Watching the news this morning made it pretty clear that the only people who are currently fans of LeBron James are, his entourage and anyone living in Miami. I didn't watch "The Decision" because I was in class. Well, that's not entirely true, I wouldn't have watched it anyway, but one thing is most certainly true, the method in which LeBron James used his free agency did not help his image and I would assume that he's actually running a net loss on fans, despite acquiring all of Miami-W(D)ade county.
I realize that all of the hype certainly wasn't LeBron James' fault. In today's media circus nobody could afford to be the network not giving you ridiculous predictions and updates on how many times he said anything that could be seen as a clue. I also realize that the cities/teams that put together recruiting campaigns were nothing of his doing. It's not LeBron's responsibility to call New York, Chicago or any of the private groups and say "hey guys, don't take a billboard asking me to come there." LeBron James didn't buy a billboard or ask actors and celebrities to make a video begging him to come. I think it's also pretty obvious that while these were probably seen as nice gestures, they had absolutely no impact on his decision to play in Miami.
It was pretty obvious that this free agency market was a unique situation for both players and teams. Other huge names, not just LeBron were hitting the free agency market and teams saw the opportunity to put together a "big 3" like we've seen in Boston the last few years and immediately started opening up cap space. Again, it's not LeBron's or any other free agents fault that their contracts all ended during the same off season. And it's certainly just good business to try and take advantage of those opportunities from both a player and management prospective.
I've always thought one of the things that made LeBron so unique is that even with his immense talent he tried to win in the town he was from. When he was drafted by Cleveland he didn't moan about how bad they were, instead, he put his head down and tried to win basketball games. For the last two to three years LeBron James was essentially the 3rd or 4th best team in the NBA and I can say that pretty confidently because he's never been surrounded by any other marquee players in their prime. Since being drafted LeBron James was the Cleveland Cavaliers, period.
But, even the people of Cleveland couldn't be too upset with LeBron's decision to go play somewhere else, somewhere with a legit shot at winning rings. Obviously there'd be some negative press but I think in a pretty short period of time people would realize that he really gave it a go. He tried the best he could to win with the team that Cleveland was willing to give him. It didn't work out, so he had to go else where. I think deep down the people of Cleveland saw the writing on the wall and the crucifixion of LeBron James would have been quiet and short lived had he held a press conference saying that he and the Miami Heat had reached an agreement. He'd thank the city of Cleveland for 7 years that helped him grow and shape him as an NBA player. He'd talk about what a privileged it was to play in essentially his hometown in front of friends and family on a nightly basis. He'd then say, it was time to move on. But, as we all know, that's not what happened.
No, instead, LeBron James revealed himself as one of the most self indulgent people on the planet. Anybody who creates an hour long special to announce the team they'll go play for has fallen a bit too in love with the lime light. I know he said the proceeds from the special would go to charity, but, that doesn't change my opinion. You just received a max contract and it's not as if you were begging for change before that. If you're so altruistic that you're just dying to donate some money, pull out the check book, you don't have to foster the spectacle that was already created. This incident, "the Decision," honestly changed the way I perceive LeBron James, and like I said, I don't think I'm the only one. The team player, hometown, grounded, image that he built for himself for those years in Cleveland all crumbled with this snafu of a PR disaster. I don't blame LeBron James for leaving Cleveland. If he had stayed I'd have questioned his sanity. But I think the last piece of goodwill he could have done for that city was to walk away as quietly and as respectfully as he could. But instead the show was produced, the decision was announced and angry fans in multiple cities burned LeBron James jerseys in the streets. I'm no expert, but I wouldn't exactly consider that outcome a success.
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