Missed Opportunities: The LeBron James Story (Part II)

(If you missed Part I of today's piece, it can be found here.)

Oy.  Not even Muammar Gaddafhi has taken this much damage in the past 12 months.

LeBron James, at this time last year, was the enigma of the nation.  Everyone wondered just where he would be headed as a free agent.  He was the consensus choice as the top player in the world.

Frustrated by years of a good-but-not-great supporting cast around him in Cleveland, Bron-Bron famously decided to take his talents to South Beach, in the process dethroning "taking the Cleveland Browns to the Super Bowl" as the greatest euphemism for taking a dump in existence.  Sorry, Cleveland.  It was a hell of a run.  Heh... run.

Two days later, Miami's Big Three threw a welcome party that stands, in hindsight as the single greatest moment in comedy history.  In doing so, they managed to piss off the rest of the league--and their fans--to no extent.  As they say, pride comes before the fall.

And fall he did.  We've learned some things this past year.

• You can't win a championship with your entire cap space tied up into three players.  Your 4-8 or 4-9 guys in your rotation matter just as much as the first three.  And when your fourth best option is Udonis Haslem or Mike Bibby, well, that's generally cause for concern.
• I really hope that Chris Bosh rented his place in Miami.  There will be a scapegoat for this collapse, and it sure as fuck won't be LeBron or Wade.  It wouldn't shock me in the least to see him moved this summer.
• That being said, forget about the Greatest of All Time discussion for now, LeBron.  Not only has your status as the best player in the league been wrecked, you're clearly not even the Alpha Dog on your own team.
• Furthermore, playing with Wade has shined a microscope on all of LeBron's biggest flaws.  He's mentally weak, and tends to shy from big moments (we knew this, but didn't see it because he was so far and away the best player in Cleveland--even if he was a blubbering pussy, they had nobody else come crunch time).  He has no low-post game (if he fixed this, there's no doubt that Miami wins a title with him at some point).  He has no "finishing move" a la Jordan's drive-stop-fade (later stolen by Kobe Bryant--and if you're keeping score at home, if he fixed both this AND his low-post softness, the Heat would be a lock for multiple titles).  To the observer (hiya, folks!), he appears far more concerned with being a brand than a basketball player.
• You can't win a title with your cap space tied up in your top 3 guys.  Role players matter.  Oh, did we cover this already?  Well, it's important enough to warrant two mentions.
• LeBron James is as mentally weak as any athlete we've ever seen with these physical gifts.

Look at how he played after he got punked out by Wade in Game 3.  Is it just me, or did it look like he'd never had anyone do that to him before?  Not a teammate, not a parent, not a teacher--the man has literally spent his entire life being told "yes."  You can't shy away from the limelight, then freak out when someone pulls rank on you.  That comes with the territory.  You were the one who didn't want the pressure--with that responsibility gone goes the freedom to run your own show.

And please don't throw the triple-double in my face.  I watched that game.  I've been watching basketball since I was 5 years old and my dad took me to see a big rookie named Shaquille O'Neal.  In those 17 years, I've never once seen a less impressive triple-double.  It almost seemed like he was aiming for 10 rebounds and assists just to shut up the critics.  "See, I'm contributing!"

When LeBron got crushed by the Lakers in the Finals, it was because they were a great team and he was only a great player on a good team.  When he got beat by the Celtics in the twilight of his Cleveland career, it was because they were a great team and he was only a great player on a good team.  Last summer, he attempted to rectify this.  But he went about it all wrong--instead of going to a situation that complemented his unique and dynamic skill set, he chose Miami--which already had Wade, a similar player in style who actually believes in himself and can inspire his teammates to step their games up.  A year later, and he's still an enigma--but he's not the same enigma, and certainly from his standpoint it's a change for the worse.

So what happens next?  I honestly don't know.  Maybe LeBron takes the slights to heart.  Maybe he hits the gym this off-season with a passion we've never seen before.  Maybe he develops and tunes his low-post game.  Maybe he figures out how to close out a game.  Maybe he turns the negativity into one of the best posty-hype runs in history.  Maybe his confidence is shaken for good.  Maybe he grows to resent Wade for bitching him out in front of America.

No matter what happens, we are all witnesses.