"Taking My Talents to South Beach" - A Key Life Lesson from Lebron James

When Lebron James announced on ESPN (hint: National TV) in 2010 that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat, like many others, I was disappointed. Maybe I wasn't as angry as the real Cleveland fans; certainly, I cannot begin to understand the vitriol that they were facing. Here was the one bright spot (and a huge bright spot too), one of the best (at least) 20 players of all-time and potentially even higher, a hometown hero (born and raised in nearby Akron), the guy who made your perennially crappy team relevant again. Essentially, with Lebron James in your team, your team was a contender for the NBA Championship every year.

So, when he bolted for Miami in Summer 2010, I thought, like many others, that it was a copout on Lebron's behalf. Yes, I also understood that Cleveland fans would feel a whole range of other emotions, but given that I am both emotionally stunted and I wasn't from Cleveland nor a Cleveland Cavaliers fan, I could not tap into that range of emotions. So, why was it a copout? Well, I thought, damn, if Lebron wins a championship for Cleveland, he becomes immortal. He will be loved forever and ever, a hero in the eyes of the city of Cleveland and probably even the entire state of Ohio. That's quite a legacy to have. And so, yes, I thought he tarnished his legacy there. I held on to the rather strange belief that you should want to beat your competitors, never to join them when, really, all Lebron was doing was giving himself a better chance to win an NBA Championship.

Then, when the Heat lost to the Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals with Lebron suffering from a sort of inexplicable meltdown, I felt like good had triumphed over evil. And I felt smug. "Take that Lebron". For some reason, I rejoiced in the downfall of Lebron James. 

We all know (or at least those of us who follow basketball somewhat) what happened the following season. Lebron had probably his best season ever, morphed into "I-can-do-whatever-I-want-on-the-basketball-court-and-there's-nothing-anyone-can-do-to-stop-me" shape and obliterated all comers. I watched a LOT of the NBA Playoffs, particularly because my Boston Celtics made it to the Conference Finals with a legit chance (2 match points, actually) to make the Finals, getting Lebron-ed in the process (Game 6) by the Miami Heat. The Heat went on to win the Finals by 4 games to 1 (re: fairly handily) and Lebron was magnificent. He put on a basketball display of the highest order, both on offense and on defense. It was like watching basketball played at the highest possible plane.

So, compare June 2012 with July 2010. How would I think in July 2010, knowing what would have happened in June 2012. Granted, I'm a douche, so I think my response would still have been, "Yes, but he still jumped to Dwyane Wade's team." When, really, the appropriate response should have been, "OMG, he finally manifested his destiny. The rest of the league is screwed." All his legacy is going to read is "NBA Champion 2012, NBA MVP 2012, NBA Finals MVP 2012 - Played an all-time great series in NBA Finals 2012." Why should it matter whether he did it at Cleveland or at Miami? Who am I to say what his legacy should or shouldn't be? All Lebron will care about is what he achieved.

He has openly admitted that he regretted the manner in which he announced his Decision to leave Cleveland. But, should he get skewered so much from moving from Cleveland to Miami? See, in sports, we as fans hold such bullshit double standards that it insults all of us collectively. In the non-sports world, we all would

a) Rather work with colleagues who we knew were at the top of the game if we wanted to succeed

b) Get higher pay from a rival company even if it was a rival company (Lebron took a paycut btw)

c) Listen to whoever our closest advisers were - family, friends etc

d) Focus on our achievements without caring what arbitrary people would think about us

Instead, Lebron got skewered for each of those points (bar point 'b' because he took a paycut). It's bullshit. We, think, as fans that we would ALWAYS be loyal to our team, we would ALWAYS put the needs of the fans before our own needs (because we care about the team and all) and we would ALWAYS be willing to stay for lower wages in our own team rather than take higher wages for a rival team (see: Carlos Tevez, any ex-Arsenal player who jumped ship to Man City). But, in real life, when it comes to our own jobs, we don't mind switching if we're getting a significant pay rise. We don't mind switching to join a better company with better people. We don't really care what our current company may think if the move makes a ton of sense for us. So, why should Lebron be treated any differently? Should he be what WE want him to be?

Check out this amazing commercial, released in June 2010. Back when it was released, I didn't get what it was trying to say. I thought it was just Lebron being defensive and trying to make excuses. But looking back (like half an hour ago), I think there's a subtle message to it that is really rather brilliant. Give it a watch.

The messaging is brilliant. I think it is saying, "I'm just like any of you. So why should I live up to your expectations when I don't hold you to mine? Should I be who you want me to be or should I just go be who I want me to be?"

Go Celtics.