Lebron James is a tremendous
athlete for many reasons. He’s got a body like no other and plays with agility
never seen before. His athleticism is so unique and on another level that it
sets him apart from any other player in the game. Can Lebron ever become the
greatest player to play the game of basketball?! That is a very frequently
asked question, and my answer is NO. The fact that Lebron left his team to go
play with two other all-star caliber players (D.Wade & Chris Bosh) shows
that his competitiveness is not where it needs to be. When discussing the
situation, Michael Jordan said he wanted to beat his opponents, not join their
team. Although the Cleveland Cavaliers were not doing what they should have
been to make the team better i.e. surrounding Lebron with better players to
better equip the entire team, the fact that he joined a team to go and obtain a
Championship when he still could have won with the team he was on at some point
or another is bogus. He was considered the best player in the league and he
still is; therefore, there is no reason that he could not have obtained a ‘ring’
…he made it to the Championship twice with the Cavs and just couldn’t finish.
Now don’t get me wrong, the NBA has turned more into a business these days and
I can respect that, I can actually respect his decision to want to play in
Miami than Cleveland. Who wouldn’t, its Miami vs. Cleveland…now that’s an easy
decision. But the fact that he joined up with two other all-stars in his own
freewill vs. being traded was just absurd. Lebron has been with the Heat for a
few years now and still only has one ring.
To
even stand a chance at become the greatest player to ever play the game of
basketball he would at least have to win 7 championship rings because Michael
Jordan won 6. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird both said that they would never have
joined teams with one another, there was that competitive rivalry there
(which Lebron clearly doesn’t have). As
far as the way that Lebron did announce his move to Miami, that was just
uncalled for. On public television in front of millions of viewers, that was
just disrespectful. Granted the fact that ESPN made it this huge ordeal which
is something that the media does, it still wasn’t a good look for him. I don’t
even think Cleveland fans can necessarily be mad he left the city, because it’s
not his hometown, he’s from Akron people! At the same time though, the whole
decision on national television was raising a huge amount of funds that were
being donated to charity; furthermore, I do commend Lebron for that. All in
all, I can understand his decision and the way he did it for the fact that the
proceeds were being donated to charity (that’s an all-around good cause) but
what he did definitely tainted his legacy and that WILL NOT allow him to be
considered the greatest basketball player of all time.
Written by: Janelle Campbell
By: Taylor Cook
ReplyDeleteI cannot say that I agree with you about Lebron James not being able to be the GOAT. I do agree with you that he may have left in a very disrespectful manner, but he was just in pursuit of a championship ring. A lot of people forget that when Michael Jordan won all of his championships, he had an excellent supporting cast including Scottie Pippen who is considered one of the best defensive players of all time. I always bring up this example when having this debate, because when Michael Jordan left for one year to play baseball, Scottie Pippen led the bulls to one of the best records in the eastern conference. When Lebron James left Cleveland the team was the worst team in the NBA. It goes to show you that Michael Jordan had much more to work with than Lebron James. If they really wanted him to stay in Cleveland they would of answered his cry for a supporting cast. Lebron will eventually end up with more titles then Michael Jordan. Now that he has one ring on his finger, he knows how to get the job done and the success will only continue.
By: Taylor Brown
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very smart journal entry, however, I am going to respectfully disagree. LeBron has one ring because he was forced to be in Cleveland for far too long on a average (at best) team. I don't blame him at all for leaving Cleveland. He made a smart move to go to Miami, and I don't think it hurts his legacy at all. I agree that he needs to win more rings to get up to Jordan's level. However, don't forget the teams that Jordan played on weren't exactly average. He was surrounded by great talent during all 6 years that he won the championship, just as LeBron James is now. LeBron did what he needed to do to win rings, which is very respectable. The Cleveland organization handled LeBron James very poorly and I think because of that it is very unlikely that he returns back there, and frankly, I don't blame him. He still has the potential to be the greatest ever, he just has to conitinue to build his legacy in MIAMI.
I hate the classic conversation, “Who is the best NBA player of all time?” I think this is not even a rational conversation to have because it is all opinion based. To really look at comparing who is the best of all time you have to divide it up by eras. Kobe vs Lebron is a fair argument to conduct because they have both played at the same time with the same rules and relatively same competition. Lebron vs Magic, is not fair because the rules and competition were completely different.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, I think there will never be a clear “greatest of all-time”.
Taylor Redd
I would have to disagree and say that i do believe it hurts Lebron James Legacy that he left Cleveland to play in Miami with superstars because no matter how many rings he wins, he will still never be viewed the same. I would agree though with the statement, that if Cleveland would of gave him a better supporting cast they would have had one ring by now. However, they didn't and he had the opportunity at that point in his career to change teams, since that’s the nature of the business. This situation happens all the time within sports and it’s hard for fans like myself to get used to, but we as spectators must. When I look back at everything that has happened to this point, and Miami’s current 20 game winning streak. All I think to myself is mane, could you imagine the heat team if the Bulls never selected Derek Rose with the number one overall pick and picked Micheal Beasely. Then the heat could of potentially been maybe the greatest team of all-time with him on the same floor as Wade, Lebron, and Bosh.
ReplyDeleteby Anthony Pape