Friday, May 27, 2011

Leave LeBron alone already; his "Decision" was a great decision


LeBron James (and "Bipoley Moley") was all smiles during his "Decision" on July 8, 2010.
For the past week, I’ve been driving 120 miles a day— 60 miles from my house in Cherry Hill, New Jersey to my job in Atlantic City and then 60 miles back home. As gruesome as the trip usually is for me (by the 40th mile, my lower back pain from sitting is probably comparable to the pain San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey dealt with when Florida Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins decked him at home plate a couple nights ago), I find some relief in listening to XM-Sirius Sports Talk Radio— there’s nothing like hearing sports rants from a couple of my ranting idols, Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo on Mad Dog Radio channel 86 and Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio channel 84. 

But one thing that is really getting on my last nerve is the sports radio’s ongoing obsession with grilling LeBron James over what has commonly become known as  “The Decision”-- when LeBron announced his decision to sign with the Miami Heat on an hour long television segment on ESPN in early July 2010. 

That’s right. For all you non-Sirius-XM listeners out there, the controversial issue of LeBron’s “Decision” is still being discussed all over sports talk radio, as if the topic hasn’t been discussed enough times over the past year.
             
Now, I do understand why, nearly 11 months after LeBron made his “Decision” to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and sign with the Miami Heat, the issue of LeBron’s controversial decision is all of a sudden resurfacing as a major controversy in the sporting world— LeBron originally took a lot of heat (pun-intended baby!!) for leaving the Cavaliers, and now that he is in the NBA Finals, all of the LeBron haters, namely all of the Cleveland fans out there, want to have their second course in expressing their never-ending frustration and anger towards LeBron.
             
But enough is enough already. Leave “King James” alone!
              
I am sick of the sporting world’s denigration of LeBron, completely and utterly sick of hearing the same thing from pretty much every single LeBron hater.
             
Here is the cliché response I’ve heard nonstop from radio personalities and fans alike in response to LeBron’s decision to leave Cleveland: “Well, I’m not upset he left Cleveland, I’m just upset about how he went about the whole thing. He owed it to the Cavaliers to tell them he was leaving before announcing it to the world. He was wrong, narcissistic, ignorant, arrogant, and selfish for having his “Decision” on national television.”
             
Well, you know what I say in response to that?
             
All of you LeBron haters out there are WRONG!
             
Does anyone realize how great the “Decision” really was? Does anyone realize that LeBron’s 11-minute interview on ESPN with sportscaster Jim Gray raised almost $2 million that was distributed among 59 Boys and Girls Clubs of America? That means that on average, $181,818.18 was made for charity each minute of the interview.
             
In addition to the $2 million, LeBron arranged for the donation of $500,000 in computers from Hewlett-Packard and $500,000 in apparel from Nike.
             
Have you ever heard of any non-profit organization or person ever raising that amount of money in such a small time frame? Call me crazy, but I’d be hard-pressed to believe there is any charity in the world that has the means to raise money that fast.
             
Two million dollars in eleven minutes, plus another one million dollars in computers and apparel.
             
Think about how many problems in the world would be solved by now if that amount of income could be collected for worthy causes and charities on a regular basis.
             
Regardless of what anyone says, LeBron did a great thing by making his “Decision” a worldwide event on ESPN. And I truly feel that way, even though the rest of the sporting world feels otherwise.
           
LeBron could have left Cleveland the way Cleveland fans thought he should have— the way that every other free agent leaves a team— by telling ownership he was going to sign elsewhere. But if LeBron did that, $3 million wouldn’t have been donated to a very worthy cause.
             
Thus, LeBron turned a nothing event into a something event— by leaving the Cavs the way so many people wish he did, $0 would have been raised, but by leaving the Cavs with his “Decision”, $3 million was raised.
             
In fact, I think LeBron has set a precedent that should be followed by the rest of his counterparts in mainstream professional sports.
             
If you’re a big-time athlete like LeBron, why would you not have a television show announcing a decision such as LeBron’s, when by doing so, you could raise a huge sum of money to help people who truly need it?
             
So this is the message I have for all you Cleveland fans and LeBron haters out there: you all are the ones being selfish right now.
             
Not LeBron.
             
LeBron made the world a better place by bringing in $3 million for charity.
             
All of you LeBron haters have done nothing but debase LeBron for his “Decision”, claiming that you wish he went about leaving Cleveland differently.

But by doing this, all of you LeBron haters are showing just who is actually selfish. By saying you wish "The Decision" never happened, you're all showing you could care less that LeBron raised $3 million for a foundation that relies heavily on donations.
             
LeBron haters, you all have the right to be sad and upset that LeBron left the Cavs. I get that.

But please, stop bashing a man who turned a nothing event into a something event.
             
Even though I may be the only one in the sporting world who feels this way, I COMMEND LeBron for his “Decision”.
             
I can only hope that with the plethora of NBA stars set to become unrestricted free agents in the next two years (a la Tim Duncan in 2011 and Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, Deron Williams, and Steve Nash in 2012), more players follow in LeBron’s footsteps and turn a nothing event into a something event.