As the final minutes ticked away in Game 6 of the 2011 NBA finals I was already excited to devour the material that would be ready in mere hours: Where does this put Dirk all time? What does this do to Lebron James’ legacy? What is the most outlandish story about Lebron that I will hear tomorrow? And the world delivered, already there are whispers of Lebron James for Dwight Howard, a trade that will almost certainly never happen and is outlandish at best. The funny thing is that people think we got here because Lebron didn’t live up to expectations when the truth is exactly the opposite.
We live in an age of instant gratification. Any and every piece of data is right at our fingertips; every comment, action, misstep by anyone of note is on the World Wide Web ready to be shared. Technology has altered are perception, it has altered the way we end arguments; it has brought more data than ever to the table to prove these arguments. We have a perception that we understood what happened in the past, especially in sports; because we have the numbers…….but we forget it is all hindsight.
For starters we have to understand the hype machine. Lebron was not the first, nor the last, kid in High school to get attention like he did when he was only 14. Every year there is another 7 footer that is “light on his feet” and “shoots like a guard”, another talent that is ready to blossom. When you start to analyze most specimens they break down. Their structural composition was not meant for the bright lights and it burns them to the core. How many number 1 recruits have we seen fail at the college level? How many number 1 draft picks have failed to make an impact, to change the lot of a franchise? With Lebron the level of hype and scrutiny was at an all time high. This was the first superstar of the social network generation; his every thought was our internet fodder.
Lebron had a different composition though, his DNA was built for the lights and the brighter they shined the more he thrived. At every level he was the best, when he came to the NBA it was instantly obvious that he was a top 10 player. By year two he was top 5. He took a team that was nowhere near ready to the NBA finals in 07. Here he was, fully grown and blossomed, ready to be crowned the new king. On top of his ability on the court, he had an equal or better understanding of what to do off the court, how to draw fans like few before him. His charisma was off the charts.
When people talk about Michael Jordan they talk about a killing edge. How you were afraid Jordan might murder you if you missed a shot. When Jordan was inducted into the Hall of fame, his speech took shots at people for perceived slights he felt still existed. He was cut from his HS basketball team, he was the third pick in the draft, and he always felt that it was him against the world. When exactly would Lebron develop those feelings, when did he have a chance to cultivate this drive? No one ever doubted him; instead everyone always expected this of him. NO ONE thought Jordan would win 6 titles when he first got into the league, everyone felt that if Lebron didn’t win 4-5 his career would be a failure. The starting points were so different, yet for so long the paths held parallel. MJ didn’t win right away, it took him some years to understand when to step back, to learn to be a better team player, and we were willing to afford Lebron with time to do the same.
You see, Ewing had faltered by this point. Daugherty fizzled. Robinson was too nice. Coleman had no heart. O’Neal wanted to have fun. Iverson was too selfish. Those are number 1 picks, guys like Kobe came in the conversation when you realized, “Hey this guy has 3 rings, and I wonder if we can compare him to the best one day?” But Lebron held true from the beginning, fastest to 10,000 points, performances that made you say WOW! Each year his game was better, each year we watched him grow and marveled at what we perceived was going on. We were able to compare his statistics to the ones who had come before him and there was only one logical conclusion, he would be an all time great. I remember going with some friends to catch Lebron and the Cavs play against the Wizards in the first round of the playoffs. We didn’t go there because we were fans of one team; we went so we could tell our kids that we had seen Lebron play in the playoffs. We were sure that it would be an increasingly harder endeavor to get tickets to a Lebron playoff game as his legacy grew; we had to go, to say we had been “Witness.”
There was something hidden though; the bright lights were like steroids for his ego. His public persona had grown and left the rest of his personality structurally unsound. While he was still in Cleveland, his roots compensated, the public perception of a hometown hero who was one of the boys made it hard to see the cracks. Last year the doubt started to come into the picture. After the decision, it was time, the wait was over.
The only true comparison for Lebron James is very simple, Wilt Chamberlain. No matter what Wilt did, any year he didn’t win it all was a letdown and a choke. He was the most physically gifted man of his generation, and losing was unacceptable. Sound familiar? After last night, one thing is clear; no matter what Lebron James does from here on out there will always be a caveat, always a reference to this failure. Wilt won multiple titles; he was on two different teams that are considered to be potentially the greatest team of all time; he scored 100 points in one game; he lead the league in every stat you could think of at some point, but his career, to many historians, was a disappointment, a glimmer of the true greatness he could have achieved. When you come into a league with the talent to be the greatest player of all time you are doomed before you start.
With most guys the hyperbole doesn’t stick the first time we throw it. Our outlandish exaggerations are quickly slapped down as such by those who point to reality, to probability. With Lebron, the fantasy lived so much longer. He took us past thinking “what if” and took us to a place where we were saying “when”. Just when we thought all of the prophecies were coming true, Lebron hit a wall. A green wall. The loss to the Celtics started a chain of events that few could have expected and even less could turn away from, everyone tuned in. Love him, hate him, everyone was watching and listening, waiting to see what would happen next. You might have hated “The Decision” but understand it was fueled by “Lebron Watch” and it drew higher ratings then the finals did that year. The love for Lebron might not be at an all time high, but his fame is at its apex.
The loss to the Mavs, coupled with his weakest performance in any playoff series has cut his legacy at the knees. Will he ever recover? I don’t know, you don’t know, he doesn’t know. Has the perception changed? Absolutely, A-Rod move over, Lebron is taking the seat next to Donovan McNabb at the unrealistic expectations table. But let’s just remember, the only legacy that Lebron has is the one WE created for him because he had met our expectations to this point in the story. We wrote the ending, the fantastic ending, because of the thrill of it, not because it was logical. We should be able to appreciate what we are seeing instead of griping about what wasn’t delivered. Regardless of your outlook, Lebron is clearly one of the 50 greatest players of all time. For a sport that has been around for the better part of a century, that is an amazing accomplishment, but in our world it isn’t enough.
For those of you who think Lebron’s legacy is now written in stone, I would advise you to avert your gaze to the winning team. It wasn’t long ago that we were all sure how soft Dirk was, how he could never lead a team to the championship, how he wasn’t clutch. Turns out one of the most clutch runs in recent playoff history can change the story. The final chapter on Lebron has yet to be written, we may have just read a prequel to the greatness that is going to be displayed; he may go Mitch Williams and crumple from the spot light forever more. Only time will tell the true story of Lebron, and if we keep trying to write it before it happens, we will keep being wrong……but that’s ok, it’s what makes it fun.
