boutons_
05-12-2007, 12:25 PM
May 12, 2007
Spotlight Has Dimmed, but LeBron Still Shines
By SELENA ROBERTS (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/columns/selenaroberts/?inline=nyt-per)
In the box score, LeBron James (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/j/lebron_james/index.html?inline=nyt-per) can be titillating, with his talent etched amid triple doubles on paper; and yet his wow factor rarely leaps off the page.
The visual of James is less thrilling than the print image of James. Stylistically, he is a brute, a Bam-Bam at the piano keys. He drives to the basket as if clearing brush. He dribbles as if he is splitting coconuts. He is wholesale force, not big-ticket finesse.
James doesn’t create soft-serve swirls to the hoop like Kobe Bryant (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/kobe_bryant/index.html?inline=nyt-per) or possess the illusionist’s shot angles of Allen Iverson (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/i/allen_iverson/index.html?inline=nyt-per) or reveal the lithe grace of Tracy McGrady or own Dwyane Wade’s sublime degree of difficulty. Silk is hot. All four players rank above James in one key indicator of transcendence: jersey sales.
On television, James is a nuanced actor in his ubiquitous line of ads, playing multiple characters as if channeling Eddie Murphy; and yet he hardly moves the ratings needle with his on-court role.
The highly commercialized James does not square with the increasingly tepid pop-culture appeal of James. Fans don’t pay to see him the way they used to.
The artificial deification of King James — with Nike’s “Witness” slogan as part of an omnipotent marketing campaign — has had the effect of forcing religion upon the masses.
To the basketball faithful, hoop gods wear rings. And while he has delivered clutch playoff moves against the Nets (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/newjerseynets/index.html?inline=nyt-org) — and may overwhelm them once again in Game 3 today — James has bare knuckles. But there is a more complicated layer to King James Resistance than his club bouncer’s technique and empty jewelry box: child-star syndrome.
James peaked at 17 in the American conscience. Our society is oddly infatuated with child prodigies (see Michelle Wie (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/michelle_wie/index.html?inline=nyt-per)), and with the discovery of talent (see “American Idol”).
Raising James fulfilled both cravings. He arrived on the scene in ESPN footage of his high school games. He arrived in the mailbox as Sports Illustrated’s “The Chosen One.”
He arrived solo. No other competition existed in this teenage pageant. Then, in a very Macaulay Culkin way, James outgrew the adorable phase when he hit adulthood.
“He consumed an awful lot of oxygen while he was still in high school,” said David Carter, the director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/university_of_southern_california/index.html?inline=nyt-org). “He had a pretty clear path to himself for a couple years because he was so young. He had that running room and did well. Then he found himself in a scenario where he was competing with others.
•
“Ironically, he has done exceptionally well as a player, and his upside is dramatic, but what does he do now to stand out? What does he do to distinguish himself from the other stars that have deals or the next player who has a compelling message to market?”
James could use a few tips from the book “How to Develop a Winning Personality.” His off-air persona is as flat as day-old Sprite. But capturing a championship would upgrade him to a special class. Trouble is, a title is far more elusive for superstars than it once was.
Born in 1984, James bounded into the N.B.A. too late. The Superstar Era of limelight champions — of Magic and Bird, Jordan and, yes, Kobe — is dead.
Look who’s alive in the playoffs: concept teams, not individuals. Out of the Warriors and Jazz (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/utahjazz/index.html?inline=nyt-org), Pistons (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/detroitpistons/index.html?inline=nyt-org) and Bulls (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/chicagobulls/index.html?inline=nyt-org), Nets and Cavaliers (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/clevelandcavaliers/index.html?inline=nyt-org), Spurs (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/sanantoniospurs/index.html?inline=nyt-org) and Suns (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/phoenixsuns/index.html?inline=nyt-org), there are only two players left among the top jersey sellers: James (No. 5) and Tim Duncan (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/tim_duncan/index.html?inline=nyt-per) (No. 8).
For years, worldly personnel directors watched as an American brand of one-on-one, isolation-play basketball was thumped by international teams built on ball movement and fundamentals. The smart N.B.A. executives abandoned the luminary system.
The public is still conditioned to adore celebrities, so it eschews a brand of basketball that is largely better now, a cultural paradox that is reflected in the drop-off of N.B.A. viewers.
Where does that leave James, a man consumed with global branding and his race to be a billionaire, a player with Warren Buffett (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/warren_e_buffett/index.html?inline=nyt-per) on his I.M. list and Nike on his shoes?
He may drop from the Forbes list, but the value of James remains high to Cleveland. He isn’t as light on his feet or as graceful as Wade, but his philosophy is similar. He willingly submerges his ego for the team.
•
It’s in every pass, rebound and defensive stop he makes. Is the commercialized perception of his fame beyond the reality of James? Yes, because his teenage height of popularity was never sustainable.
But James is a perfect fit for today’s game: He isn’t always flashy or dramatic or Kobe, but he is alive in the playoffs when many big names are at home competing against themselves on video games.
James, in many ways, is a survivor, not just of the postseason, but of the child-star abyss. He has yet to end up on a “Diff’rent Strokes” kind of perp walk for post-teenage infamy or in the tabloid gossip pages for rampant clubbing. James is neither Lindsay Lohan nor Sebastian Telfair.
“Bright lights have burned a few,” Carter said. “The fact that LeBron survived that without going belly-up is impressive.”
Now that’s a wow factor. Maybe James can leap off the page.
