If an 8 year old can respect his decision, why can't I?

I was sure he would stay in Cleveland. So sure that I wasn’t quite clear on why he was even having this press conference. We share the same birthday, so I thought I was channeling my younger Capricorn brother, expecting that our astrological trait of undying loyalty would trump the other trait we strongly possess, ambition. I was wrong! At first I was pissed; pissed that he dissed his home town, pissed that he did that whole press conference to diss his home town and mostly pissed because I was wrong. But as the night went on and I thought about LeBron James leaving his NBA home of 7 years to go to the Miami Heat, I had to consider a few things.

First, he gave this team and this franchise 7 years of his life. In sports years, that is a long time. And on the body of an athlete who works as hard as he does, that is damn near a lifetime. He is still young and luckily healthy, but that can all change in the twist of a knee and then he would be “King James” with no ring.

Second, the comparison being made here is that Kobe stayed with the Lakers built the team (or in some cases, carried the team) to multiple championships. Jordan did the same. The difference here is that LeBron has the sense enough to know his own limitations and understands that he will not win a championship by carrying a team on his back, he needs help. Why is that such a bad thing? I think it speaks to his character in ways that should make him more endearing rather than hated. We, Joe Public, should applaud his decision to make a move that will get him to the ultimate goal we watch the season for each year, a championship. Instead we say, he isn’t good enough because he can’t do it by himself. What happened to the “no I in team theory?” Keep in mind, Shaq played in Orlando for 5 seasons without winning a championship. Aware of his age and life of his career he made a move to another team with a superstar, paired up with him and won 3 rings. Oh yes and keep in mind the player, touted as the next best thing in basketball when he was the first round draft pick in 1996 from Georgetown. A scrappy kid from VA who pledged his allegiance to the great city of Philadelphia, devoted his entire career (10 years) to that team, tried to carry it on his back unsuccessfully and ended up with no ring, more injuries than I can count, a terrible separation from the team after giving all his good years and a legacy that is nonexistent. (Side bar, Allen Iverson is rumored to be joining this dream team in MIA, maybe he will get his ring after all.) So LeBron had a choice, Shaq or A.I., be great like Magic with lots of rings or great like Charles Barkley with no rings. His choice and priority was made clear last night in his decision to go to Miami and join a team where winning is a possibility. So long Cleveland.

Third, as much as we like to believe that this was about money, rest assured it was not. LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh all left huge amounts of money on the table (somewhere in the neighborhood of $30million) in order to be on a team together. There are salary caps in the NBA and each of them had to take a cut in pay in order to play together. That should be applauded as well, the message they are sending, this is bigger than money, this is about winning.

Lastly, the ultimate game changer for me was the response from the Cleveland owner. His outrageous and highly unprofessional letter after the announcement of LeBron’s decision let me know just why James made the choice he did. After 7 years of giving his best, he decided to move on. He wasn’t traded mid season, he didn’t sneak out the back door in the middle of the night. He honored the commitment he made to the team and left after his time was done. For this owner to be so damn disrespectful to the man who made his team and frankly his city relevant for the past 7 years (and surely put a lot of money in his pocket) was disgusting. It showed that he had no loyalty to LeBron, so why did he expect loyalty in return. His fit of rage in that letter showed me that he was emotional and off his rocker (likely as he watched the value of his team sink to a new low) and he took that rage out on LeBron personally. You see, what we witnessed with the temper tantrum of the owner was nothing more than a lack of good sportsmanship. He demonstrated exactly what he was accusing James of, being a sore loser. At the end of the day, teams, including Cleveland, were competing for James and Miami won. Apparently Pat Riley and D. Wade put together a sweeter deal, which says more about the Cleveland franchise than it does about LeBron. How the hell do you lose a race when you had a 7 year head start?

My 8 year old Godson predicted it. He wasn’t disappointed at all because unlike many of us, he wasn’t involved in the hype. Through his young eyes, he has watched and adored LeBron James as a player. So whether playing for Cleveland or Miami, Kyree will be watching and cheering for LeBron, because he is a true fan of the player, not the NBA and the business. He isn’t jaded by this entire spectacle, he is just excited to watch the man who he sees as the best player ever, play the game he loves. And that alone is enough to make me alright with his decision. If an 8 year old can respect his choice to play the game where he has the best chance to win, why shouldn’t I?

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