He has done nothing to deserve the level of vitriol that there is now.It's unprecedented.

Yes and no. While the backlash is unprecedented, so were his actions. He took on the risk of having all of this thrown back in to his face with last summer's actions. This season was all about him... heck, he made it all about him. And that is fine. But be prepared to receive the negative criticism when things do not go your way.

He has done nothing to deserve the level of vitriol that there is now.

 

It's unprecedented.

 

Unprecedented vitriol? That's a little overstated. People were cheering against him because of his perceived arrogance and the anticipated dominance of the Heat. That's pretty well in line with American sports tradition.

 

Yes and no. While the backlash is unprecedented, so were his actions. He took on the risk of having all of this thrown back in to his face with last summer's actions. This season was all about him... heck, he made it all about him. And that is fine. But be prepared to receive the negative criticism when things do not go your way.

 

:thumb:

He has done nothing to deserve the level of vitriol that there is now.

 

It's unprecedented.

 

I disagree that it's unprecedented (Brett Favre wins that one), and disagree that he did nothing to deserve it. As I noted in the other thread, here's why:

 

THEORY B

 

Passed along by a friend of mine in NBA circles: LeBron caved from the never-ending scrutiny (as brutal as any athlete has ever faced in the Internet era) and his shaky inner circle, which consists of one parent (his mother, who battled a ton of problems over the years), his high school friends (who assumed an inordinately crucial role in his life without any real experience), his agents (who never threw their bodies in front of "The Decision"), and Miami's management (who walked him into another fiasco with the Heat's Welcome Party). By all accounts, he's a genuinely nice and happy guy who just wants to be liked — he was never meant to be a villain, and as much as he tried to feed off the heat (no pun intended), once it piled up past a certain point, he broke. Maybe he felt that happening against the 2010 Celtics as well; maybe that's why he chose to play with Wade in the first place.

 

And maybe that's why, right now, he's in total denial. Even in the postgame presser, when he should have been devastated the same way Magic Johnson was distraught after coming up small in the 1984 Finals, LeBron was doing the Frank Drebin "Nothing to see here, please disperse" routine, bristling at the notion that he choked and taking shots at anyone who rooted against him. That's what you do when you're surrounded by enablers — you blame everyone else, and you never look within. He never understood that people only rooted against him because that's what you do when someone boasts before they've ever actually done anything.

 

Let's say you're in college and one of your buddies says, "See that girl over there? I'm taking her home tonight. And I'm doing this because I'm the funniest and best-looking guy in this room." And let's say he's COMPLETELY serious. Guess what you're doing if it doesn't happen? You're making fun of him. Relentlessly. Really, that's what 50 percent of the Miami-related vitriol was about; the other 50 percent was because LeBron tried to stack the deck by playing with his biggest rival (we didn't respect it), and because he broke Cleveland's hearts on national TV (we didn't like it). To this day, LeBron hasn't shown any real regret about last summer; that's the main reason everyone rooted against him. He couldn't handle it. He caved. And now we're here.

 

Link

Unprecedented vitriol? That's a little overstated. People were cheering against him because of his perceived arrogance and the anticipated dominance of the Heat. That's pretty well in line with American sports tradition.

 

:thumb:

 

Name one athlete who didnt break a law that had more vitriol come his way. It's not Favre.

Name one athlete who didnt break a law that had more vitriol come his way. It's not Favre.

 

What vitriol? People are cheering against him. The Yankees might be the most cheered against team in sports simply because they can outspend anyone to stay on top, how is that any different than LeBron and the Heat?

Name one athlete who didnt break a law that had more vitriol come his way. It's not Favre.

 

It's close, I'll grant, but Favre's backlash has gone on for several years. I think the LeBron backlash dies down in year 2, especially if he learns to display a more humble side.

What vitriol? People are cheering against him. The Yankees might be the most cheered against team in sports simply because they can outspend anyone to stay on top, how is that any different than LeBron and the Heat?

 

Did you see the t shirt that is now out asking about how something tastes? Read any tweets? It has be ome personal for many when we shpuld simply be debating why he faded or why he seemed to pass up shots or how he failed to lead. It's pure joy for many. Yanks are a bad comparison.

It's close, I'll grant, but Favre's backlash has gone on for several years. I think the LeBron backlash dies down in year 2, especially if he learns to display a more humble side.

 

4's problem is pele being tired of him changing his mind. While I am sure some were glad he threw the pick it pales to the number of anti-LBJ people. I disagree about year 2.

Did you see the t shirt that is now out asking about how something tastes? Read any tweets? It has be ome personal for many when we shpuld simply be debating why he faded or why he seemed to pass up shots or how he failed to lead. It's pure joy for many. Yanks are a bad comparison.

 

How? I don't see any difference. People loathe the Yankees and love to cheer against them just because of their success and their contracts. I haven't seen anything that crosses the line with James, just schadenfreude over his loss. That's not vitriolic.

Did you see the t shirt that is now out asking about how something tastes? Read any tweets? It has be ome personal for many when we shpuld simply be debating why he faded or why he seemed to pass up shots or how he failed to lead. It's pure joy for many. Yanks are a bad comparison.

 

It's pure joy because of the arrogant way LBJ handled the move to Miami. He brought it on himself by putting the cart before the horse. A guy who displays zero humility after being humiliated to that degree deserves every bit of the backlash.

 

And sorry, the T-shirt you're speaking of is flat-out hilarious. :lol:

How? I don't see any difference. People loathe the Yankees and love to cheer against them just because of their success and their contracts. I haven't seen anything that crosses the line with James, just schadenfreude over his loss. That's not vitriolic.

 

People do not root against the Yanks because of any one player. Essentially people are against the Yanks because they not like the system.

 

On the other hand, peope who rooted against the Heat did so because of one person. That's why it's a bad comparison.

People do not root against the Yanks because of any one player. Essentially people are against the Yanks because they not like the system.

 

On the other hand, peope who rooted against the Heat did so because of one person. That's why it's a bad comparison.

 

I'm not comparing a team to one player, I'm comparing the tradition in sports of cheering against the "undeserving favorites," so to speak. There's definitely a love/hate with a lot of individual athletes simply due to their success. You'll find no shortage of haters of ARod, Brady, Manning, etc. Factor in the more individual nature of basketball and the arrogance displayed by James and it's no surprise people loved to see him lose.

Name one athlete who didnt break a law that had more vitriol come his way. It's not Favre.

Tiger Woods?

 

The whole year was kind of counter-intuitive to what we are taught as Americans. You work hard, you gain success. LeBron, et al. on live television said to most of America that we are supremely talented and we do not have to work hard to achieve success. Whether they worked hard or not is irrelevant, it is was the overall perception. On the other side of things there was also a humility about it all in that three guys would put their egos aside, take less money, and join forces all in the name of winning. That in itself is noble. How they went about the entire situation opened themselves up to criticism. For every action there is an equal and operate reaction. The "vitriol" may be over-the-top. Equally their actions last summer were over-the-top.

I do think this thread is interesting and raises the question: What if anything can LeBron do to ever be known as the greatest player ever?

 

Is it even possible now? Did he forfeit that chance when he opted to leave for Miami? Does the loss to the Mavs put the nail in the coffin in this debate? Does he have to surpass Jordan in titles (best case scenario that would put him in his 16th NBA season... wow!).

I don't see LeBron ever being the greatest of all time. Jordan and Kobe both had the talent and the drive. LeBron has half that. He may even be more talented than Kobe or MJ, but he'll never be greater than them.