How Lebron Ruined His Legacy

mafra

Legend
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-lebrondecision070910

By: Adrian Wojnarowski (Yahoo Sports)

They ended up with that split-screen of the King?s jersey burned live on his infomercial, as this sad, lost robot sat in a leafy suburban gymnasium with children as props and the world watching, those empty eyes masking a lost, dazed LeBron James(notes). This was the champagne shower for the Championship of Me, an exercise in self-aggrandizement and self-loathing that will have far-reaching implications for the NBA and James. What a spectacle, what a train wreck.

As the worst idea in the history of marketing unfolded, James looked trapped somewhere between despondence and defiance. His bumbling buddy Maverick Carter had walked him into the public execution of his legacy, his image, and there was a part of James that clearly wished he could turn back through the doors and hide. Only, it was too late. No going back now. James goes to the Miami Heat, Cleveland goes into a basketball Hades and LeBron?s legacy becomes that of a callous carpetbagger.

?His brand is [bleep] now,? one high-level NBA official said late Thursday. ?He?s destroyed everything.?

The Championship of Me became the Championship of Flee, because LeBron James doesn?t believe he can be the centerpiece of a title team. He needed Dwyane Wade, a closer, far more than Wade needed him.

Yes, he?s ruined everything. What a wonderful idea: Divorce your childhood sweetheart on national television and tell her, hey, I?ll let you keep the ?We are all Witnesses? billboards lording over downtown Cleveland.

?I?m taking my talents to South Beach,? James said, and it was like time stopped because ? even for him ? this was a moment so devoid of reality and free of concern of consequences. South Beach? He wasn?t picking a basketball team as much as a party. He?s 25 years old, and yet somehow this felt like a cloistered teenager picking a party school for college.
Yes, James will take his talent to South Beach and leave his soul in Cleveland. His hometown won?t hate him as much for leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers as for the way he left them. Leaving never would?ve been easy, but he went out of his way to humiliate them. LeBron James can never go home now. He?s the Browns leaving town, The Fumble, The Shot, all rolled into one colossal disappointment.

Now, Clevelanders truly see it for themselves: He was a fan of the Cowboys, the Yankees ? never the Browns and Indians. He was a frontrunner, and he just made the most frontrunner move in the history of the NBA. Off to Miami with Riles, D-Wade and Chris Bosh(notes).

New York would?ve been hard, and maybe Cleveland would?ve been the hardest. With those state tax laws in Florida, he isn?t taking less money with the Heat. He?s just taking less risk and less burden in his championship chase.
?This whole idea that he makes his own decisions, that [bleep] went out the window with this,? one NBA executive said. ?Someday, he?s going to look back at this and not believe that he let those kids at LRMR talk him into doing this. This idea that he?s his own man ? Come on, he?s a follower. And he?s following all the way to Miami now.?

This was the train rolling down the tracks from miles and miles away, and James never saw it coming. He should lose his obsession to become the richest athlete ever, because the people surrounding LeBron James are much more likely to leave him broke than a billionaire. Someday, he will fire his business manager Maverick Carter for turning the two-time MVP?s free-agent moment into Geraldo and Al Capone?s vault. Carter used the cover of charity for a historically horrible event and completely destroyed the credibility of his client.

So now people are cheering Dan Gilbert?s manifesto tearing apart James, but no one contributed more to what the world witnessed on Thursday night than the owner?s enabling of James and his inner circle for seven years. Gilbert is the biggest con going, a man who makes his fortune peddling mortgages, and he?ll make his next on casinos in downtown Cleveland. He sells illusions for a living, and now he?s selling the biggest of all: that he?s a victim here, that James betrayed everyone. That?s a lie, and no one ought to dare buy it.

Everyone searching for a scapegoat here ? Mike Brown, Danny Ferry, Delonte West(notes) ? well, just understand that it was the man screaming loudest with LeBron out the door, the man most determined to deflect blame onto him now.

Now, Gilbert is the tough guy with James leaving the Cavs behind? Listen, Ferry and Brown always warned Gilbert that giving James everything he wanted ? giving it when and where and how ? wouldn?t be the way they would keep him. LeBron didn?t respect them because they never demanded it.

Gilbert always believed he should do everything James wanted ? hire his buddies into jobs, throw them on summer-league rosters, allow him to do those stupid pregame choreographed dances ? that James would love him, that he would never leave. Only, James is a taker, and he took and took until he had bled Gilbert and that franchise to the bone.

