Lebron James might be the most unjustifiably hated figure in sports history.

The Decision was a bad move, awful in fact. Lebron's journey to becoming the most hated athlete in America started on that ill-fated evening in July of 2010. He has apologized repeatedly for the colossal blunder and has now went back to Cleveland in an attempt to make amends. I understand why people were angry but I think many fail to realize why going to Miami was the best thing for him and why it was not an act of disloyalty or fear of a challenge.

The Decision and formation of "The Big 3"

The argument of him going to Miami "to buy a Championship" or to "get easy rings" is pretty weak. We all now know that Bosh and Wade for the most part did not live up to expectations, particularly near the end. There have been numerous trios that were better than James/Wade/Bosh that won Championships. Look at the all-time greats that won it all. They didn't leave their team because they did not have to. Jordan, Kobe, Bird, Magic, Duncan, Thomas, etc all played for organizations that were instrumental in building these powerhouse teams. Rarely, if ever, does a superstar win rings in his own. Help from the front office leads to help on the court. Cleveland gave Lebron....wait for it.... Mo Williams. Seriously? Does no realize Bird didn't win until Boston made a trade for Parrish and McHale? How come Shaq doesn't get blasted for being a journeyman? Magic was surrounded by All-Stars and Hall of Famers on a team that maybe the overall best organization in the NBA. No one puts an asterisk by Garnett/Allen/Pierce's names. Chris Paul doesn't get much flak for wanting to leave New Orleans. Does anyone remember Kobe threatening to leave if his team did not get better? Where's all the criticism towards Dirk for only winning one Championship after being on very good teams for over a decade? I could go on and on, but I am not trying to downplay the accomplishments of others. I am simply showing that if you want to throw rocks at LeBron, it is only fair to throw rocks at a laundry list of other great players as well. 

I feel like there is an unwritten standard that has been created for the sole purpose of condemning Lebron. I pointed out many examples above of great players either leaving to go to other teams or great players not winning until they had substantial help brought to their team. It seems the consensus by deduction is that it is okay for the best player on a team to demand All-Star players be brought to town, but it is NOT okay for that player to leave town and go team up with those same players on another team. I will admit that what James, Wade and Bosh pulled off was a pretty extreme example of players teaming up but by no stretch was it the first time. In the minds of many, perhaps there is a line in the sand that Lebron crossed. Crossing that line turned him into an instant villain. There is a cause and effect to all of this though. I can not think of a time when a player as good as Lebron stayed with a team and organization as dysfunctional as The Cavs for 7 years. We will never know for sure, but do you really, really believe Jordan, Bird, Kobe or Magic would have stayed in Cleveland one minute longer? Would the aforementioned players have been able to will that team to one, let alone multiple Championships? If you answer with an unequivocal "YES" then I believe you are fooling yourself. Lebron knew that he wasting his talent trying to bring a Championship to Cleveland. As great as he is and was, one man can only do so much. In order to reach that pinnacle we all knew he could, he had to look elsewhere. You would have done the same. All of this is just what got him to the point of needing to leave Cleveland. What about once he arrived?

Winning and losing

I can fully admit that Lebron was a major and likely deciding factor in Miami losing to Dallas in the 2011 NBA Finals. That much is not up for argument. Unless Lebron goes on to win 3, 4 or 5 more titles then that loss to The Mavericks will be a blemish to his legacy. So here he is......lambasted by many for leaving Cleveland in the manner he did and then failing to come through on the biggest stage when all the stars were aligned for him to finally win that coveted Championship. What did he do after that? He was humble in losing. He gave credit to Dallas. He took blame for the loss. He apologized for The Decision. He came and won two Championship in a row. Lebron was the best player on those Championship teams. He had numerous clutch performances that single-handedly kept his team alive or helped them advance. He never complained when things got rough and played his best ball when it mattered most. He never said anything foolish to the media. He did not put himself or his team in a precarious position with any off-court shenanigans. Simply put, he kept his mouth shut and went out there and won Championships. He did everything people said he could not do and he did it the right way. When you consider all the pressure he was under to win from fans and critics alike, his path to redemption is just that much more impressive. Even through all this, he is still labeled as being a "loser", being a "choker" or being "arrogant".  Lebron has been to FIVE Finals in total, but people seem to think he isn't a winner. I would say getting to five Finals and winning two is better than only getting to one or two Finals and winning both. Sometimes I wonder if he would be criticized a bit less if only appears in two finals but wins them both. It doesn't matter which way you slice it, being the driving force behind five championship appearances (including four in a row) in eleven years is a feat that only the most elite athletes can lay claim too. Still, in the minds of many, Lebron has grossly under achieved.


