Does Shannon Sharpe want us to feel bad for LeBron?
On any normal day, during any normal week, I wouldn’t even bother offering my time to the talking heads of sports media. You know the ones; they get on their live debate shows and offer faux opinions about the biggest trending topics in the sports world. During any normal week, the topics might hold tepid interest on a story that develops overnight, but this isn’t any normal week. This is the worst week in sports: Major League Baseball All-Star Week.
The obsession with NBA free agency is at an all-time high. It’s the only story-line that has transcended the typical drought in sports news that occurs during what amounts to the Sahara Desert of Weeks In Sports. Nothing happens during MLB All-Star week. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a million home runs during the Home Run Derby, and not only did no one watch (nor could they tell you what city it’s in), Vlad Jr. didn’t even win the event. Essentially, the content well is drying up, which is why I tuned to Fox Sports 1 and Undisputed.
I’m used to hearing Shannon Sharpe defend LeBron James at any and all costs. It’s his character, and it works, and it’s a meme factory. Who doesn’t want to see Shannon stroll into the studio wearing a goat mask and a #23 Lakers jersey? But every once in a while, the former Broncos tight end hurls a take into the sphere of molten opinions that makes me stop and turn my head. This one made me write.
Let me first clear something up: my issue with this is not with Shannon Sharpe. I know he has a job to do, and I’m fully aware he is asked to put out provocative content for this exact purpose; to drive conversation on social media. It’s working. Good for him. My issue is with this narrative that LeBron has been unfairly assailed for his offseason decision making throughout his NBA career. It’s a fundamentally flawed notion to suggest that LeBron Haters are the vocal majority, or to suggest that only LeBron would get slaughtered for a move that included pairing himself with a fellow superstar.
When LeBron left Cleveland the first time, nobody really hated the fact that he was leaving (well, the city of Cleveland did, and so did Dan Gilbert, but I digress). No, the vast majority of fans simply hated the way he left. An hour long special on ESPN in a northeastern Boys and Girls Club that culminated in a 10 minute interview with a hall of fame broadcaster screams narcissism. LeBron himself knew that, and he acknowledged it when he returned to Cleveland four years later, in what amounted to one of the greatest stories in sports history.
No one obliterated LeBron when he joined forces with Kyrie Irving, poached Kevin Love, forced trades for JR Smith and Iman Shumpert, and hand-crafted his rebound-machine Tristan Thompson an unreasonable max contract. He handpicked a team that included three legitimate stars and a deep bench, creating the only team that had a chance to rival the superteam that had been formed in San Francisco Bay. However, Shannon Sharpe believes the masses would light their torches and lift their pitchforks in protest if LeBron had poached Paul George? Earth to Shannon: HE LITERALLY TRIED THAT AND NO ONE OBLITERATED HIM FOR IT.
Kawhi is joining a 48-win team in Los Angeles, and he’s bringing Paul George with him, it’s true. But what about when Kyrie Irving requested a trade away from a Cavaliers team that had just lost the NBA Finals? Remember the flurry of rumors, the reports, the speculation that a deal was in place to send Kyrie to Indiana in exchange for Paul George? The excitement outweighed the slander. Imagine LeBron James and Paul George sharing a frontcourt in Cleveland? It was an opportunity to knockout the only player in the league who actually received unfair slander in Kevin Durant.
Shannon wants us to feel empathetic for LeBron. He wants us to applaud LeBron’s bravery, because he was brave enough to go to the Lakers all by himself. To join a 35-win team without a fellow star. To put himself in the midst of one of the worst front offices in the NBA, surrounded by young talent and the volatile personality of Lavar Ball.
Why in the hell should I applaud LeBron’s bravery? Why should the fact that he was unable to court a fellow star (Paul George flat-out bailed on what was a verbal commitment to the Lakers because of LeBron’s presence) not diminish his legacy? Should I feel bad that LeBron was brave enough to join one of the two most storied franchises in league history? Should I feel empathy for him, knowing he was joining only the second most valuable franchise in the league? How incredibly brave it was of him to head for the most desirable market in the entire NBA and live in a city that would allow him to both play basketball and produce movies, TV shows, and rap albums.
LeBron’s legacy takes a hit at the end of his career because he’s pushed every other superstar away from his supernova. He is all-encompassing, and he demands the entire lens of the media. That’s why, in a week where Kawhi and Paul George and Vlad Jr and Pete Alonso and Coco Gauff should be the focus of the news cycle, it’s instead all about the LeBron Lakers. It’s why Kevin Durant called the circus that surrounds him toxic. It’s why Kawhi and George both spurned the team that once headlined their list of destinations in favor of the red-headed stepchild that shares the building. Why should we feel bad for LeBron, or feel bad about what’s tainting his legacy? He created his legacy, and no one wants to get in the crossfire.