Hate Me Now: A Tyrant Becomes a King

Well, it's happened. Lebron James has won an NBA Title.

Thing is, he didn't arrive here the way I'm sure he thought he would when he "took his talents to South Beach".

At first it was all fun & games, sunny with no chance of showers; even as the Haterade hit them from all angles, Lebron and his new team kept being their jovial, juvenile selves, blissfully ignorant to the trials they were facing. But the boisterous welcome party and arrogant comportment eventually gave way to not only to trepidation, but failure. The demon inside the Dallas Mavericks that the Heat awoke with their silly celebrations late in the 4th Quarter of the 2011 Finals' Game 2 had haunted them - particularly James - incessantly. Until last night.

This redemption wasn't just brought about by fluke coincidence or divine intervention; the Heat had to learn some lessons. Chris Bosh had to learn to get physical and body up on the boards. Dwyane Wade had to learn that he's not the man anymore, a tough pill to swallow. Erik Spoelstra had to learn a thing or two about half-court sets and in-game adjustments, and proved his prowess in these Finals. But mostly, Lebron had to learn to develop that killer instinct; that unflappable swagger carried by a guy who knows he's the best basketball player alive and isn't going to let his team lose.

In the second round against Indiana, down 2-1 and facing more of the scrutiny from the unrelenting Haters, Lebron put his team on his back while it was firmly against the ropes, delivered one of the greatest playoff performances ever, and never really looked back. He played out of his mind the past few weeks (remember who we're talking about here, the guy who perpetually bored us w/ 27/7/7 in regular seasons past), and really proved himself to be worthy of the Crown.

It finally fits.

And not just because Lebron was able to exorcise those Dallas Demons and deliver on the biggest stage; he underwent a total emancipation over the past year, one that consumed not only his game, but his entire being. He matured; he humbled; he evolved. Gone was the kid who mocked Dirk's sickness in the Finals, rocked his own "MVP" tees and embarrassed himself on Twitter every week. In his place was a visibly pacified young man, almost stoic in the midst of all the incessant hatred he faced; one that the entire team pointed to as their leader. He corralled them for a memorable statement of support after the Trayvon Martin shooting; one that drew light to a massive social media trend. He punked off his own team's security at an airport after they denied photos and autographs to fans in the US Military, telling them to step aside and making the whole team get up and sign. And he won the Heat a lot of basketball games by himself, unleashing the most multi-faceted dominance in the history of the NBA.

I said this last year about Dirk, and I'll say it again now, if Lebron James didn't impress you over the past few weeks, then Fuck Off - you're too hard to please. This was a transcendent performance on many levels; Lebron's faced ludicrously high expectations since he came into the public eye, and until his enigmatic collapse vs. Boston in 2010, had always managed to somehow exceed them. After pretty much everybody spent the past two seasons directing all their negative energy at him, we've been too blinded by our own biased emotion to remember why we did it. Because Lebron's become someone different; he's become that player that we always expected him to be: a gracious winner who definitively led his team to a Title. It didn't happen the way we thought it would, hell it didn't happen the way Lebron thought it would either. But after a tumultuous detour, he quickly put himself back on course to claim his Crown. It should cover up that hairline nicely.

I wrote this about Lebron almost two years ago; September '10 as the Heat prepared for their first training camp A.D. (Anno Decision):  it's easy and trendy to hate Lebron now, but it was also trendy (and much easier) to hate Kobe Bryant at one point, and ten times less fathomable that he'd bounce back. Let's let the Heat go do their thing for a bit; let this summer's madness subside. Don't forget that underneath this alleged monster is the best basketball player alive. He's got a fresh team - one that's far more talented than any he's been on - and plenty of critics to silence. We can shower Lebron James in Haterade all we want, but when him and D-Wade have their own Court Cuts segment every week, when the Heat win 60+, and when the King can finally hoist the Larry O and rest easy on his throne, it'll be hard for him to feel a single drop.


I'm sure plenty of people don't agree with me; that Lebron's still going to get hated on plenty.


But you could tell this year he was a Man On Fire, consumed with getting his team a Title. And he did.


So rest assured, he doesn't give a fuck.