The Last Caul
by MARK CAUL
How stacked was the NBA’s free agent class of 2010?
I’ll put it to you like this – if you were to organize a pickup game between this year’s free agents and the rest of the basketball world, the 2010 free agents would win. Going away. Handily. No contest.
We’re talking about a squad that could start LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Dirk Nowitzski (my second favorite NBA player, by the way) and Amare Stoudemire, with Joe Johnson and Carlos Boozer coming off the bench. They were arguably the best free agent class in league history and had a handful of large-market teams (led by the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat) salivating at the possibility of adding them to their rosters.
But let’s not kid ourselves, James was the guy who captured the attention of the sports world for three very long weeks. He was the biggest domino that had the biggest impact on where the other pieces would fall.
Everywhere you went, the 25-year-old James was the talk of the town, even amongst casual basketball fans. Where would he end up and who would join him?
Then, on a balmy Thursday night after seemingly endless weeks of waiting, it finally happened.
Ohio’s native son made the announcement that shook the city of Cleveland to its very core. To everyone who watched that night, the moment will always be known as “The Decision.”
But basketball purists such as myself will remember it as “the night LeBron had the NBA world in the palm of his hand and threw it in the trash in less than an hour.”
Actually, I really thought that James had a pretty good business sense and was extremely media-friendly up to that point, therefore, he would opt to stay in Cleveland.
Boy, was I wrong! And the cold-blooded way he left a city that worshipped his every move for seven years left me flabbergasted. I thought I was in the twilight zone.
I asked myself aloud. Did that REALLY just happen?
Did this guy just do that?
He did the state of Ohio so dirty there were people taking to the streets to burn his jerseys in effigy only seconds after his announcement. (Probably a good thing he wasn’t physically in any of them.)
Now to view a tragedy in context, we have to look back at the genesis. Many knowledgeable hoop fans say that Beijing 2008 was the beginning of the end. Some would say that James getting swept by Tim Duncan’s Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals was the true beginning.
The truth is the genesis occurred during the 2002-2003 basketball season. Why? That’s when the Cleveland Cavaliers decided to tank in order to put themselves in prime position to draft the 18-year-old phenom.
At the time, the Cavaliers were totally irrelevant in the NBA, and James had already been anointed as the King during his senior year of high school.
So why not absolutely tank a meaningless season to get the number one pick? Made perfect sense at the time, right?
I personally don’t think that a team in any sport should tank just to get a better position in the draft. That is an easy way out. It’s lazy and does not require any effort.
During their Olympic run in Beijing, LeBron, Wade and Bosh’s plan to arrive in South Beach in 2010 is when it all probably took effect. I wouldn’t be shocked if Wade told Pat Riley to clear up cap space by 2010 because Bron and Bosh have agreed to sign on. Of course you couldn’t call it tampering because this was player to player. This was a good move. It’s not that hard to picture. LeBron finally found his escape plan from Ohio, unless the Cavs won a title before then.
Once he knew that the Cavs didn’t have what it takes to beat the Boston Celtics in this year’s Eastern Conference Finals, Bron-Bron mentally quit and checked out for good.
He quit on the series. The team didn’t quit on LeBron. He quit on the team and the fans. It was his way of thumbing his nose at Cleveland management just like Kobe did it to Lakers’ management in game 7 against the Phoenix Suns in 2006. LeBron learned from the best. However, LeBron took it to another level leading to “The Decision.”
No one has a problem with him leaving to chase rings. It’s the way that he left that people are wondering about. “The Decision” was a live public execution on national television. That’s why Ohio, and even Akron, is angry. Why do it like that?
Heartless, to say the least. The kid psychologically abandoned Ohio.
Burned bridges? LeBron torched them. Why didn’t he just leave quietly? Why did he have to hurt his fans? Why did he choose to become someone else’s sidekick?
I don’t even think HE understands what he just did. He spent the entire week ducking and hiding and not talking to Cavs management while fooling around with other teams when they were genuinely interested.
However, it became quite evident that LeBron was not interested in any team except for Miami. His decision demonstrated that anyone can become a quitter, liar and noncommittal toward anything.
Simply put, this entire disaster demonstrated LeBron James’ temperament. He always craved attention. People were feeding the ego since he was a kid. He ducks and hides when the going gets tough. LeBron runs away from the confrontation and the challenge. He doesn’t have the killer mentality like the greats possess – a follower, not a leader.
This was inevitable. The Cleveland Cavaliers also had to pay for what they did – purposely tank in 2003 for LeBron James. Cavs front office let him and his people run the team. They fed his ego for seven years, before he had proved anything. They got what they deserved.
James showed his true cards during the entire week leading up to “The Decision” one hour special. I don’t know if it was a good or bad hand that he played. Time will tell. However, it’s time for him to experience being the sidekick – Robin to Batman. He chose to step down in rank and bow down to a master in Miami.
Miami is Dwyane Wade’s town. LeBron chose what’s best for him and that was the easy way out instead of struggling, fighting and working hard to earn the title. He also showed that he isn’t mentally tough like Ohio’s blue collar working class.
Karma is a funny thing.
I still think he is a good kid. He may win many titles, but there is also a possibility that he might not get any. In my eyes, LeBron James has relinquished the “King James” nickname. But then, who am I kidding? He was never a king. That said - he also gave up the nickname of “Chosen One.” He was never a savior. He chose to become the antichrist. Turns out, he was the hero who turned into a villain overnight just to play with friends and chase rings.
If anything, next year’s NBA season will be one of the most anticipated in more than a decade. Expect South Beach’s new Big Three to trigger at least a dozen other rivalries within the league. There’s no question when James returns to Cleveland for the first time it will be Must See TV.
But before we relinquish the 2011 NBA Finals trophy to the new Miami trio, consider this – their biggest hole (figuratively speaking) will be in the middle.
Since salary cap restrictions prevent the trio from securing any more serviceable free agents, they will most likely have to suit up a team of overseas players or maybe convince a couple of veterans to come play for the league minimum in order to fill out their roster.
It will be interesting to see how they end up filling out the rest of their roster with such limited cap space.
Nonetheless, James still feels he made the right decision.
But no matter what happens in the next five years, LeBron can no longer be mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. There is no legacy because it burned in the fire with his Cleveland Cavalier jersey. But he probably didn’t really care much about his legacy anyway.
I’m not hating or judging LeBron. He threw it all away. I just hope it was all worth it.
