Once and Future King

A good piece from Grantland...

Is This Love Real?

Here's the story about LeBron James that I believe: He was a fun-loving kid with Cleveland, back when he was just a prodigious bright spot in a grateful town. He goofed around with his teammates, and he tread lightly on the NBA. Nobody wins titles that way, but still it was a blast, a near revolution. When the youth of it all was fading, he made one right decision by leaving a town where he could never thrive, and one wrong decision to announce it on television in a way that hurt his fans. He was still a good person, but he was entering the real world of expectations, and it reflected negatively on him that he couldn't see the pain he was about to cause. He was punished severely in the court of public opinion, and hatred followed him to Miami. As he admitted Thursday night, he returned that hatred in kind, and karma caught up with him against Dallas. He couldn't find a way to reconcile the love he had for the game with the high stakes and tension of the real NBA. He paid. And then this year, starting with Indiana, he discovered the path. The steps were clear — the Heat beat the Pacers, he became a legend in Game 6 against Boston, and he exorcised the remaining ghosts against Oklahoma City. He played the game on his terms, with love, and he won beautifully.

Maybe this is the story you believe, too, and it's definitely the story LeBron believes. I started coming around against Indiana, and I started loving the narrative after that stunning Game 6. But the question I can't quite answer, no matter how hard I try, is whether it's actually true. Is it just me, wanting to believe that all winners are deserving? I remember rooting so adamantly against LeBron last year, feeling in my bones that it would be wrong for him to triumph without struggle.

I wonder if I'm projecting qualities onto LeBron that aren't really there. Maybe he hasn't changed, and all this narrative wish fulfillment is just my need to reconcile the title with the fact that he made a hurtful move two years ago. Something must have happened in the interval if the man behind that insensitivity was now holding the Larry O'Brien Trophy, right? Otherwise, where's the justice?

It's not a debate that can be won or lost. I leave open the possibility that I'm mistaken — that I wrongly associate winning with more intrinsic qualities — yet I reserve my right to believe. I think I saw it in LeBron, that coming of age that someone like me is bound to crave. But all we know for sure is that sports exceeds the rest of life in one critical way: The outcomes are indisputable. You cannot bullshit your way to the top. Only LeBron James knows what's inside his head, but there's nobody on earth who can fake a championship.