Miami Will Be James Kingdom
Live long enough to see yourself become a villain / I went from the favorite / To the most hated / But would you rather be underpaid or overrated? – Jay Z
I'll bet Lebron James never thought he'd see himself as the most hated. Within the space of a one hour ESPN special that seems to be exactly what has happened. I'm sue we all agree that the actual 'Decision' special was in poor taste. A multi millionaire with an over inflated ego indulging himself on television. Hey, we've seen worse and at least he donated the money to charity. It's the anti Lebron rhetoric being spewed by so called 'expert' commentators and arm chair critics alike that bothered me more. As the season draws near those initial whipers have become loud jeers.
Rightly or wrongly the decision has been made and it was James' decision to make. Suddenly everyone has an opinion on the career choice made by Lebron. I'm hearing all of the negative comments directed at the throne of the King. "He needs his fellow superstars to win", "Joined Wade's team", " Will not be the dominant player on the Heat". If you actually believe that Lebron James will not be the best player on the Heat next season it's possible that you don't know as much about basketball as you thought.
James is clearly the most talented and skilled player on the Heat team. Sure there may be games where the others step up and lead the team to the W, but when it matters most in the playoffs believe me it will be King James making the game winning plays. Not always in a scoring capacity either. With the talent around him LBJ will be just as dangerous setting up either Wade or Bosh. Look at this years Laker team as an example, other Lakers may have had big games but it was their Alpha Dog, Kobe, who was the team's best player overall. Thanks to ESPN setting up base at Miami training camp we have the luxury of seeing the Heat practice, guess who is the most vocal one on the floor? Correct. LBJ. Already leading the troops even in practice.
Let's assume Miami win a championship this season. Lebron averages a triple double in the Finals and wins the MVP. Is it still Wade's team and is Lebron not the team's best player? Every superstar needs help to win a title. Michael never won until Scottie arrived, Shaq had Kobe and now Kobe has Pau. And Magic Johnson had a squad full of All Star's during the showtime days. It takes a team to win. Not one person doing the team's job. One thing they all had in common? The team's most talented player was always the one making plays at the end of games.
James said vis his Twitter page he was "taking mental notes" of negative comments made towards him and was looking forward to proving them wrong. Today James takes the first step in that quest. It's only a pre season game against Detroit but at the same time is so much more than that also. It's time for the King to hold court.