Unappreciated Greatness: LeBron James-The Best Player in the NBA

That's right LeBron, you are the best.

LeBron James is the best player in the NBA. This statement is not an opinion, it is a fact. Much like arguing against Michael Jordan being the greatest modern day (post-NBA/ABA merger) basketball player of all-time denying LeBron's place at the top merely proves one's ignorance. The problem is too often when people express this opinion they aren't scolded for their stupidity, rather their ignorance is celebrated & this bothers me. Just so we're clear it angers me not because I'm a fan of the Miami Heat (as a Bulls fan I assure you I am not), after all I'm the guy who a year ago wrote an article titled "Why Everyone Hates the Heat." No, it angers me as a basketball fan. You can hate people in sports, God knows I do, but when you are watching greatness you had damn well better respect it. So once & for all let's rid ourselves of this silliness.

Why Everyone Hates the Heat

Just 8 Championships to go guys!

I hate the Miami Heat. Many people do. Most of those people also hate LeBron James, in fact he’s the main reason they hate the Heat (well, that & their bandwagon fans). Why though? What turned everyone against a player & team that prior to a year ago they had no problem with (unless of course you are a Kobe lover, or Dallas fan)?

The Heat, & their fans, have reacted all season as if the only reason people don’t like them is jealousy (as a spurned Bulls fan I can say this is one reason), despite a wealth of evidence otherwise. It’s not just the total lack of class that was The Decision & the following pep rally, it’s the fact that those involved, most notably LeBron refuse to acknowledge their mistakes. It was months before LeBron even admitted that maybe The Decision was a less than brilliant idea, but by then it was too late after he’d tried for months to hide behind it raising money for the Boys and Girls Club (if he really cared he would’ve just given the money out of the millions he makes from his contract & endorsements). Then he once again showed an inability to handle the consequences of his actions by hiding in the locker room during the player intros of his second return to Cleveland (a game the Heat lost, providing the best moment of the season up until the Finals). Finally he & Wade demonstrated a disturbing lack of maturity with their mocking of Dirk’s illness before game 5. Wade put forth the excuse that they did it because they knew the media would blow it out of proportion (LeBron gave no comment, seeming to realize they’d screwed up, or maybe he was still to busy trying to figure out where he went during the 4^th quarter of game 4). This then begs the question why do it in the first place? Why set yourself up to look like childish punks? Wade seems to think he was somehow pulling some witty little trick on the media that made them look foolish, the fact he doesn’t realize that his stunt had the opposite affect goes to the core of why people can’t stand the Heat.