So I was planning on using this image in a post about Lebron and the Heat whether they won or lost. If they had won, I would have named the post “Why Lebron Winning is the Worst Thing to Ever Happen to the NBA.” Thankfully, I didn’t have to write that post. Instead, I think this image, taken earlier this year, is perfect for summing up Lebron’s state of mind after his team’s loss in the NBA finals. In Lebron’s mind, he’s still the greatest. Allow me to explain.

Last night, after losing game six of the NBA finals to Dirk Nowtizky, Jason Terry and the Mavericks (I kind of want to copyright “Jason and the Mavericks”), Lebron walked off the court without any emotion. The lack of reaction led me to comment with “Welp, time to go home to my millions.”

It’s not fair to judge a player on the things he does in the seconds and minutes following a devastating loss. Some guys, like Chris Bosh, break into tears. Others get angry. Some guys are in such dismay that they simply don’t know how to react, or they just have nothing to say. Some guys don’t give a crap. I hesitated to peg Lebron into the last of these options until his post-game press conference, and his post-game tweeting.

When asked about the those that were rooting against him, Lebron said: “All the people that were rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day, they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today. They have the same personal problems they had today. I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that. They can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy about not only myself, but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal. But they have to get back to the real world at some point.” (Huffingtonpost.com)

Not even a loss could humble Lebron. Not even his own personal shortcomings in the last few games of the series (read: choke job) could humble the great King James. He had a chance to show some class, some humility and an inkling of being a good person, and he failed. He could have said that he wasn’t really worried about what other people think of him, and that he was most disappointed in his play and the fact that his team lost the finals. He could have even added that he’d be back next year to try to prove his critics wrong. Instead, he just basically said he’ll be laughing at those people’s sorry lives from atop his gold plated mountain. I hate to break it to you, Lebron, but those people at the bottom of your mountain are probably a lot like your own team’s fans. Basketball fans are the same everywhere, and you just demonstrated that you think you’re better than everyone. This is why people hate you, and want you to lose. If you were humble about it, they’d feel sympathy for you after your loss.

Although when you think about it, how dare anyone criticize Lebron? He’s the greatest of all time! The most wonderful thing since sliced bread. He is the single greatest human specimen in the history of the world, at least according to himself. He can do no wrong. This brings me to his post-game tweeting:

“The Greater Man upstairs knows when it’s my time. Right now isn’t the time.”

This is incredibly arrogant. They guy can’t even lose without divine intervention! I guess God made him play like crap the last 3 games of that series. God made him not go hard after rebounds. God checked him out in the 4th quarter. God’s been doing that to Lebron for a long, long time. Why does God hate Lebron so much? He certainly doesn’t hate Dwayne Wade, because Wade has a title. Whatever happened to an athlete taking responsibility for coming up short? You’re supposed to thank God when you win, not blame him when you lose. When you lose, you blame yourself. Or, if you’re the rest of the Miami Heat, you blame Lebron for disappearing in yet another big moment.

So will Lebron ever win? He didn’t in Cleveland because he didn’t have it in him back then. He was no Jordan. He’ll never be Jordan. He even seemed to admit it when he changed his number from 23 to 6 out of “respect” for MJ. Furthermore, once he realized he’d never be what Jordan was, he signed on in Miami to become Wade’s Pippen. In the end, he proved he couldn’t even be that. Right now, he doesn’t deserve to win. He’s been handed everything his entire life because he could play basketball, but no one will ever hand you a Championship. You have to be a man and take it. Maybe some day Lebron will grow up and become man enough to wear that ring. If he even really cares about winning.

Until then, go God.

image courtesy of: http://static.foxsports.com