King James deserves his throne

LeBron James of the Miami Heat prepares to shoot a free-throw during a game.

Why does everyone hate on LeBron James?

Now, most people agree that he is a great basketball player, which is pretty hard to argue against. He has the total package. James has raw athleticism, but is also skilled in fundamentals such as shooting.

His combination of speed and strength is unrivaled. He has a strong inside game, as well as a respectable outside shot. All this comes together to make him one of the toughest players to guard in the league.

Others often criticize James for not stepping up and taking the last shot during fourth quarters. While there are times when James should just get the ball and go to work, one of his defining traits is his selflessness when it comes to distributing the ball.

He helps his teammates play better because he can pull defenders off them and set them up for open shots. Recently, he has learned the importance of taking the clutch shots at the end of the game, which led to him win his first ring.

That brings me to the next source of hate: his long streak without winning a championship. People criticized him for not being able to finish when it counts, in crunch time and during playoffs. With James’s performance last year, winning the 2012 NBA Finals with the Miami Heat, all doubts about him should disappear like the Dodgers postseason.

The major factor that contributes to his negative public perception was “The Decision.” ESPN aired a 75-minute live special on July 8, 2010, in which James announced where he would play for the 2010-2011 season. The audience had to wait half an hour into the show to learn that James would take his talents to South Beach.

Many viewers saw the show as overdramatized, believing James was taking advantage of the situation to create more publicity for himself. However, the show did not have any monetary goals for James; on the contrary, James was able to donate over $6 million to various charities from the revenue.

While this did not make up for the never-ending wait people were forced to endure just to find out where James would end up, the NBA star should not receive the rabid hatred he does.

People should not blame James for leaving Cleveland, and burning his old jerseys was not deserved. As a free agent, James was entitled to choose whichever team he wanted, and Cleveland did not supply James with any major help after seven dedicated seasons.

James gets an unfair amount of criticism. People simply don’t like him, despite his good-natured demeanor. Even though he can always be seen joking around and laughing with his teammates, he is misjudged as cocky and arrogant. James is a phenomenal player and a solid teammate, and the public should begin to appreciate one of the greatest athletes of his generation.