Lebron Fan to a Lebron Hater: Part 1

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I remember back when Lebron James actually was contacted and considered going to Dallas during his "Decision" making process back in 2010. How ironic that Lebron had faced the Bulls and the Mavs, both teams he was rumored to sign with. He might have beat one, but obviously lost to the other. I'll be honest, I really thought that Lebron would go to the Bulls, but who can really say no to Pat Riley?

Today's post is actually a 3-part series on how I used to like Lebron James to hating his guts as a NBA Player. But before I go into depth with this, I've been hearing how I jumped the band wagon of hating and should mind my own business and such. I'm not sure exactly when I started to dislike him, but I'm guessing it was after he got swept in the 07 Finals. My question is, "What's the point of being a fan then?" I love the NBA; before I'm any team's fan I love and respect the game of basketball. All kinds of fans are going to be following the big names in basketball. Even people who hate on Kobe, they still pay attention to him. Same thing Lebron-lovers, Lebron is right though, we should mind our own business, but it's all part of the game, it's part of the NBA, it's part of basketball. People are going to dissect every move you make until you do something to shut them up which happens to be winning. 


Lebron came out today saying 


"Congratulations Mavericks on the championship...especially Dirk (Nowitzki), (Jason) Kidd & (Jason) Terry who have done so much for our league and worked so hard to get here. They deserve all the credit for what they have accomplished. Thank you to all my family, friends and especially the fans for standing by me this year. Miami fans are incredible. A special thank you to my teammates, coaches and Pat Riley and Micky Arison for all of their support. A lot to learn from this year, a lot to build on, and a lot of work to do this summer."


I highly doubt Lebron actually wrote this himself. I'm very positive his PR group came up with this, and told him to say this so that his image won't be tarnished that much this off-season. Lebron should have said congratulations to the Mavs, Dirk, Kidd and Terry A LONG TIME AGO. Sunday. Monday passed (yesterday), today is Tuesday, but you are telling me, it took him two days to think of this and say what he stated. This quote of his sounds way too political and doesn't feel like he's speaking from the heart. Just saying it just to say it isn't enough because it all comes down to timing in this case. I honestly would have been ok with this quote if he said this yesterday, but he took his time and took that extra day and now it's just too late. I've seen this many times before and every time something like this happens people tend to forgive him and come to his aid without question. I'm wondering when will people stop defending this guy, always giving him the benefit of the doubt, always saying things like "he's still young, he'll learn from it...just you wait". When? People has been defending this guy, pampering him, supporting him without fail ever since he got into this league. While guys like Dirk, Terry or even Kidd have to bite, crawl, do whatever they can just to get people defending them. But that's the beauty, they don't. They don't need people to defend them. They do it by playing hard, living up to the moment and respecting the game of basketball. 


I don't want people thinking this guy is pure evil or anything. I don't know Lebron, I don't who he is, what he's about, or what not. But I do know and see his actions, and as of recent, his actions aren't going to win him any "best-role model" type awards. 

2003:

I was 18 years old when I first heard of Lebron James. My friend first mentioned his name, and I was like, "Who's that?!" I was told he might very well be the next Jordan or the next Magic because of his size, his speed, and how well he can just dominate the floor. Anybody who can be the next Jordan or Magic is definitely special. Also, I'm not gonna lie, this guy is graduating high school in my graduating class, so of course I'm going to be cheering this guy on. I was able to watch some high school footage of him, and I'll admit, this guy can really play. I decided to root for the guy, but ultimately I wasn't going to be an all out only Lebron fan like some of my friends. 

After the draft, I also was able to see him state on TV, "I got a goal, and it's a huge goal, and that's to bring an NBA championship here to Cleveland, and I won't stop until I get it." I was amazed on how committed he sounded, on how determined he looked, on this promise, this goal he was devoting himself to. All the high school draftees never attempted to say anything bold like that; you never heard Kobe say that, Garnett, McGrady, Amare (etc), and what made it even more sweet, he was going to play for his own blood state. That's deep. Not many in sports history can show you a kid born in that state, grew up there, played professionally there and won a championship THERE. But I did have my doubts, it's because of the fact that it's never been done in NBA history, why all of a sudden would it work now? My only concern at the time was can he really play amongst the pros and excel the Cavs to become champions. In other words, does he have that leadership quality, that mental focus that the greats have, the strive, yearn and devotion on being among the best? Time will only tell.

