LeBron Needs to Retire…
LeBron James’ childish behavior during games is tarnishing the argument as the greatest player ever.
The antics are proving too much for me and a lot of other people. LeBron James is one of the greatest basketball players to ever play, but he is hurting his own legacy with his childish, boorish behavior that has gotten on my last nerves. The screaming at the referees every other play. The public displays of disrespect towards his head coach. The laying out in agony like he is a European soccer player after he flops to the ground for the fourth time in the game. Enough already!
LeBron needs to retire this charade of foolishness and just play ball. He has some good years left in him and can possibly win another MVP or even lead a championship team. But he has to change his leadership style and show more respect for the game at this point of his career. With great power comes great responsibility. When youth players see his behavior every week on TV with little to no consequences, they think this is a part of the game they should model.
Think about it, when he doesn’t like a team anymore, he pressures his way onto a new team. When he wants certain players to play with, he advocates for them until he gets what he wants. If he doesn’t like a coach anymore, he’ll orchestrate a situation to get the person removed. He will do all of this and if he still loses, he won’t accept responsibility. It is one of a myriad of reasons why people are losing respect for him as a player and why some will never see him as the greatest over Kobe or Jordan, both of whom stuck with the organizations that drafted them and brought multiple titles to L.A. and Chicago.
It is a shame, because I love LeBron the person. He helps the community with his different philanthropy projects. He married his Black American high school sweetheart (something Black women love) and we’ve never heard a bad thing about their marriage in the press. He uses his pulpit to speak about social issues facing Black America. He has reached the pinnacle of success as the only child of a single Black teenage mom growing up in Akron, Ohio, with a father who had an extensive criminal record and was not a part of his life. All of these are endearing qualities and shows that he can overcome any obstacle set in front of him. Yet, if you watch him on the court, you have to ask yourself, how did he become such a privileged spoiled brat as a player?
I was in the gym at Percy Julian High School in Chicago on July 21, 2001, when James, then 17, went up for a dunk and was undercut, landing on his side and fracturing his wrist. He was playing for the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars in my uncle’s Mac Irvin Summer Basketball Classic. I will never forget the hush over the crowd, then how it quickly shifted to anger and a mob wanting to beat the opposing team player who accidentally clipped James. I went to the hallway and was met by my cousin Mike Irvin who had a look of sheer panic on his face. A few steps behind him were James, holding his arm, with tears coming down his face and wincing in pain, accompanied by his coach and others. A few steps behind them were an angry mob of people, who were mostly curious but upset because the game was canceled. We quickly dipped off to a side hallway where we called the ambulance. Everyone was in such a panic, I turned out to be the voice of reason.
The Chicago Fire Department has a policy of taking you to the nearest emergency room when an ambulance responds. When paramedics arrived, I explained to them who the patient was and asked them to make an exception and take James to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, which is downtown, instead of Roseland Community which is the closest hospital geographically.
So, I’ve seen James when he has really been injured. Now watching him play in the league, you would think every time he falls to the ground he has broken his wrist again. He is one of the biggest players on the court, a physical specimen like no other that has played his position, yet he flops around more than a fish out of water with the slightest contact. He wants a foul called anytime he is nudged, but is in shock anytime a foul is called against him, because you know he never commits foul.
His stats speak for themselves. His longevity is a testament to his hard work and talents. His good fortune and humanity indicate just how good of a job his mother, wife and other people of influence have had on his life.
The only thing that can trash James’ legacy as the greatest player of all time is him. He is doing a great job of accomplishing that too.