LeBron James, Villain

The very first day of our New York trip, my buddy Matt and I dragged our wives to the NBA Store on Fifth Avenue.
For an NBA fan, this place is pretty much Mecca. Jerseys and shorts and hats for every team in the league. All kinds of memorabilia. There was no way I was walking out of that store without buying something.
And you know what I bought? A LeBron James Cleveland Cavaliers jersey I found on the discount rack for $30. It was the super-snazzy wine-and-gold road jersey, with the old Cavs logo on the chest. Just a great-looking piece, and an unbelievably good price for an authentic uniform.
What made this garment even more awesome to me is, it felt like I was making a political statement of sorts. Maybe political isn’t quite the right adjective, but I was taking a stand on an issue by buying that jersey. I don’t like that LeBron dissed his home-state fans. That was some mean stuff. And every time I wear that jersey, I’ll remember that it was the one he was always meant to wear.
Yup, I’m definitely chugging the Haterade when it comes to the artist formerly known as King James. I caught the first half of the Heat’s season-opener in Boston, and thoroughly enjoyed watching James, Wade and Bosh stumble around trying to figure out what their roles were as the boos rained down. I’ve also been doing a fair bit of reading on the Heat, and here are some of the more interesting factoids I’ve come across:
-- LeBron had eight turnovers against the Celtics, and nine the following evening against Philadelphia. In 548 career games coming into this season, he’d only had eight-plus turnovers 10 times. Interesting.
-- TNT, which broadcast the Celtics-Heat game, said 7.4 million people tuned in, making it the highest-rated regular season game on cable in NBA history. Interestingly, after Boston and Miami, the highest local ratings came out of Cleveland. Amazing how collective loathing will tend to galvanize people.
-- Cavs owner Dan Gilbert kind of went ballistic post-Decision, firing off an insanely angry letter. He went on ESPN radio after the Celtics game, and dropped this little nugget: "That was sort of a surreal experience . . . I guess they are only going to be 81-1 now.” Bazinga.
-- Bill Simmons caught both of the Heat’s first two games, and his fascinating take on the whole thing was on ESPN.com. Definitely worth a read. Perhaps the most interesting passage:
“The best thing about Pre-Decision LeBron? How he connected with his teammates and fans. He wanted to win, he wanted to have a good time, he wanted to put on a show, he wanted to be liked, and most of all, he wanted to amaze. Watching Post-Decision LeBron talk cryptically about taking mental notes, retweet vicious messages, broach the race card and prance around preseason games with an Eff You edge was like seeing Will Ferrell play a war criminal or something. It just didn't feel right.”
LeBron, if you happen to stumble onto this obscure blog in your cyberspace wanderings, this is why everybody is upset.