The last few days in the basketball world have proven that no one likes Lebron James. Unless you live in South Beach you probably hate him. You are just chomping at the bit to see the Heat fall in the playoffs to either the Celtics, Bulls, or maybe the Lakers. But it doesn’t satisfy your craving to watch King James fall from grace now. You want to sell him short and proclaim “he’s not that good anyway” but he is good. He’s really good.
But we here at The Hoops Doctors know your pain and want to let you know that while LBJ might be good at basketball there are quite a few things he isn’t cut out to do.
I’m taking Federer or Nadal, or possibly a Williams sister to knock the king off the court in straight sets. If it’s anything like the Boston series James will leave and give up after the second set anyway. He’s not immune to quitting when the chips are down. Of course he won’t be so agreeable to that logic after the game. He’ll claim we have been “spoiled” by his awesome play which will have never resulted in a Wimbleton title.
Sure LBJ has size but if he’s a tight end coming across that middle I’d rather be Ray Lewis than Lebron. He’d get run over by guys who are bigger, faster, and tougher. See, to be great in football you have to want it. Lebron would tell us he wanted it but ultimately he’d go find the team where there was already a better tight end and he’d ride his coattails to a Super Bowl win. Now, this would have to be his buddy too because winning is kind of important but buddies are really important. That’s why half of his PR and marketing team can’t legally rent a car yet.
Well this wouldn’t be a good career move. My guess is the first day would go like this “Let’s say you are adored by the hometown in which you have been playing in for your whole life, then you decide that they can’t help you win a championship….and lets be honest you can’t do it as the man because you know how to dazzle but don’t know how to win. So you decide you are going to rip the heart out of your city, which is totally up to you and might mean more rings, the best move is to do it on NATIONAL TELEVISION. This is smart. So smart. Then go to a place where you will be second fiddle. This is a great way to ruin your image and legacy all in one punch.” Class dismissed.
Sure Lebron might play ball well but put him in the kitchen and see how good he really is. Of course he will razzle and dazzle us with neat tricks throwing things into bowls and handling the kitchen equipment like nothing you will have ever seen before. But when he brings you the finished product you are left wondering why it wasn’t better. How can a guy who is that good in the kitchen make food that is just so-so? It’s because Lebron has all the ingredients to make a great meal but he doesn’t know what to do ultimately to make it worth eating…..and then he brings in Dwyane Wade who makes the dish worth eating.
At anything really. At the end of the day he might get a ring or two in Miami. He might get 10 rings in Miami but that doesn’t make him a winner. There is something special inside Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Joe Montana, Derek Jeter, and Larry Bird. There was something that made them better than everyone else. They would’ve wanted to win above all else, they were winners. The idea of winning was paramount. My guess is that while Lebron James was giving his press conference on Thursday, Derek Jeter was figuring out how he can help make the Yankees a better team. Kobe was at the gym. Jordan was devising a plan to dominate the world of basketball owners and Lebron James was happy to have found a guy in Wade who will do it for him.
I’m not saying that Lebron should’ve have stayed in Cleveland or that he had to come to Chicago, but he made the sexy choice because his buddies were in Miami and it seems like the easy road to title town. That’s fine and it may pay off but it’s not the decision a winner makes. A winner isn’t afraid to carry the load. Winners want the big moment on the big stage and they want to prove to the world that they can handle it. Lebron James feared that spotlight and needed his buddies to fill that spotlight. So be it. He’s not a winner. No matter how many titles he gets. We know that now.
**Update** – Michael Cahill has written a follow-up post to this in response to the flurry of comments and emails received by The Hoop Doctors. Check it out here.
