LeBron James might win multiple titles in Miami, but when he left Cleveland, he gave up his chance to carve a unique niche in the NBA and join the true greats.
View full sizeNBA legend Michael Jordan on current NBA stars teaming up: "It's an opportunity these kids have today. I was trying to beat those guys." And Magic Johnson said, "From college, I was trying to figure out how to beat Larry Bird." And why does James and some (mostly) young fans not understand the anger behind his switch and how he did it?
Let's start with the old guard.
Magic Johnson said, "From college, I was trying to figure out how to beat Larry Bird."
It was an example of bad sportsmanship, but remember when the Detroit Pistons stomped off the floor before the final buzzer when Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls were eliminating them from the 1991 playoffs?
There was a message that most fans appreciate -- those teams really didn't like each other.
And another message: Losing hurt.
There was a third message when Jordan won his first title and hugged the championship trophy and openly wept: Winning means a lot to me because I did it the hard way.
It took Jordan seven years to win his first championship, and he remained with Chicago through coaching changes, bad trades and an utterly awful roster the first few years of his career. Yes, Jordan wanted help, and was never shy about telling former General Manager Jerry Krause about trades he wanted made or roster moves he didn't like. But Jordan was all-in when it came to winning big in Chicago.
As he said at a celebrity golf event recently, "There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry [Bird], called up Magic [Johnson] and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team.' "
Then Jordan said something interesting: "Things are different. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys."
Some of James' defenders mention how Jordan had Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant. Fine. Those guys are like Bosh -- very good players who need a real star to truly glitter. How many playoff series did Grant or Pippen win without Jordan?
How many did Bosh win in Toronto?
Grant went to the Finals twice after leaving Chicago -- both times playing next to Shaquille O'Neal.
Pippen survived the first round only twice in the six seasons he played without Jordan.
Bosh has never been out of the first round.
Charles Barkley said this about James: "He'll never be Jordan. This clearly takes him out of the conversation. He can win as much as he wants to. There would have been something honorable about staying in Cleveland and trying to win it as 'The Man.' . . . LeBron, if he would've stayed in Cleveland -- and if he could've got a championship there -- it would have been over the top for his legacy, just one in Cleveland. No matter how many he wins in Miami, it clearly is Dwyane Wade's team."
You can say that Barkley jumped from Philadelphia to Phoenix to try and win a title. Fine. But he didn't go from the Sixers to the Bulls to play with Jordan -- he was trying to knock off Jordan.
The Lakers and Celtics still don't seem to like each other much -- but those rosters are of older players. While Kobe Bryant threatened to leave the Lakers and demanded the roster be upgraded, he stayed in L.A.
He didn't scheme to play his final years with James or Wade -- he signed an extension with the Lakers. He wants to knock them off to win his sixth title -- tying him with Jordan.
But after Boston and the Lakers, there doesn't seem to be many rivalries.
Some younger fans and players are used to athletes switching teams. What James did makes perfect sense. It's like all the kids joining forces for summer all-star teams. Many of James' supporters were not offended by the ESPN special where James picked Miami. It seemed like just another reality television show.
For James, the battle cry seemed to be, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
It doesn't matter where "they" may be, or who is left behind -- something the older stars and many fans will never quite understand from a player in his prime at age 25.