Yesterday I wrote that Lebron James HAD to play big in game 6, not just for his team, but also for his career, and legacy. And yet when Lebron James did it, I had a moment that made me understand Lebron James a little better and provided perspective for me personally. Let’s for instance say that Lebron James is the best player in the NBA, which by all accounts isn’t a far fetched notion. Let’s then say that he has put together some of the best statistical playoff games ever. Let’s say that people talk glowingly about his physique by writing that he’s a mix of Michael Jordan’s athleticism in Karl Malone’s body. Knowing this, how impressive WAS last night’s game really?
Knowing that his ceiling is somewhere between the moon and Pluto, isn’t it fair to suggest that NOTHING that Lebron does or will do can truly ever come close to matching up our expectation of his physical skill? Isn’t it fair to suggest that despite all the things that he’s done and shown us, that our expectations of him are far beyond anything that he can ever come close to achieving? And finally, is this our fault?
I ask this because over the last year or so, my resentment over the Decision and not coming to the Knicks as we had all divined him to do (at least in the greater New York area), turned into something else. I felt sorry for Lebron. Somehow, this villainous character became a sympathetic sports figure who didn’t deserve half the criticism he received. I began thinking about Lebron in a different way than most of my friends. I wondered about the pressure he must face on a daily basis to maintain his skill set. Nobody can be this good by just waking up. I thought about how his daily life is one big meat grinder, filled with reporters, cameras, and any kind of digital recording device following his every move. How many people do you know that want their every interaction recorded, that want their every conversation taped, that have their every look to a teammate dissected, their every move under a huge microscope? HOW DOES ONE LIVE UNDER THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES?
I then began to be amazed by his skills. At being able to hold it all together. I was reminded by the deaths of Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and so many other celebrities who had similar kinds of fame- that nothing is promised to us and that no matter how bad you want to be famous, the price of that kind of fame is too much for us to consider surrendering our current lives for it. I remember Dave Chappelle in an interview for Inside the Actor’s Studio commenting “You can’t become un-famous, but you can always become infamous”. There’s a huge difference.
I thought about how difficult it must be to BE Lebron James. To be that dude. I began to hate Dwayne Wade a little bit more because he’s basically flying under the radar and he’s loving every moment. He’s in a no-lose situation while Lebron is in a no-win. Efficiency wise, its hard to question that Lebron is one of the most efficient players ever. He makes the right decision around 90% of the time (that’s my inexact fact for the column). He’s unselfish. I questioned his ability to turn it on but its hard when his basketball IQ always trumps that part of his brain that says “Screw it BRON, take it to the freaking HOLE. YOU HAVE one donut away from being fat Paul Pierce and KEYON DOOLING ON YOU!!!!” He’s out there doing everything for his team including defensively taking out the best player on the other team. His teammates in Cleveland loved him, until he refused to take over in 2009 and the 2010 playoffs right before he high tailed it out of Cleveland. His teammates in Miami love him because he tries really hard to be ONE OF THE BOYS even if that is impossible.
He’s not one of the boys. He’s the man. And last night’s performance he showed us what kind of man he was. He was a man that stepped up to the occasion. Who realized that his back was against the wall and played the kind of basketball that we saw out of him in 2007 when he willed himself to beat the Detroit Pistons. Remember when Bron dunked it in that Game 5 and Tayshaun Prince got out of the way so fast when he saw a tractor trailer with the number 23 coming fast in his direction? That’s what it must have felt like for the Celtics last night. Then when he started doing step-back fadeaways, you knew it was impossible to stop him. Everytime the camera zoomed in on Lebron its like he instinctively knew and he gave a glare. I truly believe he’s trained himself, thanks to years of being under the spotlight, of knowing where the camera is and knowing when they are going in for a close up to give that look. That, I’m a bad mother-effer look. He looked like a guy who thought it was just him in the gym and nobody was there to stop him. That guy is the guy I WANTED to see tonight. That’s the guy that I KNOW is inside Lebron. That’s just not the guy that I was SURE was going to show up.
Nitpickers will say that Lebron only scored 4 points in the fourth quarter and yes there are those but then that’s the cost of being Lebron. The constant pressure of living up to a standard that is virtually impossible. I felt sorry for Lebron because last night’s performance was what we expected out of him because that’s what was needed lsat night. Isn’t that crazy? 45 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists. Only one other player in NBA HISTORY has done that, and his name is Wilt Chamberlain. When you’ve done something that ONLY WILT THE STILT did, yeah, that’s a big freaking deal. But you know what? BIG FREAKING DEAL! Lebron James has no ceiling so the expectation is that he do this on a nightly basis. The message boards will still be sending out memes of Lebron with some funny caption that will make its rounds on Twitter and Facebook. The hate will continue to come for a man that can DO NO RIGHT, and DO NOTHING to excite us except stat nerds like Tom Haberstoh or John Hollinger.
At what point do you feel bad for a guy like that? Look, he’s handsomely paid. He brought some negative attention on himself with the Decision and the rave he threw in Miami, but his biggest fault was that his play over the years statistically raised our expectation of him. He did this to himself much more than anyone did anything to him. So last night’s game was impressive yes, but was it the best? No, because he only scored 4 points in the fourth quarter. There’s still another gear he can push it to. And isn’t that scary? But isn’t that sad at the same time?
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