LeBron: From King to Jester

I didn't see the big production last night; I was traveling with my wife and two daughters, and got back to our house hours after it was done. I have watched highlights, and red scathing POVs like Tony Massarotti's in the Boston Globe. And I read Bill Simmons' preview as well.

So where do I sit? Well, LeBron is an idiot, that is clear. He basically raised a big middle finger to an entire fan base and possibly even a state, and he seems oblivious. And he did it on national television in a bizarre, inhuman way. All very strange.

What I Know

1. If I were a Cavs fan, I would hope for LeBron's eternal destruction until my dying breath. Not just because he left (potentially forgivable), but the spectacle he made of it, and the poor effort he showed in the playoffs against the Celtics.
2. I now have a new least-favorite team in the NBA, and yes, the Heat have eclipsed the Lakers. I think LeBron and Bosh are glory-hogging idiots, and Wade is only a level below them in that department. I may not hope for their eternal destruction, but I will hope for lots of disappointment for the Miami Heat.
3. There are no guarantees of NBA championships, even with LeFraud, Bosh and Wade on the roster. Are they the 2011 Eastern Conference favorites? Today, no. I need to see the rest of that roster. But likely Riley will work some magic and get a decent team together. But Boston is still pretty good, and Orlando is much deeper than Miami will be.

What I Believe

1. LeBron should have gone to Chicago. To me, it's all about legacy. If LeBron really wants to be remembered as one of the greatest ever, I think teaming with Derek Rose, Noah and Boozer in Chicago would have given him a contending team that would have been his team; there's no doubt to me that Miami is still Wade's team. And no, he should not have gone to the Knicks. They would have stunk for another 2-4 years. Easy decision, even if it is New York.
2. If LeBron, Bosh and Wade win a string of NBA titles (as I mentioned above, it's a tough feat even with all that talent), I think LeFraud's legacy is tainted by the way he left Cleveland and by the fact that he never won a title without Wade. Time will tell, but he might grow to detest Wade.

What We Don't Know

1. If this was all a foregone conclusion, and if all of the gameplaying by Wade, Bosh and LeBron was nothing more than media fodder, or as Simmons mentions in his column, a potential plot for a reality series, than shame on them. Totally pathetic.
2. How many (if any) title Miami will win. Like I wrote above, winning an NBA title isn't easy. Because of salary cap realities, Miami will not have a deep roster, and they will need health and some luck to win in 2011. After that? Who knows. A new collective bargaining agreement could make it easier or harder for them or easier. And a major injury to any three of them would stall the whole thing (and bring a evil smile to the entire city of Cleveland).
3. If LeBron is really one of the best players ever. I (among a host of others) have been touting this for years, that LeBron's statistical dominance makes him a once-in-a-generation type of player. But what kind? Will he be remembered like Bernard King? Oscar? Jordan? Magic? Bird? Malone? Winning titles in the NBA means more for a legacy than in any other of the US sports. Look at Robert Horry; good role player, who's status has sky-rocketed due to his being on so many championship squads. Know what we'd call the Horry equivalent in baseball? Lucky. But because basketball is such a team game, we give Horry extra credit for his teams' success, and we torch Karl Malone for his teams' playoff failures.

If someone reads this in 10 years (highly unlikely) or a column like Massarotti's, this may seem silly. LeBron may have 4 titles and have cemented himself as one of the greatest players of all time. The only people who may still care about any of this are Cavs fans and older fans who dislike him for the way he disrespected the game by making such a pathetic spectacle of himself. But I think it's more likely we've seen a likable hero transformed into a villain.