Something weird happened to me this past week.
Ever since July 8, 2010, I’ve been riding the anti-Lebron wave. I never liked Lebron-the-basketball-player before, if only because he was so good and I hated the thought of anyone challenging Kobe as the best in the league. Lebron-the-person? I never had a negative opinion about him. In fact, I think I liked him. I liked the camaraderie he had with his teammates, his lighthearted pregame routines, and his overall goofy self. However, one hour from the Boys and Girls Club in Greenwich, Connecticut this past summer gave me reason to dislike Lebron – just Lebron.
How could he be so insensitive?
Why did this have to take an hour? On TV?
Raising money for charity? Please.
For five months now, I’ve enjoyed every article bashing and questioning Lebron. I’ve loved hearing the Kobe-Lebron comparisons come to a screeching halt. I hated the original “What Should I Do?” video, but have loved each subsequent parody. I’ve laughed at the blunder that is Lebron’s PR team. As a Lakers fan, I inherently hate the Boston Celtics, but I rooted for them on opening night when they beat Lebron’s Heat and made us all think, “Hey, maybe this really won’t work out!”
I wouldn’t go as far to say that I’ve had a change of heart this past week. I will never think that the spectacle that was The Decision was a good decision. I will continue to root against the Heat, because if Lebron and Co. get in the way of Kobe’s sixth ring…no, it just can’t happen. In my mind, Lebron is not the best in the league. He will never be Mike, or be like Mike. Call me a blind fan, but I firmly believe he will never be like Kobe either.
But Lebron is human. A 25-year old human. He’s a self-proclaimed king, but back in Akron and Cleveland, he was viewed as no less. He elicited praise and admiration long before he entered the NBA. He has always gotten what he wanted, has never been told no, and from what I can tell, has never been taught better. I don’t condone how he went about his decision, but I do understand the decision itself. At the end of the day, Lebron wanted championships. He also wanted to play with his friends in sunny South Beach, a far cry from Cleveland. I can smirk and say, “Kobe would’ve never done that. Michael would’ve never done that.” But Lebron is not Kobe, and Lebron is not Michael. I’m not even talking about his skill here – simply put, he’s just Lebron. He made a choice. Who am I to judge this choice? Who am I to continue to judge this choice?
Again, I don’t agree with how he went about his decision, but I’m starting to feel like I want to give the guy a break. He made a mistake in execution. Don’t we all make mistakes? Unfortunately for him, his mistake reverberates throughout an entire city and league. But let’s take a step back and separate Lebron-the-human from Lebron-the-guy-who-starred-in-The-Decision.
Lebron-the-human is just that: human. I don’t want to hold his mistake over his head forever. I don’t want to draw inferences on his character because of this one mistake. I want to move on and believe that, like everybody else, mistakes are a part of life and he is still growing up, like the rest of us. I want to go back to critiquing Lebron-the-basketball-player, because that is the only capacity I truly know him in – who he is on the court.
I would never want someone to hold one of my mistakes over my head for the rest of my life. Granted, I will most likely never make a decision that has negative ramifications for an entire city (here’s hoping!), but a lapse in judgment is a lapse in judgment. Can’t we all just move on? Even if we don’t forget, can’t we at least forgive?
I won’t judge you anymore, Lebron. Last night proved to me that for the majority of us, you are first and foremost a basketball player, and a hell of a good one at that.
