for 10+ years. And BTW KG was traded, not signing as a free agent and hosting a reality show to announcement his decision.
3. I Hate The Creation Of The Evil Empire
I hate that The Decision has made the League less competitive. This is not just about LeBron, but the Heat. After getting James, Bosh and Wade, the Heat is officially the team to beat. The Heat has become the Evil Empire. I could hardly imagine any team other than the Lakers would post serious threat to the Heat. Forget the Celtics, they are one year older and one year slower. Forget the Magic, we have seen that D12 can be contained in the playoffs, and the so-called sharp shooters like Rashard Lewis could disappear in the playoffs. (Can you imagine JJ Redick was a more important player than Lewis in the Playoffs?) With proper addition of role players (3-pt specialists, bangers), who could stop the Heat in the East? It would be so boring in the East for years to come. As for the Lakers, yeah, they would remain competitive this year, but I doubt whether they can remain a real threat to the Heat 2 years down the road. After all, no teams has won 4 straight since the Celtics in the 60s, when there was just 8 teams in the league.
Had James gone to Chicago, we would have got one of the most competitive rivalries in the history of the game. LBJ & Rose vs. Wade & Bosh. But nah, that's not gonna happen, because James chickened out and played it safe.
Also, the Heat has surpassed Lakers and has become the public enemy in the league. Everybody wants to beat them. All the fans outside Miami hate them. They want them to lose. They have become the Yankees or Duke of the NBA. People would boo them hardly.
But well, at least I am happy that the guessing game is over. I am so sick of all the guessing and analysis and speculating all these months.
Yes, we are all witnesses of this mess.