So how has LeBron James -- by all accounts one the most likable, friendly, charismatic superstars ever -- found himself at the epicenter of a backlash?
Not from writers and the league -- they clearly love him -- but more so the couch surfing NBA fan. They hate his bull-in-a-China-shop style. His propensity to draw fouls, often justly, sometimes not. His selfish play at times, where the team's offense seems to be "watch LeBron." His alpha dog mentality, which many see as arrogance. It seems as though everything that has made James into the best player in the league has also made him into one of the most reviled. And in what amounts to the blink of an eye.
I was not around (well, I was, but like ten years old) for the Jordan era, so I have no idea if this sort of negativity followed him after he became a legend, but I assume it did. There is something about the career arcs of legends that lends themselves to being hated upon. They start off usually being handed fame. We've all heard the "Jordan was cut from his high school team!" story, but he became Jordan when he nailed that shot at UNC. LeBron is obviously a more glaring example, an icon as a young teenager, an international star at 18. It's something we as fans cannot relate to. LeBron was destined to be a great NBA player. And sure, he worked hard to get there, but all we see is "high school stud, genetic freak, NBA star, NBA legend" and think all he had to do was roll out of bed.
This is also why "scrappiness," "the will to win" and all other manner of sports cliches have found their way into the American zeitgeist. We love an underdog, a hard worker who gets the most out of what he has. LeBron seems like someone who is "just" 6'10", 280 pounds, who bowls his way into the lane, gets all the calls, and is a big selfish doo-doo head. We root against him because his team swept through the playoffs, waiting to sweep into the Finals and take what's his, an NBA title.
The Magic (and, for the same reason, the Nuggets) have become your team, simply because you're sick of all the LeBron/Kobe talk. It's no fun to root for the guy who's awesome and supposed to win. And in the Internet age, we are so inundated with story after story about him, we get sick of him before he's even done anything.
It may have taken Jordan a title or two before people grew tired of him, but LeBron -- who has won one of what should be many MVPs -- has only been to one Finals and there's already a palpable sense that we're sick of him. We are sick of what may very well be the best NBA player any of us will ever see play.
So is LeBron James destined to be the NBA's villain? Yes, and in a sense, he already is. No one outside of Cleveland (or team 2010) will be a fan of him, simply because he is too good. LeBron has done nothing to draw our ire but be the league's best player.
Kobe, keep that seat warm.
