It's played out – the debate over whether or not LeBron James made the right decision or if that decision ruined his image.
I get it. I wouldn't even revisit the topic, but Nike released a commercial coinciding with the start of the NBA season earlier this week, so I have some thoughts.
The commercial is basically one big middle finger by James to his critics, and I, for one, love it.
"Should I be who you want me to be?" was the question James posed at the end of the commercial, and it brings up a great point. Who are we to tell someone what he can do or how he can do it?
People may not have liked "The Decision" and the way James went about announcing it, but if you look a little deeper, was it really his fault?
The media and NBA franchises built this storyline up for the better part of three years, and fans around the world became enamored with finding out where James would decide to go. Every sports talk show host theorized what was going on in James' head at every moment leading up to his special on ESPN.
Can you really blame the guy for getting a big head about the whole thing? Every person in James' life had probably been asking him about where he was going to go. Every time he turned on ESPN he must have seen countless people discussing his future.
I think it's important to put things into perspective. James is one of the good guys in sports. He has never been in trouble with the law, he is a good father, and he has been a mainstay in the Akron community and in charity work in general.
But all that is forgotten because of one night and one decision. People didn't like the way that James spurned his former team. I even agree with that part of it. I wasn't thrilled with the way he did it, but I also honestly believe that he truly was torn on where he would go.
Growing up in a small media market, I can empathize with the Cavaliers fan base that feels abandoned by James. With that said, Cleveland should be glad that it got a player of LeBron's caliber for as long as it did.
Seven years is a long time in today's era of free agency. He gave that city something it hasn't had in over a decade before he arrived – a competitive team. The fans should just be thankful.
To the argument that players shouldn't be able to collaborate on where they want to play, I ask, what difference does it make? It's the player's decision where he or she wants to play.
Nobody tells you what bank to work at or which cab company to drive for. James made the decision based on the desire to win a championship. He feels that Miami is where he has the best shot.
Teamed with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh on the gold medal-winning Olympic team in 2008, James showed how good they could be out on the court together. It would then make sense that they would have some interest to reunite to achieve another common goal – an NBA title.
When Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen teamed with Paul Pierce to form the original "Big Three," nobody had any of the gripes that people now have with the Miami trio.
So, the question remains, what do you want LeBron to be? You are entitled to your opinion, but he ultimately gets to make that decision for himself.
I think he's done a pretty good job.
