A Baseline between Love & Hate

There are two types of people in this world that have a never ending battle with each other that rages on day in and day out. These types are not good or bad, not democrat or republican and not round or flat earthers. These 2 groups of people are Lebron James fans and Lebron James haters. There is no other figure in sports that evokes such extreme emotions in two different ways. There are constant discussions, arguments and debates where Lebron is always the topic. Even if he isn’t the topic, a fan or one of his haters will somehow interject him and forcefully make King James the subject of whatever topic of basketball you’re talking about. So let’s take a closer look at why Mr. James has such a polarizing effect on people.

The first people I will write about in this article are all of you NBA fans that refer to this man as King James. There is no way you can tell any Lebron James fan he isn’t the greatest player in the game today and in history. Now I am neutral on Lebron so I can speak honestly about him and give an opinion that doesn’t weigh on one side or the other. Of course there are definitely things you can point to that support what these fans believe. The very first thing is Lebron is currently the 3rd leading scorer in NBA history. Now let that sink in for a second, the point of the game is to put the ball in the basket and when it comes to that, James has done that more than everyone that ever played except for 2 people, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone, who are both hall of famers. Which leads me to another point of Bron’s greatness is that he is the only active member in the top ten of the all time leading scorers in NBA history at 36 years old. Lebron James also has four regular season MVPs which is only matched by Kareem, Wilt, Russell and Jordan. With that in mind, that leaves me convinced that Lebron is a future first ballot hall of famer without any doubt or debate.

 

The final fan sided point about James is another topic that brings a lot of fire and it’s his four championship rings. Four rings is nothing to dismiss or look down on at all. Some players never even get one ring or get to play in the NBA finals but Lebron got there ten times and won four of them, to put that in context Jerry West who is the literal logo of the NBA, went to the finals nine times and won only one time. The most amazing fact is Lebron is still active and so everything written in this piece can and will change as he adds more points, more rings and more fans.

Now we get to the “fun” part of this article for some of the people out there and that is a focus on the hatred people have for this man’s career. I’m going to attack the elephant in the room of NBA history off the top and that is the debate about Lebron James being better than Michael Jordan.  Lebron haters will always point to the fact that Jordan has more rings (6) and never lost in the finals where he went 6 for 6 and Lebron has lost as many times as Jordan won. Even if you are a stat guy like myself and you really break it down Jordan is a better player than Lebron overall. The list of other things that add fuel to the fire of Lebron James haters are the night and the way he made “The Decision”, the GM Bron that gets the teammates he wants, his constant flopping along with the complaining to the ref on almost every call and to be honest his winning. The more he wins and succeeds it brings more and more venom from the haters. 

       At the end of the day Lebron James is one of the greatest basketball players to ever live, he is a champion multiple times over, he has put up amazing stats and changed the culture in Cleveland while there by bringing them their first and only title. We should also look at what he has done off the court. Mr. James has opened schools, given to charities and stood up and was vocal with social justice and racial issues. Take whatever side you want with Lebron but both sides must agree on the fact that he is one of the better human beings off the court, and that is what matters… doesn’t it?