LeBron James and the Journey through his Circle of Life

One of the best from of his generation has come full circle as a professional.

In US gambling news, LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers will be the first player to return to a fifth consecutive NBA Finals since the Boston Celtics. Also, James is the first to accomplish this feat with two different teams. All of this began when he left Cleveland 2010 with nothing to show for his career but a Finals appearance in 2007. His departure, to the infuriation of Cleveland, was the catalyst for his future success.

• LeBron James is the first player to go to a 5 consecutive NBA finals with 2 teams
• James told of his departure from Cleveland on an ESPN show “The Decision”
• James said that the most important thing he learned in Miami was patience

James only recalled one strange feeling of being back. “The only time I felt surreal was during my foundation event, the welcome home event I had at the University of Akron last month. When I got the chills of being back and the fans and everyone that was there just kind of welcomed me back with open arms, so that is the only time I got that feeling.” Now James has the opportunity to do what he first wanted. That is to give Cleveland a NBA Championship.

LeBron’s performance and what led him to make a decision.

At the end of game four of the Eastern Conference Finals, LeBron showed the signs of a man who’s experienced some unholy baptism that was spawned out of the fragile hearts and minds of those in his hometown whom he fractured from his own possibly selfish desire to win a champion. Was LeBron’s departure may be seen more like a sabbatical than a journey.

A year after LeBron’s first playoff run, he made a deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers for a three-year, USD 60 million with a possible extension for an additional year. The contract could’ve yielded a larger figure, if not for the condition written in that gave LeBron a free agent option after the 2009-2010 season. At the same time, LeBron discussed this with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh which resulted in the two also negotiating for free-agency in their new contracts. It was a gamble outside the confines of US gambling laws.

LeBron and Wade have one greatest off-court relationships seen in the history of Professional basketball. That and LeBron’s desire to play alongside the talented Bosh, formulated a plan. The media painted a young, impatient LeBron, frustrated that the progress of his teammates may not be on par with his own. Unfortunately, LeBron was as much the architect of his own design as was the media.

LeBron was in fact able to get to two consecutive playoffs with the second extending into the NBA Finals. Michael Jordan, who’s won two more championships, didn’t win his first championship until six years after he entered the league. Could it be possible that LeBron knew for three years that he would leave Cleveland? At the end of his first final’s journey, LeBron opted on his free agency clause.

The effects of LeBron James and “The Decision.”

In fact, he did one better than that and had a special event broadcasted on ESPN called “The Decision” in which he would spend most of 75 minutes explaining himself while keeping everyone in suspense only to reveal at the last moments of his signing with the Miami Heat. “In this fall I’m going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat. I feel like it’s going to give me the best opportunity to win and to for multiple years.

And not only just to win in the regular season or just to win five games in a row or three games in a row, I want to be able to win championships. And I feel more complete down there.” The program drew a lot of criticism including condemnation form Cleveland’s General Manager, Cleveland’s fans and notable figures like Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. LeBron added more insult to injury when he told ESPN that he attributed some of the criticism to racism.

The fall in disgrace, led LeBron to play in Miami in a different mindset to the anticipation on punters using online sportsbooks in the US. “I started to play the game of basketball at a level, or at a mind state that I’ve never played at before…meaning angry. That’s not the way I played basketball.” In this first year with Wade and Bosh, the three amigos were able to get to reach the 2011 NBA finals and lost to the Dallas Mavericks. Since then he’s won four straight NBA championships.

LeBron, comparing his time in Miami with college, said what he has learned most. “Patience. To be patient with the progress. Understanding that I think everyone always wants to see the end result and what’s at the end of the tunnel and don’t quite understand what goes on from start to finish and what’s between that and understand that.” The irony of his journey could be that LeBron’s absence may finally give the city of Cleveland and himself what they both wanted most; a championship and closure.