We are all witnesses &ndash when it's cool with LeBron James and Nike, at least.
Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com reported that this season's NBA MVP was dunked on by Xavier sophomore Jordan Crawford at the LeBron James Skills Academy on Monday night, and after LeBron talked to a Nike official, all video evidence of the posterization of "King James" was confiscated.
Can't show any signs of weakness, right? Why would he want the public perception of him as the greatest basketball player since Michael Jordan called into question &ndash if only for the time it takes the slam's footage to play on YouTube &ndash because some 6-foot-4 kid who averaged 9.7 points per game in his only season as a college basketball player did the unthinkable?
While it's hard to argue against LeBron being the most talented player in the NBA right now, it's becoming increasingly difficult to defend some of his actions.
LeBron is reportedly a great teammate, and it shows with the Cavaliers. They seem to get along, and only with exceptional chemistry could a team prominently featuring Anderson Varejao win 66 games in the regular season.
Some of his off-the-court moves, however, have been questionable. He left the court after falling to the Orlando Magic in the playoffs without shaking hands with any opposing players and defended his actions the next day, remaining completely unapologetic for bypassing one of the most basic acts of good sportsmanship.
And, of course, he has made a few statements with his fashion. Three days after the NBA Finals ended, he was seen wearing an "LBJ MVP" shirt, and several days later rocked a shirt that read: "Check My $tats."
Don't get me wrong: I think the $tats shirt is hilarious, and I love when athletes show personality. It's part of why nobody really knows what to make of Kobe Bryant or even Tiger Woods. Kobe did everything he could to create a likable personality and force it on everyone (see "Kobe Doin' Work"). Tiger, on the other hand, let his dominance of the golf world do the talking.
LeBron has stated his desire to become the first billionaire athlete, and his marketing firm declared its plan to make him a "global icon." Usually athletes focus on winning first beforecapitalizing on their celebrity status.
But like child movie or music stars, athletes who became famous at a young age have been held to different standards than their peers.
LeBron has been the next big thing since he was a junior in high school. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that he responds to certain situations differently than the rest of us, and the same goes for the majority of young athletes, especially those who make the leap from high school to the pros.
Plenty of stars in the making are constantly surrounded by people &ndash many of whom are looking to cling to an eventual source of income &ndash telling them every decision they make is the right one. If it's been a long time since you've been told you were doing something wrong in life, it's not hard to imagine you might end up with a slightly warped perspective of yourself. It's hard to be wrong when you're always right.
And it's hard to get shown up when you're the King.
