A Response to "Time for the Hating to Stop"

I understand why Steve wrote what he did about Lebron. The difference in opinion was captured by the annual Q ratings that ESPN publishes. Steve and I went to the same high school and he is 100% right when it comes to the reaction. Loyalty is overvalued, especially by many NBA fans, but it shouldn't be. It's an economic business.

My issue with it is not race. I am clear, like Larry Bird, and anyone will say that it's still about race. It's about my disappointment with how competitive balance is disappearing from the League. Players like Lebron and Wade can carry teams by themselves, both economically and competitively. Lebron spurred an amazing revival for the Cavaliers. Who would've thought in the six years he spent in Cleveland minus his rookie year, the team had minimum yearly capacity of 94%? And he's a pretty damn good player too, averaging 27.7 PPG, 7.0 APG, and 7.7 RPG for his career. Those numbers are unreal, and they held up this year (26.7 PPG, 7.0 APG, 7.5 RPG). In the playoffs, he's grabbing 8.7 RPG, blocking 1.4 shots per game, and he is down by nearly one turnover to 2.8 per game. While the rule is 2 Hall of Famers or don't even think about seeing the Larry O'Brien trophy, Dwyane Wade absolutely dominated the 2006 Finals. Shaq shot 29% on free throws and only averaged 13.7 PPG in the series. Antoine Walker shot too damn much, and Wade shouldered the scoring load as everyone else focused on shutting down the Mavericks and hitting the open shots, which no one had to consistently do during that series.

But now they're playing together because they're friends. I don't think that Isiah and Jordan were friends (see: here and here). However, Jordan was friends with other NBA players, like Barkley (kind of playing into Jeff Van Gundy's mind games theory). But Jordan, like other players during the 1980's and early-to-mid 1990's, had a different perspective on collaboration: if you were the alpha, you ran by yourself and you ran your pack until, like Barkley, you realize that you aren't able to handle the responsibilities of providing stats. Sure, some alphas don't realize that they sometimes can't provide like they once did (see: Jordan in Washington). But they were willing to isolate themselves and prove themselves alone.

Lebron, who in no way lived a cushy life, has a different perspective on how this friendship should manifest. You can see it in More Than A Game, the documentary that followed Lebron and his St. Vincent-St. Mary teammates through high school. The title speaks volumes about Lebron: I bet he loves basketball, but he values what it has given him: his best friends from before he became famous. Hell, he always said if he'd decided to go to college, he would've gone to Akron because two of his high school teammates, Dru Joyce III and Romeo Travis, were playing there.

My problem with Lebron is that he embodies this change. He is a great team player. It is ridiculous how talented he is. The man has amazing touch from everywhere, he could average a double-double every game if he wanted to focus more on crashing the boards or became more pass-first in his approach.

But Lebron has changed a standard that made the NBA so great: the greatest player never banked on another star to help him get a ring until his prime ended (see: Oscar Robertson, Gary Payton). Now, Lebron has helped to decrease competitive balance within the League by making these partnerships more acceptable. This summer, if the Hornets get contracted, we will probably see Chris Paul end up with the Knicks to team with Amar'e and Carmelo. As Steve points out, it remains to be seen whether Melo and STAT will take the opportunity seriously and step up their defensive games. I mourn the time when stars went for it on their own or with one companion followed by a supporting cast. But I cannot fail to mention, I am extremely excited to see these teams gather great players and wage more classic battles like we've seen throughout these playoffs.