LeBron James’ Conundrum

LeBron James has had a spectacular year thus far for the Miami Heat, and while many acknowledge how impressive James has been, you still have those stragglers holding onto the past.

Over the last few days the LeBron chatter has picked back up. Not because LeBron continues to defy logic with his overall game, but because LeBron has passed up on a couple game winners that he could have taken. The first one being rather insignificant because it was in an exhibition (All Star Game) and the other in a regular season game against the Utah Jazz.

“I just had to make one more dang play out there,” before then adding, “A stop, rebound, a shot, assist, a block, whatever it took. I fell short again!”

The thing about LeBron not shooting that final shot is perplexing. For those that don’t watch the game, but instead see ESPN beat the subject of “LeChoke” to death, forget to look at the stat sheet. Without the monster night that LeBron had in the All Star Game, the EAST would be toast, and we would all be sitting here complaining about how boring the All Star weekend has gotten. That seems to be the trend with LeBron, it’s never a bad night, it’s a bad final decision. Oh did I use the word “decision,” oops.

LeBron James is averaging impressive numbers across the board. In the 35 games played James is averaging 27.9 points, 1.8 steals, 6.8 assists, 8.2 rebounds, all while shooting 55% from the court. It is completely appropriate to say that James is the best overall NBA player in the game.

As the old adage goes “defense wins championships,” and LeBron James has a lot of that. We have seen him put on a high flying show, yet people have not forgotten about “The Decision,” and all the other chatter that comes along with James.

Stats aren’t the only thing that defines a player, I agree with that argument. When I look at LeBron James the human being, I don’t see any catastrophic flaws. For a guy who jumped into the fray straight out of high school, with unprecedented hype, I think LeBron James has done an impressive job being a role model off the court. No drug charges, no involvement in a significant crime, no gun charges…. I mean is this guy human! Ya it’s rare these days to find a huge superstar not have a significant blemish in his life outside the sport. LeBron’s ego and cockiness, have gotten him a bad wrap. Hate to break it to you haters, but that’s not an offend-able crime.

Was “The Decision,” a terrible idea? Was his decision a bad one? No…. and no. Was the execution by ESPN and LeBron’s entourage silly, yes absolutely. But tell me when ESPN hasn’t embellished a big story for ratings? Anyone heard of Linsanity? Uhh, just stop ESPN, stop ruining a good thing with your never ending cycle, and your congested ticker screaming Lin-sane phrases.

LeBron James’ intentions are good. The Decision was not just about ego, it did significantly help out the Boys and Girls club, and LeBron continues to work with charitable organizations. Things could have been handled much better, and LeBron could have respectfully informed his old team that he wasn’t coming back. Instead he threw them under the bus, and Dan Gilbert fell off the deep end with Comic Sans as his choice of dosage.

Until LeBron James wins a championship, the haters won’t go anywhere. Even if LeBron does win a championship people will bring up the point that “he needed help to do it,” as if that deserves an * next to it. Asking for help is just fine in my book. Great players in the NBA today are doing it all the time, will you shun them as well or is this just a LeBron grudge you’re holding?

My thing on the final shot situation is simple. I would much rather see LeBron take that final shot and miss, than seeing him pass it to someone else. Last night against Utah he asked Haslem to do something he has no interest in doing. Instead of putting Haslem in a game winning situation, why not end the great night you started? If LeBron took that game winning shot in the All Star Game and missed, the hate would still exist but at least he tried! Even Kobe’s reaction at the end was like “wtf are you doing Bron, after the performance you have put up you need to take that shot and enjoy the glory,” and Kobe can say that because he knows exactly what it feels like.

Kobe Bryant is not 100% in game winners, but he’s not afraid to try. LeBron James needs to take this league into his hands and give the haters nothing to hate about.

All I can say is, if you are a die hard NBA fan, then not appreciating what LeBron James is doing this year makes you a grudge holder. Instead of worrying about what he says, why not try to find something real to criticize about? Flaws exist, I am not drinking the Kool-Aid here, but give me more than just the “he’s a jerk, and I can’t stand him,” bit.

“NO RINGS,” isn’t enough for me. Sorry. LeBron needs to win a championship…. I take that back he needs to win multiple championships because he’s that good. Until he does, a lot of this doesn’t stop, but until then I have no problem acknowledging how entertaining it is to watch a human being with that kind of athleticism dominate the game of basketball.