Lebron's only chance

I don’t understand the common lament. Everywhere I read, I hear about how Lebron has passed on his chance for greatness by playing for the heat. And I don’t get the argument. As far as I can tell, this is the only way for Lebron to truly be great. And I don’t mean that he needs Dwayne Wade to help him win titles, I mean that this series of events, or ones very similar, were the only way Lebron was ever going to go from a Malone/Drexler/Barkley statistical stud who has no great post-season moment to a Jordan/Kobe/Duncan level postseason juggernaut. The only way he was ever going to truly be great. Staying in Cleveland would have doomed his career.

Let’s start with the objections to his career so far.

People argue that he won’t be great because he didn’t play for the same team for his whole career. So Kareem isn’t one of the ten best players ever? Because he switched teams. The truth is, most players in the NBA don’t change teams because of the economics of the league. Simply put, teams cannot pay you what your current team can pay you. It’s not even close. So as long as a player is competitive, why would they ever change? In fact, isn’t Kevin Garnett’s career permanently stained because he stayed in the same wrong situation for way too long? And I say that as a Duncan fan. My point is, playing for the same team your whole career is nice. Nice for the fans, nice for your family, and just nice in general. That does not make you great though. If Lebron wins four titles in Miami, playing for the same team won’t make any difference, just like it didn’t for Kareem.

Another argument is that Lebron is weakening his “legacy” by admitting he needs help. Ummm, duh. How’d Michael Jordan do in the playoffs without Pjax and Scottie Pippen? In fact, what superstar hasn’t needed an all-nba partner? Kobe has had Shaq, Gasol, and Oden. Shaq had Kobe, Penny, and Wade. Even Duncan had ginobili (not quite all-nba, but vastly underrated), Parker, and a past-hit-prime Robinson. Plus, they all had great coaches (Pjax, Pop, and Riley). And I won’t even get into the bevy of roll-players. I’ll just name-drop Robert Horry and leave it at that.

In fact, let’s take it one step farther. At the age of 25, Lebron has already accomplished way more than Jordan did. Of course, Jordan went on to win six titles with the team that drafted him. Why? Because they drafted Pippen and hired Phil Jackson. Now, do you really think the team that hasn’t found one all-star to play with Lebron in 7 years, when he was on a smaller deal and they had cap room, and wouldn’t fire Mike Brown is going to put the players around Lebron that one needs to win a title? You want to know the real difference between Jordan and Lebron? Jordan had a better front office.

That, however, is just a defense . The truth is, Lebron had to leave, and leave in this way, to become what everyone really wants him to become. The thing about him is that he doesn’t have that edge. I know I’m not the first to make this point, so I won’t belabor it. However, what everyone wanted him to do (win a title and save Cleveland, save basketball in NY, etc) was never going to happen because he’s not that person. Much like David Robinson, who was a great player, but could never get San Antonio where they needed to go, Lebron just didn’t have it in him to will his team past an opponent. I’m a Duncan fan, and I’ve seen him do it (2003 was pretty awesome). Guys like Wade and Kobe have the same drive. If you don’t believe me, check out Hollinger’s best finals performances (look at 1 and 3). Those guys want to win more than they want anything else. Lebron doesn’t, and thus he was never going to accomplish those things unless someone came along to do it for him (much like Duncan led Robinson to two titles). He was never going to be great in Cleveland or anywhere else. Malone great maybe, but not great great.

However, recent events have changed all this. See, before he was the darling of the league. The average fan loved him and wanted nothing more than for him to ascend (the fact that we let him refer to himself as King James proves my point). And people who are loved never change. He was never going to develop that edge because nobody would ever force him to. They’d make excuses and forgive him anyways. Again, see Robinson, David. Now, he’s the villain. Now he’s going to be booed, and booed heavily, pretty much everywhere. Oh, people are still going to show up to watch him, but they’re going to root against him. And it’s going to change him.

Oh, not at first. You probably won’t see it this season, maybe towards the end. Eventually, though, it will get to him. Being booed night after night on the road. Booed at the all-star game. Hated in his hometown. This will be too much for anyone to ignore forever. And someone like Lebron, who really just wants to be part of something and be loved, is not going to respond to it well. Eventually the constant stream of hate is going to create in him a resentment or hatred of most fans (not heat fans though. He’ll be overly loyal to them). With apologies to Bill Simmons, it will put him in eff you mode. Finally something will eat at him more than just having fun playing basketball. He’ll finally have a point to make on the court. And then he’ll be great. He will finally have that edge that the great players have. This is the only way he is ever going to be great.

Or maybe I’ve misread him and he’ll always just be Karl Malone 2.0.

Then again, it’s the dawn of the Tiago Splitter era, so maybe it doesn't matter.