Lebron Criticisms Bordering on Absurd

Ripping LeBron James has become a national pastime. As soon as the Heat lose or he has a bad game, everyone is in full force to rip the face of the NBA. This has happened ever since he made the decision to take his talents to South Beach.

Make no mistake. If the Heat lose to the Spurs in the NBA Finals, James will take the blame whether it’s fair or not. It’s become a cool thing to do.

It’s ridiculous why we still rip the Heat superstar despite winning two championships and going to the NBA Finals for four straight years. We are on his case for not playing through cramps in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. What does it say about us that we can’t appreciate greatness with a player who is only 29 years old?

It comes down to The Decision. James lost everyone when he made his decision to play for the Heat on national television. There are fans that are still sore about his behavior to this day. It shows how they have long memories to the point they have been petty about it.

It’s understandable why fans are angry that he embarrassed a tortured fanbase by saying he is dumping their town on national television. He admitted he was wrong. It’s time to forgive him considering we have made mistakes in our lives that we regret.

There are Knicks fans who thought the Akron product was a wimp for not wanting to deal with the pressure of playing in New York. That itself is laughable. He liked New York, but he did not think he could win with the Knicks being that no superstar wanted to play there, either.

There are fans that have an issue with the NBA star teaming up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to win a championship rather than winning it by himself. That’s the only fair criticism that they got.

It’s one thing to root for him to lose, but to bash him after the Heat lose is unbecoming of fans. It’s obviously personal. It’s a shame to see this.

We should be celebrating greatness. This is what watching sports is about. We like being entertained. James does this. He always puts on a great show every night. He does things that we dream of doing. He makes the most of his talent. He puts in the work unlike most stars who gets by with talent. He is a guy that wants to be better.

We should be embracing the Miami Heat superstar, not hating him. Guys like him don’t come often. We have pined for a star to be like Michael Jordan since he retired. We have one, and we don’t like him. It doesn’t make sense.

This shows sports fans in America are irrational. It makes us wonder how we are any different than those hooligans that watch soccer in England.

There’s no question James would be beloved if he stayed in Cleveland or New York. The problem is he was never going to win in either places. No superstar wanted to join him to play in Cleveland, which is why he left in the first place. As for New York, he did not trust James Dolan to help him win a championship, which is understandable since he has been a horrible owner for the Knicks forever.

No one should blame him for going to Miami. It’s a good bet anyone would do the same thing he would have done if they were in his position. So that’s why it’s hypocritical and laughable anyone would have a problem with him.

We shouldn’t have to wait until he retires to appreciate greatness. We shouldn’t be in a position to rue what it was with James like we are currently doing with Jordan. We shouldn’t be taking it for granted.

Odds are good we won’t see a player like James. Think about how long we have to wait to find a player like Jordan. That’s why it sad to see folks dying to see the Heat superstar fail just to rip him.

Skip Bayless rips him for entertainment reasons. It’s hard to take him seriously. He will be the first to say that if he drank truth serum.

We rip him because it makes us happy and content.

Maybe James had the right idea when he said once about fans that are rooting for him to fail are fans that will have same personal problems like they did yesterday.

Instead of growing up, we are petty and jealous about a grown man making a decision that we wish we did in being successful.

Contact or follow Leslie Monteiro at @LightRodWriter

Leslie Monteiro

Leslie is a contributor for Lightning Rod Sports. He covered high school sports in Bergen County out in North Jersey, and has written op-ed columns on sports such as Bleacher Report and NY Sports Digest.

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