So now, Gilbert unleashes the most revisionist and self-serving screed that a scorned owner?s ever done. Gilbert is a bully and a baby. As much as James, Gilbert revealed himself, too. He asked for this humiliation and deserves it.

Only those fans in Cleveland don?t deserve this. They were loyal, true, and ultimately they must know Gilbert lashed out to make James the villain for a most self-serving reason: to avoid the blame himself. Damn right James quit on the Cavaliers in that playoff series, but that was because Gilbert was always there to make it easy for him. All those times Ferry and Brown warned the owner they had to make stands with James, that they had to force him to have some level of respect within that organization or there would be an ultimate price to pay.

And here it came on Thursday night, in this bizarre, sad set-up that turned LeBron James into a caricature. His puppet seems more human than him. Listen, James? people tried to leak this story to soften the blow on Cleveland, but here was the problem: He?s so insincere, and they?re so over their heads, that most of us were uneasy with believing what they were selling in the hours leading up to Jim Gray holding everyone hostage. There had to be an agenda, a bait-and-switch, and yet source after source within LeBron?s world insisted: He?s leaving. He wants out. They had been doing this for weeks, even months. So, armed with that knowledge, why would they ever stage this event to rub it in the face of James? hometown? Lots of stars have moved on, but never one that had such a unique history with a town, a city, a franchise.


We kept writing it with qualifiers because deep down a lot of us doubted his courage to leave that cocoon. He would make Cleveland feel like it had lost him, and then swoop back into town and be celebrated all over again. Only, LeBron?s people were telling the truth. He was gone. He was always gone. He never considered staying, and that?s the most frightening part of all.

For the hand-wringing out of Gilbert and James? apologists who protected him ? and who would still be protecting him had he simply said, ?Cleveland,? on Thursday night ? they need to stop with this nonsense that somehow LeBron James has transformed into someone else. This is him, and it?s always been him. He?s a creation of our times, of an industry and system that wants to manufacture the next M.J. at the expense of a young man having a sense of himself.

So there was LeBron James, the MVP, the man of the hour, sitting in the middle of his own ?Truman Show? on Thursday night. His personal network ran his commercials and celebrated his greatness and let him hijack a platform to build his brand and break hearts. He can never go home again now, and he can never completely rebuild what he let his cast of buddies talk him into losing that night. He?s taking his talents to South Beach, and the kid going away for the first time will have some party down there. After all these years, it was clear he had been coddled and protected and ultimately prepared to do one thing: Take the easy way out. Wherever he was going, he looked conflicted, lost and completely confused.

What a spectacle, what a train wreck.

What a shame.
 

SSj4Wingzero

All Star
Agreed. I read this too.

I was wondering if I was the only person who thought that joining the Heat would be a terrible idea from a business and marketing standpoint.

I was right.
 

JayJ44

Starter
Great read, thanks for posting. I completely agree with this article. Lebron is only 25 and he is already copping out, saying he can't win a championship without playing with 2 other top 10 players in the league. You would think he would be more competitive, but he's taking the easy way out.
 

DaTPRiNCE

The Knicks are Back
Lebum basically proved that he cant win it with him being the guy. the fact he doesnt even wanna try is what startles me, many of the NBA greats had to suffer to get that championship ( jordan, Kobe{post shaq} etc) and many suffered and never got it ( Malone, Ewing, Stockton ) but when a great player with lebrons talents basically tries to 'buy' his championship just so he could have a few rings to his name. I respects the greats more after this. I hope lebron never gets that ring. he went from potential best player ever to possibly seen as a scottie pippen player-basically a second fiddle.

Enjoy Lebum your now arod to Wades jeter
 

StreetDreams21

I got Soul
Lebum basically proved that he cant win it with him being the guy. the fact he doesnt even wanna try is what startles me, many of the NBA greats had to suffer to get that championship ( jordan, Kobe{post shaq} etc) and many suffered and never got it ( Malone, Ewing, Stockton ) but when a great player with lebrons talents basically tries to 'buy' his championship just so he could have a few rings to his name. I respects the greats more after this. I hope lebron never gets that ring. he went from potential best player ever to possibly seen as a scottie pippen player-basically a second fiddle.

Enjoy Lebum your now arod to Wades jeter

HEY!

A-Rod has a ring. and he has proven he can win in New York. Dont make that comparison!
 

