As a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James quickly earned the nicknames “The King” and “The Chosen One” because his immense talent-level gave birth to the dream that he could be the one player to reach the level of Michael Jordan, or even supplant him as the best player in NBA history. After a series of playoff failures resulting from both a lack of help from his teammates and a lack of clutch shooting from himself, fans began to doubt that James could still be the next Jordan. By signing with the Miami Heat instead of Chicago, New York or Cleveland LeBron will now never be able to reach Jordan’s level, no matter how many NBA Titles he wins (which may not be many, but again that’s for another time).
LeBron chose the Heat because of his desire to win NBA Championships (it took Jordan 6 seasons to win his first, LeBron is entering his 7th) but in doing so has sacrificed his chance at immortality. He can never overtake Jordan’s legacy now because even if he wins 4 or 5 rings with the Heat he will receive the same stigma Kobe Bryant has recently been fighting off that will go something like “Well he had both Wade and Bosh”. Instead of passing Jordan, now the best James can hope to accomplish is to replace Scottie Pippen as the best running mate in the history of the NBA. Don’t get me wrong, LeBron will still be regarded as the best player in the NBA (for the next while at least) but think about what it will take for the Heat to win in the playoffs:
The Cavaliers have failed in the postseason recently because no one (James very, very much included) has been able to make big jump shots at the end of games. If LeBron had signed elsewhere he would still be the guy with the ball in his hands at the end of the game when it mattered, that won’t be the case in Miami. If Miami wins any NBA Championships Dewayne Wade will almost certainly be the Finals MVP of those teams (Jordan won 6 Championships and was the Finals MVP 6 times). Wade is a much better shooter than LeBron and has proved it on the biggest stage (don’t forget the 2006 NBA Finals when down 2 games to the Mavericks and trailing in the 2nd half of game 3, Dewayne Wade put the team on his back and made every big shot over the next 4 games en route to 4 straight wins and an NBA Title). Does anyone really think Wade won’t have the ball in his hands for the last shot of every big game? Think about the most lasting images of Michael Jordan’s career? How many are game-winning shots in the playoffs?
When push comes to shove the Miami Heat will be Dewayne Wade’s team, not LeBron James’. I guess we have to think of some new nicknames if Wade ever gets the chance to show that to the world.
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