LeBron James: Your Favorite Player's Favorite Player

The most hated player in all of sports.


It's a title that may not be glamorous in any sense of the word, but it's a title that defines great players. Only a few other players came to mind when I thought about who would give King James a run for his money: Derek Jeter and A-Rod in MLB, Tom Brady, Big Ben, and Mike Vick in the NFL, Alex Ovechkin in the NHL, and Kobe Bryant in the NBA. All undoubtedly among the best in their respective sports. However, since July of last year, they all fail in comparison to the hate that LeBron has received after leaving his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers for South Beach.

I have been a fan of LeBron's since he was in high school. I did a book report on his biography in the 7th grade, I collected all his basketball rookie cards, I bought the jerseys, and I had the shoes. What was not to like? However, like virtually everyone else, I was disappointed in the way he went about signing with Miami. I had NO problem with him leaving however.

Think about it, apply it to your life down the road. You are the top employee in your company year-in and year-out, doing exactly what's asked of you (and more). However, despite your personal success, you are a part of a failing company, in which the executives are unable to surround you with worthy employees. Sure, it feels nice to be the shining star in an otherwise gloomy enterprise, but you want more. You want to be a part of something bigger. Who doesn't?


LeBron spent seven years in Cleveland. They had their chances to build around him and they failed to do so. He booked it for Miami because he couldn't stand having Delonte West and Anderson Varejao as his secondary scoring options. What I don't understand is how so many people can hate him SO much.

LeBron is a once-in-a-generation player. I know, I know. Every Kobe fan is contemplating clicking off the page now. And why do so many Laker fans have it out for him anyway? Because of the non-existent rivalry between Kobe and LBJ? LeBron's teams are 7-1 against Kobe and the Lake Show, if I'm not mistaken. And they've never played each other in a meaningful game, unless you think a Christmas Day game counts as meaningful. I think it stems from the fact that LeBron is the one who took the best-player-in-the-league torch from Mamba a few years back. I love Kobe as much as the next person, but LeBron is a completely different species of player. What other player in the history of the league has his combination of size, strength, speed, power, maturity, and overall basketball IQ? Nobody.

If you've been watching the playoffs this past month, you've seen that he's finally putting it all together when it counts. He's the most complete player in the league. Derrick Rose may have won the MVP, but 'Bron left no question about who runs the NBA. LeBron should have won the MVP simply because of how bad the Cavs were without him. They finished 19-63 this year, after a 61-21 finish last season with LeBron still wearing #23. That's a 42 game swing! When Jordan first retired in 1993, the Bulls went 57-25 in his last season (at the time). Without him in 1994, they finished 55-27 and lost in game 7 of the 2nd round of the playoffs. Think about it, people...

Whether you want to admit it or not, LeBron is going to get his ring(s), this year or the next. Or both. Why hate when you can just sit back and enjoy watching one of the all-time greats succeed? He has his work cut out for him with Dirk and the Mavs, but I'd like to see him hold that Larry O'Brien trophy sooner than later. Or both.

Rapid Reaction: My Thoughts on Osama's Death

Yesterday marked one of the most important events of the 21st century and, undoubtedly, of the War on Terror. My eyes have been glued to virtually everything concerning Osama bin Laden's killing, including the operations made to take him down and the wild reaction across the country. There are a few things I'd like to touch upon. They are just my personal thoughts and also my reactions to things I've read, heard on the news, or have read/heard amongst my peers on Facebook/Twitter or at school.

Obama is straight killing it right now.
First off, he's fresh off a NATO bombing strike that killed the son of corrupt Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi. So Barack was feeling pretty good heading into the weekend of the Correspondent's Dinner in Washington DC. If you haven't seen the video of Barack's speech at the dinner, make YouTube your friend and watch the recap. He just might be the funniest president of all time. His delivery, his timing, and just his overall swagger behind the mic. Just killed it. He absolutely tortured Trump. I was embarrassed for The Donald, actually.

And for the grand finale, Barack finds and kills Public Enemy No. 1?! Everyone go ahead and mail in your 2012 ballots. It's in the bag. Book it. Done.

"This won't be the end of the war."
I'm sick of hearing this. Who said it was? Barack didn't come out and say Well guys, that's it. We won the war and now everyone can come home. Because we didn't. We killed the guy responsible for the most destructive act of terror on American soil in the 235-year history of the country. How could anyone make this out to be anything but a victory?

It's not a victory of the entire war, but it's a small victory within the war.

"It doesn't matter that he's dead. There are more terrorists."
Well no shit. Here's a quick history factoid:

In July of 1944, a man by the name of Claus von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate one of the world's most dangerous men of all time. He planted a bomb inside a briefcase and then had it placed inside a conference room. The attempted assassination failed and the man went on to torture and kill over 5,000 more people. This man was Adolf Hitler.

Think about it. Had von Stauffenberg succeeded, Hitler doesn't go on to kill thousands more and the world is a much better place much sooner.

You do realize 9/11 wasn't Osama's first involvement in American terrorism, right? What makes you think he was done? His death may have meant the prevention of a future (and possibly much more tragic) attack on American civilization.

So just because he's not the only terrorist, we should have just let him be? So let me get this straight. You think the police should just stop investigating and looking for murderers because there will always be another murderer out there. What kind of idiotic logic is that?

Sure, Osama wasn't the only terrorist. But he was the most dangerous and the most destructive.

Navy SEAL Team 6 is badass.
The men responsible for killing Osama just handled their business and have moved on. Anyone affiliated (or thought to be affiliated) with Team 6 claims "there is no Team 6". These are some of the world's most highly-trained soldiers and their humility is just the cherry on top. They've potentially got a $25 million reward coming their way and it's well deserved.

Osama was in a mansion.
Not much to say about this. Just wow. Like really bro? Way to be subtle.
I guess he figured he had done his time hiding in caves and deserts and hills and that it was just time to flaunt his shit in a mansion with one of his wives. Then she was used as a "human shield", according to CNN. Nice.

Obama has steel balls.
Imagine if this had failed? Not only could we have killed innocent civilian lives in Pakistan, Obama could have responsible for the deaths of the best soldiers in all the military. It took guts to call the shots on this operation and it took even more guts to take action. It could have gone terribly wrong for Barack. Luckily, it didn't.

Strange happenings.
A few eerie coincidences running along the death of bin Laden:

May 1, 1945: Adolf Hitler reported dead. 66 years to the day.

May 1, 1776: Adam Weishaupt founds the Illuminati in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. 235 years to the day.

May 1, 2003: President Bush makes his "Mission Accomplished" speech, announcing the end of American involvement in Iraq. Obviously, he was mistaken. 8 years to the day.

ESPN was broadcasting the Mets-Phillies game on Sunday Night Baseball. At the time the news was announced to the stadium, the game was in the 9th inning and the score was tied 1-1.   9-1-1