Why LeBron's Decision Made Sense for Reasons Beyond Basketball

Let me start by saying that I'm not the biggest LeBron James fan.  Although I respect his talent and acknowledge him as the best player in the world -- by far -- I was never blown away by him.  No disrespect to him as a player, but I just never grew the same kind of love for him as I did for Michael Jordan or even Dwyane Wade (from 2004 to 2009).  Both his game and personality just never jived with me in the same manner as those two guys.  While he is today's best player, I don't put him in the same category as guys like Magic, MJ, and Larry Bird in terms of having a killer instinct to win.  Personality wise, I think he oversells himself a little much (his introductory video in NBA 2K14 just made me roll my eyes), and sometimes his over-the-top business mentality approach has deservedly harmed his reputation.  I also completely disagree with his stance on why he never participated in the Slam Dunk contest; if transcendent superstars before him such as MJ, Dr J, Dominique, etc. had no issues with participating, what makes him above all that?

Overall, I'm not completely in love with his game or personality.  I've called into question plenty of his on and off-the-court decisions.

On July 11, 2014, however, LeBron James followed his heart, and that is the one decision that I am 100% behind.

When reading LeBron's first-hand essay on SI.com, I could not help but relate to what he is going through.  I'm not suggesting, by any means, that I'm in the same stratosphere of importance, or that the impact of my decisions even pale in comparison to that of LeBron's; I'm just drilling it down to just how difficult it is to make big decisions - particularly in terms of the pressure of weighing options, as well as being criticized from all angles before, during, and after making a decision.  After my experience making a decision to leave my job at NASA to go to graduate school as a full-time student at Georgetown, I can't even imagine the kind of heat LeBron was under with a whole different level of publicity and scrutiny.

LeBron James (right) will be teaming up with Kyrie Irving (left) next season

Six and a half years ago, I made the decision to leave my hometown and move to Orlando, FL to work for NASA.  Much like LeBron's decision, it was an absolute no-brainer; NASA was the perfect place to establish myself and jump-start my career - similar to why Miami was the right place for LeBron four years ago.  Since I was not criticized for that initial move and thus could not relate to that particular aspect of LeBron's first big decision, I found myself on the same side as many others in criticizing him for the manner in which he made this decision.  However, I did believe that he made the correct decision in teaming up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in order to win championships.  I also give him credit for taking a substantial pay cut in order to make that arrangement.  Four years later, despite all the level of hatred going his way at the time, I think most people no longer fault him for making that move.

What I could NOW relate to is LeBron's decision to come back home.  While it might not make sense to most people to leave an income source, it makes a lot of sense for me to return close to home and pursue a passion.  As great as NASA is, I just did not sustain the same love for it as I originally thought I would.  Before working there, I saw an opportunity to achieve a stable career at a very respectable job.  But now, I have a chance to transition myself into something that I like doing better - albeit taking a risk in order to do so.  LeBron is taking a risk, but it is in his comfort zone where he is happy.  Sure, it's a long shot to bring Cleveland its first title in about 50 years.  But LeBron will be more than happy to take on that monumental task.

While LBJ is not getting nearly the same criticism now as in 2010, there was still a hefty amount of hate going his way nonetheless.  Several reporters called into question his lack of professionalism and courtesy to his fellow teammates for dragging this decision out so long.  Others said he would be a hypocrite for going back to Cleveland, given that he promised to win multiple championships in Miami (remember the infamous "not 1, not 2...." declaration).  In many people's eyes, he conceded his goal of winning multiple championships by acknowledging the Cavaliers - as constructed - are a long way from winning a title.

After this has all come full circle, let's give the guy a break.  Four years ago, he was a 25 year-old guy, who had never left Ohio, with the opportunity to move to Miami and play with his best friends.  When growing up, many of us needed to leave the vicinity of our hometowns - just to check it off our bucket list.  Before college, many of us were disgusted at the idea of living in our hometowns and being close to family.  But after venturing out on our own and accomplishing what we wanted to, the idea of being near family seems a lot more appealing.  As was the case for many of us, once LeBron sowed his oats, he gained some valuable perspective on what is most important to him.

Maybe it's because we're about the same age (we're just under 11 months apart), and we have experienced a similar path of personal growth.  Nonetheless, I completely endorse LeBron's free agency decisions.  As I know I need to go back to school to fulfill my personal and professional goals - even if it doesn't make sense to others - LeBron needs to do what gives him the most fitting personal situation.  Sure he's pissed off and confused a lot of people along the way.  He is guilty of being indecisive.  But so am I, and I think many others would be too if they are torn between difficult options on a big decision.  When I was torn between options, I pissed off my girlfriend (now fiancee) and my bosses at work with the roller coaster of a decision process.  I knew whatever path I chose, there was not one end-all option that would make everybody happy.  I had to do what was best for me (and of course, my finacee), and stop constantly and desperately searching for a perfect answer that everybody would endorse.

