Would LeBron Be Better Today Had He Gone to College First?
Think about it:Â how much better today would LeBron James be had he been coached by Izzo for one season?
The years roll bye, the NBA playoffs come and go and I find myself caring less and less. Aside from the Spartans who get drafted and play in the NBA, I rarely bat an eye when the games are on. Why is this you might ask? Well, like so many other sports fans, I have grown tired of the ‘me first’ mentality. It is no more on display than it is with every headline and Sportscenter that continues to discuss the LeBron James saga.
How have we gotten ourselves into this mess? Why are we being held emotionally hostage by $100 million dollar crybabies and grown men that never grew up? More importantly, why are loyal fans still buying tickets and filling the stands?
I find it absolutely disgusting that we even pay the television a moment’s notice when the talking heads on ESPN debate LeBron James’ future. Sure LeBron is talented. He is arguably one of the top five players of all time. Is he a top five teammate? I don’t know; the guy looked like he checked out of Cleveland long before the Celtics even officially tossed him out of the playoffs.
So LeBron lost. Who cares? Cleveland fans… sure they are begging him to stay. He has been an eastern Ohio product since the day he arrived on earth. LeBron and Cleveland just kind of go together. Why is the twenty-five year old super star calling all the shots? Should he be calling all of the shots?
Rumors continue to swirl around LeBron’s free agency. One of the biggest factors surrounds LeBron’s ego and his need to help pick his new coach.  Somewhere behind the bleachers John Calipari’s name gets tossed around the discussion. The sooner Calipari leaves the college game, the sooner the next NCAA investigation can commence.
Here’s a message to LeBron, take your millions, your pampered entitled ego and get out of Cleveland. Take Calipari with you and cash your check. Your playoff effort was horrible, your media posturing is disgusting and you don’t deserve an NBA title. You may idolize Jordan, but you aren’t him.
Real men of your size and strength do their damage in the paint. Sure you can shoot the three, but you could actually win a playoff game or two if you played the game with heart and were willing to do the little things. It was guys like Magic, Jordan and Bird that won titles doing it all, but more than anything they were passionate and played to win.
They didn’t hold their fans hostage. They gave maximal effort. They were all ‘big-guards’ who could dominate a game in a number of ways. They shared the ball. They played inside, they played outside, they defended and they rebounded. They loved playing the game and their fans shared their love and their passion. This is what championships are all about. LeBron James is going to have to grow up before he wins a title.
I don’t blame James for all the media scrutiny about where he would end up. I blame him for feeding it. Jordan, Bird and Magic never let anything take center stage over winning.
Kobe had to grow up in Los Angeles. He too had the same problem LeBron has; he knew more than his coach once upon a time. He was a bad teammate. He was bigger than the Laker franchise so he thought. He managed to run Phil Jackson out of building. Phil Jackson, the best NBA coach in the game’s history… ah yeah, that Phil Jackson.
After Kobe lost a ton of games without Phil and grew up a little bit, he learned that Phil might know a thing or two hundred about coaching and basketball. Magically after a couple of horrible Laker seasons, Phil returned, Kobe shut his mouth, he played with effort and passion, he became a better teammate and the Lakers became the best franchise in the NBA all over again. Amazing isn’t it?
Some team in a major NBA market is going to break the piggy bank to have LeBron run up and down their court. I personally think the whole thing is sad. LeBron needed the college game; he needed the coaching and he needed the discipline. Ain’t instant gratification great?
One has to wonder if LeBron would have handled all of this differently had he have played a couple years for a Dean Smith, a Coach K, a Tom Izzo or a Bobby Knight. I really think that is the difference between LeBron and the other greats who played for good college coaches. Guys like Dean Smith knew how to manage super star egos and help them grow up. Coach K and Coach Izzo make education a priority. In the process, their future millionaires become men.
LeBron has to grow up. A new city, John Calipari and cast of new role players aren’t going to get him an NBA championship. If LeBron wants to win, he simply needs to play with passion, he needs to no the little things and learn from his predecessors. If LeBron wants to win, he has to learn like Kobe did. No one player is bigger than the game.
