How things change so suddenly in sports. I remarked on this during the 2009 NBA Finals when Dwight Howard went from "next dominant center" to "guy with no game" in about a week.
During that time, LeBron James was having his own issues. Since then, it hasn't gotten better.
First off, it is always a tad bit embarassing to be the league's MVP and not bring home the title. I'm not saying that he's at all to blame (it was his teammates that let him down), but the 2008-2009 NBA season was a LeBron Lovefest and to have it end before the Finals had to be a bitter pill to swallow.
Exactly at the end of the Cavaliers season, LeBron's problems started. From his storming off the court without congratulating the Magic, to the sneaking out of the arena instead of talking to reporters to the sad explaination of his that didn't really sit right with anyone, LeBron got off to a tough start to his offseason.
We all see him as a sore loser. He doesn't mind cutting up during pregame introductions or sitting in front of reporters when everything is going great, but storms off like a little kid when he doesn't get his way.
Then came just some bad P.R. issues. The Nike puppet commercials which he and Kobe were the focal point of made him look like a loser. He was seen wearing an "LBJ MVP" shirt that most people (including me) found very tacky. There was also that weird story that he allegedly called free agent Trevor Ariza and told him that he was staying in Cleveland past the upcoming season (his people have denied this conversation). He also watched his recruitment of Ron Artest go out the window when he signed with the Lakers. His lack of a future commitment is killing the Cavs.
But the worst two things that have happened to LeBron this offseason came a few days ago. One is that horrible fit where Nike confiscated Xavier's Jordan Crawford dunking on him in his own camp. You know the story by now and LeBron looks like a major ass for his and Nike's actions. The odd thing is that LeBron looks worse now than he ever would have if he just let the YouTube footage of it get out. King Baby.
But the dagger came from a memo from the NBA. The league advised the 30 teams to watch their money as the cap could fall to around $50M in 2010. That is $10-$12M less than what many teams were figuring on. 2010 is supposed to be the "LeBron Sweepstakes" where at least half the league would try to reel him in. There will still be about seven to 10 teams that can do so ... but now they can only afford LeBron. LeBron and teams like the Knicks were planning on bringing in two of the max players (LeBron plus Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh or Yao Ming or Amare Stoudamire). Now, it seems that no one can pull that off. LeBron can still go to one of these teams, but what kind of talent will they have? Sure, LeBron can be a New York Knick but what kind of teammates could he possibly have? At worst, LeBron can just not opt out of his contract and hope others do the same and try it again in 2011.
In any event, LeBron is having a tough time. David Stern may want to break off another phone call to LeBron to put him in timeout.
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