E-mail: [email protected]
Spotlight Has Dimmed, but LeBron Still Shines
By SELENA ROBERTS (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/columns/selenaroberts/?inline=nyt-per)
In the box score, LeBron James (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/j/lebron_james/index.html?inline=nyt-per) can be titillating, with his talent etched amid triple doubles on paper; and yet his wow factor rarely leaps off the page.
The visual of James is less thrilling than the print image of James. Stylistically, he is a brute, a Bam-Bam at the piano keys. He drives to the basket as if clearing brush. He dribbles as if he is splitting coconuts. He is wholesale force, not big-ticket finesse.
James doesn’t create soft-serve swirls to the hoop like Kobe Bryant (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/kobe_bryant/index.html?inline=nyt-per) or possess the illusionist’s shot angles of Allen Iverson (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/i/allen_iverson/index.html?inline=nyt-per) or reveal the lithe grace of Tracy McGrady or own Dwyane Wade’s sublime degree of difficulty. Silk is hot. All four players rank above James in one key indicator of transcendence: jersey sales.
On television, James is a nuanced actor in his ubiquitous line of ads, playing multiple characters as if channeling Eddie Murphy; and yet he hardly moves the ratings needle with his on-court role.
The highly commercialized James does not square with the increasingly tepid pop-culture appeal of James. Fans don’t pay to see him the way they used to.
The artificial deification of King James — with Nike’s “Witness” slogan as part of an omnipotent marketing campaign — has had the effect of forcing religion upon the masses.
To the basketball faithful, hoop gods wear rings. And while he has delivered clutch playoff moves against the Nets (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/newjerseynets/index.html?inline=nyt-org) — and may overwhelm them once again in Game 3 today — James has bare knuckles. But there is a more complicated layer to King James Resistance than his club bouncer’s technique and empty jewelry box: child-star syndrome.
James peaked at 17 in the American conscience. Our society is oddly infatuated with child prodigies (see Michelle Wie (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/michelle_wie/index.html?inline=nyt-per)), and with the discovery of talent (see “American Idol”).
Raising James fulfilled both cravings. He arrived on the scene in ESPN footage of his high school games. He arrived in the mailbox as Sports Illustrated’s “The Chosen One.”
He arrived solo. No other competition existed in this teenage pageant. Then, in a very Macaulay Culkin way, James outgrew the adorable phase when he hit adulthood.
“He consumed an awful lot of oxygen while he was still in high school,” said David Carter, the director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/university_of_southern_california/index.html?inline=nyt-org). “He had a pretty clear path to himself for a couple years because he was so young. He had that running room and did well. Then he found himself in a scenario where he was competing with others.
•
“Ironically, he has done exceptionally well as a player, and his upside is dramatic, but what does he do now to stand out? What does he do to distinguish himself from the other stars that have deals or the next player who has a compelling message to market?”
James could use a few tips from the book “How to Develop a Winning Personality.” His off-air persona is as flat as day-old Sprite. But capturing a championship would upgrade him to a special class. Trouble is, a title is far more elusive for superstars than it once was.
Born in 1984, James bounded into the N.B.A. too late. The Superstar Era of limelight champions — of Magic and Bird, Jordan and, yes, Kobe — is dead.
Look who’s alive in the playoffs: concept teams, not individuals. Out of the Warriors and Jazz (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/utahjazz/index.html?inline=nyt-org), Pistons (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/detroitpistons/index.html?inline=nyt-org) and Bulls (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/chicagobulls/index.html?inline=nyt-org), Nets and Cavaliers (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/clevelandcavaliers/index.html?inline=nyt-org), Spurs (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/sanantoniospurs/index.html?inline=nyt-org) and Suns (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/probasketball/nationalbasketballassociation/phoenixsuns/index.html?inline=nyt-org), there are only two players left among the top jersey sellers: James (No. 5) and Tim Duncan (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/tim_duncan/index.html?inline=nyt-per) (No. 8).
For years, worldly personnel directors watched as an American brand of one-on-one, isolation-play basketball was thumped by international teams built on ball movement and fundamentals. The smart N.B.A. executives abandoned the luminary system.
The public is still conditioned to adore celebrities, so it eschews a brand of basketball that is largely better now, a cultural paradox that is reflected in the drop-off of N.B.A. viewers.
Where does that leave James, a man consumed with global branding and his race to be a billionaire, a player with Warren Buffett (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/warren_e_buffett/index.html?inline=nyt-per) on his I.M. list and Nike on his shoes?
He may drop from the Forbes list, but the value of James remains high to Cleveland. He isn’t as light on his feet or as graceful as Wade, but his philosophy is similar. He willingly submerges his ego for the team.
•
It’s in every pass, rebound and defensive stop he makes. Is the commercialized perception of his fame beyond the reality of James? Yes, because his teenage height of popularity was never sustainable.
But James is a perfect fit for today’s game: He isn’t always flashy or dramatic or Kobe, but he is alive in the playoffs when many big names are at home competing against themselves on video games.
James, in many ways, is a survivor, not just of the postseason, but of the child-star abyss. He has yet to end up on a “Diff’rent Strokes” kind of perp walk for post-teenage infamy or in the tabloid gossip pages for rampant clubbing. James is neither Lindsay Lohan nor Sebastian Telfair.
“Bright lights have burned a few,” Carter said. “The fact that LeBron survived that without going belly-up is impressive.”
Now that’s a wow factor. Maybe James can leap off the page.
E-mail: [email protected]