I do not know LeBron James. I know of him. I watch him on TV. And, by golly, I have heckled him with the best of them over the last two years. I mean, seriously: The Decision? I will freely admit I cheered for teams I could care less about just so they would beat LeBron. LeBron = entitled, immature, and maniacally egotistical.
However. That all changed beginning with this latest NBA Finals. And it didn't change because LeBron won. It changed because LeBron changed.
Don't get me wrong, in the beginning I was firmly entrenched in my anti-LeBron position. I stumbled across this article, which I admit affronted my beliefs a bit. Most begrudingly, I had to acknowledge a bit of respect for the fact that post-1st-Miami Heat NBA Finals Loss of 2011 LeBron James sought the wisdom of NBA sages. Not only did he do that, he apparently put his money where his mouth was, and followed it up with action, working out and learning from Hakeem Olajuwon.
Also, as Sexy McSexy pointed out, LeBron is under an immense amount of pressure. The scrutiny is unbelievable, and taking that into consideration, well... Hmph. Well. (Doc Rivers agrees.)
I was still rooting for OKC. A nice, friendly team, no chips on their shoulders, a lot of seemingly good characters. And LeBron was doing what players/Miami does, fouling and not getting called for it:
Not only did he grab him on the way up, he elbowed him on the way down. So there, see? LeBron is still a jerk.
But...but darn it all, if he didn't get hurt and play through it - and not in an annoying, "I am so hurt, but look at what I'm doing for my team" drama queen kind of way. In my expert opinion, this was "It hurts, but this game is more important than that, and I've got to give it my all." I can respect that.
And then. THEN. Game 5. I tried finding you the video, failed, so you have to suffer through my recap:
Mario Chalmers is getting a bit cocky, egging on the crowd, swaggering back down the floor in the 3rd or 4th quarter when Miami is up by 20+...Whereas last year that was LeBron, this year LeBron saw it happening, called Chalmers over, and admonished him (not rudely, but maturely, focused) "Not yet. Play ball."
LeBron. You have grown up. You appear to have matured, to be focused, less egotistical, and much more in control of yourself. I don't mind that you guys won. In fact, after demonstrating such a change of character since The Decision, I am glad you got your title. And I look forward to seeing you now become that superstar player that everyone will root for. Well done.
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