‘The decision’ still has people wondering will it work? Will LeBron James find championship success with his new team & teammates. How is ‘the decision’ going to affect his brand and legacy.
The fans in Cleveland and New York aren’t the only unhappy people right now in the NBA world, NBA legends have been coming out crying foul over LeBron’s move as well.
Knicks legend, Patrick Ewing, spoke with Tina Cervasio about King James’ move. Though he didn’t seem upset at James for not wanting to be ‘the man’ in Cleveland, especially when he’s going to be up against him while on Orlando’s bench, Ewing did question who’s going to be the leader. Someone’s going to have to take a step back, sacrifice taking the game-winning shot.
Ewing’s statements alludes to NBA superstars having endless ability, but do they have a enough confidence and self-esteem to make the pass to their teammate.
The greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan, spoke about LeBron’s move to Miami after participating in a celebrity golf tournament. The interview aired on an NBC telecast. Jordan said “there’s no way, with hindsight, I would’ve ever called up Larry [Bird], called up Magic [Johnson] and said, ‘hey, look, let’s get together and play on one team.” Jordan would continue, “but that’s … things are different. I can’t say that’s a bad thing. It’s an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys.” Jordan’s fiercest rival and long-time friend, Charles Barkley felt the same way.
Barkley spoke to the Arizona Republic about how an MVP shouldn’t leave his team and that James is taking himself out of the conversation in being compared to Jordan and MJ’s legacy. Magic Johnson has even joined in on raining on James’ parade. Johnson said he was looking to beat Larry Bird right out of college.
Many call the era of Magic, Michael and Bird the golden era of basketball but like Jordan said, things were different. Players didn’t make the kind of transitions James has done with Miami, nearly no one did. Barkley made the move from Philadelphia to Phoenix, but he didn’t join any talent of his caliber, Barkley simply went to a slightly better team that still fell to Jordan and his Bulls in the NBA Finals. Jordan retired a bunch of times when he was probably bored with the league and his team after winning a boat load of championships. Jordan could have easily won eight titles in row if he didn’t retire that initial time. Maybe a change would have sufficed Jordan? Maybe a move to a new team would have kept him from retiring so many times. Teams in the NBA are much more talented than they were in the 90′s.
It’s hard to say if James would have went to the Knicks or the Bulls, that top level talent wouldn’t have joined him. James was going to be hated no matter which team he went to, why not be successful doing it? During his time in Cleveland, they went to the Finals and were swept. Cleveland’s front office just couldn’t get it done, bringing in an aging Shaquille O’Neal, a mediocre talent in Mo Williams, it just wasn’t enough.
While the NBA legends are complaining about James’ move, you can’t help but smell a hint of jealousy. James has taken advantage of the system and put his ego aside for the sake of winning championships, a goal which should be the focus of every NBA player, not focusing on beating the best player on the opposing team.
Video Source: MSG
Photo Credit:Wikimedia
