An Old Journal Entry About Lebron James

This is something I had written in June after Lebron James and the Miami Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 6 of the NBA finals. I am hoping that starting this blog will help me find a job in the sports industry because it is my passion and I know I can be as good if not better than the other females in the industry today.

Did Lebron forget to pack his talent when moving to South Beach?

            July 8^th is not a day that many people see as a holiday or a highly anticipated day to yearn for through out the course of the year, except for the July 8^th that happened last year. Because it was the July 8^th of last year that every basketball fan in the world couldn’t wait to get through because later that evening, Lebron James would come out and tell the world what team he would sign with to start the 2010-2011 season, in an hour long special on ESPN that was dubbed “The Decision”.

And boy were we excited.

Shortly after 9:40 pm that night, Lebron James came out with it: “Next fall, I am going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat”. With that sentence, Heat fans rejoiced, Cavs fans rioted and fans of Lebron’s other courtiers sat in disappointment that he didn’t chose their team. But one thing was certain; the whole world would watch to see if Lebron made the right move.

And we did.

When the Heat won, experts couldn’t stop praising “The Big Three”, it was when they lost (and they had a pretty big losing streak at one point), when everybody couldn’t stop pointing the finger at the most talented player in the NBA today. Which begs the question: Lebron is in Miami, but is his talent?

Now, I am not an NBA expert, nor am I any other type of sports expert, I am just a sports fan that had a question and thought I would write down my thoughts on it. I am also not implying that James had a terrible maiden season in Miami however, there were a few times during this season when I questioned whether or not this was the same Lebron James of old, you know the one with the thrilling 4^th quarter buzzer-beaters, nearly glass shattering dunks and that wild passion in his eyes that drove him to two regular season MVP titles. Of course when James moved to Miami to play for the Heat, he needed to make some serious adjustments, he wasn’t the only superstar on the team anymore. There were others that he needed to share the spotlight with, most notably Dwayne Wade who had already won a NBA title with the Heat in 2006 and Chris Bosh, who many fans of the game would argue was just the fine print in an otherwise bigger deal to keep Wade and pick up James. This post-season though, Bosh shined like the superstar he was presumed to be with some phenomenal games especially in the Conference Finals game against Chicago when he outscored not just Lebron but Wade as well. Wade also had his moments of utter brilliance but he’s comfortable with the Heat so his successes, although recognized were also not as important as the performance of Bosh and James.

But let’s get back to the real issue here. Although James and the Miami Heat had some highs, there were also some real lows including James scoring a career low 8 points during a crucial Game 4 in Dallas and a frequent “where am I?” look on his face that plagued the Heat to the worst losing streak they could have possibly had this season. The three game losing streak that cost them the title.  And while many experts, Lebron fans, Heat fans and sports fans in general would chalk up this season as a transition period for the Heat, there are also some facts that need to be looked at. Lebron James has a record of 2 and 8 in the Finals and his performance in these Finals was not anywhere near what James is capable of, especially since he has a team now to back him up unlike in Cleveland where the burden of success rested entirely on his shoulders. Now he might just be finding his place on a team filled with superstars not to mention a new head coach, but these facts should give Lebron reason to shine even brighter because now he has the support to make the big, exciting plays. He should be making the slick plays knowing that he has teammates to support his slickness. You didn’t see that during the Finals, you saw a Lebron James that was just, there.

I’m not saying the Miami Heat is destined to be a second place team. To say such a thing is like Sarah Palin saying she can see Russia from her house: ridiculous and comedic. What I am saying is, for the Miami Heat to win Championships they need the Lebron James from the Cleveland Cavaliers to show up on their court, the cocky, talented, monstrous power forward that owned every square inch of that court for a full 48 minutes, even if he wasn’t on it. Or at least a Lebron James that is similar to what he was in Cleveland but now more relaxed knowing that now there are two more sets of shoulders to take the weight. Maybe all he needs to do is take a walk down South Beach to find whatever it is that he has so obviously lost.