LeBron's biggest criticism hit him hard when he announced "The Decision" back in 2010.  Make no mistake:  he, as well as everyone else out there, acknowledged that it was not the most sensitive and effective approach to his decision.  It gave everyone enough justification to ignore the fact that the telecast raised 2.5 million dollars for charity, and call LeBron's character into question.

Okay, enough about the life aspect of his decision.  What impact will this decision have on the NBA landscape?

Does this make Cleveland a contender?  No question.  Are they as good as Miami would have been with him?  Absolutely not - at least, not right now.  Kyrie Irving and Andrew Wiggins are promising studs, but they are not better than Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh today.

This is going to be a huge test for LeBron in terms of his mentoring ability.  He seems to be universally praised for his knowledge of the game and leadership.  But he has yet to lead a team of young promising stars with him being the "old head."  On Miami, he was very fortunate to have proven leaders such as Wade and Udonis Haslem (don't laugh - he has been the team's co-captain for several years now) to help him lead Miami to its four Finals appearances and two titles.  But this new gig will be completely uncharted territory.  I expect that he will do well, but I am not sure if it will lead to a championship in Cleveland quite yet.  But if he does, LeBron's legacy will be something extremely unique.

Quick point on those who didn't expect LeBron to come back to Cleveland:  everything that people conventionally thought would deter him from coming back home is being overblown completely.  A couple quick myths below:

Myth 1:  LeBron is still pissed at Dan Gilbert for the infamous Comic Sans tirade.
Fact: Yes, it irked LeBron.  But LeBron irked Dan Gilbert and the entire Cleveland fan base.  Considering all the feuds throughout the NBA that most of us don't know about, this was not nearly as big a deal as everyone made it out to be.  The two of them were able to hash this out after LeBron made up his mind.

Myth 2:  LeBron won't want to play for a rookie coach.
Fact:  As we've all come to know, this is a player's league.  If new coach David Blatt fails to win over his players, GM David Griffin will not hesitate pulling the plug on him.  The current coach should have virtually NO impact on LeBron's decision.  Other than Gregg Popovich, there is NO coach in the NBA who will have the final say over LeBron.

Myth 3:  LeBron wants to win as many titles as his idol, Michael Jordan.
Fact:  The number of championships he wins is no longer LeBron's biggest priority; securing a championship to his home state of Ohio serves as a far more powerful goal and would give him an incredibly unique legacy.  He thinks that this is a far more difficult feat to accomplish, and no longer thinks the grind of multiple years of playing deep into June is important anymore.  In 2010, he thought the Big Three era would allow him not to have to carry most of the load.  In 2014, he realized that this approach would no longer be valid as the Heat were constructed.  Now, he has a chance to lead a younger and fresher group and perhaps not log nearly as many minutes.

Overall, I think this is great for the NBA.  The Eastern Conference has suddenly become balanced and appealing.  The timing is fantastic, considering the conference had arguably its worst season in the history of the league.  I think Miami is still the favorite in the East, but we'll get to that before the season starts.  For now, let's enjoy the announcement and see how it plays out.  On the whole, this development has the potential to become the greatest story in the history of sports.

NBA Officially in a State of Chaos

For the most part, the basketball community felt a huge sigh of relief when the lockout was lifted.  But did that spell the end of the turmoil among Commissioner David Stern, the players, and the owners?  We should have known better.  We should have predicted that, after months of several heated discussions, that rifts would be permanently created and grudges would be held.  After both sides made considerable compromises to end the lockout, promises were made to both the players and owners that efforts would be made to ensure their needs would be met.  So after all this, what’s the outcome?  For one, every team transaction, from here on out, will be further scrutinized by everyone in the league.  Now, the same day the lockout ended, we’ve already seen how ugly things have become with the chaotic Chris Paul trade fiasco.  In the end, the NBA has seriously tarnished its brand, and things seem to quickly be spiraling out of control. 

Let's hope the league wises up and allows CP3 and Kobe to become teammates

The unfathomable veto of the trade that would have brought Chris Paul to the Lakers is the latest episode in what’s been a devastating blow to the NBA’s image.  Owners were furious that yet another star player would be moving to a premier franchise.  And from my understanding, it wasn’t JUST the acquiring of Chris Paul alone that prompted the owners to react; rumors swirled that the Lakers still had a chance to acquire Dwight Howard from the Magic.  While it may not have been feasible immediately after the Lakers parted with both Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom to get Paul, owners were still weary that Howard might eventually finagle his way to LA – especially if he’s not traded to another team. 

Scola (left) and Gasol (right) would provide offensive
firepower to their respective teams' front lines

What kills me is that this trade was said to be vetoed for "basketball-related" reasons.  Are you kidding me?  From a basketball perspective, it's fair to say that New Orleans may have fared the best of the three teams from doing this trade.  Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, and Emeka Okafor together would have formed a playoff team-quality front court for the Hornets.  That's before even mentioning the acquisition of Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic - who are both up-and-coming prolific scorers (if you don't know Dragic, check out this 23-point 4th quarter outburst he threw down on a very good San Antonio team in the 2010 Western Conference Semis).  From a marketing perspective, you obviously can't replace CP3 - even with these high quality players.  But it baffles me that the league doesn't realize that this is a much better option than letting Paul walk at season's end, and thereby giving New Orleans nothing in return. 

