With Game 6 in the Cavaliers-Celtics series on the horizon tonight, many voices are wondering aloud if this is the last game that LeBron James will ever play in a Cleveland Cavaliers uniform. Speculation has insisted for more than a year about where LBJ will go in 2010, but that has intensified after his disengaged and bizarre performance in Game 5. His effort in Game 5 has caused several voices in the media, thousands of deranged and depressed Cleveland fans, and conspiracy theorists across the country to declare that LeBron James quit on his team to move on to the promised land - the New York Knicks.
Why?
Stop and ask yourself that question.
Why?
Why would LeBron quit on his team? Why is New York such a great destination for James? Why does the NBA need LeBron in New York? Why does LeBron need to leave Cleveland?
I don't want to focus so much on what happened to LBJ in Game 5 - let's face it, nobody knows what's going through his head/elbow/mind or whatever. I want to focus on the rush to put the final nail on LeBron's time in Cleveland.
The deluge of articles proclaiming Game 5 as LEBRON'S GOODBYE TO CLEVELAND and discussing the future can be seen at ESPN, SI, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, New York Post, and ESPN again.
We've heard statements about the death of basketball in Cleveland coming, we've heard the odds discussed on where LeBron is going (not staying), and we've heard ad nauseum from arrogant northeasterners that LeBron needs to leave.
Again... why?
Are the Knicks really a national team alongside the Yankees and Cowboys and Red Wings? Does the health and vitality of the NBA and sports itself hinge upon whether or not LeBron James plays 41 games a year in MSG instead of 2? If Peyton Manning can be the most well-known and popular player in the most popular sport in America... why can't LeBron do the same in Cleveland? Hasn't he already accomplished that anyways?
As someone who lives in Ohio, the rush to put the Cavs away, to write the obituary on LeBron's time in Cleveland, to drool over his free agent recruitment tour, and the necessity to extoll the virtues of New York City over Cleveland is disgusting. Many people saying this are ones that praise parity in the NFL and decry the Yankees for their robbing from the poor teams of Major League Baseball. The fatalistic attitude of Clevelanders is only enhanced by folks wetting their pants that another heartbreak is coming their way and the King is saying goodbye.
Our favorite sports media personality Colin Cowherd spoke of LeBron as a young man who has felt that his time has come on to move somewhere. Basically saying in glowing terms that Cleveland and Akron suck and it was time to go to greener pastures. In an interview, Chris Sheridan was all too happy to go along with this sentiment that nobody wants to live in Northeast Ohio their whole life when all of the riches, happiness, success, and championships await him in New York (a team that hasn't won a title since 1973 by the way), or even Chicago.
It makes me sick.
I earnestly hope that LBJ stays in Cleveland, just to stick it to these elitist fools. I hope he puts up 50 in Game 6 and wins a title this year. The entire country outside the Northeast corridor could care less where the King places his throne. Why is the media so anxious to rip this guy off his home team and write the death sentence for basketball in Cleveland? Why are they so anxious to place more suffering on Cleveland fans that have seen the Browns taken away, the Indians destroy a championship contender, and no titles since 1964?
In fairness, LeBron has done this to himself. He's the one that wants the attention, he's the one that wants to be a free agent, and he's the one that clouds his future. He's the one that no-showed Game 5 and he's the one that hasn't carried a team to a title yet. He's the one that had John Calipari and Jay-Z courtside. But, this isn't your typical coverage regarding a free agent. We consistently hear that LeBron needs New York, New York needs LeBron, and the NBA needs LeBron in New York.
Why does the NBA need LeBron in New York. I'm sorry, but the last 2 or 3 years have seen the NBA reach its height in the post-Jordan age... with the Knicks sucking and LeBron playing his basketball in Cleveland. Idiots like Cowherd and others make the argument that leagues like the NBA need the Knicks and the big markets to bring in ratings, money, and notoriety. Does a 3 point boost in the ratings justify this arrogant nonsense?
Does that seem American to you? Does that seem like the way sports should be? Let's just tell the Colts that the Giants need Peyton Manning more than Indy does. Let's tell the Phillies that the Red Sox need Ryan Howard and Roy Halladay. Let's tell the Saints that the Cowboys need Drew Brees and Sean Payton. Let's redistribute all of the talented players in the world to the big cities that justly deserve them. Why? Well... because everybody wins, right? The New York fans win (and hey, there's more of them, plus they deserve LeBron more than his home state does). The NBA wins. And, LeBron wins.
Nobody knows what's going through LeBron's head before Game 6, but I hope it's not any of these thoughts. I hope he tries to win a title and plays a great game tonight. I hope he doesn't believe that he can't be the global icon that he wants to be by playing in Cleveland.
A couple years ago I traveled to rural Belize. It's a great place, but not exactly the cultural epicenter of the world. It's about as far away from New York as you can get. Who was the one celebrity figure that I saw in an advertisement in the country?
LeBron James. On a Sprite poster. In a Cavs uniform. Just a kid from Akron.
Bulls%*t he needs New York.
**Update
-Well, I'm glad I'm not alone, because just now Chris Broussard has a great article preaching the same message - without the Ohio bias and anger.
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