Anyone else annoyed with some media members “preaching” on LeBron James? The same people who have blasted him for quitting on the Cavs and “The Decision,” are now insisting fans stop hating and give James his due respect.
I respect LeBron James. He’s an incredible basketball talent. The best player in the NBA. A champion. But I don’t like him. And I never will, no matter how many titles he collects.
Earlier this week, we received an email from one of our readers – Kevin C. He did a great job explaining and summarizing his anger towards LeBron. I thought it captured my sentiments. Here’s an excerpt:
I cannot stand LeBron James. This second part has not always been the case. Back in his Cleveland days, I was a huge LeBron supporter. I saw him as the next big thing, the one to steal the crown away from the then-best and my then-most-hated-player in the NBA, Kobe Bryant. Kobe was everything I thought was bad about the NBA. He was selfish, arrogant, and above all, he played for the Lakers. Then came that summer night in 2010, a night now known simply as “The Decision.” I, like many that night, watched the one of the most promising players in the history of the game tarnished his legacy with one simple sentence: “I’m taking my talents to South Beach.” That night was the turning point for the former King of Cleveland. It was also then that I began focusing all of my hatred on LeBron. I began realizing that he, not Kobe, was what I truly hated about the pros. Kobe may be an arrogant SOB who plays for a team I’ve hated since I was a small child, but after everything is said and done, he is a winner.
Here’s a guy who has more talent and skill than Kobe ever did, who could have played anywhere he wanted with whomever he wanted, and yet he chose to take the easy way out and team up with the league’s best two-way shooting guard and (sigh) one of the best power forwards. That infuriated me. To be the best, you had to beat the best, not team up with them. A player of LeBron’s caliber should not want to be anyone’s sidekick, or even their equal for that matter. A man with that much potential to dominate should want to do that above all else. It’s that he shied away from that role that was so frustrating. For all the bad things I could say about Kobe, at least you know that guy is the alpha male wherever he went.
There you have it. Lebron became more hateable than Kobe. That’s unforgivable to Celtics fans.
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