purist
07-09-2010, 08:05 AM
IMO, LeBron choosing Miami is akin to a team playing not to lose. Seems to me LeBron woke up one day and realized "I'm 7 years in and I don't have a championship, so I better get one soon or risk tarnishing my legacy." He's basically taking the path of least resistance, but in so doing, he's relinquished some of his "kingship." The talking heads will applaud him for taking less money in order to win titles, but that's the problem with sports today: the end seems to always justify the means.
Imagine, for example, if Tim Duncan would have left to join Grant Hill in Orlando way back when. he may won a title or multiple titles, but would his legacy be same as it is today? Duncan chose to stay put and in doing so he put a franchise on his shoulders, not anyone else's, despite the fact there were no guarantees about the future talent the Spurs might have.
So, Lebron may win a title or two or three, but the question will linger in my mind: does he truly have the heart of a champion? or, was Lebron simply scared of the responsibility of carrying a franchise, a city, a state, on his shoulders? I think that in trying to preserve his legacy, LeBron ultimatley may have tarnished it more than if he had stayed in Cleveland and never won a title.
Just my opinion.
Imagine, for example, if Tim Duncan would have left to join Grant Hill in Orlando way back when. he may won a title or multiple titles, but would his legacy be same as it is today? Duncan chose to stay put and in doing so he put a franchise on his shoulders, not anyone else's, despite the fact there were no guarantees about the future talent the Spurs might have.
So, Lebron may win a title or two or three, but the question will linger in my mind: does he truly have the heart of a champion? or, was Lebron simply scared of the responsibility of carrying a franchise, a city, a state, on his shoulders? I think that in trying to preserve his legacy, LeBron ultimatley may have tarnished it more than if he had stayed in Cleveland and never won a title.
Just my opinion.