DaTPRiNCE

The Knicks are Back
look im a Yankee fan but he needed someone else to be there with him to win it and Arod may be better then jeter but Jeter would be my pick anyday. yes Lebum is the bigger player and is better but hes second fiddle to Jeter. without arob they would win a ring and already did without jeter Arod didnt
 

StreetDreams21

I got Soul
look im a Yankee fan but he needed someone else to be there with him to win it and Arod may be better then jeter but Jeter would be my pick anyday. yes Lebum is the bigger player and is better but hes second fiddle to Jeter. without arob they would win a ring and already did without jeter Arod didnt

While I agree for the most part, no way the Yankees win a ring without A-Rod last year. But that's a totally different debate lol
 

iSaYughh

Starter
King to Muskateer. Whoever said that said it best.

And potentially one of the biggest goats and joke ever if he fails to deliver a title. Arguably, given how other teams would likely do, just winning 1 title in the 5yr span could make him a pretty big joke and fail too.

On top of being a disrespected Muskateer who will --never-- be an NBA legend of the likes of MJ, even Kobe...and never a "King".
 

tiger0330

Legend
I agree with that high ranking NBA official "His brand is shit now". The only jerseys he's going to sell now are the ones the Cavs fans are going to buy to burn. Any self respecting NY fan should boycott any product that douche pitches.
 

Crazy⑧s

Evacuee
King to Muskateer. Whoever said that said it best.

And potentially one of the biggest goats and joke ever if he fails to deliver a title. Arguably, given how other teams would likely do, just winning 1 title in the 5yr span could make him a pretty big joke and fail too.

On top of being a disrespected Muskateer who will --never-- be an NBA legend of the likes of MJ, even Kobe...and never a "King".

That was me... And it rings true. What a shame.

That's a great article BTW. All in all, it's really kind of sad the way it happened. Immense **** up.
 

keyser soze

Benchwarmer
Agreed. I read this too.

I was wondering if I was the only person who thought that joining the Heat would be a terrible idea from a business and marketing standpoint.

I was right.


Yeah, I just don't see how it could ever be viewed as a good decision, no matter what happens. If he doesn't win multiple championships in Miami, it's a huge failure. If he does, then he took the easy way out. Either way, he never dared to be truly great and lead a team to a championship as the clear number 1 star. He could have lead his hometown Cavs to a title and been a hero forever OR he could have gone to NY/Chicago and played with another star, while still having it clearly be his team. Instead, he chose the ultimate cop-out path and went to be Dwayne Wade's lackey. On top of that, he went to a mediocre sports town. He will probably never win an MVP again because he won't put up the numbers necessary. I could go on but I won't. Suffice it to say, he ****ed up.
 

abcd

KnicksonLIN.com
Lebron James is overrated. He's on the same level with Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, and a young Penny Hardaway. People just hype him up, because he has charisma, throws chalk into the air, and plays great during the regular season while choking in the playoffs, time and time again.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again,
Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant are >>> Lebron James.

I never wanted Lebron James, because he's stuck up and overrated.

I was hoping the Knicks would get Dwyane Wade, but I'm happy with Amare Stoudemire. At least the Knicks don't look like they're trying to buy a championship.

I disagree with people who criticize Lebron James for going to the Heat, though. Lebron James is a proven choke artist. He needs guys like Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to make up for what he lacks-clutch.

People just overrated Lebron for so long that now they feel he's destroying his legacy, when he was always overrated to begin with.
 

smokes

Huge Member
Do you think his mother told him to go to Miami because it'll give her more freedom to choke on Delonte West's dick?
 

WVKnickfan

Rotation player
If he would have stayed with the Cavs or went to the Knicks and won a NBA championship then he could have said I led that team to the promise land.He could have led one of those two teams to the championship and got major credit b/c he would have been the star.Now that he is in Miami,he will get no credit at all if they win it b/c all the credit would go to Dwade b/c thats his team and it always was.

By him going to Miami,he might have just ruined the NBA for years to come.The fans will get sick and tired of watching the same team win it every year or come close winning it.The NBA needed James to stay a Cav or go to the Knicks just so it would make it equal and make it not has easy for the heat to go play for a championship.

James made the biggest mistake that he possibly could make!! He could have been the man but now he is just going to be second fiddle and ride on Dwade's coat tails while Dwade gets all the credit if they win titles.JMO
 

Zim

Rookie
The only reason I'm glad that LeBron went there to win championships is because now you can say he could never do it on his own, Kobe got a lot of crap when he couldn't win with Shaq and then he did, now its obvious LeBron couldn't win on his own, and now he can only win with all-stars.
 
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