James just doesn't get it

The King still minus a crown

By John McMullen

"The King" took his talents to South Beach but the Larry O'Brien Trophy felt North Texas would be a better place to take up residency.

With one statement on an ill-conceived ESPN hour-long vehicle called "The Decision" last summer, LeBron James went from being one of the most loved sports figures in this country to one of the most reviled.

In fact, as comedian and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel Tweeted last night after the Dallas Mavericks disposed of James' Heat to win the franchise's first NBA title, "70 years after WW2, LeBron James has America rooting for the German. Congratulations."

Who knows when James veered off the path of common sense but he's had plenty of opportunities to regroup and find his way since, the latest came last night in defeat.

James could have taken the high road, stared into the camera like a Magic Johnson or a Michael Jordan would have and held himself accountable.

He could have explained he was disappointed in his lackluster performance during the NBA Finals and told the few fans he has left that he would do everything he could over the summer to improve and help the Heat achieve their ultimate goal.

Instead James blamed his deity.

Shortly after finishing with 21 points, four rebounds, six assists and six turnovers in 40 minutes in Game 6, as the Mavericks closed out the Heat, 4-2, James took to Twitter:

"The Greater Man upstairs knows when it's my time," James tweeted. "Right now isn't the time."

I guess Dirk Nowitzki could have just gotten in the elevator before James hit the send button but I think it's safe to assume he was using his faith as a crutch for failure.

Small potatoes to the gem he offered at the post-game press conference.

"All the people that was rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today," James said. "They have the same personal problems they had today. I'm going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that.

"They can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy about not only myself, but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal. But they have to get back to the real world at some point."

Wow -- think Pat Riley may have a little buyer's remorse after listening to that?

Actually the remorse probably really kicked in after seeing LeBron pass up open look after open look in the fourth quarter, shying away from the big moment yet again.

For whatever reason James morphed into a shrinking violet in the fourth quarter during Game 4 in Dallas and never recovered.

The rabbit ears went up and his game went down.

The "NBA insiders" who made getting close to James last summer a cottage industry say he is well aware of all the "negativity" surrounding him in the media.

I say what negativity?

Even after his latest setback, James is still regarded by most as the best basketball player on the planet. Who do you think is framing that narrative?

When James was playing well, he was lauded, even lionized by the media. When he went in the tank, he was criticized. That's called reporting.

It isn't the media's job to shield a fragile ego from the fact he has come up small in both of his Finals appearances. It's certainly not the media's job to cover up James' fourth quarter failings, and point out that Dirk picked up his game when things got tough just as James took up residence on a milk carton.

Before Game 6 I wrote that it was too late for LeBron to play any sympathy cards, he was already the pariah. What could have helped the Heat was a maturity card or a leadership card.

In the end all LBJ could offer was the "I have a better life than you card."

And then he took his ball and went home.