If you were somewhere on the planet Earth this past week, you no doubt heard about what is now being called “The LeBacle.” LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers lost in six games to the Boston Celtics, shocking the entire nation as the King bowed out of the playoffs early yet again.
Oh, and did I mention he’s a free agent now?
Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be another of the 10,000 columns speculating about where James will end up. We’re just a few days into this madness, and I’m already sick of it.
And no, this isn’t going to be a 700-word rant about how LeBron doesn’t have that “killer instinct” or the “eye of the tiger.” The way the media has reacted, you’d think that James had gone 0-20 from the floor, defecated on the court and punched a 5-year old kid on his way out.
That’s where we’ll get started: the media, and society in general. As sports fans, the general public has a fixation with dominant athletes. That’s no secret.
But to be truly accepted as one of the “great ones,” a legend of our time, an athlete has to have something else. He or she has to have the blood of an “assassin,” an indomitable will to win at all costs.
We saw it in guys like MJ, Pete Rose and Lawrence Taylor. We even see it today in Kobe Bryant or JaMarcus Russell (just kidding).
As such, these athletes are known as icons, both by the media and the greater sporting world. Until last week, it was assumed that LeBron would one day claim his spot at the pedestal right alongside Jordan, Bird and all of the other legends.
Then game five against the Celtics happened. And suddenly after game six, the Cavaliers were eliminated.
Just like that, LeBron was being vilified by just about every member of the mass media (ironically, those who weren’t trashing him were busy speculating as to where he might sign as a free agent).
Look, there’s no doubt the King didn’t live up to his billing in those two games. But to paint him as the next Karl Malone or Charles Barkley is a bit presumptuous, particularly when he’s just 25. And it’s not like he’s never performed under pressure (see: game five against Detroit in 2007, aka “The 48 Special”).
But that’s beside the point. What I wonder is, do we really want him to have that killer instinct? An attitude like that can provide for some special memories, but it can also be very dangerous when the spotlight is turned off.
You see, history hasn’t been particularly kind to the giants of the sporting landscape. Michael Jordan is one of my heroes, but even I can’t deny that his behavior off the court leaves something to be desired. I cringed during his Hall of Fame speech when he told his kids, “I wouldn’t want to be you guys.” What kind of father says that?
Lawrence Taylor, infamous for his fearsome demeanor on the field back in the eighties, has become a regular on local police blotters and was recently accused of raping a 16-year-old girl. I could go on and on with examples.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that a cutthroat demeanor on the field automatically breeds misbehavior off the court. But it has to play some role, doesn’t it? When guys like Taylor are stripped of a game that allows them to exorcise their inner demons, where do they turn to next? Too often, it is casinos, strip clubs and crime.
So is it so bad that LeBron might not be like them? Why is it so hard for us to just enjoy watching him play and allow him to craft a life outside of basketball? We expect our athletes to be one-dimensional robots during their careers and then react with outrage when they fall apart after retirement (or even before). You can’t have it both ways.
While it would give me great joy to watch James destroy his competition en route to multiple titles (particularly if by some miracle it was for my Bulls), maybe that’s just not his destiny. Maybe he was meant to do more than just win basketball games.
In a world devoid of many authentic role models, would that be such a bad thing?
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