LeBron James: Friend or Foe?

What did LeBron James do when he became a Cavalier? He appointed his best friends from high school his managers. What did he do this weekend? He attended a friend’s wedding: Carmelo Anthony’s. What motivated him to join the Miami Heat? Two friends with whom he played on the Olympic team were either there or going there, and he saw a chance to be with his friends and, of course, a chance to win an NBA championship.
Friendship has always dominated LeBron’s ethos. From the time he was a young boy living a hard life with a single parent, friendship was paramount. Moving around so much in childhood, he learned to make friends quickly and to use basketball skills as a means to do so. Loyalty has always been his strong suit, but loyalty to real friends, not fans or cities or franchises, has been his history. It holds true today. Yes, LeBron is looking to use his skills in the pursuit of an NBA ring, but he would rather do it with true friends than by himself, which was both the history and prospect in Cleveland. Should he be faulted for that? I think not.
His handlers, who happen to be his friends, were not apparently cognizant of the backlash the ESPN “The Decision” program would create. It was all done in very poor taste and clearly choreographed by either a cynical cretin or a bumbling buffoon. It left the whole production doomed to not the benefit but the liability of doubt. Sometimes friends can be more hurtful than foes.
Still, LeBron’s greatest asset, his role as friend, will remain his strongest value. For someone who, as a child, spent a lot of time wandering, he has a great need for a sense of belonging. And home-boys play an important role in establishing his home. Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers, was just that: an owner. No self-respecting black man in America wants to see himself as owned, and that is the message Gilbert conveys in his rants. The theme is essentially “I invested in you, and you turned into my junk bond.” That is not exactly the kind of bond LeBron cherishes.
I wish LeBron good fortune in Miami, not because I live there and root for the Heat. (I am a Nuggets fan and root for Carmelo Anthony, Birdman, and Billups.) I wish him well because I can imagine how much friendship means to LeBron, given his rootless beginning. The roots he plants in friendship today are far more important than the roots of his fans or the rants of his owners. We all need roots. Isn’t it great that he gets to choose them and plant them himself.