Looking Back on a King Misunderstood...

 “Imagine the journey of a man facing an insurmountable task…  Visualize the trials and tribulations that man must go through in order to accomplish his goal… and when all seems lost, somehow he turns it around.  The accomplishment is climatic and exudes the feeling of a majestic moment!  In the end, he rides into the sunset beloved for not what he achieved, but the struggle it took to get there.” 

What you just read was the tagline to the LeBron James story… or at least it should have been.

On the eve of his return to Cleveland after leaving three and a half years ago, the player who’s been scrutinized more than any other athlete in our lifetime will never be able to please everyone.  The consensus was, once “The King” wins a title, he will silence the masses and the incredulous amount of negative energy towards him.  Unfortunately, that will never happen.  It’s not solely because of “The Decision”, his self-centered prophecy of 8 championships, and it’s definitely not because of his play on the court.  LeBron James is and will always be vilified for ruining the ending of an epic story. 

It was all set up perfectly; Hollywood-esque!  The Akron born ‘phenom’ gets drafted by his hometown team who had been starving for a championship since their conquest of the National Football League in 1964.  The goal was simple and the task was heavy, but with LeBron it was possible.  While LeBron had his share of critics with Cleveland as well, he was also perceived in a positive light. People wanted him to win!  It was the “feel good” story that we all crave during the doldrums of everyday life.  We all knew, or thought we knew the ending… but it didn’t matter… because the story leading up to the climax was THAT good!  So when LeBron James decided to leave Cleveland after the worst playoff performance of his career, he re-wrote our ending.  What began as a cultivating story of a hero looking to restore hope and bring glory to his hometown turned into the makings of a great story with a horrific ending. The so-called “glory” he was supposed to bring Cleveland ended with him casting shame on the city.  This was a twist that no one saw coming.

Looking back on his last year in Cleveland, one game comes to mind…

It was January 21^st, 2010.  NBA fans across the nation were dreaming of a LeBron vs. Kobe finals. This regular season matchup between the Cavaliers and the Lakers was simply a pre-cursor to what we thought was inevitable.  The game was a true testament to what we all believed was different about the 2010 iteration of the Cleveland Cavaliers.  They beat everyone from the elite to the doormats of the league and with LeBron James’ free agency looming in the background, it was almost written in the stars that he would bring a championship to Cleveland.  This game was also the first time where I genuinely believed that LeBron would re-sign with the Cavs.

There was a moment in the 4th quarter… where LeBron made one of his patented “and-1’s”…

He ran to the side of the court to address the crowd.. flexing his muscles, pulling the Cavs embroidery towards the cameras signifying  that “this is my team!”…










I said to myself -- “There’s no way he leaves Cleveland…”  

Oh how I was fooled.

We all know what happened next.. The Cavaliers failed to make the NBA Finals, losing to a lesser talented Celtics team, and LeBron took his talents to South Beach.

Did LeBron make the right choice? Yes.  Did he earn his two titles? Of course he did.  He’s solidified himself as the best player in the NBA and one of the best we’ve ever seen.  His playoff performances are for the ages!  The only thing LeBron failed to do was give us the climax we all wanted to see.

Sports are great drama, but what also makes sports so amazing is the fact that it’s NOT scripted.  This is reality and LeBron James is not a character; he’s a man.  He’s also the writer to the story we all wanted to see.  Unfortunately for us, he had his own ending in mind.