Quote:
Originally Posted by thehef
...Personally, I was pretty turned off by his me-me-me celebration immediately afterwards like some medieval king soaking up the adoration of his subjects (well, he calls himself The King, so... I guess it fits). I realize the NBA would've insisted that he go along with the subsequent game stoppage & ceremony, but - unlike some greats from bygone eras - I don't imagine he'd have wanted it any other way....
Get off my lawn...  ... 
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But remember, this is a guy who was labeled "The Chosen One" as a teenager. He was surrounded by an avalanche of hype, and amazingly, he did not go off the rails because of it. He actually lived up to the hype. I think that his biggest flaw as a basketball player was that he came to believe the hype, and never really learned to "play the right way." But he was so talented and physically blessed he got away with it.
During his time in Cleveland the big complaint was his insistence on playing "hero ball." Dribble, dribble, dribble, don't pass until there are 2-3 seconds on the clock, or maybe jack up a 3 and miss, or maybe drive to the basket and maybe make it or make it and get fouled. Maybe play defense, maybe not.
He would insist that management get this guy or that guy, instead of letting management do their jobs and get guys who could fit into a real team. Coach Mike Brown even said famously that he was thankful that LeBron allowed him (Brown) to coach him (LeBron).
Even former Cav great Austin Carr, who even now jokes about his own reputation for shooting every time he touched the ball, used to (gently) complain that the Cavs under LeBron were playing too much "hero ball."
LeBron got away with it because we won games. Enough to finally win a championship. But I'm absolutely convinced we would have won at least one more while he was here if he had only played more team basketball. He made things harder on himself than he needed to.
That's why every time Cleveland sports talk radio throws out the question, "Would you want LeBron to come back again?" some of the crazy callers think that would be a peachy idea, while most of them say "thanks but no thanks...no more hero ball."
I remember Kyle Korver, at the time considered one of the best 3-point shooters ever, saying when asked about the Cavs' offense: "We just give the ball to LeBron and stand back." Korver just languished when he was here. His talent, and the talent of every other guy who played for us in those years, was just wasted.