 This isn't a bad trade for the other two involved teams, either.  In the aftermath of losing Yao Ming, Houston would have landed the second-best big man in the league in Pau Gasol - and were already in the running to land Nene.  And of course, Kobe and CP3 would form the best back court in the NBA for the Lakers - albeit with a thin front line.  So how the hell is NOT doing this trade better for all three teams from a basketball perspective? 

Clearly, there are lingering issues resulting from egos of owners and players in the aftermath of the lockout.  So who's at fault for keeping this going?  

By opposing the trade of CP3 to LA, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert is
showing that he's obviously not over the loss of LeBron James

To owners, the new CBA should have further prevented teams from stacking up the league’s best players; ever since LeBron, D-Wade and Bosh joined forces in Miami last offseason, owners became determined to not allow something like that to happen again.  Thus, when the very first news they hear (on the SAME DAY the lockout ends, to boot) is the rumors of CP3 and Dwight Howard both going to the Lakers, their natural reaction is to push back.  They were promised competitive balance, and felt they were lied to.  I think all basketball minds agree that New Orleans, in the proposed trade, got a pretty damn good deal out of it.  But if we’ve learned anything this offseason, it’s that most owners don’t see things from a basketball perspective – only money. 

At the same time, you can’t blame players for wanting to play for bigger market teams.  To CP3, his desire to achieve long-term security (by signing an extension with the Lakers) has been denied.  If he blows out his knee this season, he’s screwed.  There’s no denying he has a right to be livid at the league.  Smaller market teams want more than 1% chance of landing star players to improve their venue, but other than a few exceptions – Reggie Miller with the Pacers, Tim Duncan with the Spurs, and Kevin Durant with the Thunder – star players prefer bigger markets.  That’s never going to change, and owners need to come to terms with that. 

Things will only get uglier from here on out.  We’re being told that this happened ONLY because the NBA currently owns the Hornets, causing a perfect storm for this debauchery to happen.  But hence forth, every blockbuster trade - especially between big and small-market teams – is going to be heavily scrutinized.  Even the New Jersey Nets, who are widely anticipated to be considered a bigger market when they move to Brooklyn next season, got in trouble for tampering in their ongoing attempts to trade for Dwight Howard.  Howard, who is open to the idea of playing with All-Star guard Deron Williams, now has more political obstacles to overcome.

It's not just the NBA-owned Hornets whose trade discussions are under scrutiny;
the growing chaos has hindered trade talks involving Dwight Howard (left) and Brook Lopez (right)

What a mess.

So who is to blame for the NBA’s image spiraling out of control?

The easy scapegoat, of course, is David Stern.  He’s the one who allowed the lockout get to the point where it did.  He’s the one who’s been really wishy-washy on why he vetoed the trade.  He’s the one hiding from all the heavy criticism.  But remember that ultimately, Stern answers to the owners; the only reason he’s employed is because of the owners.  He claims all of his decisions are not affiliated with any pressure he gets from owners, but IMO, that’s not plausible. 

David Stern has long ago worn out his welcome

All things considered, he really needs to retire.  He’s gotta go.  The NBA badly needs new leadership.  Regardless of whether he’s truly at fault, we know Stern’s reputation is now irreparable, and that he shouldn’t linger around any longer trying to salvage it.  Besides, he wouldn’t be the only sports figure failing to go out on a high note; just two months ago, we saw Penn State legend Joe Paterno’s last season marred by the Jerry Sandusky scandal.  But unlike Paterno, Stern’s leadership has been far from flawless up to this point.  In fact, you can question the very beginning of his reign upon the first NBA draft lottery in 1985:  many conspiracies are out there giving solid evidence that Stern “aided” the New York Knicks to win the draft lottery – and of course allowing them to land #1 pick Patrick Ewing.  Of course, the infamous Tim Donaghy scandal comes to mind as well, which put the entire integrity of the game into question.  Fair or not, Stern’s legacy will always be associated with these conspiracies. 

It's tough to imagine either Greg Oden or Brandon Roy
ever setting foot on an NBA court again

The growing rift between the owners and players is not the only sad story to surface before this already-shortened season even started.  Portland Trailblazers star Brandon Roy, who could no longer avoid the inevitable, called it quits on account of his gimpy knees.  We saw flashes of the great player he could have been in Game 4 of last year’s First Round matchup vs. the eventual NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks, and it appears that's the last of him.  Things are also looking pretty glum for his teammate Greg Oden, who is continuing to struggle making his way back on the court after a heavily injury-ridden start to his career.  So on the Blazers front, the already-sad story is only getting sadder. 

Somehow, even after the labor situation resolved itself, the NBA is looking worse and worse.  All we can hope for now is for the chaos to subside, and that things start looking up once the actual basketball gets underway.  Until then, the bleeding won’t stop and the growing divide between players, owners, and the commissioner will not be set aside.