Okay, this is following his huge 45 pt and 15 reb performance and there are still some naysayers not giving him credit for what he did, which is basically beat the Celtics by himself. But, still the question is, why do people love to hate him? Well, I must admit I’m not one of those people, I do think he brought on some of this hate and I’ll point it out, sure I mess with my son about him and the Heat because he’s a big fan of theirs and that was before LeBron arrived. But during the time he and Wade have been teammates they’ve put together a highlight reel almost every night.
So let’s look back and trace everything from the beginning of “King James” where he was a high school phenom and destined for greatness to the present.
It started when he was in high school, where his games drew so many crowds just to see him play and was televised alot on ESPN and on regionally pay per view. During his senior season, there was a big question of would he skip college and go straight to the NBA, where it was said if he came out he’d be the #1 pick.
http://youtu.be/9tNCRh3pZ5A
He bypassed college and went straight to the NBA, where he was the #1 draft pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers and instantly became the biggest star in Ohio, seeing he played his high school ball in Akron, which is less than an hour from one another. He was named 2003 NBA Rookie of the Year but with not much support the team missed the playoffs his first 2 years. The following year he lead the Eastern Conference to a win over the West and became youngest All-Star MVP in history and also lead the Cavaliers to the playoffs also. In his first playoff game against the Washington Wizards he had a triple-double with 32 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds, as the Cavaliers defeated the Wizards 97–86. They went on to win the series in 6 games and the Detroit Pistons were waiting on them in the second round. They eventually lost in 7 games to the defending Eastern Conference champions in 7 games.
After the season, he signed a 3 year extension, with a player option for the fourth year, a deal where he could’ve got more money for more years but decided along with, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade that this would make them free agents at the end of the 2010 season. The following season the Cavaliers made the playoffs again where they swept the Wizards in the first round and beat the Nets in 6 games in the second round, setting up another matchup against the Pistons. The Cavaliers went down 0-2 and then won the next 4 games to advance to the Finals against the Spurs, where they were swept in 4 games, but in Game 5 against the Pistons is where I became a fan of his because of his legendary performance where he had 48 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, which included him scoring there last 25 points, including 2 overtimes.
The Cavaliers never made it to the Finals again but in the next 3 seasons, James won back to back NBA MVP awards in 2009-2010, also he won the All-Star MVP again in 2008, he also won the scoring title that year also. Now, after the 2010 season he became a free agent and was courted by many teams and when it was time to make his decision, he held a TV special on ESPN called “The Decision,” which was probably the turning point where I think alot of people turned there back on him, I mean he even said later he would’ve done things differently, if he could go back.
Afterwards, when he made his decision and was joined in Miami by Chris Bosh, while Dwayne Wade resigned with the organization they threw a party announcing them all together as teammates and proclaimed they’d win not 2, not 5, not 6, not 7, so it seemed a little cocky but hey you gotta believe, right? They were instantly the bad guys of the NBA, even being called the NWO, you know of wrestling fame.
In closing, I believe he gets too much hate from everything he do to now his hairline, I mean at times I think it’s too much and at times not only him but guys like Wade bring in on them also. Remember, during the Finals last year they were mocking Dirk Nowitzki when he was sick and just the way they handled them signing with Miami, while a team like the Thunder, who they may face in the Finals done things a little differently. When stars like Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook signed an extension just tweeted they signed deals and didn’t take max money to free up money for the team can keep and sign missing pieces. While the “Big 3” in Miami all took max money and had very little sign any good pieces to help them out and now fans say they don’t have help but there is a reason for that.
So what is your take on LeBron? Is he one of the greatest? Do he need to win a title to make that claim? Do he catch too much flack? Or is it all justified?