MLK and LBJ

"...Where a man will be judged not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character."

It is the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 82nd birthday, and as such, it's important to remember those words he spoke 48 years ago on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. While he was speaking on behalf of a particular group of people in African-Americans, those words apply to everyone, no matter who they are and what they look like. The best and only way to truly know the measure of someone is by finding their true colors.

The content of their character.

With that in mind, and the Miami Heat coming into Chicago tomorrow night, I want you to consider the main reason the "Heatles" will not win the NBA title this season.
LeBron James is a punk.

Keep dreaming, Cleveland

It probably seems like an eternity now, but July was only six months ago. Back then, everyone wanted LeBron. There were ad campaigns, websites, an endless amount of talk show hours and water-cooler discussions devoted to the subject.

Where was LeBron going?

My college friend K-Mac is from the Cleveland area, and the whole LBJ saga had him strung wire-tight. He went from "There's no way he's leaving" (April) to "I hope he doesn't, but he'll probably end up with the Clippers" (June). The night of "The Decision", I texted him to express my condolences.

My condolences, for goodness' sake. Like his favorite uncle had died or something. He texted back, "I'm at a bar, crying into my beer right now."

Don't get me wrong; as a Chicagoan, I'm inclined to hate Cleveland sports. The Indians are perennial challengers to the White Sox, the Cavs have a long rivalry with the Bulls, and the Browns' fans are just weird. (What is a Brown anyway? And what does it have to do with the "Dawg Pound"?) But I understand that Cleveland has been waiting a long time for any kind of a champion. Basketball, baseball, competitive eating, something relevant that'll end up on ESPN.

With the departure of LeBron, it was the proverbial "slap in the face". You remember the scene in "The Family Man" where Nicolas Cage turns around and gets on the airplane, leaving Tea Leoni standing there sobbing?

Yeah, I know you haven't. Either way, Cleveland is Tea Leoni. And for the franchise player and hometown hero to dip like that, after saying he wasn't leaving until the Cavaliers won a chip?

Punk.

Tweet, tweet

Let's keep that "callous dumping of your girlfriend" analogy from the last paragraph going:

Say Nic Cage breaks up with Tea Leoni right at the airport, after they'd been dating all four years of college. He says he wants to further his career, but since it's completely unexpected, she's upset. She throws out some of his stuff that's at her place, burns some of it, smashes some of it. It's cathartic, therapeutic.

Meanwhile, Tea's dad hears about the whole thing and writes a scathing letter about Nic's character, calling him all sorts of names and saying that she'll be happy and find someone long before he does. He sees it, and instead of responding to him or her, he puts a response online, saying something to the tune "everything comes back around."
Remember, he dumped her, but now he's acting the part of the dumped.

Fast forward a few months. Nic's doing pretty well for himself after a rough start at his new job, even though all of his and Tea's friends from college absolutely hate him. He flips on the TV back home one night to find out Tea got in a fight with her new boyfriend and caught a terrible beating. In front of a bunch of people, no less.

What does Nic do? He goes online again. "You know you had it coming, right?" he says.

Any part of this sound a little out of the ordinary? Wrong, even? LIKE A PUNK MOVE, PERHAPS?

Switch "LeBron" with "Nic Cage", "the Cavs" with "Tea Leoni" and "the Lakers" with "new boyfriend" and you have the events of the last week. Kicking them when they're down. That's always a classy move.

Game recognize game

Things like this have happened before. Early 2000s Kobe Bryant ('Fro Kobe, for those older readers) was a petulant asshole, period. The statutory rape case proved that. But he's matured since then. It was the same for Jordan before him, and Magic before him.

LeBron is still young, but I don't see him growing beyond his current state. His previous on-court behavior and the shots he took in his commercial and last week's Twitter post suggest a lack of respect and humility. I won't say he needs those things to win a championship, but he'll need them to win more than one. Odds are there will a carousel of players revolving around Miami's triumvirate, and one of the players or coaches that LeBron disrespects this year or in the future could be on his team or his staff soon.

I think Bill Simmons said it best in The Book of Basketball when discussing the Bill Russell-Wilt Chamberlain debate: "Wilt was traded twice in his prime. Red [Auerbach] wouldn't think of trading Russ. Period." This is LeBron's second team in seven years. What are the chances he'll make it to a third?

Think about that this MLK weekend as the Bulls mix it up with the Heat. Whether he's on the floor or in street clothes nursing the ankle, LeBron James will never be more than what he is right now: a punk.

I don't know if Dr. King cared about basketball, but I don't think LBJ was part of his dream.

JS