A great Olympic run could be a great thing for LeBron's reputation. |
In last night's exhibition for the United States men's basketball team vs. Brazil a lot of negative things were exposed. One, once Tyson Chandler leaves the floor the team becomes scary small with a lineup of Kevin Durant at center. Two, the team relies on its attacking defense to set up its creative offense. When they're on and picking off passes and forcing steals/bad shots, they're going to destroy whoever they play. But if their opponent comes with their A-game on offense and avoids the turnover machine that is Team USA's defense, then it's gold won't be a cake walk. The final thing I realized from last night, might only be a negative in some people's eyes; this team may just very well be LeBron's team.
WHAT! AMERICA? LEBRON's TEAM? NO WAY! WE CAN'T HAVE IT THAT WAY! Well we just might, and it might actually be a pleasant thing for both parties. It might be a way for LeBron to reconcile his differences with the fans and maybe even apologize for the aggravating shenanigans he pulled only two years ago. Kobe, who had his deathgrips around the 2008 redeem team(it was his team without a doubt), is 33 years old and while he can still surely ball, he is no longer the best player on the team, no longer the all-around superstar he once was. His offense and killer instinct are still there, though he isn't the high-flyer he used to be, but his intense defense has downgraded from suffocating to only strong. LeBron, on the other hand, has only become the best player in the league, and is nearing the type of defensive prowess-level that could put him as the greatest defender of all-time (gasp!). This team, though not clear yet, could be LeBron's team entirely.
In last night's game, LeBron logged 33 minutes, scored 30 points of USA's 80 points on a solid 11-for-20 shooting, was 6-for-7 from the charity stripe, added six assists and four steals. The U.S. had a dominating 20-5 second quarter, that was led mostly by the team's intense defense and LeBron's ability to turn a steal into a "holy s**t did you see that" type of dunk. Most importantly, he finished the fourth quarter with 14 points and put his stamp of authenticity on this game in the way many have believed he never could. Though, I think he clearly established that those three quarters jokes weren't funny back in June when he put forth a dominating Finals performance. The scariest part of watching last night's game? LeBron took over and everyone else fell in line, including Kobe Bryant, who has never fell in line in his life, even when he was playing with Shaq.
While last night was simply an exhibition and didn't matter really at all in the grand scheme of Team USA's run towards gold, it could signal positive things for LeBron James in the sphere of public opinion. Can't you just see him going out there and put on dominating, high-flying, 30 point performances night-in and night-out? Playing hard, playing suffocating defense, and playing inspired ball could make it hard to root against this guy, at least while he's doing all these things with "U.S.A." on the front of his jersey. If he can do what Kobe did in '08, be the team leader and the Mariano Rivera, then I can see a lot of LeBron-haters stepping down and possibly even forgiving him for his egregious, pompous mistakes of July 2010. The number of Kobe-haters dissipated after that '08 gold, why can't the same happen for LeBron? Sure, there will be a lot of people from Cleveland who will only celebrate Team USA plays when they don't involve LeBron, but the rest of the world? They'll have a harder time holding a grudge if he is the consummate leader for another magical olympic gold run.
Fasten your seatbelts, America, LeBron might be giving us another wild ride, and this time in a way we like.
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