Does Lebron James Have a Heart?

Last night the sports nation witnessed once again that, when his team needs him down the stretch Lebron James just disappears. If James wanted everyone to quit talking about last years "game 5" against the Celtics or now "game 4" against the Mavericks, he needs to take over the game when it matters.

What a true legendary NBA star would do in that situation is say "give me the ball". It has worked for Kobe Bryant, and the legendary Michael Jordan. I do not see James having that talent, or skill. The talent or skill I am trying to describe can not just be written, it needs to be witnessed. There is a reason why Bryant, and Jordan have 11 rings between the them. It is, because when the stage is set, and the lights are on their teams, they can produce. We haven't seen James do that yet, and may never see that.

In my freshman year, one of my good friends said James is the best NBA player ever. Being a die-hard sports fan, I couldn't resist arguing this one. I believe I spent more hours arguing that statement then I did studying all year. My biggest argument I used against James is that he doesn't have any "rings", I measure greatness on the matter of how many rings you can win in your career. Not all player have the luxury of playing on great teams, or having the chance of at it, but if you are a legendary player then you should be able to dig deep, and play through anything, and do whatever it takes to take your team to the promise land, and last night I think we saw the coming out party for Dirk Nowitzki, because he turned on that switch, and played through a torn tendon in his finger, I sinus affection, and 103 degree temperature; what he did last night was almost "MJ-ness"

I am getting a little of topic, lets get back to James shall we. James was king of Ohio, he played in his home state. He also made a promise of not leaving Cleveland until he brought a championship too Cleveland, which the cite has not had a championship since 1948 when the Cleveland Indians won the World Series. He also slapped Cleveland right across the face on prime time TV, by saying "I am taking my talents to South Beach", if you needed to be reminded about that just look at the video above. When the pressure gets to  hot to handle, does James run just simply run away? Take a look at his career he has been in the league since 2003, and has made it to the playoffs six straight years, and has only two trips to the NBA finals. If you compare Bryant and James side by side. Bryant first championship was in his fourth year. I think the case against James is that he is a great regular season player, but when it comes to the play offs, hes just like Wally Szczerbiak, which I say means he fades out in the play offs.

Lebron James will always be over shadowed by his ugly departure from Cleveland, and his agonizing failure during the clutch moments of the NBA play off games, and now his remarks about not winning 1, 2, 3, 4 ,5 , 6 or even 7, but 8 championships makes things a whole lot worse in "South Beach" if he fails this season. If he never wins one, he will always be reminded about that statement. James needs to put his skills where his mouth is, if he wants all of us to shut up about him, and quit making him look bad, which he does to himself, then James listen up! Step up, put the Heat on your back, and lead them, do not look dazed and confused in the corner like you did last night. If you want to be the best then become the best, and that is by knocking down baskets when it matter, not in the regular season, but right now. If James and his "Miami Thrice", choke they will become the first team since 1985 (11-0) when the NBA went to the 2-3-2 format to win game three  when the series was tied at 1-1 and then go on to losing the series.

In this video the great Michael Jordan speaks out against Lebron James so called "the decision".

Michael Jordan is probably the greatest scorer to play the game, But I may go as far as to say LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game because he is so potent offensively that not only can he score at will but he keeps everybody involved. Said Scottie Pippen

This statement was given only a few weeks ago, but I disagree, and if you do a little digging on ESPN,

then you will find that a lot of NBA Hall of Fame players also disagree with what Pippen said. Do not get me wrong James is amazing player, but I will once again read the section of the statement Pippen gave that I disagree with, " LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game because he is so potent offensively that not only can he score at will but he keeps everybody involved." That statement is completely wrong, because if he is the greatest why didn't we seen him throw the Cavs on his back, or the Heat on his back when they needed him? Its because James cannot flip the switch to become one of the elite players. James is a future Hall of Famer, and will be talked about for years to come, maybe for his accomplishments or his failures, but at the end of the day people will remember champions, not second place.