Monday, July 19, 2010

Be honest. Were you really surprised LeBron James moved on to Miami?

The 25-year-old basketball star is the typical employee in that age bracket, prizing mobility over loyalty.

We have a whole workforce composed of free agents unabashedly hunting the best deal.

So it was amazing when overHeated Ohioans took to the streets for bonfires built of Cleveland Cavaliers merchandise.

It’s not like James claimed he was bigger than John Lennon.

The new-school business plan for an alliance of James, Chris Bosh of the Raptors and Chicago’s Dwyane Wade of the Heat certainly is a departure from old-school stars in the NBA’s golden age.

Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas, who piled up 10 titles, 1979-1990, wanted to beat each other — not become teammates.

Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer (“There’s nothing more I want to do than to bring a World Series ring back to the Twin Cities”) conveyed a whiff of criticism when he said, “I could understand his decision, but not the way it all went about.”

“If I was 25 I would try to win it by myself,” Charles Barkley admitted on NBA TV. “This definitely hurts LeBron. When you are 25 you shouldn’t be trying to piggyback on other people.”

Apparently, the Michael Jordan-sized scoring burden weighed on James, averaging 27 points plus, yet sees himself as more of a Magic man, a playmaker dishing to Wade and Bosh.

Born and raised in Akron, James could have been a beloved player with one title. He has been called a basketball Moses to lead starved fans in the depressed region of northeast Ohio (the football Browns, like the Detroit Lions, have never played in a Super Bowl) to the promised land.

After seven hype-filled seasons without a ring, he may be the only one who still believes in King James mythology.

All pay. No paydirt.

He couldn’t resist the fawning fanfare.

NBA scoring champ Kevin Durant, 21, quietly inked an $86 million for five years extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder absent an entourage.

And what was the respected sports network ESPN doing shilling this charade July 8 with “The Decision,” a live infomercial?

King James was revealed as calculating, not cuddly, as crossover appearances on “Saturday Night Live” made the Nike icon seem.

He didn’t bow out gracefully, not forewarning the Cavs’ owner or sparing long-suffering fans a spectacle that left them feeling betrayed.

“He should have held a news conference in downtown Cleveland to face the music like a man,” suggested majority owner Dan Gilbert, who vented many unkinder things, but he’s right. Fans would have dealt better with deep disappointment. Instead, Gilbert’s ranting about “our former hero” and his “narcissistic, self-promotional” display fanned their bitterness.

Though James said, “I feel awful that I’m leaving,” his words felt hollow as he cavalierly burned the bridge that will forever render him a despised pariah in the Buckeye backyard that helped shine his star.
Will the Heat trio become a hat trick to rival such famous threesomes as the Stooges, the Musketeers, the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, Crosby Stills and Nash, Tinkers to Evers to Chance, Huey, Dewey and Louie or Charlie’s Angels?

We’re rooting for 1968, when the Lakers traded for Wilt Chamberlain for a Hall of Fame triumvirate with Elgin Baylor and Jerry West.

L.A. lost the NBA Finals in seven games to Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics.

Heat superstars could also find themselves in a Miami vise because championships aren’t always won by the best teams, but intangibles such as fire in the belly.