Many of you may remember that shortly after “The Decision,” some shithead was booted from an Indians-Yankees game at Progressive Field for antagonizing the home crowd by wearing a LeBron Heat jersey.
Earlier yesterday, there were reports that the Heat were going to reward said shithead by flying him down to Miami, all expenses paid, to take in a game at American Airlines Arena and meet the team.
Well, it turns out that those early reports were false. Or more accurately, someone near the top of the Heat food chain had the good sense to veto the idea before it could officially go through.
The question that I haven’t seen anyone ask yet is, whose idea was it in the first place?
I have a theory. And that theory is that it was LeBron’s idea.
Now, if you haven’t been reading the blog lately, you might think I’m suggesting this because I’m a LeBron hater. That I’m suggesting he wants to offer another middle finger to Cleveland. I assure you, I’m not. So what am I basing it on?
Well, does anyone else remember this?
If you do, then you also probably recall that LeBron later rescinded his invitation to make court-rushing teen fan Anthony Erskine a guest of honor at the Cavs’ next game in the NY metro area.
In short, the pattern is identical: an overzealous LeBron fan puts his love for James on display in an unorthodox and unwise manner; against better judgment, LeBron is flattered by the exhibition and extends an invitation to reward the fan; then before the invitation can come to fruition, it’s abruptly canceled.
There are certainly differences between the two incidents. In the court-rushing episode, the kid actually broke the law and was charged with a crime. In the Heat jersey episode, the shithead was completely within his legal rights, but not the social contract or the rules of etiquette.
The court-rushing instance also would’ve set a dangerous precedent within the league—dangerous enough that the league office likely had a hand in LeBron’s sudden change of heart. The Heat jersey situation didn’t share that trait. It was just a shithead justifying the label at a non-NBA event. There were no precedents for David Stern to be concerned about, no larger issues at stake.
This is an important distinction because it confirms that there’s no reason that the league office would’ve gotten involved. Which, in turn, suggests that either LeBron changed his mind on his own, or someone in Miami was able to convince him that indulging this whim would be another P.R. body blow—not just for himself, but for the franchise as a whole.
Either way, this chain of events signifies a notable shift in LeBron’s mentality. If Woj and other writers were to be believed, Cleveland was the house of ‘yes’ for James during his entire run. If anyone thought it was best to deny LeBron anything he wanted, then they weren’t effective enough in their arguments to actually get through to him. A few months later, he’s either grown up enough to reflect on himself more objectively, or else Pat “King Slickback” Riley has managed to get his ear in a more meaningful way than just about free agency and championships.
Does this really have any effect on Cleveland? At the moment, no. But I think that in combination with his pseudo-apology for “The Decision,” it’s an indication that James, who has been quite possibly the most psychologically interesting professional athlete in the world for the past 5-7 years, is growing up. (He is, after all, still only 25.) I will be very interested to see how he reacts when he’s back in Cleveland on December 2nd. I suspect that his response will be more complex than most Clevelanders are willing to believe.
-T
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