Now, after his antics during the "Summer of Lebron", he is the enemy, in more ways than simply returning as an opposing team's player.
Lebron was supposed to be "The Chosen One" to bring a sports championship to a city that has not won a major sports championship since 1964 and has had worse sports fortune than arguably any other city in the world. Cleveland is the punchline of sports joke after sports joke because of heartbreaking and infamous sports moments as "The Drive", "The Fumble, and "The Shot" where they snatched defeat from the jaws of almost certain victory.
Part of Cleveland's heartbreaking sports history has to do with losing more sports talent than any other city, culminating in losing an entire team when Art Modell decided to move the Cleveland Browns football team, earning him the honor of most hated sports figure in Cleveland. Until this past summer. Until "The Decision". And that brings us back to Lebron James.
In a move as classless and heartbreaking to the city of Cleveland, Lebron announced his plan to "take his talents to South Beach" and play for Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat during a one-hour special called "The Decision" which aired on ESPN. It was a forgettable public spectacle to most, but to the loyal fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers, it was a public humiliation. The hometown kid who had promised to bring a championship to the city, had tried and failed, and was now going to quit on the city of Cleveland and get a ring for himself in an easier situation.
Tonight marks Lebron's first game back to face the Cleveland Cavaliers. As hurt as they are, Cleveland fans have too much pride and class to avenge Lebron's actions with physical violence. Several creative solutions are trying to garner social media support.
However, will we see Lebron humble himself enough to regain the respect of the fans of Cleveland?
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| Will Lebron do the Chalk Toss before the Cleveland crowd as an opposing player? |
Lebron copied and evolved a well-known Michael Jordan pre-game routine into his own pre-game ritual known as the Chalk Toss (pictured at right), a ritual that he used to pump up and engage the hometown fans in Cleveland.
And although he has every right to do his ritual in NBA arenas all over America, it would be a great show of respect and honor to the city of Cleveland that had been loyal until they were betrayed. Lebron knows that in this simple gesture, there may be salvation for his legacy in Cleveland.
"What Should He Do?": Skip the Chalk Toss tonight in Cleveland.
What Will He Do?": ...Be a LeBiatch, and do the Chalk Toss, cementing his legacy of being the Most Hated Sports Figure in Cleveland.
