{"id":5396,"date":"2010-06-30T04:18:22","date_gmt":"2010-06-30T08:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/?p=5396"},"modified":"2014-02-24T13:33:19","modified_gmt":"2014-02-24T18:33:19","slug":"being-lebron-james-in-july-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/sports-editor\/06\/30\/being-lebron-james-in-july-2010\/","title":{"rendered":"Being Lebron James In July 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagine you woke up this morning as LeBron James. You are America\u2019s best and most beloved athlete. You are so famous the President says he\u2019s you: “I’m LeBron, baby. I can play on this level. I got some game.” The press is literally calling this is the Summer Of You. You are 25 years old, and you are on the market. It\u2019s good to be King. You report on the set for your first Hollywood movie in a couple weeks.<\/p>\n

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But alas, all is not right in the Kingdom. You just got bounced from the playoffs early (again) by an aging, banged-up Celtics squad. With a few passive jumpshots, your crown lost some luster. This is the year you fell off the Michael Jordan trajectory. MVP titles. Olympic gold medals. None of that matters. At the end of the day, it\u2019s all about the rings. MJ had six. Kobe has five. You have none. <\/p>\n

LeBron James woke up one morning changed into not the next Michael Jordan, but the next Kevin Garnett. A freakish, high school-straight-to-pros prodigy who let his prime years go to waste for an also-ran team in the Midwest. Kevin Garnett warned LeBron about the dangers of being too loyal last month. KG said he would have left Minnesota for Boston years earlier knowing what he knows now. <\/p>\n

But LeBron\u2019s a loyal guy. He has the Akron area code 303 inked to his arm. He throws his annual MVP acceptance ceremonies in his Ohio high school gym. For him to leave Cleveland will always be a chink in his armor. He couldn\u2019t win one with the hand he was dealt. Still, he\u2019s given 6 ringless years of his career to Cleveland and lies even deeper in Jordan\u2019s shadow. The Cavs can\u2019t even get out of the East. <\/p>\n

*******<\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n

LeBron James and Tiger Woods share the same birthday (December 30) and ethnicity. That is all. Nine years and worlds separate them. One was raised by a military strict dad and loving mom, went to Stanford, and often plays in a sweater. The other? A heavily-tattooed manchild from a single mom and the streets of Akron, Ohio. Guess which one turned into sex-addicted Lothario who cheated on his Swedish bikini model wife and two children with umpteen mistresses from Vegas strippers to the teenage girl next door?<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, LeBron James has an immaculate public image. He kicked a water-bottle once and didn\u2019t shake hands with the Magic. And I\u2019m being nitpicky here. With TMZ and Twitter now, this is amazing. James is engaged to his high school sweet-heart. His mom Gloria deserves\u2026 LeBronian praise. <\/p>\n

LeBron doesn\u2019t have the raw intensity of Michael Jordan. This is a good thing. When all is said and done, BronBron won\u2019t win more rings than Michael. But he\u2019ll be much happier and popular. \u201cTalent is liquefied trouble\u201d, as filmmaker Sydney Pollack liked to say. It fueled Jordan to 6 rings, yes, but he also fought his own teammates in practice and became a compulsive gambler. He muddled through a messy divorce and was still bitterly calling out his haters during his Hall of Fame acceptance speech last year. Those six rings are the only fine-line between Jordan\u2019s brilliance and madness. The NBA was just angrier back then. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird wouldn\u2019t even speak to each other during their storied 1980s rivalry. Nowadays, there\u2019s LeBron biking around with Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade in Beijing: <\/p>\n

\"Lebron<\/center><\/p>\n

Like LeBron, Generational Y\u2019ers are more global and not as mad as our predecessors. YouTube and Facebook tend to keep us happy. And LeBron James is the perfect specimen for YouTube. There are 112,000 LeBron James videos on YouTube. (And this is the best one<\/a>). He drops the Akron Hammer Tomahawk jams mid-game, but he\u2019ll get down for impromptu dance-offs with Shaq pre-game too:<\/p>\n

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So it\u2019s only appropriate that Generation Y\u2019s Mozart has a lion-dragon tattoo inked to his chest and is Eddie Murphy funny. LeBron shares Gen Y\u2019s sleepy Facebook political activism, too. He\u2019s not especially outspoken about anything, but he did donate money to Obama\u2019s 2008 campaign. He took Jordan\u2019s queue about not being political. He\u2019ll give the most milquetoast sound-bytes on current events. LeBron James reps Nike’s, not Darfur.<\/p>\n