Much of this ill-will went dormant for a couple years. It was the loss this year against San Antonio that reactivated the tired waves of disapproval from the masses. NBA fans all over the world were swift in blasting Lebron for this loss. I feel that this is also largely unfair. The bottom line is Lebron was by and large the only player in Heat uniform that actually showed up for this series. You could even make a case for him being the most consistent player in the entire series for either team. Unsurprisingly many fans claimed he failed again though. If he scored points early he got flak for not scoring later. If he scored late in the game then people would say it was too late. If he took a shot then he should have passed the ball. If he passed the ball then he should have been a hero and just taken the shot. San Antonio was the better team all around. To ask more of Lebron this series would have been asking him to do more than any other player has ever done in the history of the NBA. The Spurs were absolutely dominant. Their performance this year practically re-wrote the book on how to play as a team. I've never seen anything like it. Even though I was rooting for Lebron I could not help but sit and marvel at San Antonio's display of basketball excellence. It was a performance for the ages. I can't see how anyone can realistically pin this loss on Lebron, who is only but a man. San Antonio was a machine. Lebron tried to match San Antonio's determination but time and time again his teammates didn't step up when he needed them too.

$$$$$$

Let's look at money. Everyone loves money. Money is often a driving and deciding factor in where a player lands. For decades now athletes have been demonized for the startling amounts of cash they demand. As of this moment, Lebron has never even been the highest paid player on his team, let alone the entire league. When Lebron decided to take less than his worth to help out his team it all of a sudden became heresy. Some people went as far as to say it was cheating. The Spurs Big 3 took less to help their teams and it was hailed as a noble move. Why the double standard? Now he is demanding a max contract and, like clockwork, the "haters" are in full force with sentiments of disapproval. "He is just going to sign with the team that helps him line his pockets the most" is an often seen statement that has been reverberating around the web since the moment we learned he would seek a max deal. Lebron has been in the NBA for 11 years and has been a top 5 player for every single year and has been the BEST player in the NBA for 7 or 8 of those years. 11 years of consistent MVP caliber seasons and people want to denounce him for finally asking for a max contract. I see it as another contradiction from the "haters". Lebron takes less money? He is cheating. Lebron gets a max contract? He is greedy. Yeah, that's fair. /sarcasm

Lebron: The person

Finally, off the court James is by all accounts an upstanding person. He works with children and charity. He never, ever gets in trouble. He raises his family the right way. Jordan was widely considered and asshole that also had a gambling problem. He has never known what it means to be classy. The Spurs on the other hand have been the opitome of class. You can read through forums and see many posters that are jubilant that the bad guy (Miami Heat) got their butt kicked by the classy Spurs which are supposedly the opposite of Lebron and The Heat. Those same people will then bring up Jordan and go on a rant about Lebron not even being on the same level as Jordan. I can agree with that because no one will ever get to Jordan's level. Do you see the error in all of this though? San Antonio gets praise for beating Miami while staying classy, and Jordan greatness over Lebron is constantly reiterated even though Jordan is one of the most selfish athletes of all time. People pick and chose things to purposely hang over Lebron head and say "you see this, you will never be this great!" My issue here is that things that people say they hate about Lebron often conflict with their positive notions about other teams, players and achievements. Once again, my intention here is not to point out the flaws in others, but to point out the contradictions that arise when people want to throw Lebron under the bus. If "The Decision" is the worst thing Lebron has done in his life to this point then I would say he has lived a morally respectable life. Take a look around the sports world. There are dozens (if not more) of players that have said and done some pretty detestable things on and off the field/court. But yet, Lebron seems to be the most hated athlete in all of America. If you look at the facts and Lebron's intentions logically, you start to notice the sad state of affairs we are in regarding what kinds of actions are considered acceptable.

You don't have to like the guy, but all this fallacious "hate" he gets 24/7 really blows my mind. There are very few players in the history of the NBA that have accomplished what he has on and off the court. There are none that have been so despised for so little. That is fact and I loathe what some people have become.