The Instant Historian: On LeBron James Narrative Week
By Ty Duffy
LeBron James had a notable week. So notable the brief exposure of his equipment on national TV hardly blipped. He even knocked FIFA out of the headlines. The sports media covered LeBron’s week. He proved, as per usual, to be a convergence point for media trends and trodden narratives.
We’ve had the traditional, wild pendulum swings with an NBA playoff series. After Game 1 and Kyrie Irving’s injury, the NBA Finals were all but over. Backlash recovered trenches after Game 2 and 3. LeBron was delivering the greatest performance in NBA Finals history. Hound down anyone who reacted after Game 1 with torches and pitchforks! Game 4 saw the inevitable course correction. Oh yeah, the Cavs are relying on Matthew Dellavedova and J.R. Smith to take 26 shots. Stay tuned for similar swings after Games 5, 6, and 7 (if necessary).
Fetishized statistics have been deployed irrespective of context. LeBron has played virtually every minute, led the Cavs in virtually every stat and assumed a burden few thought even he could bear. Yet, his shooting percentage became a talking point. Geez LeBron. Could you carry this sad sack bunch of Knicks rejects to the brink of a title a bit more efficiently? Your Basketball Reference page will be there long after your career ends!
Then, of course, we’ve had our LeBron specific angles. LeBron has battled history since high school, mostly Michael Jordan’s history. Well, more accurately, our trumped up, revisionist memories of Michael Jordan’s history. Jordan’s legacy will linger like Aristotle over science. Comparing the two has been quite the popular topic, including on this site.
Most players receive the benefit of the doubt after the second NBA Finals MVP award. LeBron, whatever he does, can never quite hit whatever nebulous, column-tailored bar is placed in front of him. How HISTORY will view him must weigh on LeBron hourly.
As fans, we must address why we still don’t like LeBron. “The Decision” is a factor, though the animosity neither began nor ended there. He doesn’t “polarize.” The simplest explanation is that, even as a heel, he just doesn’t connect with people.
Magic, Shaq and Barkley had magnetic personalities. Bird had the small town story. Jordan and Kobe were mesmerizing, hyper-competitive sociopaths. LeBron is an advertising cipher. He’s well managed. He sticks to the script. He may have a personality. We’ve never seen it.
His heartfelt letters are polished by professionals. His “off the court” section on Wikipedia is a curated list of his business deals. He has kids. He seems to enjoy cycling. Beyond that…we know nothing. The contrived narratives take on such life with him because that’s all there is. The only thing human about LeBron’s public persona is his hairline. Though, to be fair, those other guys were never expected to reveal themselves on social media.
LeBron discussions won’t be resolved this year. They weren’t when he appeared in the NBA Finals the last four years. It’s not clear any media members are even debating directly with each other anymore. Everyone seems to be tweeting loud thoughts at straw men and Twitter buffoons. Even writing about how tired it all is tires.
What was special about Jordan was watching the spectacle. If we don’t put down the devices, we may miss LeBron.