37 points, 18 rebounds, 13 assists. All en route to a playoff victory without the help of the armless Kevin Love and the legless Kyrie Irving. Tell me how, after a performance that impressive, the biggest takeaway is how much a drama queen LeBron James is? I just can't for the life of me sit here and praise him for what he accomplished when the most physically gifted athlete in the history of sports spent nearly half the night crawling around on the floor. Hating athletes is nothing new. Usually we hate athletes because of how great they are. With LeBron James, this is not the case. In fact, his unforeseen physical abilities are his one redeeming quality in terms of likability. Usually we hate athletes because they have no regard for others around them and don't care about their public perception. Again, with LeBron this is not the case. All he does is worry about what others think of him. He may be the strangest type of villain that professional sports has ever seen. First it was LeBron flopping on to the ground and throwing the ball away during a crucial moment in the game. Then it was LeBron continuing to lay on the ground and cry to officials for the ENTIRETY of an Atlanta Hawks possession with the score tied with under a minute to play. Then it was LeBron asking out of the game in overtime, only to wave off his potential sub no more than two seconds later. Then it was LeBron falling to his knees after a game 3 victory like he was praying to the Prophet Muhammed. For as good as LeBron is at basketball he would be equally as talented starring in a soap opera. Somehow a playoff overtime basketball game turned into a complete circus with LeBron James as the ringleader.
In a way, James' level of success is even more impressive than his numbers dictate. Not only does he have to overcome his opponents to succeed, but he has to overcome his own lack of perseverance. His ability to put up insane statistics while also making a mockery of the toughness that professional sports requires is a testament to how great he is. They say you should never let your opponent see you weak. LeBron James spent game 3 looking as fragile as Sam Bradford playing pickup rugby. You would have sworn he had died and been reincarnated three times in the 4th quarter and overtime alone. At the end of day, it's not LeBron's winning pedigree that we hate. It's not his selfish, win at all costs attitude that we hate. It's his ability to take away from all the good he is responsible for during play with all his attention whoring between or after plays. It's unprecedented that a player who has consecutive triple doubles while leading a team nearly void of talent has become unwatchable for all the wrong reasons.
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