The 2011 NBA Finals are over and to the surprise (and delight) of many, the Miami Heat walked away without the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The hate for the Heat didn’t start when three superstar athletes joined forces to take on the NBA, it started when one NBA superstar turned his back on his hometown city and “took his talents to South Beach.”
I was few feet away from the court as thunderous boo’s rained down on LeBron as he was introduced in his first game as a member of the Heat, a common theme throughout NBA league arenas. Many NBA analysts said LeBron was unaccustomed to not being loved and the hate he received this year took him out of his element.
LeBron became “The Joker” from the Batman series in the eyes of many sports fans, with the exception of Heat fans. Even so they can be compared to The Joker’s army in The Dark Night, they know they are on the evil side but they just want a big payout (championship banners).
My only question: why did LeBron not embrace being the villain?
The NBA is full of players who compare themselves to superheroes. Shaq in his prime took on the Superman persona. Dwight Howard is doing the same today; Howard even dressed as Superman during the 2008 dunk contest. Many of the nicknames can be thought of as superheroes: Agent Zero, Birdman, Captain Canada, Flash, etc.
The NBA has had two Supermans, but not one Lex Luther. LeBron should step up and be the villain. Imagine if LeBron wore a “Why So Serious” shirt in the locker room in the beginning of the season, or if he participated in the dunk contest wearing a shirt that simply read “Kryptonite” (if he chooses to participate, which he should). He could continue to wear the vampire mouth guard as he did during Halloween. LeBron could even cameo in a movie as an antagonist. The ideas are endless and would generate a lot of positive PR for LeBron by humanizing him. As long as he maintained his philanthropic endeavors and kept out of trouble off the court.
The best part of this is it makes LeBron look less like a robot. The recent article, “The Self-Aware NBA” on Grantland by Carles has a very important observation about the hate for LeBron James: “We don’t hate LeBron because The Decision was a bad idea, we hate LeBron because he didn’t realize that The Decision was a bad idea.”
LeBron could become the villain, acknowledging that The Decision was a bad decision. More importantly, he becomes a person to the fans again. LeBron loves to entertain us. “We Are All Witnesses,” the Nike sign once read. Why can’t we be witnesses to the first real villain of the NBA?
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