After a busy week to kick off and essentially cap off the 2010 NBA free agent madness, I will begin by addressing the most hyped spectacle in the history of professional sports: Jordan Farmar's decision to join the Nets. Poor guy is leaving a 57-win Championship team to join a 12-win team. That's messed up, but I digress. Lets move on to Lebron's decision shall we. After all something tells me "King James" likes to be talked about and probably enjoys the attention. What gives me that idea you ask? Perhaps it was the three month recruiting circus that consumed 6 contending cities throughout the United States. Maybe it was the one hour American Idol results show special on ESPN entitled "The Decision" (seriously why wasn't this hosted by Ryan Seacrest?). Or maybe it was his decision to "take his talents to South Beach", where the cameras will be shinning brightest. Up until this week I had misread Lebron. I knew he enjoyed the spotlight as much as any other "King", however I underestimated the lengths to which he would go to ensure that all eyes are on him. I thought to myself, maybe he will do the smart thing and stay in Cleveland or go to Chicago, where in both cases he would be surrounded by a strong core of supplementary players that would give him the best chance to lead a team to a much needed championship. The city of Cleveland is in desperate need of a title and the Cavaliers team is filled with excellent secondary talent that has been specifically built around James. While the Bulls have yet to experience consistent success in the post-Jordan era and features a team of young specialists like Rose, Deng and Noah that would have been perfect sidekicks to the Lebron the show. Both a Cavalier reunion or a move to Chicago would have been a perfect fit for Lebron and a smart move for his chances to lead a team and a city to a meaningful and memorable championship. However, I knew both of these scenarios made too much sense for the King and thus would not shock the world to his liking. It would be too logical and predictable which I knew was not his style. So instead I thought maybe he will decide to go to a young rebuilding team like the Knicks or the Nets. Both teams have been plagued by recent struggles and would give James the opportunity to be the face of a blank slate franchise. If he chose to go to either team there would have been plenty of attention directed his way, especially if he decided to play in New York, the mecha of Basketball. To me this sounded like a realistic Lebron James move, how else could he shock the world and steal attention from my beloved NBA. Well sure enough the great Lebron James out does himself again. This time he takes to live TV to star in the most ridiculous and laughable snoozfest I have ever had the pleasure of fastforwarding through. And the rest is history. By deciding to move to Miami and play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, Lebron takes a page out of the Danny Ainge playbook and creates his own big three. And just when you thought the Lebron show couldn't get any bigger, he goes to a team that will be the center of attention in all of professional sports before they even have a fifth player on their roster.
The newly popular "big three blueprint" worked to perfection almost immediately in Boston but it would not have been as successful if it weren't for the likes of Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins etc. The big three got all the pub in Boston, but it was defense, depth and heart that won them a championship. Now Pat Riley has a tonne of work to do if he hopes to surround his big three with the cost effective depth that this team will require to live up to the quick hype. Those who believe this trio is a lock to win the title fail to understand that basketball is not a 3 on 3 pickup game. Wade, Bosh and Lebron are certainly a great start in the building of any team, however they are not a team they are three very good players. If you are going to compare the new big three in Miami to the Celtic big three you have to consider that Garnett/Pierce/Allen are far superior defensively and have heart, hunger and experience that the new big three simply cannot match at this stage in their careers. They are also missing players at the two most important positions in the game. While Wade and Lebron are excellent play makers when they want to be, they need a quick and selfless point guard to set them up and allow them to thrive in their natural positions. And while Bosh possesses many unique skills as a big man he needs a powerful and intimidating force to protect him in the middle. Ainge got it right by supporting his big three with Rondo and Perkins, now Riley will have to do the same. Although a big three can certainly be a winning ingredient in today's NBA, they do not win championships, great teams do. The Celtics won in 2008 with a great team and the Heat will have to do the same if they hope to reward Lebron for his decision. A decision that was made for all the wrong reasons. One that allowed him to take the easy way out and make a cowards move.
When Chris Bosh says he is a leader and he is going to go somewhere that will build a franchise around him he is lying. Or perhaps he is delusional. Regardless, he knows he cannot win a championship as the number one talent. In fact he cannot even win a playoff series as the number one talent. But I digress. So CB4 makes a logical decision and commits to the Heat, knowing he will have a much better chance at winning playing Robin to Wade's Batman. And I do believe him when he says he wants to win, this is why he made the decision that he made. However, this same principle does not apply to Lebron. He can win on his own. At least he needs to be able to win on his own if he intends on being remembered as one of the greatest players of all time. Choosing to go play with two of the NBA's best is a decision he should be making at age 35, not age 25. This move does not speak to his desire to win a title like he will have you believe that it does, instead it speaks to his insecurities and his weak decision making ability. Wade and Bosh both signed their respective contracts for the right reasons; Wade to be loyal to the city of Miami and Bosh to have a chance to win as the second in command. Lebron followed them for the wrong reasons. He followed out of desperation. He will undoubtedly be in the spotlight, even if he only takes up a third of that spotlight, and he may win a championship, but it would be a tainted championship. He can no longer lead a team to a title he can only help a team win a title. He is no longer THE guy, he is just a guy. Will this damage the legacy he and his people have worked so hard to build. Absolutely.
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