When Lebron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer of 2010, he had a particular outcome in mind in making his move to the sunny skies of Miami, Florida.  That outcome has been elusive to say the least.  In the process of pursuing that outcome, Lebron James has transformed himself from the most beloved superstar in the game of basketball to a public pariah who is skewered in the media no matter what he does.  The transformation of that image has had tentacles long enough, that its not extended to damage his game and his team’s chances of winning that elusive championship. 

The moment on the evening of July 8^th, 2010 when James, at the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich, Connecticut, uttered the phrase “I’m taking my talents to South Beach”, he shoved an avalanche down a snowy hill with many people on the path.  That was an avalanche that James could no longer have any control over.  Right after James announced his “decision”, I wrote a piece on the damage Lebron left in his wake.  (http://www.hoopscritic.blogspot.com/2010/07/damage-left-in-lebrons-wake-this-has.html)  As I look back in retrospect at that piece, I’ve realized that I never actually addressed where James has inflicted the most damage.    As much as the failed pursuit of James hurt the teams who chased him, it hurt James himself so much more. 

Lebron left Cleveland with a vision.  He had been to one NBA final as a Cavalier and was summarily swept by the Tim Duncan Spurs.  He was a little too young at the time and he didn’t have very much around him.  All of that was supposed to be solved in Miami.  Dwyane Wade was staying there and Chris Bosh was coming.  Lebron could play with his Olympic friends, win titles until it got boring and be the biggest sports star in the universe.  Unfortunately, something happened on the way to heaven.  There is so much that has happened and continues to happen that James never intended, let alone even envisioned. 

The avalanche he shoved down the hill starting wrecking things for him right from the beginning.  I see no need to rehash the unpleasantness of the made for TV special, “The Decision.”  There is no disputing the tremendous damage it did to James’ public image.  However, the “display” that critics still reference (with anger) is that wacko pep rally the Heat put on to introduce their new big three.  It was just as offensive to people and much weirder.  It played like a low end male Burlesque show, but I digress.  Up until this point, the large majority of James’ public perceptions were positive.  He took some heat for his odd demeanor in his last playoff series in Cleveland, but it was nothing compared to the blow back he got from The Decision and from The Burlesque Pep Rally.   

When the Heat began James’ first season in Miami 9-8, James’ expectation was that he could cherry pick his own scapegoat.  Lebron has always wanted to be coached by Pat Riley.  He figured if he treated his head coach, Eric Spoelstra like a substitute teacher, it wouldn’t be long until Riley took over.  What James didn’t count on was that Riley wasn’t interested in coaching and more importantly, in Miami, the inmates don’t run the asylum. 

James also didn’t count on the ongoing public debate that occurred in the middle of the 2010-2011 season about who’s team is it, James’ or Wade’s.  When James made the decision to come to Miami it never dawned on him that his greatness would be called into question.  Then, we he struggled down late in a few 4^th quarters, the media vultures started to circle in trying to paint James as Robin to Wade’s Batman.  Any grace period that James figured he’d be afforded was non-existent.  The national media had become leaders of an angry mob looking to figuratively harangue Lebron for having the gall to forsake humility.  He had become a public pariah, considered worthy of only scorn and derision. 

When the Heat hit the 2011 playoffs, things started to look up.  James hit a hand full of big shots to win games in the Boston and Chicago series and was a defensive standout in shutting down NBA MVP Derrick Rose spectacularly in the 4^th quarter of games 4 and 5.  The Heat were entering the NBA finals with confidence and momentum.  The reality of what James has envisioned, the title, the glory, the legacy, were all in his reach…but once again, something happened on the way to heaven. 

The Heat won game 1 of the finals over the Dallas Mavericks.  In game 2, Dwyane Wade hit a three point shot in front of the Mavericks bench to give the Heat a 15 point lead with 7:15 left in the game.  Wade stood with his hand in the air accentuating his follow through standing in front of the Mavericks bench in a blatant attempt to show up a proud, experienced Dallas team.  It was quite the immature move for a guy who earned a championship ring in his 3^rd year in the NBA.  He broke the Barry Sanders rule.  Sanders, a hall of fame running back for the Detroit Lions, never spiked the ball when he scored a touchdown.  When asked why he handed the ball to the referee after each score, his answer was that he wanted to act like he’d been there before.  Wade should have known better. 

The Mavericks won game 2 and set a series of events in motion that were difficult to recover from.  Dallas and their hungry veteran superstar Dirk Nowitzki were hungry.  Dirk, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and Shawn Marion realized his could be their only chance and they smelled blood.  Furthermore, James’ coach failed him.  In the Heat’s last 10 games of the playoffs, James played 45 minutes or more in 7 of them.  Where the whole world wanted to fry James for being a habitual failure in the 4^th quarter of games, the reality was that he was completely fatigued mentally and physically and every player on the Maverick roster knew it.  Nonetheless, the result was the same.  The Heat lost in 6 games because James was a choker who chronically froze in late game clutch situations….at least that’s the narrative the large majority of the basketball watching public believed regardless of the fact that the Heat lost to a better, more experienced basketball team. 

One of the best things that could have happened to James was the NBA lockout.   It took the aftermath of “The Decision” and his finals loss and put them on the back burner of the public’s consciousness.  James stayed completely out of the labor pissing match and instead focused on improving his game.   When the lockout was solved, James returned to action with the semblance of a basic back to the basket post game.   His early season play showed this improvement.  Furthermore, James returned from the extended offseason with a determination to use his superior physical stature more to his advantage.  He checked his frequent three point shooting at the door and focused on playing his offense closer to the rim.  The results were outstanding, but once again, something happened on the way to heaven. 

