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LeBron's Legacy Not Tarnished

Max McGonigle Written by Max McGonigle, Thursday July 29 2010
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LeBron James has garnered much criticism for his departure from Cleveland and entry into South Beach, most of which saying his legacy is tarnished, but why?  No player in recent memory has ever been able to lead his team to a championship on his own.  Kobe had Shaq the first go round and Gasol the second, Wade had Shaq, Garnett had Pierce and Allen, Duncan had Manu and Parker, Olajuwon had Drexler, the list goes on. Hell Jordan didn’t win a title for seven years but when paired with Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman he got his rings. The fact is LeBron James did what he had to do to win a ring and he shouldn’t be looked down upon for it.

A player who was in the same situation as LeBron was Kevin Garnett. Garnett played 12 long seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves; his only goal was to win a championship. After 12 years the T’Wolves weren’t able to give him a legitimate shot at a title and Garnett was traded to Boston and paired with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, also two great players who hadn’t had the privilege of winning a title. What happened? The “big three’s” first season together they brought a title to Beantown. Nobody questioned Garnett’s legacy when he left the Timberwolves, he did what he had to do just as LeBron did.

The main reason you can’t fault Lebron is that the Cavs are in Cleveland, no offense to the city of Cleveland but what top player in their right mind would turn down Miami, Chicago, New York, Dallas, etc to go to Cleveland? There is a reason that the Cavs couldn’t bring in any top free agents to complement LeBron and you can thank the city of Cleveland for that. Now I do give the Cavs credit because it did seem like they tried to bring in talent, but an aging Shaq and overrated Antawn Jamison (both were via trade) isn’t going to win you a title no matter who your star player is. You saw this when Chris Bosh had the opportunity for a sign and trade to go to Cleveland and play with Lebron, all parties were in favor of the deal, but there was one problem. Bosh didn’t want to play in Cleveland. Bosh ended up in Miami with Wade and Lebron, leaving Cleveland starless, hopeless and angry.

Now, I’m not saying the way in which LeBron went about making his decision was right but to win a championship he made the right move. I feel the Cavaliers should have been his first call he made and making his decision on ESPN was too much but you cannot fault him for his moves that will affect his life on the hardwood. His entire career has been about “winning a ring for the king” and now he has the opportunity to win multiple. Some (the whole state of Ohio) will always say this move hurt his legacy but in the end the world loves winners.


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