If you haven’t seen LeBron James’ new ad for the-sneaker-company-that-shall-not-be-named, it’s quite the treat.
In an attempt to either tell everyone who was pissed off at the selfish arrogant self serving way he handled his free agency that they should go scratch, or to rebuild his image, LeBron comes off looking more like the arrogant prick that very few thought existed. If this is an attempt at redemption or justifying his actions, it flops worse than Bill Laimbeer used to do back in the day on a touch foul under the basket.
If it is something else, then he deserves the scorn and ridicule and the millions of people rooting for him to lose/fail/fall on his face/blow out his knee/whatever else. Asking questions to the viewer like “should I stop listening to my friends? They’re my friends!!” gets right to the problem – sometimes friends don’t make the best people to ask for advice on huge decisions that they have no frame of reference or context for – and also was one of the reasons why his decisions and actions pissed off so many in the first place.
Asking whether he should “be what you want me to be” is insincere and crappy. Nobody was asking him to be something or someone else. Just not an asshole who crafted an image for years, only to shatter it himself in the most self serving way.
Asking whether he should care that he is called a “ring chaser” is telling – yes he should care. The fact that he so quickly and easily decided to become a sidekick to someone who already won a ring without him shows that he isn’t “the chosen one” that he calls himself, nor is he ever going to be “the king” that his nickname implied.
And so on….lather, rinse, repeat.
Fact remains that LeBron has done nothing to change anyone’s thoughts of him – at least not for the better. The ridiculous celebration on Miami with Wade and Bosh before any games were played further cemented why people were so pissed off in the first place.
This ad will only reinforce that. And no amount of rings will change that – at least not until he wins without being someone else’s sidekick.
3 Comments
Do people still really care about his switch, outside of Cleveland? I’m not the biggest NBA fan, but my thought process on The Talents to South Beach was “Wow, what an awful way to leave your fans behind.” And while that thought has lingered with me, Lebron is no different from any other athlete who makes a professional move from one team to another. He’s not special. He has a 0-1 record and no rings on his fingers.
Stop trying to make this about whether or not you’re a donkey. We concede the point. Now play basketball.
world’s smallest violin for all the hurt feelings.
seriously, if i were lebron, i’d be bemused as i brushed y’all off my shoulders. and that’s how the ad played to me (that, and a heavy dose of satire poking fun at the folk arrogant enough to believe their haughty and indignant posturing actually mattered to a guy that is playing on a great team, in a great city with a fantastic climate for a gabajillion dollars per year), which is why i like it.
lebron wasn’t trying to convert the haters. he was telling them to go fuck themselves. which is why y’all don’t like it.
and btw: the ad has us talking about it, doesn’t it? which kind of makes it a success.
I honestly have no probs w him going to Mia, but its the way he went about it. Him going to th eknicks was always a pipe dream. But yeah, the ad is BS. I act turn it off anytime is on, so i havent seen the whole thing. But we’re supposed to be sorry for him. Please!! I hope he breaks a bone and can never play again. lol.