I’m not the biggest fan of Sir LeBron, which has been well documented. I dislike Skip Bayless and the majority of the analysts over at ESPN (Colin Cowherd, Rachel Nichols, Michelle Beadle and Jason Smith are good) as well. So this is not about them, this is about the way business is done in sports media today. Everyone wants to get on LBJ because he’s not Michael Jordan yet. The overwhelming sentiment from the likes of Skip Bayless and his ESPN colleagues is that LBJ is a choke artist. James doesn’t have the “clutch” gene as Skip so famously says. LeBron is disappearing in the 4th quarter. Look before I launch into the numbers of this, let’s just talk about the humanity of this situation. I bring up humanity because I was listening to ESPN radio this morning, and Colin Cowherd was talking about the reasons he would prefer a major newspaper for his info over a common blog. He said some blogs are good, but most aren’t because they lack humanity. So I started thinking about that, and as I was thinking, I turn on ESPN 2’S “First Take” and there is Skip Bayless talking about LBJ and his disappearing act. Let’s make this clear right now, as our phantom Riot! member Anthony, said to me the other night “LeBron is the best player in the world; Duane Wade is the best player in this series.” So true, who is better than LeBron as a complete player? I can’t think of one. So let’s take skill out of the equation. Intangibles are big in the playoffs right? And LeBron is constantly being accused of missing that “clutch” gene. What happened against the Bulls? Or the Celtics? Oh I guess Skip and the haters have that selective memory thing, I get it. But let’s move on from there shall we? Let’s talk about “humanity.” Here’s the heart of the matter, what if LeBron is having a personal problem? What if one of his children are terminally ill, or he’s going through a break up? I know what you’re thinking “Jordan’s father died during a season and he still won.” True, but here’s the difference, the media coverage today is 10,000 times more intense than it was in the 90’s. Between blogs, twitter, paparazzi, 24 hour a day news and sports channels and the traditional news sources, if your famous for anything your life is on 24 hour a day, 365 day a year blast. Jordan never had to deal with that. So if you are having a personal issue, big or small, it’s major news in this world, and it’s probably hard to cope during a finals series where the weight of the world is put on you by everybody. It’s unfair. Now I’m not saying we should pamper the millionaire, hell no! What I’m simply saying is cover it for 15 minutes at the top of your show, and then move on like you normally would. 3 hours of “what’s wrong with LeBron” is very unnecessary.Now enough with humanity, what about the numbers? The actual meat and potatoes of this onslaught against LBJ is the numbers right? Check this; James is exactly 1 season off the Jordan schedule, not 10 (Jordan did it in 6, LBJ if he wins this year, 7). LBJ has 2 MVP’s so far, and MJ had 2 thus far in his career. Points are relatively close in MJ’s favor; Rebounds are relatively close in LBJ’s favor. These numbers are fairly irrelevant, other guys have had numbers before, but it’s all about the championships, right? Here’s the real deal, circumstances also help dictate if you win or not. Whether it is your supporting cast or how good the league is at the time. Who was LeBron’s Pippen? Who was LeBron’s Rodman? Even a Ron Harper, he didn’t even have one of those. There are a host of great players who never had the right guys around them. Ewing, Barkley, Nash, Kidd, Wilkins, Miller; all Hall of Famers, all zero titles. Did they come up short? Do they not possess a “clutch” gene? No! They never had the team, and they are not Michael Jordan. And guess what guys, LEBRON JAMES IS NOT MICHAEL JORDAN EITHER! He’s not, and he never claimed he was. Nobody is. MJ was one of a kind, just like Magic, and Bird, and Wilt before him. LeBron James is LeBron James, and The Riot! guarantees in 20 years it will be MJ, Wilt, Magic, Bird and LeBron. Mark my words. Just like in baseball. I have never heard “this guy is the next Babe Ruth.” Well of course not. You will never again see a 300 pound superstar athlete playing baseball, that guy is an Offensive Lineman for the Ravens today. You do get the occasional “this guy could be the next Montana” in the NFL, but the pressure is not as great. Why are we always looking for the next Jordan? We didn’t look for the next Wilt or Magic did we? I mean, I was 8 when Jordan entered the league, and media coverage of sports was still basically relegated to the last 10 minutes of a news cast, back page of the paper and ESPN in its infancy, so there wasn’t this much debate. And maybe that is truly the issue here, overexposure. Like I said earlier, it’s the way we do business these days and it sucks, even if it does benefit me. You see, without this current way of media coverage, I wouldn’t have this very outlet. So call me a hypocrite and that’s fine, but let’s stop the “LeBron is not Jordan yet” stuff already. If anybody in this league deserves the Jordan treatment, it’s Kobe. But that’s another story for another day. I hate LeBron James, and everything he does, but he’s the best player in the world even if he loses this series. Deal with that Skippy.
*So LeBron and the Heat-les lost this series last night and LBJ came up very small. With all that being said I still stick by what I said, even though I wrote it last week.
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