Why the Hate?

 

I don't get it. The more I think about it, the more I just really don't get it. LeBron James returns to Cleveland and all seems right with the sports world. Yet, there are people who still find a reason to criticize and hate on the man.

James has carved a tremendous and impressive legacy during his decade-long tenure in the NBA. MVPs, check. NBA championships, check. Scoring titles, check. One of the best players of all time, check. Perhaps the most impressive part about James is the fact that he has improved pretty much in all facets of the game over the course of his career. Even with all that, he has been a good ambassador for basketball and has stayed out of trouble.

But people want to criticize that he went to Miami to team up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh to win his championships. Even old-time NBA players voiced their displeasure with James' DECISION back in 2010. But how can Magic Johnson even compare his experience to James when the Lakers had other Hall of Fame players (Kareem, Worthy, Wilkes, McAdoo) on that team with him? Even though Magic had good leadership ability, the fact is that he was surrounded with players who would have been Hall of Fame players regardless of they played with him or not and that actually toned themselves down to fit the Lakers' style of play. What Magic had, James never had in Cleveland. The only Hall of Fame level player he had was Shaq, who as already in the twilight of his career. And can we really compare Mike Brown (who I really like as a coach) to Pat Riley in the coaching department?

Let's go to Larry Bird. His leadership ability is also heralded in basketball lore. Yet he had a coach named KC Jones, who is a Hall of Fame player but truthfully should have also been a Hall of Fame coach. Robert Parish, Kevin McHale and Dennis Johnson all are Hall of Famers. Johnson actually had won a championship before even coming to the Celtics with the Seattle Supersonics in 1979. Once again, James did not have this type of roster support and coaching staff in Cleveland.

Lastly, we'll talk about Michael Jordan. On his championship teams with the Bulls, Jordan played alongside Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman and tremendous role players such as Horace Grant, B.J. Armstrong, John Paxson and Steve Kerr. Not to mention, that he also had Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson at the helm for all six of those championships. Once more, not anything near what James had in Cleveland.

Then I find myself reading posts from people on Facebook complaining that James went back to Cleveland because of the letter owner Dan Gilbert wrote when he left. Whether these people realize it or not, what they are saying is that they don't approve of James and Gilbert sitting down like two grown men and burying the hatchet. Isn't that supposed to be a good thing? I just don't get it.

It's late at night and I know I'm sounding preachy in this entry but I'm flabbergasted by this whole thing. I understand why people were upset with James when he left for Miami amidst a media circus frenzy that he embraced and supported. But this was different. The way James handled himself this time showed his maturity and what he has learned over the past few years. But some people were too busy hating in order to see it.

Haters are gonna hate. I still don't get it.

Time to get some sleep,

LandoRigs