Are you feeling LeBron James fatigue? If not, soon you will, I promise
It’s officially LeBron James time.
Whether that’s a good thing or not is completely in the eye of the beholder.
“The King” served as the headliner during the NBA’s Christmas Day showcase, leading his Los Angeles Lakers against the defending champion Golden State Warriors, who he’s rivaled the past four seasons as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He’s also recently made headlines, and pretty much everyone of them was controversial.
There was the reference to getting “that Jewish money,” which apparently derived from a rap song, there was the mention of NFL owners having a “slave mentality” and another stated that some in the NBA thought his open talk about potentially playing alongside Anthony Davis equated to tampering. Oh yeah, and then there’s the whole discussion over what Kevin Durant meant about toxicity that exists around Bron Bron.
Whew! Dude hadn’t even played his Christmas Day game before all these headlines plastered his name everywhere.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is probably just the beginning. He’s in Los Angeles now, a choice he made in the offseason.
Now, the lights are brighter, the comments are amplified and the media attention is heavier. It’s LeBron’s world and we’re just living in it.
Soon, the NFL schedule will begin to dwindle down — this is the final week of the regular season — and not long from now the NBA will share the spotlight professionally only with the NHL.
So yeah, in other words, the NBA will have the spotlight to itself when it comes to professional sports. And that means LeBron will be front and center.
My views of James have gone back and forth over the years, but as of now I appreciate what he brings to the court. I also appreciate what he brings off the court, from being a good role model to having no fear in expressing his views.
Yet, there were times when he first got to Miami that I thought he commented on things that he had no business dealing with, regardless of how he responded. He appears to be falling into that trap again.
I once defended him for voicing his opinions when some in the media — mainly Laura Ingraham infamously said he should “shut up and dribble.” He’s as entitled to sharing his views as anyone.
But that doesn’t always mean that expressing himself every time he’s asked a question is beneficial to him.
I just hope he realizes there’s plenty of mines awaiting him in the field. I can only imagine what it’s like dealing with the Los Angeles media.
I’m sure it can be toxic.
