The Best of This Decade By AC Young
The Magazine
LeBron James( NBA – Miami Heat)
The Best of This Decade By AC Young
In the NBA today there is LeBron James at the very top and then a gap to whoever is the second best player. His statistics, athleticism and versatility are unmatched but his standing among NBA fans has changed from when he was a young superstar in Cleveland.
When King James made the decision to abdicate his throne in Cleveland and take his talents elsewhere it sent him from being one of the fan-favorites to among the most disliked players in the NBA. " The Decision " was a public relations disaster. Live on international television he pushed his underdog Cavaliers to the curb and ran off to Miami and its bright lights, flashy cars and Pat Riley ' s slicked-back hair. James traded away Drew Carey for
Photo Courtesy of Steve Jurvetson Don Johnson, his hometown for party town, he left fans who worshipped him for fans who arrive late and leave
early. LeBron James has won back many of his fans due to his success with the Heat. There were many who left him as he was ranked at the Michael Vick level for fan popularity, but there is still plenty for him to prove to his detractors.
While the move to the Heat made it easy for many sports fans to hate LeBron, he had already started to lose fans with his results and attitude during his last few seasons in Cleveland. One of the biggest insults directed to James was that he couldn ' t win and would disappear in the last quarter of big games. Being " clutch " when the game is on the line is an accolade that fans give players who win games, like Bird stealing the ball against the Pistons or Jordan hitting a gamewinning shot over Ehlo, but James started to get a reputation of a player who did less as the end of regulation approached. Fans would mock LeBron by saying he couldn ' t give change for a dollar because he didn ' t have the last quarter.
As James couldn ' t win it all with Cleveland, fans had to decide if it was the Cavs or James that was mainly to blame. James would ask for a better supporting cast and Cleveland certainly spent to make that happen although who they brought in may have been the problem. Larry Hughes, Antwan Jamison, Ben Wallace, an old Shaq, none of them were able to be the Pippen to James ' Jordan.
Eventually James decided that Cleveland wasn ' t the place to be to win a title. What made some basketball fans dislike James was that, real or imagined, he quit on his team. His last game in Cleveland as a member of the Cavs was in the playoffs against Boston. James was 3 of 14 from the field, scoring 15 points and adding 3 turnovers. The Cavs would be eliminated in
Sports Passion The Magazine | 13 August 2013 | Issue No. 1