Royal Flush

Man oh man. Remember the movie "How to Make Friends and Alienate People"? I'm wondering when I'll see the book "How to Flush a Championship You Had in the Bag" authored by LeBron, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh, edited by Erik Spoelstra. I'll start by saying this, I am a LeBron fan, and not just because I can't stand Kobe (that snitching douchebag). I admire the man's remarkably diverse skill set and the youthful enthusiasm and intensity he has played the game with. I don't feel he had a team capable of winning a championship around him in Cleveland and I hope he makes it into that "Top 5 players ever" discussion where I think he can belong when it's all said and done. But he's raising more and more questions in people's minds now. The whole "The Decision" and the welcome party in Miami earned him (and consequently his teammates) several million haters instantly. He did his part to dispell the doubters by putting up nearly identical numbers to his previous MVP seasons on a team with another legit superstar in D-Wade and an All-Pro caliber star in Bosh. His status rose even more as he was a clutch as possible in playoff series against his biggest two East opponents: the Celtics and the Bulls, despite Wade playing awful ball in those series. Then the Finals came. And despite a great series (statistically) from Wade and a good series (statistically) from LeBron and Bosh, the Heat let what should have been a 4 game sweep slip through their hands for Dallas's first NBA title ever. in games 2 and 4, they blew large leads in the 4th quarter because Wade and LeBron stopped moving the ball and started playing inefficient 1-on-1 ball on a defense that was prepared for that to happen. Because of his name and relative quietness in the 4th quarters, we already knew LeBron would receive every bit of the blame. Although I don't think he deserves nearly all of it, he has got to realize that this is the reality of his position in the basketball world right now and he has to play like the greatest player in the world when the bright lights are on rather than just having 'solid nights.' After an 8-point performance, he followed with a 17-11-10 triple double night, which isn't bad at all. But the LeBron faithful and Heat faithful (although most of the Heat faithful joined the bandwagon after "The Decision") were yearning for a 35 pt night to punch the haters in the face. That's not what happened. Even the last game, he led the team in scoring, but they lost so it gets swept under the rug; like his 27 pt, 12 ast, 10 reb night against the Celtics when they lost the series last year. He's only 26 (Jordan was 29 when he started winning titles), but what he has to realize and deliver on to shut ppl up is that in crunch time he has to acquire that "I'm better that you, you can't stop me but I dare you to try" attitude. It's what we haven't seen since Jordan. Nobody has had it to the same level as MJ since, not Kobe, not LeBron, not even D-Wade in the '06 Finals (even though he was damn close). Until then, ppl (including myself) will always question his heart and demonize him rather than respecting his incredible talents. You're The King, The Chosen One, the spotlight is blinding for you, the question is: What are you gonna do now?