The day I stopped hating LeBron James

[Kobe]

I have been a huge Lakers fan since I was 8 years old. I am turning 31 this April.

I became a Lakers fan post the show-time era. I did not have the pleasure of watching Magic Johnson play.

To be precise, the first vivid memory I have of being a "serious" Laker fan was when Del Harris became our coach. I remember when Magic coached the team for a little bit, our star point guard was Nick "the quick" Van Exel, Elden Campbell and Vlade Divac was our big guys protecting the paint.

At this very same time, Michael Jordan and his Bulls were dominating the NBA during their first 3-peat. Michael Jordan was establishing himself as a global brand, every kid wore his shoes at my school, every kid wore his shoes all over the world, every kid wanted to "Be like Mike", every kid stuck their tongue out while they were playing basketball. I like every kid, worshiped Michael Jordan.

When 96 rolled around, The Lakers pulled off a trade that sent Vlade Divac for the draft rights of Kobe Bryant. To this day there are conflicting stories as to what happened. According to Kobe himself, Charlotte told him they did not want him. According to others, Kobe told Charlotte he had no interest playing for them.

Regardless, we got Kobe. I'll admit, I knew little to nothing about Kobe Bryant at the time. I had no idea he would eventually become the two-guard that became the "closing thing" to Mike. Naturally, I was a huge fan of Kobe. After-all, Kobe with the help of Shaq (Derek Fisher, Robert Horry etc) led the Lakers to three titles. I even had all his shoes when he had a deal with Adidas.


Going back to the point of everyone wanting to be "Like Mike." Not only did every kid growing up wanted to be like Mike, but as Sports fans we constantly searched for the next Michael Jordan on the hardwood. The comparisons ranged from Kobe Bryant, to Vince Carter, to Tracy McGrady, to Grant Hill, to LeBron James, to Jerry Stackhouse, to Michael Finley, to Penny Hardaway, to Dywane Wade to whoever else. Basketball fans naturally searched for the next Jordan, and compared everyone to Jordan. Michael Jordan became the standard, especially after he won his 6th championship in 98.

LeBron James came into the league in 2003. I hated this guy from day 1. I could not tell you why, but the root reason was probably because everyone was comparing him to Michael Jordan from day 1. Who is this 18 year old kid who has not played a single minute in the NBA? I begin to FIND reasons to hate LeBron. "His jumper is weak.", "He disappears in the clutch", "He's not a leader". Whatever it was, I found a reason to hate this dude.

The biggest reason was because I am such a huge Kobe fan. I blindly hated LeBron, because I thought in my mind, as well as every Lakers/Kobe fan thought that "Kobe is the next Jordan." and LeBron is crashing the party, and this dude sucks.

The flame of my LeBron hatred grew even more when he left Cleveland for Miami. "Kobe would never leave the Lakers to chase rings." "Kobe did not need to team up with two top 15 players in the league to win rings." Then ESPN added fuel to this fire, by seemingly wanting to cover LeBron James 24-7... "This just in, LeBron had a pull pork sandwich in Cleveland today.."

This brings us to the day I stopped hating LeBron.

I have a lot of friends who are also Lakers fan. They all hate LeBron.. Every ESPN article I read, I scroll down to the comment sections, it always without fail erupt into a Kobe vs LeBron debate between the fans of each camp. I had to ask myself. "Why do I hate this dude?" I couldn't give you a legitimate reason.

Then came the Lakers/Cavs game 3 days ago. Two all-time greats squaring off against each other. Each player in very different points of their respective great careers. Kobe being in the twilight of his career, trying to fight father time. LeBron being in the prime of his career but understanding that father time was right around the corner. I saw two great players, while in very different points of their careers.. having fun, laughing, enjoying playing against each other.. What? No way, these guys are supposed to hate each other right? That's what the media wanted right? That's what Kobe fans wanted right? That's what LeBron fans wanted right?

It was at this point I realized, not even Kobe himself hates LeBron. These two great players have tremendous respect for each other's games. Much like the generations of greats that came before these guys.. Magic and Bird had that great respect for each other, Michael and Magic... the list goes on.

Basketball fans, need to stop looking for the next Mike. There won't be one. Instead, we need to appreciate the great talent we have in the game today. Father time will eventually catch up to every single one of these greats.

At the end of the day, at least LeBron isn't getting arrested for killing someone, or doing drugs right?

[Prez WilCo]

Next Lebron James?? There's only one Ty Crane!!

[Kobe]

Next Lebron James?? There's only one Ty Crane!!

Did anyone ever figure out who Ty Crane was supposed to be? Or is he just a fictional character?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kingdom]

A good pulled pork sandwich is awesome

[realmofotalk]

Kobe fanboys must be so conflicted right now.

[HollywoodLeo]

Not me. I never hated LeBron. In fact, I grew to like him out of sheer spite since hating him has become so cliche and bandwagon.

[realmofotalk]

Admittedly, I was one to complain about him selling out and having to join a super team to get a ring instead of being loyal and winning it with the team he started with. I never cared for the Kobe/LeBron or MJ/LeBron debates, though.

[realmofotalk]

This team still sucks. They're just as frustrating to watch as the only other sports team in L.A. that I care about. They'll catch up, then when they're so close, they go back down 10 points.

[realmofotalk]

The Lakers are so shitty that not even LeBron could carry them to the playoffs. Of course, LeBron being a shell of himself on defense doesn't help either. And they traded the one youngster who turned out not to be complete garbage. They're the shit show that I always think the Dodgers are.