*******<\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n

Thank God for the World Cup because besides that, SportsCenter will bombard us all summer with \u201cWill Brett come back?\u201d and \u201cWill LeBron stay?\u201d. LeBron can look to baseball for some pointers. Alex Rodriguez shows LeBron exactly what not to do. A-Roid took steroids for three years, cheated on his wife with a Toronto stripper, and is just generally a despicable human being. He\u2019s merely a better Jose Canseco, a.k.a a juiced up slugger who dated Madonna. A-Roid chased the money out of town and did win a ring. But he couldn\u2019t win a title by himself. He\u2019ll always be the Ben Affleck to Derek Jeter\u2019s Matt Damon\u2014a punchline:<\/p>\n

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Then there\u2019s Joe Mauer. It is impossible not to pull for Joe Mauer. He speaks like the guys from the \u201cFargo\u201d movie, unwinds Sundays by mowing his lawn at his log cabin, and is only the greatest catcher since Johnny Bench. Joe Mauer spurned the Yankees and Red Sox to take a sizable hometown discount and stay with the Twins. It\u2019s been hailed as a sign that small market teams can still keep their superstars. Joe Mauer singlehandedly saved Minneapolis tourism for the next 8 years. <\/p>\n

Imagine you are LeBron James. You have five choices. Pick one:<\/p>\n

a) LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS:<\/strong> LeBron going to the Clippers would be like Megan Fox marrying Donnie Wahlberg. Right house, definitely wrong brother.<\/p>\n

SportsBook.com Odds: Clippers +1000<\/p>\n

b) CHICAGO BULLS:<\/strong> Even President Obama is pitching his city of Chicago. And LeBron has never played with a point guard like Derek Rose. The odds-on favorite, but playing in Jordan\u2019s House is not conducive to leaving Jordan\u2019s shadow.<\/p>\n

SportsBook.com Odds: Bulls +150 <\/p>\n

c) MIAMI HEAT:<\/strong> Welcome to Miami? Stephen A. Smith reported on his radio show and Twitter feed Monday LeBron James and Chris Bosh are committed to joining DWade. It is Stephen A. Smith, sure, but could you only imagine? <\/p>\n

SportsBook.com Odds: Heat +600<\/p>\n

d) STAY IN CLEVELAND:<\/strong> Home is where the heart is. And the Cavs are still a championship caliber team. But think Kevin Garnett.<\/p>\n

SportsBook.com Odds: Cavaliers -150<\/p>\n

e) NEW YORK:<\/strong> You will always be from Akron, but there is nothing like being King of New York. Ask your best friend Jay-Z. Then have a little chat with your buddy Dwyane Wade about coming too. What can you buy with $30 million a year max contract you can\u2019t buy with $20 million? Besides, you and Mr. Wade would recoup it with interest when you bring NYC four straight NBA titles.<\/p>\n

SportsBook.com Odds: Knicks +200<\/p>\n

See Also:<\/strong> Lebron Open to Knicks Pitch<\/a>, I\u2019m Going to Make Him an Offer He Can\u2019t Refuse: Windy City<\/a>, Weekend Meet Between LeBron, Bosh and Wade Confirmed<\/a>, Chad Ford Reduces LeBron Sweepstakes To Their Absurd Essence<\/a>, Underlying Questions of Free Agency<\/a>, Miami Heat to Create “Superteam” of D-Wade, LeBron James & Chris Bosh?<\/a>, Nets Are Cleaning House for Something Big<\/a>, Source: Seattle has inside track to land LeBron-DWade-Bosh trio<\/a>, NBA Free Agency — So Is Dwyane Wade Gonna Hold It For You While You Pee Too, LeBron?<\/a>, and It’s Crazy Out There<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[tags]lebron james, free agency, being lebron, july 2010, nba, basketball, rumors, trade rumors, free agency rumors, signing, new york city, new york knicks, chicago, chicago bulls, la, los angeles, los angeles clippers, wade, bosh, miami heat, where is lebron going, summer 2010, free agency market, article, essay[\/tags]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine you woke up this morning as LeBron James. You are America\u2019s best and most beloved athlete. You are so famous the President says he\u2019s you: “I’m LeBron, baby. I can play on this level. I got some game.” The press is literally calling this is the Summer Of You. You are 25 years old, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":547,"featured_media":10531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[259],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBeing Lebron James In July 2010 - Prose Before Hos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Imagine you woke up this morning as LeBron James. You are America\u2019s best and most beloved athlete. 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