Sports Then and Now

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade will bring smiles to Miami, but frowns around the rest of the NBA.

LeBron James has gone over to the dark side.

In hindsight, those who said he had already left Cleveland in his heart by the last game of the semis against Boston were probably right. It seems he had already left. Perhaps he hadn’t chosen his new destination– hence the hyped courtship process he created– but it appears that he’s known where he wouldn’t be playing for several weeks.

Don’t believe what he said on ESPN, how hard it was to leave, how loyal he is. Those are the words of spin doctors. Spoon fed to him, no doubt, to try and soften the blow back in the Mistake by the Lake. To keep him from having to send for his things because it’s too dangerous to set foot back in Northeast Ohio.

I don’t care what anyone says. There are some things that are worth more than money and there are some things that are even worth more than championships. There are certainly things that are worth more than championships won by a team full of ringers.

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He won’t be King James any longer. He’ll be Jesse James. The man who stole the dreams of a city, who robbed a struggling region of $100 million dollars he singlehandedly generated for the local economy. The outlaw who rode, guns blazing, into the southern sunset with two sidekicks in black hats.

For anyone who cares about traditional values, loyalty, community spirit, fair competition, the Miami Heat is now the Miami Hate, the team the rest of us will love to hate, the team whose opponents from now on will be my favorite team.