Twenty-four hours for LeBron James to go from the NBA’s darling to perhaps the most-hated player in the league.
That one fateful day, back in July of 2010, included “The Decision,” a letter from shunned Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert and the flamboyant welcome party in South Beach. It all seemed to confirm some long-brewing suspicions that LeBron was more of a prince than a king, coddled for too long by his adoring fans and — perhaps more ruinously — by NBA commissioner David Stern.
Overnight, LeBron became “LeBaby,” “LePrincess” and “LeBenedict.”
Fans delighted in the Heat’s 9-8 start to the season. Now, after a Game 6 ousting on Sunday night from the NBA Finals, fans and analysts alike are reveling in LeBron’s failure.
To be clear, he deserves the criticisms aimed at his play. Time and again, the 26-year-old shrank from the moment, averaging just three points over six fourth quarters. When Jason Terry called him out after Game 3, LeBron responded with an eight-point Game 4. Same deal in Game 5, after DeShawn Stevenson called him out again.
It began to feel like LeBron was wholly responsible for every Heat loss.
Here’s the thing: Despite every claim from him to the contrary, it affected his play. Indeed, LeBron played poorly precisely because of all that hatred. We wanted him to fail, and we succeeded in making it so.
Sure, Michael Jordan wallowed in such criticism. But who else is Mike?
And let’s not forget that life is different in the world of LeBron James. Throughout entire career, James has been the Boy King. The world marveled at his superhuman athleticism in high school. When he single-handedly charged a Cleveland team full of misfits to the 2007 Finals, we rooted for him to beat a San Antonio Spurs team that had advanced to the championship round largely because of a dirty play by Robert Horry.
LeBron basked in the love and basketball fans wanted to see the Cavs place some meaningful chips around him. After all James had done for the city and the league, he deserved it.
The Ohio native, in other words, took a shortcut from hero to villain. In the biggest moments of his career, when he normally would have had the support of the NBA world, he found that almost everyone wanted him to fail. The result was a head-shakingly bizarre choke job.
James, for his part, will tell you the haters had nothing to do with his performance.
“Absolutely not,” he said after Game 6. “All the people that were rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day, they have to wake up [Monday] and have the same life that they had before they woke up [Sunday]. They have the same personal problems they had [Sunday]. I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that.”
But his play and his demeanor throughout these Finals would suggest otherwise. He seemed hesitant to bang in the paint. His jump shot had a hitch in it. He short-armed floaters through the paint. And his eyes were perhaps most telling — they almost seemed to plead for a break from the pressure.
“Too bad,” some will say. LeBron made his bed when he abandoned Cleveland. Now he can lie in it.
While there is no doubt “The Decision” was over the top, it’s difficult to fault the decision itself. Gilbert, for all his showmanship after James’ departure, did virtually nothing to show his franchise player that he was prepared to build a legitimate title contender. Antawn Jamison and an over-the-hill Shaquille O’Neal? Not exactly the Big Three being offered to James in South Beach.
And lest we forget, James gave up an estimated $14 million (over the life of his deal) to make room for Dwyane Wade‘s and Chris Bosh‘s contracts at Miami. The NBA world wanted LeBron to prove he’d do anything to win a title. He expected that passing up $14 million would be enough.
It almost was. James, people will ignore, was sterling in the Eastern Conference finals, averaging 26 points, eight boards, seven assists, two steals and two blocks in an insane 45 minutes of play. In the big moments of that series, he was the go-to guy, knocking down clutch shot after clutch shot against a Bulls team that very nearly won three of those five games.
It’s why I can’t help but question the logic of our collective hatred for LeBron (although trust me, I’ve felt it, too). D-Wade was atrocious in the Bulls series. Perhaps worse than James was in the Finals, shooting 41 percent from the field while turning the ball over four times per game, double his assists count. Only a whisper of criticism flew his way.
In most other measures of likability (at least in Boston), Wade ranks lower. The cheap shots on Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo in the semifinals. His showboating after what appeared to be a dagger 3-pointer in Game 2 (Miami, mostly because they let their guard down, went on to blow that 15-point lead and lose the game). His almost-constant jawing at referees who don’t call fouls every time he touches the ball. His inexcusable mocking of Dirk Nowitzki‘s illness.
And despite fantastic performances throughout most of the Finals, Wade, too, faltered in the big moments. He missed a number of key shots down the stretch of Game 2, including the potential game-winner at the buzzer. In Game 4, he botched the tying free throw with 30 seconds left, then fumbled away a pass on the final possession of the game.
LeBron, though, took the heat. Partly because he did turn in a subpar performance in the Finals, and partly because he’s the one who abandoned his home town for South Beach. But it’s also at least partly due to our fascination with hating him. We’ve created a feedback loop.
We hate him. He hates being hated and loses because of it. So we hate him even more.
At the end of the day, it’ll be up to LeBron to break the cycle.
