The Lebron Debate

I think I should preface this by saying that I'm not a fan of any team that's currently playing in the NBA playoffs. However I've been watching this year's playoffs very intently for two reasons. For one, this is the first year the Knicks have made the playoffs since 2004, and secondly it's just been one great series after another, especially coming down to the conference finals. So many of these games been tied at the half, came down to the last shot, gone into overtime, or have even gone in to DOUBLE overtime. One of my favorite post game activities is to see what the world of facebook is saying. Because to be honest I find most of it absolutely ridiculous and just love disagreeing with it. The latest hot button, mildly retarded topic of Facebook debate, is the love of hating Lebron James. It's just something I never got. Something that never made sense to me. Especially being from New York and seeing NY people share in the anti Lebron sentiment. Which is comical to me because just 12 months ago the roar across the Facebook world was "Lebron's coming to the Knicks, Championship!" or did we all forget this:

Just as a general rule of thumb, if you hate someone so much, you probably shouldn't have them as your profile picture. I've seen this Lebron pic up at least a dozen times by people who suddenly thing he sucks or he's overrated.

I guess by this point, its needless to say that this is something that I've debated often, and the Lebron haters seem to focus on a few key points, which I'd like to touch on.

1. How could he leave Cleveland?

If the Cleveland Cavaliers couldn't win a championship with the most dominant force in Basketball, then it's just never going to happen. Let's face it, Lebron gave them 7 great years, where he SINGLE HANDEDLY carried them to the playoffs, and the NBA finals and they were never able to get him the help he needed to be a legitimate contender. He MADE Cleveland relevant again, that city owes him much more then he owes them. I'm not sure where this idea that a player should be loyal to a team that would cut, trade, or drop them the second they start under-performing comes from, but last I checked this is a business and the man was at the end of his contract and was entitled to explore other options before signing away the last years of his prime to a team that refused to give him any support. You can say that all the greats have made their legacy in one city: Jordan (Sorry, I don't count his time on Washington as part of Michael's legacy), Magic, Bird, Isaiah, Bill Russell, but last I checked Chicago, LA, Detroit or Boston wasn't Cleveland. Why should he be punished to spend his entire career in (let's face it) a crappy city just because he was drafted or raised there.

2. The press conference

Let's be honest here, people who hate Lebron would have hated it no matter what he did. If he announced it via a tweet or a statement from his manager or agent, he'd have been a coward for not saying it himself. If he announced it via satellite from his home he'd be a punk for not wanting to face the public when he did it. I do agree the whole thing was mismanaged let's face it, the man made a childhood friend his business manager and another one his agent, it was a stupid call on their part but I see how they tried to spin it. The spin was supposed to be: "we're going to use all this hype around this decision to raise money for the boys and girls club" which was supposed to take some of the heat (no pun intended) off the decision itself. Unfortunately, it ended up being a bigger spectacle than it was planned to have been. But, do we remember those few weeks before this decision where he was followed and hounded around the clock, where you couldn't turn the TV on without hearing all this analysis from the Chris Boussards and the Stephen A Smiths of the world about who Lebron James spoke to that day, where he had lunch "maybe that'll give us a clue, he had pizza maybe he's going to Chicago", what he wore "he had on an orange shirt, is that a sign he's coming to the Knicks?". At that point in time this a contract decision by a basketball player became the biggest story in the country. Who can we blame for that but ourselves? If we didn't care about where he was going this much it wouldn't have been this big of a deal in the first place. But regardless of all of that, is it really enough to hate a guy over?

3. He's over-rated

This is the one that gets me the most. At least the other key points are open to interpretation. There's a ton of stats and numbers that completely disagree with this statement. Let's look at it from a physical point of view shall we? The guys 6'8" 250+ who moves like a point guard. He's a match up problem for any forward on any team. But more importantly, let's look at the stats.

• · From 15-19 ft he shoots 43%. That's behind only two players. Dirk Nowitzki and Ray Allen.
• · He's the only player in history to ever lead a team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals.
• · He has more 35 pt, 5 reb, 5 assist Playoff games than any player in history, including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Magic Johnson.
• · He's scored over 2000 points in each season he's played.
• · He's only the third player in history to average 30 pts, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists behind Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan. Sound elite to you?
• · He's the second player in history to average 27 pts, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists
• · He's the first forward in history to average more than 8 assists per game
• · He's scored 25 consecutive points in a playoff game to carry the Cavs to a win over Detroit in the Conf Finals in 07

If any of these paint the picture of an over rated player (i.e. Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose (ya I said it), Dwight Howard, etc) The I'd really love to know which version of NBA Live your playing to compare him to, Because real players don't perform this well, this regularly.

4. He's not clutch

If you've been watching the Heat/Bulls series, Ask yourself, in the 3 games won to date, who's been carrying the team throughout the game and just taken over in the fourth quarter?

• Game 2 against the Celtics he scores 11 of the last 14 for the victory.
• Games 4 and 5 he hits contested 3 point shots to seal the victory
• Chicago games 2, 3,& 4 he's SHUT DOWN D-Rose defensively to lead the heat to victory
• not to mention the last 7 years with Cleveland when he hit big shot after big shot keeping the least talented team in the league relevant in a division with teams like Orlando, Boston, and Detroit.

5. He's arrogant.

If this is the basis of your argument against any athlete, then you may need to take up Crochet or maybe baking, because sports clearly isn't the past time for you. Name a player who's relevant in any sport. I'll wait… That person you just named is arrogant as well. You think Jordan wasn't arrogant? Sorry to break to you buddy, Jordan was probably the most arrogant prick in sports history. You know why? Because he could be. He deserved to be. Who else you got? Magic? Bird? Even outside of basketball, you're probably going to mention Jeter. I love Jeter but come on you don't think he was a little extra with what he was asking for last year at this stage in his career to bat .235? Grant Hill? Grant who? What is this, 2004?

What do you expect from a guy who's been called "King" since he was 16. He was a God among men in high school, you didn't think he was suddenly going to become well adjusted citizen when you gave him a couple hundred million dollars? Sure he hasn't won anything yet, but he's clearly done the most with the least. Jordan had Pippen & Rodman, Magic had Kareem, Bird had Mchale, Shaq had Kobe and Wade. I don't think Mo Williams or Larry Hughes can be mentioned in the same breath as any of these players. At the end of the day the man may be arrogant, but he's never tested positive for steroids or any drug (Barry Bonds/Ricky Williams), he's never been accused of sexual assault (Albert Haynesworth/Ben Rapist-berger x 2/Kobe), he's never been accused of domestic abuse (Jason Kidd/Mike Tyson/Terrell Suggs), he's never been accused of killing someone (Ray Lewis), he's never ACTUALLY killed someone (Dante Stallworth)

I believe it was Frost who said "Haters gonna hate" (or maybe it was R Kelly. I always get those two mixed up) and at the end of the day that’s always going to reign true. Look at all the people who hate the Yankees? Why? Because they can afford to have the best? Because of their history of success? Nope. It's because year over year they're just consistently better than your team. I'm a Knicks fan, should I hate Lebron Because he's better than Amare or Carmelo? No because that'd just be stupid. I'd trade either one of them without a seconds hesitation for him. I guess the bottom line is this, you can like or dislike whoever you want for whatever reason you want. To be completely honest, I do it all the time. But do it for your own reasons not just because everyone one else is doing it. That way when that person, or team wins, it's no sweat off your back. And that's the true beauty of sports. If your team loses, or the team you hate wins, don't fret, there's always next year. Knicks in 2013!!!