The NBA All-Star game arrived the last Sunday in February.   The Heat had won 11 out of 12 before the break.   The West had a big lead in the 4^th quarter and James decided to ratchet up the level of competition and led the East on a furious comeback.  Unfortunately for James, he had the temerity to pass the basketball while down 2 points on the last possession of a glorified exhibition game.  Kobe Bryant made an attempt to bait James into taking a shot and somehow this became a referendum on James’ manhood.   Most of all of his hard work and upgraded play was being nullified by a passing in an All Star game.  It wasn’t exactly what Lebron envisioned when he was working to improve his game. 

Then, to add insult to injury, Lebron committed another mortal sin.  After engineering an awesome 4^th quarter charge, James had the ball in his hands down 1 point on the last possession of the game.  In a simple pick and pop set, James throws a perfect pocket bounce pass to Udonis Haslem for an open corner jumper.  This is the same shot the Heat get on the same play that James runs countless numbers of times with Chris Bosh, who happened to miss that game with an injury.  Haslem missed the shot and Lebron is painted in the media as a coward who is afraid to take the last shot.  The term “4^th quarter issues” gets virtually attached to James.  The phenomenal first half he put up becomes meaningless again.   The Heat’s 26-8 record at that point was a mere footnote in the narrative of Lebron’s fear of the fourth quarter. 

Lebron ends up winning his third MVP award for his tremendous season, but this 4^th quarter choker narrative continues to take on a life of its own.  That was incredibly apparent in the game 4 of the first round of the 2012 playoffs against the Knicks.  The Heat were ahead 3-0 in the series and the Heat were down 2 on the final possession of the game.  The play they run is a pick and roll with Wade having the ball and Bosh as the screener.  Depending upon who you talk to, either Wade changed the play on Spoelstra in the huddle or Spoelstra was swayed to put it in Wade’s hands.  The details are immaterial.  The bottom line is that the Heat have the MVP of the league, the best player on planet earth, but somehow the guys surrounding Lebron James (players and coaches) have deemed him unsuitable to be involved in a game deciding possession.  It’s like feeding Superman a kryptonite cocktail right before the big showdown with Lex Luther.    Despite Wade missing a shot on a poorly executed possession resulting in a loss, the Heat manage to dispose of the Knicks in 5 games. 

The biggest development in James’ best laid plans of mice and men going awry occurred right away in game 1 of the Heat’s second round series versus Indiana.  Chris Bosh’s groin injury would materially alter the cocoon James had built for himself playing with Wade and Bosh.  The Heat already were stretching James thin as their top wing defender, point guard, and leading scorer.  Now James would be forced to be the Heat’s best big man also.  The Heat struggled to adjust to life without Bosh, yet James’ leadership would be what thrusts Miami forward. 

From the time James chose to play in Miami, there were many unintended consequences of his actions that could have been anticipated with some foresight and humility.   However, the wrinkle that James was faced with in game 3 of the Indiana series was one he never could have reasonably predicted.  His fellow Heatle, Dwyane Wade had a physical and emotional meltdown for the ages that allowed most of his ability to play basketball completely vacate his body.  Wade got into an ugly sideline argument with Spoelstra.  He was playing with a sore knee and what added insult to injury was the fact that Indiana’s big wings, Danny Granger and Paul George, were throwing Wade around like he was a rag doll.  Wade came completely unglued emotionally. 

The story that has been told is that Wade took a ride to Bloomington, Indiana on the off day and met with the self proclaimed Wade Whisperer, his former college coach and Indiana University head basketball coach, Tom Crean.  Crean may have had a good talk with Wade, but it was James who put Wade and the rest of the Heat team back where they belonged 

First of all, after game 3, James was the one pacing the sidelines reminding each and every teammate that they could only lose one game that night.  He reminded them that no matter what, game 4 would start, the score would be 0-0.  Then, when game 4 did start, James not only carried the load, but he made it his business to get Wade going.  After Wade started slow again, James found Wade for a few back door layups.  He would later say that the best thing he could do for a struggling scorer was to get him a few easy baskets.  The simple act of making it easier for Wade caused Wade to find his game again and the Pacers couldn’t touch the Heat after that.  As an exclamation point, James hit three shots in a row in the last two minutes of game 6 to put Indiana away.  After this series, there will never be a debate again about “who’s team’ this version of the Heat belongs to.  This is now and will remain Lebron James’ team. 

It’s all in front of James for the taking right here and now.  He’s going to have to go up against the winner of Boston-Philadelphia.  The Heat match up wonderfully with the Sixers and the Celtics are too thin in the rotation and too banged up to beat the Heat.  In the finals, Lebron will either play the Ghost of Stolen Legacies Past or the Ghost of Stolen Legacies Future.  He either gets Tim Duncan and the Spurs, who made short work of James’ Cavaliers in the finals 5 years ago or he faces Kevin Durant’s Thunder.  If James loses to Durant, he will be a few steps behind Durant in the race for the best player of this generation. 

Lebron is 27 years old.  He has been ridiculously famous from an absurdly young age.  He let his ego get the best of him 2 years ago in handling his free agent departure from Cleveland.  He has acknowledged and apologized for his mistakes but he continues to play with a virtual target on his back as far as criticism is concerned.  For a player with his other worldly ability, the levels of scorn and hatred are almost surreal..  His best chance to cleanse all of that and make it a foot note on an elite legacy is right here and now.  Lebron has showed through his abilty, leadership, unselfishness, and competitive spirit, that he’s ready to win a title.  There’s only one thing left to do……