Everyone has seen Ferris Bueller (if you haven’t slap yourself in the face right now).
Ferris is the popular kid at school who can do no wrong and his sister Jeanie is the bitter sister who doesn’t understand why Ferris gets all this love when in her mind she is superior to him in several ways.
There is a part in the movie where Ferris is talking about Jeanie and he says he doesn’t understand why she is so bitter because he got a computer for his birthday and she got a car.
Lebron is Jeanie and he has that car (MVPs, Consensus best player in the world, was the chosen one, King Moniker and one of the most recognizable names on the planet).
Kevin Durant is Ferris (everyone loves him, universally describe as humble and the Anti-James).
Similar to Jeanie, Lebron isn’t as bad as some *cough* Skip Bayless *cough* make him out to be. In reality, he has been an exemplary superstar.
From the time he appeared on Sports Illustrated as a junior in High School he was expected not to just be perfect, but to be the next heir apparent the Michael Jordan.
That was a lot of pressure for a 17 year old. Many expected him to crack and flame out under than pressure, but here we are 10 years later and, in some instances, you can say he has exceeding expectations.
* 3× NBA Most Valuable Player (2009–2010, 2012)
* NBA Rookie of the Year (2004)
* 8× NBA All-Star (2005–2012)
* NBA scoring champion (2008)
* 6× All-NBA First Team (2006, 2008–2012)
* 2× All-NBA Second Team (2005, 2007)
* 4× NBA All-Defensive First Team (2009–2012)
* NBA All-Rookie First Team (2004)
* 2× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2006, 2008)
* 3 NBA Finals Appearances (2007, 2011, 2012)
Lebron could retire right now and his accomplishments would warrant Hall of Fame considerations.
He is 27 years old.
The only mistakes he has made in his career have been PR mistakes. No arrests, no drugs, no altercations and no drama.
He didn’t make a mistake in leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers and this is a point I have to make time and time again. He was a………
FREE AGENT
Not one person in the world if they had the ability to choose their next place of employment would want someone telling them they couldn’t.
If you fulfill your contractual obligations you should be free to go whenever you want. He didn’t stab the people of Cleveland in the back, he made a business decision. The same type of business decision that owners make every day when the cut players or fire coaches.
He went about it the wrong way and people will focus on the words “THE DECISION” and the phrase “TAKING MY TALENTS” until the end of time, but in the grand scheme of thing that was a minor miscalculated PR move that has taken on a life of its own.
The next PR move that at least for now put Lebron in the Villain role was this.
Can’t get around that, but if you listen to the full quote what he is saying is simple. He believed the Heat would win multiple championships, but this is a show and prove world and their first crack at proving to the world they would be the next dynasty failed miserably.
Lebron James make a decision at the same time social media, especially Twitter, was blowing up. Twitter gave an outlet not just to fans, but for media to express themselves in a more personal way. That has evolved into opinions being taken as gospel by fans who aren’t rational or unbiased.
If you dislike Lebron for whatever reason you can find millions who you can chat with who feel the same way. If you love Lebron there will be millions ready to Tweet to the death for your cause.
Lebron isn’t the only player ever to leave a team for a better opportunity and he isn’t the first player who has hard a hard time getting a ring, but the difference is he is the best player many of us has seen without a ring, so there is an impatience factor that is going on.
On the flip side of that people want Lebron to lose, the same way they want Floyd Mayweather to lose, the Yankees to lose or Duke to lose.
The irony of Lebron’s situation is he never wanted to be the Villain. He is a reluctant Villain, he has a point guard mentality being told he needs to be a killer.
He is having trouble separating Clark Kent from Superman. D Wade is Lois Lane, Chris Bosh is Jimmy Olsen, the Cavs are Smallville and Heat are Metropolis. You see what happens when he goes Superman 45, 15, 5, but every once in awhile those Clark Kent doubts creep into his mind.
