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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Chosen One left the money and ran.
Until 9:28 Thursday night, there was still the thought in Cleveland that reports LeBron James would go to Miami as a free agent were a vast smoke screen, like the volcano in Iceland. But they were not.
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Defecting players usually say sports are a business. But while James' decision certainly crushes businesses around The Q, for Cleveland, this was personal. How could it possibly be business when the Cavaliers could pay $30 million more over a long-term contract than any of his suitors?
James is the local legend who severed his ties with the area and now becomes as reviled as any sports figure other than Art Modell. He is the great player who left unfinished business after quitting on his team on the court and left unanswered questions by quitting on his city off it.
The medium for the bad news was ESPN, which figured. The network represents much of what is loud, obnoxious and empty in sports today.
The smiley face that Miami will put on this will be that James placed a chance to solidify one of the NBA's potentially great teams ahead of his ego. But as the dog-and-pony show of James' free agency shows, it was always all about him.
There is no doubt, however, that Cleveland enabled him with the huge billboard-sized banner across from The Q; with the "Witness" signs, as if he were able to perform miracles; with the sing-along by city and state officials, pleading for him to stay. There was a clear indication from the moment he wore a Yankees cap to a New York-Indians playoff game in what was then called Jacobs Field that he felt he could do anything he pleased. No one in the Cavaliers' organization would ever tell him no.
What a surprise that he became monstrously self-centered.
In the end, he proved not good enough to win it all, even with a good supporting cast.
By waiting to leave until after his high-profile basketball camp in his hometown of Akron, by surrounding himself there with current and former Cavs teammates, and by scheduling a one-hour national cable "event" just to exploit this city's suffering, he hit the trifecta in deplorable behavior.
He had before invoked all the connotations of home, only to leave it. He had before summoned an image of family, only to reject it. He had before cherished loyalty, only to betray it. He wears "Family" and "Loyalty" tattoos on his torso. Dermabrasion, please. The sooner, the better.
By contrast, Tim Duncan could have left the Spurs for Orlando, almost did, then stayed and won three of his four championships afterward. Kobe Bryant almost forced his way out of Los Angeles, then stayed and won two championships among his five overall, in just the last two years.
With James, there was always a childish, self-aggrandizing aspect to his game and a divided focus on the importance of winning. He was caught up in hosting the ESPYs and "Saturday Night Live" or making a proposed movie. Such perks once followed winning, but in his case, they preceded it.
He always wanted everyone to look at him. He valued trick shots, attempting looping, underhanded efforts from halfcourt before the game. He indulged in showy, copycat gestures like the pre-game powder throw. (Kevin Garnett did it first). He was not the winner we thought, not by a long shot in the Boston series. He was the fabulous curiosity, the bearded lady, the dancing bear.
He rubbed it in, dancing and preening, when the Cavs won and, at least twice, against Boston in 2008 and Orlando in 2009, he left without shaking hands after they lost. By joining the stocked-with-superstars Miami Heat, he becomes on the court what his rooting interests in the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys made him off it -- a front-runner.
As far as the "multiple" championships go that the abdicated "King" thinks will ratify greatness, is that really so? Until the rise of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson in the 1980s and '90s, Jerry West and Oscar Robertson were commonly considered the best guards in NBA history. They won two championships between them. Years of excellence established their reputations, despite the obstacles the Bill Russell dynasty presented.
James will be compared to Modell, although NBA basketball, of sorts, will continue here, and NFL football, the biggest thing in town by far, did not for three years. Of course Modell should have sold to a local buyer, but he was down to his last resort in order to stay in the game when he moved the Browns to ease his financial burdens. James had plenty of time, at age 25, to redeem his feeble efforts against Boston. Garnett, for example, stayed a decade in a less competitive situation in Minnesota and left more honorably.
Modell's move meant he sacrificed his chance for his sport's Hall of Fame.
James -- despite the problems he and Dwyane Wade will have in sharing the ball, despite the need to keep the third mercenary, Chris Bosh, happy too -- probably thinks he has won the world.
Everywhere but home, although he said he will still live in Akron.
Because home is gone. Because it's personal here too.
_________________ spanky wrote: Elmhurst Steve wrote: In the grand SCEME (not scope, Dumbass) pf things Awesome.
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