Dear Mr. James,
First of all, I would like to apologize. On behalf of the people at Nike, Sports Illustrated, the countless people who only refer to you as "King James," and people who are even compelled to get a little...sacrilegious , I am sorry. You are not a king. You're a great basketball player. That Nike video? That was your rookie season. You've done some things we've never seen before, so of course that's worth getting excited about. But...we all may have jumped the gun just a little bit.
Is this part of the problem? Yes. The bar has been raised incredibly high for you. And hey, why not? Somebody has to be considered the best. That's one of the beauties of sports. We have to debate something. And for the most part, you have delivered:
-Back to back MVP awards
-Making people justify paying $160 for horrendous looking shoes
-Coming out of nowhere to get to the NBA Finals in 2007.
-Having no regard for human life whenever you feel like it.
-Making countless people feel justified to make the "LeBron is better than Kobe" argument.
Of course, since this is such a "what have you done for me lately?" world, the accolades I listed above are so last season. I'm surprised Keith Olbermann didn't have you down as the "Worst Person In The World." People were scrambling for reasons for your demise. (I know you may not pay attention to the media, but that's what I'm here for!) Charles Barkley was "100% disappointed." John Hollinger was convinced that your elbow is a lot more hurt than you're letting on. Adrian Wojnarowski feels like you don't care enough. My mom feels like you've fallen out of love with your first love (Jesus Christ). OK, so I made the last one up. Still, everyone has an opinion on this. They're convinced that the season is lost, you've disappointed once again, and you're ready to run out of Cleveland (adding to their many years of suffering).
As I'm sure you are aware of, Game 6 is this evening. If you are who we thought you were, isn't this the game that you simply eviscerate the Celtics? If you want to become a global icon, isn't tonight your shining moment? The Celtics should have no chance, right? Drew Carey was on ESPN2 this morning, for crying out loud! I'm sure you realize that the Cleveland bandwagon is...a little empty at this time. We've been treated to an unprecedented level of sports greatness over the past two or three years (Roger Federer, Jimmie Johnson, the Yankees winning again, Drew Brees going bananas at the Super Bowl, etc.). You're ready to add your name to that list, aren't you?
Now, the chances that you actually read this letter are rather slim. And it's not like you actually need some sort of pep talk. But if there was ever a time to justify all the fawning over and hyperbole you've received, then I would have to believe that the time is now. Besides, do you really want to make people in Cleveland count down to when the Browns begin the season?
Sincerely,
Jordy McKever
creator of The Blacktooth Files