Ironically, there was a time back in 2007 that Lebron was in Kevin Durant’s shoes. Universally loved and coming off dispatching of an older championship team (the Detroit Pistons) and everyone proclaiming he was destined for not 1, not 2, not 3, but you get the idea.
That Cavs team couldn’t compete with the Spurs and Lebron was swept, but no one was worried it was just a matter of time. Five years later the time still hasn’t come.
This is what Kevin Durant must understand.
They love you now, but they can turn on you at any time. Even Ferris got caught at the end (Jeanie saved him).
The Oklahoma City Thunder are a much better than that 2007 Cavs team, but they are playing against a desperate team that knows another Finals loss could put a quick end to their Superfriends Dynasty.
Kevin Durant, at the tender age 23, is the undisputed leader of the Young Thunder. KD never had the pressure that Lebron had on him. He wasn’t the #1 pick, he was drafted by a team that left a city and he had to deal with a mercurial point guard.
Similar to Lebron there is nothing in his history that suggests he is anything more than just a nice guy. You hear the word “humble” thrown around a lot with Kevin Durant.
I prefer the term “normal”. People like people they can relate to, hard to relate to someone who is called the King, marketing gimmick or not. Kevin Durant just seems like a guy who would be cool shooting in the gym with a bunch of rec league guys.
That doesn’t make him any better or worse a person than Lebron, just different. But the media has pushed him as the anti-Bron, so the followers have grabbed on to that mantra.
One thing is for sure, Kevin Durant is in a unique position to set himself up for not 1, not 2, not 3, you get the idea.
Lebron’s accomplishments don’t change the fact he doesn’t have ring protection and without that it is like the whole world has a piece of kryptonite they can always use against him.
There couldn’t be a more hollow feeling in the world than to have everything anyone could every want or desire except the one thing that separates the great from the immortals.
As someone once told me, records can be broken, but they can never take your championship. They live on forever. It is like winning an Oscar, you will forever have the phrase “Academy Award Winner” in front of your name. You walk a little different, you talk a little different, you feel different. It is almost like falling in love for the first time. Once you have the feeling, you are forever searching for it again, but at least you have had it.
People wonder why Wade has such an arrogance to him. It is because he knows no matter what happens to him in his life he will always have 2006. When people wonder why Kobe dismisses reporters and critics so easily, he just holds up 5 fingers. Vinny Testaverde has thrown for more career yards than Joe Montana, no one cares. Joe Montana came up big when it mattered the most.
Careers are made in the regular season, legacies are made in the playoffs.
In basketball, legacies are made in the NBA Finals.
Lebron went 35, 14, 3 & 33, 7, 4 in back to back games in 2011 to close out Celtics. Do you remember that? Of course you don’t, but you remember Game 6 of the NBA Finals and the Mavs partying at LIV after winning championship.
Mavs were swept the 1st round of the 2012 Playoffs and NO ONE CARED.
Dirk now has Ring Protection.
When they talk about Wilt and Russell, Magic and Bird, Kobe and MJ, Brady and Manning, Marino and Elway & any great players the first thing they mention are championships. It is the ultimate tiebreaker in sports.
Kevin Durant needs to stare at a big poster of Dan Marino. Nothing is guaranteed, when you have your chance you have to take it by the throat.
Two years in the row, the Miami Heat have stared the critics in the eye and gave them a big Stone Cold Austin F-U, but when they went for the Stunner last year they got Rock Bottomed.
http://youtu.be/244qRdocKDg
Someone’s legacy is going to be changed forever.
If Lebron and the South Beach nWo win, regardless of whatever happens in his career, no one can ever say he isn’t a champion. He might enter the Peyton Manning stage of his career where the only argument against him will be why he only has one, but that is much easier to take than being the greatest basketball player never to win a title. And thankfully for Lebron, he doesn’t have a little brother with more rings.
If Kevin Durant and the Young Thunder win the NBA Finals that K in KD will be for “King” Durant and Lebron once again will just be Watching The Throne.
OKC in 6
*UPDATE*
If you ever wanted to see Lebron before his Hairline went to the Phantom Zone…….