Even when the Heat win, LeBron can’t.  Why it’s time to give up the grudge, and play nice with one of the NBA’s most talented players

SCOTT JACOBS

“This dumb toast is gonna haunt me forever” – Jason Segal, I Love You Man.

If you saw the 2009 movie which stared Paul Rudd and Segal, you remember the line.  It’s one of many in a really funny buddy-buddy comedy.  If you didn’t that’s okay too: it’s not exactly a reference that is difficult to explain.

Segal spends the entire movie developing good will and an awesome friendship with Rudd’s character, and then in an ill-fated toast, tells Rudd’s fiance at their engagement party, that she should return the favor, because Rudd is such a pleasure giver.

So what’s the relevance here to sports?

Segal’s toast was LeBron’s decision.  The one move that no matter what he does (or doesn’t do) will seemingly haunt him forever.  Halfway to a championship, LeBron still can’t win.  He ‘embarrassed’ Cleveland by divorcing them on national television on a stupid show that generated remarkable buzz and set the stage for an NBA season unlike any other.  I get why he’s that ultimate “love to hate him player,” but the resentment towards James has gotten out of control to the point where it’s completely irrational. 

One minute he’s Jordan, the next minute he’s Pippen.  One minute the greatest talent to ever take a basketball court, the next he’s LeBum, trending on Twitter to the enjoyment of millions worldwide.  When he celebrated emotionally after beating the Boston Celtics in the second round it was ‘too early.’ When he’s missing shots late he gets blamed for not deferring to Wade.  When Wade is hot and LeBron defers to him, like he did in game 3, it’s because he’s not man enough for the moment.

Do you hear yourself America?  Do you hear how uninformed and maniacally ridiculous you sound? LeBron has become some sort of drug forAmerica’s conscience.  It’s either an extreme high or an extreme hate.  I’m fully convinced that at this juncture no matter what he does the rest of these playoffs LeBron cannot win.  I mean, sure his team is just two wins away from claiming the title they all came together to get in just year one of an experiment that took the sports world by storm, but LeBron cannot win with ‘us.

Us being the sports fan.  Us being the sports media.  If quarterbacks and coaches get too much blame in football, LeBron gets too much praise and too much disdain in hoops.  There is officially no healthy medium.  And maybe he put this on himself, but c’mon people, even when he wins, he still manages to lose.  America is officially in love with hating LeBron.

Hate is great in sports.  Let’s face it: everyone loves to hate the villain.  It makes sports more fun.  It drives more interest, it makes people more passionate, it leads to killer ratings.  Dallas is America’s love-child right now unless you’re in Florida, and even then there’s plenty of Heat hatred to go around.

But let’s not blame LeBron for everything.

Besides thanking the man for helping the NBA became the premier sports league in North America in terms of interest (since the NFL has been asleep for months), LeBron has also helped drive up competitiveness.  All year everyone wanted to beat the Heat.

Well, now the Heat are up 2 games to 1 in the NBA Finals, and the latest dirt on James is that he’s now riding shotgun to Dwyane Wade’s rising legacy.  I love Wade.  He’s one of the premier talents in the sport, and his old ad campaign for Converse, “Fall down 7 times, get up 8,” is as true about his play as any in the sport.  But people have a short memory span.

LeBron carried Miami in the Conference Finals.  He was The Guy against the Celtics when Miami needed a killer bucket or big time three.  James didn’t do it alone of course — no one player can — but he’s had some epic moments in these playoffs that people are always ready to overlook the second he shows himself to be human.

After game 3, people are now saying that LeBron isn’t a primetime player, that Wade is better, and that James is just tagging along to Wade’s cape as he takes the so called King to a championship he could never win on his own.  It’s all completely ridiculous.

LeBron and Wade are both great players.  When everyone said they were too similar and did the same things, they figured out a way to not just co-exist, but to thrive off each other.  When everyone said the Heat couldn’t win in crunch time both guys took it upon themselves to prove otherwise.  When people laughed at the Heat after a game 1 beatdown in Chicago, Miami rolled off 4 straight wins, including their incredible game 5 comeback.

Yet as soon as LeBron looks mortal he’s the scapegoat.  He’s the bad guy.

Greatness isn’t allowed to have an off-game or two?  I think LeBron has exuded more greatness and a greater maturity than at any time in his career by deferring to Wade, when the man who Shaq once dubbed Flash is boiling lava hot.  To the outside sports fan LeBron joining Wade and Bosh in Miami is a copout — proof that he couldn’t do it on his own.

But why does greatness have to be labeled in such staunch terms?  Why does greatness always have to amount to being perfect every night?  Earlier in his career LeBron and Wade couldn’t have co-existed, because LeBron wanted the ball with the game on the line, even if it wasn’t his night.  But now LeBron is different, and realizes that there will be nights where he is not the best option. Does that make him any less great?

Do we really need any more proof at how gifted of a player this guy is?  I’ll be the first to say that he has his moments where he looks disoriented and tries to do much, but what player doesn’t?  The only difference is everything he does is scrutinized 10 times more.  Blame the decision. Clearly everyone else is.

But if the decision had taken him and Wade to New York, and the Knicks were in this position, Knicks fans would be just as thrilled as Heat fans.  This stems from a great deal of jealousy.  If you as an NBA fan were offered this team you’d be lying if you said you would turn them down.

I wrote in an earlier column that Miami is breaking the rules (legally) and cutting in line of other teams that have waited longer than them, but that’s life.  LeBron isn’t going to make every game winner.  And yes — I love the idea of loyalty.  Let’s face it: Wade will always be bigger in Miami than LeBron cause he started there, and we’ve seen him grow up.  But that shouldn’t change the fact that LeBron has been every bit as instrumental as Wade has to getting Miami to where they are today.

Which is two wins from a championship.

So omit the fact that LeBron scored 10 points in the last two minutes against Boston in game 5 to eliminate the C’s, or that he hit clutch three after clutch 3 against the Bulls to help take them out too.  Sure, he’s been a little off in these Finals, and Wade would be the MVP if it was announced today, but who cares?  In an 82 game season with an additional two and a half months of playoffs, LeBron has 1 or 2 forgettable games occasionally (which for many would be career nights) and immediately we dub him just another bum riding the coat-tails of a star.

The truth is: Wade and LeBron wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for Chris Bosh.  Or Mario Chalmers.  Or Joel Anthony.  Down the list we go.  They may not get the same star treatment or have comparable skills, but it takes a team to win a championship.  Even though Miami sold it’s new team with flash, it’s been the hard-nosed rugged defense that they’ve played that has them this close to a ring.

A ring no one besides Heat fans want them to have.

Which is fine.  Because jealousy is a two way street.  Plus, it’s easier to find fault, than to give praise.  For sports fans it’s often more fun.

But at the end of the day, should Miami win the NBA title in their first year together, it doesn’t matter how they did it.  Their goal was to win it all — and that’s what they’re trying to do.  Including LeBron. Screw the rest.

Let’s not worry about his legacy right now.  Let’s enjoy the moment — no matter whose side you’re on.  Quite frankly, it’s hard to remember the last time the NBA was this much fun.

Photo: AP

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