Nick Kaufman said:
You know what? Lebron behaved as a GM and chose his teammates, so he might as well get shit for the weaknesses of the team he plays with. And that's getting to the core of the problem I have with Lebron and the Heat. For me, it's not the vulgar garishness of the decision. One can get over this and in any case, it's not as if lebron behaved like an asshole after that. I believe he's a good kid and obviously a tremendous basketball player, one that legitimately can compare to Michael Jordan as the best of all time.
However, when he decided to come in cahoots with Wade and Bosh to join the same team in order to form a basketball dynasty, they went against of what I think is the implicit understanding of how this league is supposed to work. That implicit understanding says that individual players choose their teams either through luck of the draw in the lottery process in the beginning of their careers and after that based on financial incentives and other intangibles like working environment, city, chance of winning.
OTOH, teams are supposed to rack their brains to make the best choices to build a team that can compete for the championship through drafting, trades, free agency buys and last by not least, by establishing a workplace culture that maximizes the efficiency and output of players. This is one of the main reasons that we, as fans, obsess over all kinds of minutia that can make our team better. And that's why we can appreciate the smarts of a Danny Ainge who can pull a trade that brought KG and Ray Allen to Boston after the ping pong balls didn't go our way after years and years of all kinds of maneuvering that tried to improve our team. This is what makes us appreciate our team's success more. The same with Spurs fans today. Yes, they drafted Tim Duncan, but they also had a ton of successful draft picks, smart trades and free agent signings while also building a fantastic workplace culture that made players both happy to play for them and a better sum of their parts.
Heat fans don't feel this way or at least they shouldn't. The Miami Heat success wasn't so much the outcome of smart team management, but the opposite. The MIami Heat were the vessel for the fulfillment of Lebron's, Wade's and Bosh's ambition to win championship. Perhaps, it would be far more honest if the Miami Heat were renamed to Lebron's Homies or Lebron's Posse. Because that's what it is.
The Heat's success is more akin to a guy who bought a trophy wife through a loaded bank account and the possession of an Aston Martin convertible, rather than the long love story of two people who met, liked each other, but had some personal issues to work out, fell in love and then through hard work and perseverance managed to build a happy life together.
The thing is, things that are bought have less meaning than things you earn the hard way.
I follow sports and I choose teams because I appreciate the latter path, I don't like the Heat, because of the former. That's my issue with them. That's why I don't like teams like Real, or Chelsea or PSG, or the NYY who just splash money to buy a championship. That's why I can appreciate a Barcelona when the core of her team is built from players who came up from her academies, or Liverpool who made smart moves with less money or Atletico who competed with the giants with less money through tenacity and hard work.
The road Lebron chose is going hurt him in another way. Most of the greats he's compared to are associated with one team and one city. Jordan with Chicago, Bird and Russell with the Celtics, Kobe with LA, Duncan with the Spurs. There are even guys like KG, who got traded after they got frustrated with their first team, have built an emotional bond with their next city. Has Lebron such an emotional bond with Miami? Is there anyone in Miami who cares as much as places like Boston, Phily, New York do in the first place?
And while there are others who switched teams after they pouted like Shaq, none of them is hated by the fans of their first team as much as Lebron is. But that's the way it goes. When you put your brand and your ability to win championships first, that bound to hurt your image and legacy. Imagine now what's going to happen if Lebron opts out of his contract and chooses to sign in another city with a better roster. Sure, fans in that city will be happy. But deep down, isn't it going to feel a bit like a night stand where each side uses the other person as disposable vehicle?
1) Fine. LeBron isn't the greatest GM ever. Although he did get 2 titles and 2 runner-uppies as well, so far. And I'm not sure how much you can realistically blame him for not anticipating Wade's dramatic decline. I initially thought last year's playoff performance was a health-related aberration for Wade...nope.
2) Rest of your post...blah. Your comparison of the righteous KG demanding a trade to the Celtics and the insidious LeBron and Bosh demanding trades to the Heat is laughable. All players basically do everything they can to win. Usually they have an owner and GM that can build an infrastructure around them so they don't have to leave. Did LeBron have that in Cleveland? Did Bosh in Toronto? Would Jordan, Kobe, Magic, Bird, etc. have just been fine staying in these shit holes that couldn't get a single other good player on the team? Especially while under the salary constraints of the existing CBA? I highly doubt it. That competitive instinct that you guys jerk off over wouldn't have put up with trying to win with Mo Williams and Anderson Varijao as your best side kicks. Likewise, do you think LeBron leaves Cleveland if he had, oh, a Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson with him? What about a Pat Riley, plus a Kareem and James Worthy? What about if he had prime Shaq or even Prime Gasol, along with Phil Jackson, the Lakers' legacy and resources? What if he got to play with Kevin McHale, Parrish, and for the by far most successful franchise ever?
Cleveland hates LeBron because he represented their best chance, and really only chance, at winning a title, in any sport, in a long long time. Their own team management blew that opportunity, so of course they take their anger out on LeBron. What's easier, booing LeBron for admitting your city has no real chance at winning in the near future, or abandoning your local team altogether?
This idea that LeBron, Bosh, and Wade (especially Wade, who never even left) broke some unspoken "code" is just rationalizing fundamentally irrational sports-hate. Sports-hate is fine...I hate plenty of players and teams for no real reason (i.e. Kobe, the Lakers, Jeter, Yankees, etc.). Just admit that you have no morally pure reason to hate LeBron and the Heat. You hate them because it's more fun to watch sports when you have villains to root against.