ROOKIE SEASON:

His first game was pretty epic, I mean, come on, 25 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals and shot 60%!!! No freaking way can that happen! Especially how it's your first game in the NBA. This guy scored 40 points as an 18 year old in professional league. Most guys in the NBA can tell you how difficult it is to do that especially how the league has changed over the years since the 90s. I, strongly believe ever since the beginning of 2000 the league has made it their duty to call ticky-tacky fouls. I don't think you should call those fouls because it leads to more points and at the time, that's exactly what the league wanted, MORE POINTS. That's just me though, players were able to benefit through this and get more points while slowing the game down a little bit. Lebron averaged 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game for the entire season and became the only 3rd player in history to average at least 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in their rookie season. Only Jordan and Oscar Robertson were able to accomplish this feat; just absolutely incredible. Lebron did something Jordan did in his rookie year, so far so good, you can check that off the list. BUT...did Lebron played just as well or possibly even better than Jordan? I'll just give Lebron props that he was able to do something not many were able to do. Lebron won the Rookie of the Year and because of him, he was able to give a +18 games on the win column. Just one guy's addition to your club, allowed you to be that much better. Again, amazing. 

Now, let's talk business; since we all now know Lebron is a business owning "Lebron Inc", and we should also understand Lebron's business side. Note that at the time, his agent was Aaron Goodwin who helped him land a three-year deal worth a maximum $12.96 million with the Cavs holding the option for a fourth season that could pay him another $5.8 million. Also at this point, Lebron was able to bring up ticket sales and signed lucrative deals with Nike and Coke along with other smaller companies that lead to him already making millions just through endorsements alone. Money sure does talk.

2004-2006:

While in his second season, Lebron was not able to take his team to the playoffs, he did record his first triple-double and he's the youngest to do so. Also, he improved himself, by averaging 27.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 2.2 steals per game. Crazy stats right there for someone who's in his 2nd year in the NBA, AND 20 years old. Again, not many NBA players could accomplish this feat even if their whole NBA career depended on it. The Cavs were able to reach an above .500 record (42-40), but 2nd season in a row they missed the playoffs. 

However, the 2005-2006 season, Lebron propelled his team to the playoffs. Took three seasons to do so, but for someone like him, it's gotta be amazing. (I know, you're sick reading amazing, incredible, etc, but I'm sick of typing it so please bear with me)  This season was also the starting point when we get to see tripe-doubles as if it was easy as flipping the switch. While many would argue triple-doubles are overrated, we should acknowledge it's not THAT easy to do.  Lebron averaged 31.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game, and helped the club improve their winnings to 50 games. His playoff debut against the Wizards, Lebron got a triple-double (32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists). It looks too easy for him; even Jordan wasn't able to do this. Lebron was able to take his team to the Eastern Conference Finals where they met the Detroit Pistons. I don't like the Pistons especially after Grant Hill left so it's quite obvious who I was routing for in this series. The series went to seven games, with the Cavs losing in Game 7. Even with the loss, this is a testament that Lebron is well on his way to the elites. After the season, at the rate Lebron and his team are improving, I thought for sure the Cavs will be back next year IN THE FINALS. 

It's after the second season, Lebron wasn't seeing eye to eye with his agent. So what does he do? Fire his agent, and create his own company, Lebron Inc. Right now, I'm not going to go into crazy details on what happened, but I will highlight on certain events I think is important. At this point Lebron sided with his childhood friend, Maverick Carter, and had Maverick become the de facto CEO of Lebron Inc. Soon enough Lebron and his company was sky rocketing to the top, even surprising, speaking to, and gaining advice from Warren Buffet. During the off-season, fans were antsy, anxious and suspicious of Lebron jumping gun to some other team. After all, Lebron does like to wear NY Yankees baseball caps, which some though may be a foreshadowing of him leaving to a bigger market like New York or Chicago. Lebron eventually signed a 3-year contract extension with the Cavs worth up to $60 million. One thing to note is Lebron did NOT sign his max contract, he took less money for less years, and other stars like Bosh, Carmelo and Wade all signed around the same time. Suspicious?

To wrap up, this was a period when I had the up-most respect for Lebron. As you can even see I did not even call him LeCry, LeGone, LeShame, LeWhatever. Lebron was the best in the league, he was guaranteed number one draft pick in most fantasy leagues. Why wouldn't he be? He was mainly getting you tripe-doubles left and right; this beast was getting you stats from all over the place. 


Joke(s) of the Day:
Please go watch a Dos Equis Commercial (most interesting man) before you read this
Lebron: "I don't normally miss my shots, but when I do...I prefer the game to be on the line"
Yikes!!


For my next blog: Part 2 of Lebron Fan to a Lebron Hater or how I would like to say the starting point of me disliking Lebron

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