LeBron in the Media

I am an avid sports fan.  I pride myself on staying up to date with what is happening in the world of sports, especially with basketball, whether its amateur or professional in nature.  I fully enjoyed watching this past year's NCAA Tournament (even without my Spartans...next year), with a true team like Butler making another run.  For the first time since the Pistons' title run I was fully invested in the NBA playoffs as well.  With that being said, I couldn't help but become annoyed with the media coverage of LeBron James, especially in the NBA Finals.  

I am a realistic person.  At this point I know that the popular media is going to try whatever they can to blow everything out of proportion.  That goes for all news outlets, whether its ESPN, TMZ, or FOX.  I try and take each article and newscast with a grain of salt.  That being said, over the last two weeks I have read more about LeBron than I care to remember.  Two weeks ago I read about how he was finally ready to claim his title as "The Next MJ."  How this year's run through the playoffs conquered any doubt that he isn't the best player on the planet.  Every sports columnist from Michael Wilbon to Rick Reilly (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6634464) were lining up to offer their praise.  

And then came Game 4...and Game 5...and Game 6.  Rarely have I ever seen the sports community so, frankly, overjoyed to see someone fail.  There was a complete 180 done overnight.  I realize we will always have astronomical expectations for LeBron, which he should live with because of the money he is paid for playing a game.  With that being said, let's not go out of our way to try and put this guy in a mental ward by saying he is hopeless because he wasn't able to play up to his ability for a few games.  You could argue that he brought this media firestorm on himself during the Pre-season spectacle known as "The Decision," where He, Wade, and Bosh foolishly promised multiple championship rings for Miami (I'm not saying they won't win a few, but it was stupid to say it the way they did).  He didn't help his case by doing that, but for the most part he has been an exceptional ambassador for the NBA.  He is an athlete with an engaging personality (relative to most, at least), a positive and healthy perspective on the game that he plays, and, as the icing on the cake, a clean criminal record.  


We quickly hand down unfair criticism to LeBron while we rush to praise Michael Vick as a reformed superstar because he returned to his Pro-Bowl form quicker than expected.  That example may be a bit dramatic, but it demonstrates where our priorities are as sports fans in this country.  This is something that we should re-evaluate significantly.  If my kid was growing up and developed an interest in the game of basketball, I would gladly have him listen to LeBron when he talks about his view of the team, and playing each game for his teammates.  


There are countless examples in the world of sports that show us embracing the failure of another.  At some point let's rethink who we choose to criticize so heavily.