Peachtree Hoops: LeBron James Reminds Us All That We Are Not King

[Hawksquawk]

The money quote from Marc Spears column at Yahoo Sports

"All the people that was rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today," James said. "They have the same personal problems they had today. I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that.

"They can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy about not only myself, but the

Miami Heat

not accomplishing their goal. But they have to get back to the real world at some point."

In a sense LeBron is right. This morning I am headed back to my same old crappy job so that I can pay my many crappy bills. As I return I am no doubt greeted with my many personal problems that every normal person has and shares. After all I am not a King. 

I spent a lot of time thinking about LeBron and this Finals series yesterday partly because of the uncertain offseason that the NBA world faces. Perhaps I embraced these Finals just a little more because of the uncertainty. 

Looking at LeBron it is true that he will never win enough championships or play well enough to completely silence his critics. He is supremely talented but is equally a waste. He anoints himself to be one of the best when it is he that should be learning from the Magic Johnson's, Larry Bird's, and Michael Jordan's of the past. His condescending comments above remind us all that while he may not have won a championship, he is still the King and we are not. 

It has to be a lonely place that James occupies. After all he had been handed the mantle and all of the expectations since he was in high school. That is an enormous responsibility for anyone to handle. The constant Michael Jordan comparisons and the pressure to live up to them. Of course we could feel sorry for James had he ever deflected the comparisons. No James embraced every last word and while Jordan never lost in the Finals, LeBron is now 0-2. 

Really who am I to point the finger and laugh. My team, the Atlanta Hawks, aren't close to an NBA Finals much less a championship. However, that doesn't prevent me from returning to my mundane life today with a smile on my face. 

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