Then Sid The Kid basically pulled down Ovie’s pants and spanked his ass raw in front of millions in Game 7, putting the issue to bed for the foreseeable future.
Instead, I want to talk about the best basketball player on the planet: LeBron James.
Where to begin with King James?How often in today’s 24 hour news cycle do we anoint the “Next Big Thing” in sports? Furthermore, how often does one of these NBT’s actually live up to the hype?
Although this is a rhetorical question, the answer is not many. LBJ is the exception.
LeBron has been living a fishbowl existence since high school. Not only did he appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated when he was a junior, but his team’s games were nationally televised on ESPN.
Think about that for a second. Imagine your high school basketball team’s games being broadcast on the self-professed worldwide leader in sports?
Not only that, but James’ team went on a rudimentary barnstorming tour throughout the United States playing in front of sold out arenas night in and night out.
I played high school baseball, hockey and volleyball and my parents wouldn’t even come watch the games. Well, we did kind of suck. I probably wouldn’t have gone either, but someone had to fill up the water bottles.
The modus operandi on LeBron in high school was paraphrased thusly: “physically advanced for his age; used his strength and size to dominate smaller, weaker opponents. Yes he’s supremely talented, but that’s against boys; how will he do in the NBA playing against men?”
From the start of his fledgling professional basketball career, LeBron has proved the naysayers wrong. He was one of the only rookies in league history to average 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game in his inaugural season.
His stats have continually improved every year in the league culminating in his MVP 2008-09 season when he averaged a 28, 7 and 7.
James’ career has not been without hiccups: in his first couple of seasons, he had a disturbing propensity to bite his fingernails during timeouts of close games. Michael Jordan would never show that kind of anxiety in the clutch, his critics brayed. Which is true, but LeBron has outgrown that juvenile tendency and become, along with Kobe, the preeminent clutch player in the game today.
What I find amazing is that LeBron, even though he’s surrounded by childhood friends and a variety of moochers, has managed to steer clear of any major off court controversy. I guess he does have a couple kids out of wedlock but this is the NBA we’re talking about here. Unprotected sex with multiple partners is as much a part of the game as the three point shot.
Before this year, I had always been a casual Lebron fan at best. I thought his success was attributed more to his preternatural talent and prodigious God-given gifts. After reading up on King James (yes, I do read), it became readily apparent that he couples his natural ability with a tremendous work ethic and a thirst to be the best.
Playing with Kobe on the 2008 US Olympic team forced LeBron to take his craft to the next level. He saw that Kobe outworked everyone at the team’s training camp and James realized that to become the undisputed best player in the game, he would have to hit the gym and practice court harder than ever before.
Just look at what he’s done with the Cleveland Cavaliers this season. The best regular season record in the league plus an 8-0 run thus far in the playoffs with each victory coming by a margin greater than ten points.
And this has been with a pu pu platter of a supporting cast. The only other Cavalier I’ve heard of is Zydrunas Ilgauskas and, trust me on this, no one is clamouring for Big Z’s autograph.
I don’t see either the Boston Celtics or the Orlando Magic posing any real threat to the Cavaliers. The dream matchup everyone is pining for is a Cavaliers-Lakers final. Kobe vs. LeBron for all the marbles.
The scary thing is that LeBron is only 24 years old. He hasn’t even touched the prime of his career yet. There is no possible way of extrapolating how good this guy will be over the next ten years. My brain just hurts from thinking about it.
Therefore, I am going to do what I do best and not think. This is LeBron’s world; we’re all just living in it.
Tewks is a frequent contributor to Gretzpo’s Sports Blog.
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