Quick Keyboard Mash - LeBron

Here are a few thoughts I wanted to get out before the matchup tonight in Cleveland. It’s exciting to know moments will occur tonight that we’ll be talking about for decades. I mean, these moments happen, but I think it’s rare that we know exactly when they’re going to happen. In forty years when ESPN Classic is running its LeBron Story, tonight will be a part of it. Tonight will be included in nearly every story ever created about LeBron. Scratch that, it WILL be included in EVERYTHING aimed at telling LeBron’s story. And tonight, we’ll all witness. Too easy.

First off, I’ve only watched the NBA for its players. When I was little, I watched Reggie Miller and Michael Jordan. Today I enjoy watching LeBron and Durant and Nash, but I never felt it would have been right to consider myself a Cav fan. Not after all the futility I’ve experienced (Reds and Browns). I resented people for taking the easy way out, and I was not-so-secretly pleased when LeBron left.

What do I think will happen tonight? I can make a prediction, but based on what? There’s no precedent for this. There’s basically no precedent for anything LeBron has ever done, if you think about it.

Who grows up being touted as the next best player in their sport by the time they’re 16? Already a small number. Of those people, who grew up in a city, which has suffered the kind of professional sports poverty akin to Cleveland? The list is already probably down to LeBron only, but let’s keep going. Who lives up to the hype and by the time they are 18, think about it, 18, is the consensus best player entering the draft. Man, I was stupid at 18. And wouldn’t you know it, your hometown was worst in the league last year, and they have the number 1 pick. You can’t write this stuff; it’s sports. This movie script would be stupid. LeBron is picked by his hometown with the duty of bringing the city out of sports hell. His games continues to progress and puts up ridiculous numbers. He has a couple playoff runs where he’s just out of his mind. Look up some of the stats he’s had in the playoffs. Absurd. LeBron grows tired of trying to defeat deep, 9-man teams in the conference semis and finals by himself and decides to bolt town.

LeBron does an hour of ill-advised television and he’s immediately the worst human being on the planet. What a character flaw, eh Kobe? Eh Big Ben? Eh Ron Artest? Eh Tiger?

Basically I’m trying to say that this entire “LeBron” saga has never happened before. How can I predict what’ll happen tonight? Cowherd makes a great point. He says Cav fans can yell at LeBron tonight and hopefully get everything out of their collective system. It can, and hopefully will be therapeutic. I hope we can stop talking about it after tonight. Sure, players have skipped town and come back to play in front of angry fans before, but not to this magnitude. Don’t kid yourself. (BTW: Mike "The Miz" insert last name, just won some kind of WWE title. He's from Cleveland (Parma), does this end the title drought?)

I’m really more annoyed with the incessant Heat coverage. We’ve already figured out they won’t surpass the ’96 Bulls. Can we stop with a little bit of this converage. Every day I have to wade (pun intended) through all the Heat news to find the really important stuff on ESPN (Blue Jackets news).

The big 3 in Miami have each gone over 20 points the past few games and I think they are putting it together. But I don’t know if it’ll be enough to defeat the energy in the Q tonight. I think LeBron is going to try too hard, and I think he has to. The worst thing LeBron can do is be a non-factor. He can’t be complacent and give Cav fans a chance to think they don’t even miss him. LeBron has to be a tornado tonight, which I don’t think is even a basketball term. I think he has to try to do everything. I think he’ll have too many nerves to have a good shooting night, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be able to get to the rack.

The worst part about LeBron leaving in favor of Miami is the time they’re taking to figure out how to play together. Wade and LeBron haven’t coexisted perfectly yet, but it will get better, if Wade can accept that it’s no longer his team, IMO. After all, LeBron is the reigning two-time MVP. The league’s most valuable player hasn’t been entertaining. He hasn’t been appointment television.

I know not everyone is a sports fan, but if you’re reading this, you probably are. I don’t particularly care about the NBA, but I will realize a chance to be a small part of history, even if it’s on the other side of a television screen. I hope you’ll all join me in putting this issue to bed.

I’ll see you tomorrow