We Are All Witnesses.

For the past couple of days and probably through the next couple of years, disparaging LeBron James has become something of a national pastime.

If James built up any goodwill before this free-agency frenzy, he certainly seems to have squandered it now.

A sampling of the World Wide Venom:

Straight Bangin‘: “LeBron has committed a crime against himself, against the league, and against history. He just fucked it all up.”

Jeff Pearlman: “Today, LeBron James introduced himself to the world as an egomaniac. Actually, capitalize that: an Egomaniac.”

Deadspin (Even the headline is NSFW): “Tomorrow is the day LeBron James becomes the most unlikable person in the NBA, and perhaps all of American sports. I used to think he was okay a year ago. No more. He’s the villain now.”

God help LeBron if anyone ever finds out that he fought dogs for sport.

But at this point, the hyperbole is more outrageous than the hype over LeBron’s decision.

I think Jerome Solomon at the Houston Chronicle has it mostly right:

Yet criticizing LeBron for convincing so many millions to be enamored with his every meaningless move would be like disparaging Will Ferrell because he has convinced millions to pay millions to watch his alleged-to-be-funny comedies.

James and Ferrell are geniuses. Not necessarily a basketball genius (yet) or a comedic genius (never), but geniuses just the same.

We live in a world in which for sport we throw daggers at those who get rich doing things we either wouldn’t do or wish we had thought of first. So we disparage the attention seekers who compete with others on national television for somebody’s hand in marriage. We chastise the money-loving geniuses who put these brain-cell-killing shows on the air. And we make fun of those who watch that mess, turning the attention seekers into “stars” and TV execs into wealthy people.

Why take this stuff so seriously?

Because in the end, it’s just a dude deciding what’s best for him and his career. He can’t help it that people actually care about this stuff. But he can – and did – find a way to capitalize off of the interest.

If anything, LeBron is showing us the reach of a fully empowered athlete. I’m loathe to begrudge an athlete taking advantage of their leverage, given that the window to do so is generally very narrow.

Anyway, by now, most of you who care know that LeBron is apparently leaning toward leaving his hometown and joining Superfriends Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami.

In the end, I think it makes the most sense. Winning a title will be much easier. He’ll have a lot more fun sharing the ball with D Wade than Mo Williams. And I don’t need many reasons to explain to you why it’s more desirable to live in Miami than Cleveland during the winter.

Also, playing in the shadow of Rony Seikaly and Harold Miner ain’t all that bad.

But leaving home is hard. Thus, I don’t buy this South Florida smokescreen.  What about y’all?

Joel

Joel Anderson —blackink —  writes about sports, politics, crime, courts, and other issues far beyond his competence at BuzzFeed. He has worked at media outlets in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Atlanta and contributed to a number of publications, including The Root and The American Prospect, among many others.

Latest posts by Joel (see all)

  • I just don’t know how Riley sold Wade, Bosh and James (or how they convinced themselves) that the three of them plus the Washington Generals could win a ring.

    Go to the Bulls and win now or go to the Knicks and win next year.

  • xtian

    He is going to Miami. Stephen A. (goofball that he is) had this nailed.

    Most interesting article on this topic is this from media age http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=144826

    He directed the ads towards companies he has endorsement deals with. On the one hand, he is a fully empowered athlete in a way that we have not seen since Jordan ran the NBA. On the other, ESPN has no credibility. This is worse than when they did not cover the Big Ben shenanigans.

  • bp

    I think Miami is a bad move. The star-loaded mega-roster has been tried in Portland, Dallas, Phoenix, and Denver; it has only worked once to win a ring – for K.G., Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce in Boston.
    Also, if Lebron personally has any pride invested in the Lebron vs. Kobe rivalry that Nike and the sports media has cooked up, then he probably won’t go to Miami. Even if he finally does win a championship, doing it in Miami with Wade and Bosh would tarnish the luster of the achievement. Kobe didn’t go chasing groups of All-Stars around to stack the deck for his rings.

    • The only reason the Celts Big Three won that ring is because of James Posey. That man has two rings for a reason.

      • xtian

        That’s a good point. You need the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th guy to contribute even on the greatest teams. Showtime Lakers had Magic, Kareem, and Worthy but you remember Michael Cooper and Byron etc because they made real contributions.

        Robert Horry made a career out of being that guy on what? 6 Championship teams?

        Probably the 3rd or 4th best Jordan Era Bulls highlight is him passing to an open Steve Kerr.

        Will the heat have the ability to bring in Mike Miller or JJ Reddick?

        • I like both those dudes — I can’t believe I’m saying that about Redick — but it seems like they may make too much.

          But a question is, who takes the shots down the stretch?

          • blackink

            I don’t think they’re getting their hands on Redick or Miller. And man, the list of free agents out there is pretty gnarly: http://hoopshype.com/free_agency.htm.

            On the bright side, Allen Iverson is available!

            • ouch. you wound me.

              but dude is in straight ring-chase mode right now. (too bad he’s useless at this point.)

  • That would be crazy if it ends up being Bosh, Wade, and James in Miami. Crazy and sad. Because they could have had the same thing in Chicago plus D Rose and Noah. Was it the ghost of MJ that steered them away?

  • The only thing that makes me think that it won’t be the Cavs is the way he’s handled this whole business. I’d assumed that leaving home would look too much like quitting, like he was giving up. But this whole special is so boneheaded that it’s not clear that he cares all that much about his brand.

  • Also, this:

    If anything, LeBron is showing us the reach of a fully empowered athlete. I’m loathe to begrudge an athlete taking advantage of their leverage, given that the window to do so is generally very narrow.

    This is so on point. He’s entering his prime, and this will probably be the last really huge deal he can sign. The list of superstar athletes whose earnings do not nosedive off a cliff when they retire begins and ends with Magic Johnson. He’s got to do what’s best for him and his people.

    • Christian

      I know. Your last two posts are perfect, GD. There exists such a conflicting duality in what he’s doing. I want to pump my fist like an overzealous tennis player in encouragement at what Lebron is doing, yet it also turns my stomach to see such blatant self-interest at work with this sensationalized special.

      • xtian

        The act itself is kind of awesome “Winning matters so much I would subjugate my ego to make sure that happens”. They are all leaving money on the table and looking to share the ball etc etc. Nice Job.

        The vehicle by which this decision was made however, tells the exact opposite story – which makes the whole thing feel like some sort of long con.

  • All this hype will make the Lakers 3peat even more special.

    That’s all I got..

  • Paula

    Seeing this spectacle left a bad taste in my mouth, mainly because it served as a reminder to all why a lot of people dislike the NBA. Not “basketball” — the NBA. It had nothing to do with the sport, or even Lebron James, but rather the idea of “Lebron James” being enough of megablockbuster to justify using a 2 second announcement to fill one hour of broadcasting.

    And, in fact, people have made a pretty consistent habit of criticizing/mocking/hating the hell out of Will Ferrell re his recent career choices.

  • :(