History has proven time and time again in sports that we desire to find a new star, and that the repetition of an old one's greatness is boring and stale for the media. In baseball, for example, the writers who vote for MVP look for excuses to not give the award to Mike Trout every year, instead championing the concept of "leading your team to the playoffs" and it's gallant hero, Josh Donaldson (although Trout's Angels missed the Postseason by one game that season). The same is true in basketball, where the media has constantly waited, for 14 long seasons, for a new star to surpass LeBron James, or, the "next LeBron", a flavor-of-the-day prospect that never quite lives up to the hype. Additionally, the sports media views its stars of old in the same way Jay Gatsby viewed Daisy Buchanan; as Gatsby's image of Daisy when she was gone grew into something so great that she could never live up to his vision of her, the media overrates Michael Jordan and other stars from the league's Golden Era when compared to today's stars. Simply put, LeBron James is the greatest basketball player on this planet, there will never
The sports media is never content with what they have. Rather than acknowledge the greatness that LeBron has dedicated his life to, the league's personalities would prefer to poke holes in his every decision and patiently await their new star. First, it was Derrick Rose. "Youngest MVP in history!" the media cried with glee. The superstar point guard from Memphis was undoubtedly going to dethrone the big, bad LeBron James! Until he didn't. Rose met LeBron and the Big 3 in the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals, where the King promptly dominated the league's new star, advancing to the Finals in 5 games. 3 knee injuries later, Rose was irrelevant, and remains that way to this day, while LeBron continues his greatness. This was the King's first in a streak of seven consecutive Eastern Conference Championships and Finals appearances, an NBA record. Then, it was Paul George. The Palm Springs product and his young Pacers took the Heat to seven games twice in a row in the Eastern Conference Finals! But Indiana could never seem to get over the hump. Coincidence? Absolutely not, as sports have proven time and time again that you can get tantalizingly close to a championship, but the gap between semi-final loser and champion is a canyon, despite what conventional wisdom and your heart may tell you, and there are countless examples to back this up throughout sports history (Grizzlies in the 2012 WCF, AS Monaco in 2017 UCL semi-final, Washington in CFP semi-final, etc). The point is that LeBron is the reason none of these players could get over the hump, and he once again disposed of the young, upstart Boston Celtics and their star point guard Isaiah Thomas in 5 games, but the media this season has chosen to focus on stat-stuffers James Harden and Russell Westbrook, players who give their every last drop of effort to average numbers LeBron could in his sleep if he so desired, but he chooses to defer to teammates in order to win games and be ready for June. Neither Westbrook nor Harden advanced to the Conference Finals this season, and they will finish 1-2 in MVP voting, while LeBron has won his 7th consecutive ECF.
The media is constantly looking to destroy LeBron. From despising his Decision and consistently looking for a college prospect that looks anything like him, the media continues its vain search for the next King James. First, it was Andrew Wiggins, then it was Ben Simmons, and although both are solid young small forwards that can handle the ball, like James, they do not have the innate athleticism or God-given strength, basketball IQ, or ability to barrel their way to the basket the way LeBron can. They just don't make them like they used to.
Every other star in NBA history has needed a big market and has not been punished for pursuing this. Kareem left Milwaukee to join the Lakers, Shaq grew too big for Orlando and Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City to hop on the Gravy Trolley in the Bay, all the way to an inevitable NBA title. Not James. He makes Cleveland a big market and makes stars who wouldn't even consider the Cavs normally take a pay cut to play there. He will have passed Jordan in nearly every statistical category by the time he retires, and he has carried the NBA on his back for years, while MJ needed a break, retiring twice while he ventured off to play minor league baseball. His Finals losses are the only stain on his career, and these are truly meaningless, as he has lost to teams when he has had no help (2007, 2014, 2015) and in my opinion, to teams Jordan also would have lost to (2017). If LeBron had been in Jordan's place, he would've been perfect in the Finals too. LeBron plays for the team, calls the plays for the team, and gets the players he wants for the team, effectively serving as player, coach, and GM all at the same time while delivering championships. When Michael left the Bulls, they still won 55 games and made the Eastern Conference Finals without him. If you took James off of the Cavaliers, they are maybe a fringe playoff team and shark bait for the Boston Celtics in round one, showing that he is the most valuable player in NBA history. Win or lose in these Finals, and if he loses, it is only because the deck is stacked, abusing the league's contract rules to beat LeBron, he should be considered as one of, if not the greatest, ever.
