LeBron James criticism is unjust


There are few sports figures more polarizing than LeBron James in today’s sports world.  Yes, there’s Alex Rodriguez, known steroid user; Tiger Woods, cheating husband; and Ray Rice, infamous wife beater, but LeBron doesn’t have the same off-court issues that any of these superstars do.  He is a family man, well-spoken and polite to reporters.

The issue that James is perhaps most famous for came nearly five years ago in the nationally televised ESPN program “The Decision.”  He then decided to “take [his] talents to South Beach,” deserting his home state of Ohio and betraying Cavs fans.  To add fuel to the fire — fans were actually burning jerseys in the street — in a flashy display of star power,  James was introduced to Miami with new teammates Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh and promised not three, not four, but many more titles with what Wade called, “arguably the best trio to ever play the game of basketball.”

This cockiness, this direct disrespect to the city of Cleveland, is why everyone hates LeBron James.  No one wanted to see the Miami Heat assemble a dominating force that knew how good it was and could demolish everyone in the NBA.  And they didn’t.  Miami won                 back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013, but that was the extent of the dynasty’s wins.  They made finals appearances in 2011 and again in 2014, but both were losing efforts.

Now LeBron is back in his home town, after a heartfelt letter published in Sports Illustrated explained how Miami was to him what college is to many kids in America: an opportunity to fly the nest and experience life outside of the reaches of home — a phase in life where you are granted the opportunity to grow and make mistakes.

“My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I didn’t realize that four years ago. I do now,” LeBron said in the letter, written by Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins.

So has LeBron earned back the city of Cleveland’s love and trust?  Absolutely.  Partly, of course, because he is the best basketball player in the world, but also partly because he has grown up and matured.

LeBron James is an underappreciated basketball player. He is averaging 41.6 minutes a game and 29.3 points.  His shooting was unimpressive in Game 2 of the current NBA Finals, but he still finished with a triple double.  His numbers are off the charts, and yet most of the country is rooting against The King.

James has once again put the Cavaliers on his back and forced them into the finals without two of their star players, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. The team had been written off for this series when Kyrie went down with a fractured knee cap at the end of Game 1, but behind LeBron James, the Cavaliers were able to hold off a surging Warriors team in their own arena and pull off the overtime win.

Sure the Warriors are fresh and new, and the Splash Brothers, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, are arguably the most entertaining combination in the entire NBA.  They deserve a championship just as much as anyone else, and when the series is over we’ll see who the winner of this hard-fought series will be.

But, the Chosen One has made his choice. “Our city hasn’t had that feeling in a long, long, long time. My goal is still to win as many titles as possible, no question. But what’s most important for me is bringing one trophy back to Northeast Ohio,” states James’ Sports Illustrated letter.

So why are we all still rooting against him?

Hailey Tucker is a sophomore majoring in broadcast and digital journalism. Her column, “Hangin’ With Hailey,” runs every other Wednesday.