King Baby

By now most of you have likely read and heard all about Lebron James' antics following the Cleveland Cavaliers' Game 6 loss to the Orlando Magic a few days ago. Here's a well-written opinion piece on the subject by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:

Funny, but James stayed on the court to make sure the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks paid respect to him. As it turns out, there’s one thing allowed to happen at the end of a playoff series: Everyone bows down and kisses the King’s ring. Only, LeBron doesn’t have a ring. He’s never won a game in the NBA Finals.

So, yes, maybe they just have to kiss his feet.

The full article can be read here. Personally, I agree with Wojnarowski completely.

To be fair, I can admit that I've grown anti-Lebron in recent weeks. It hasn't been so much due to the man himself, but because of the groupie-like following that has grown amongst NBA fans. They fawn over him. They call him the next Michael Jordan. Granted, he's good. Very good. But he's not Jordan. He's not as polished, not as genuinely devoted to his team and winning, as calm and humble in both success and failure as Michael was. And until you've led your team to the title, it's hard for me to agree with the comparison. The argument that he doesn't have enough talent around him is laughable; he has as much or more than Jordan did in 1991, Chicago's first championship season. If Lebron is the next Jordan, would he have won playing alongside Horace Grant, Bill Cartwright, and Scottie Pippen?

But all of that dislike stemmed from the bandwagoning on the part of fans. The character of the man himself was never an issue for me. Not until the end of Cleveland's playoff run. This isn't about him celebrating dunks or throwing baby powder in the air, or other actions that are just young guys under a lot of stress having fun (which my colleagues in the "old head" club often quickly dismiss as detrimental or disrespectful to the game, something I find even more preposterous than the comparisons between James and Jordan). This is about being a man at the end of the day. When someone beats you, you show them the same respect that you would expect from them. You don't run away, you don't pout. You acknowledge your opponent's efforts, and you congratulate him.

The "King" has got some growing to do before the crown fits.