10 million people can't be wrong

There have been many an analyst talking about the over sized ego of one LeBron James, and his sycophantic special to announce where he would be playing next season. We all know how that ended, which is a different topic for a different post. What caught my attention almost more than LeBron's actual decision was the utter contempt that analysts, media, and society in general had with the manner in which he made the decision. Having watched the entire special, I can honestly say that it was awkward, unorganized, and painfully drawn out, but the key factor is that I did watch, and so did millions of other people around the world. Whether you hated, loved, or really had no strong opinion of LeBron James, you still watched his one hour special. That fact alone gives LeBron cause to hold the special in the first place, because he can get away with it. Now, I am in no way making an attempt to defend LeBron. I do, however, believe it is time for analysts, fans, and the general populace to take a long, hard look in the mirror.

LeBron's ego maniacal behavior is most likely the result of being showered with national praise and admiration since he was a junior in high school. From the day he began to garner any attention LeBron was reminded on a daily basis that he was the greatest basketball player on the face of the earth. I am not trying to devalue his talent, because it is substantial, but one can only be anointed as the second coming of MJ for so long before they begin to believe their own hype. Getting drafted to his home state's team did nothing to squelch the situation, either. From the second LeBron arrived in Cleveland he was handled with FIFA goalkeeper gloves, as fear spread throughout the masses of Ohio that they would not be able to keep their favorite son. The seven years in Cleveland caused LeBron's ego to grow so rapidly, that the building-sized poster downtown was actually a pretty accurate to-scale model of it (also, if somebody were to put a building-sized poster of you in one of the most visible locations in town, wouldn't you think you were kind of special?). For those seven years all LeBron heard was how much of an icon and superstar he was, which was true. There was but one problem with Cleveland fans' logic, though: the simple fact that superstars and icons don't play in Cleveland. LeBron's transformation to a full-blown egomaniac had been completed; he was too big for Cleveland, too big for Ohio, too big for the Midwest. Perhaps Cleveland could have kept LeBron if they had, oh I don't know, told him "no" on occasion. Perhaps they could have kept him if national media wasn't doing an injury update every ten minutes after that hideous left-handed free throw. And maybe, just maybe, they could have kept him if 10 million people decided they had something better to do than watch a one hour special for a ten second announcement. The fact is that LeBron is the monster, and we are Doctor Frankenstein. We created him, and now we must suffer the consequences.