'The Decision' Turned Out to Be Right One for LeBron James

The biggest event in the current NBA season happened before the first preseason games were even played. It was the ESPN special “The Decision,” with LeBron James making his announcement that he was not going to return to Cleveland, and as a free agent, he would join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami.

This resulted in major backlash against James. After all, he was the king of Ohio, having played high school ball there and being the No. 1 draft pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers. How could an athlete not be loyal to the city and state in which he he grew up?

Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. in baseball and John Stockton in basketball set the precedent and stayed with the same team their entire career despite never winning a world championship ring. Wouldn't LeBron stay loyal?

While all of Cleveland was devastated when he left, LeBron knew that he needed another great player to help him win. After all, Michael Jordan had Scotty Pippen, and Larry Bird had Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, with both the Bulls and Celtics winning multiple championships.

After LeBron’s departure, the Cavaliers' record went from 60-21 in the 2010 season to 19-63 in 2011, only emphasizing LeBron’s gripe that there was nobody there helping him win.

When talking about loyalty in sports, it all comes down to why a player leaves. In LeBron’s case it was not, in fact, for money—he could have made more if he stayed in Cleveland—but it was to win championships, something he realized he couldn’t do alone in Cleveland.

Sure, the fans of Cleveland still despise James for essentially dumping them and immediately going on a date with the hottest girl in the room, South Beach.

But athletes don’t care what fans think. If they did, there would be no steroid problems, they would spend hours after a game signing autographs, every marquee player would stay with the team that drafted him no matter what the outcome, and they would all be outstanding citizens in the community.

But they are not. Most only care about themselves and don’t think fans have the credentials to critique their decisions or what they do on or off the playing field.

For LeBron, it all comes down to whether or not he wins in South Beach. If not, then his decision backfired on him and he'll look like a fool. If Miami takes it all, he clearly made the right decision and accomplished what he wanted.

And that is to win a championship—for himself, not the fans.

Observations from the week that was May 7-13:

New Era caps has an advertising promotion running in which John Krasinski (Jim from "The Office") and Alec Baldwin portray bitter rivals as a Red Sox fan (Krasinski) and Yankee fan (Baldwin). The second installment can be seen on the Facebook fan page of New Era…

The NFL lockout is still in effect, so the only thing to talk about NFL-related is the lockout itself. So here it goes, the owners are still locking out the players—moving on…

Actually, one final note on the lockout. The NFLPA is seeking $707 million in damages from the NFL teams from the money the owners are going to make off the TV deal if the season doesn’t happen. Mind you, this is the same NFLPA that decertified after the lockout started, so the players could sue the league…

To clarify, an uncertified players union is suing the league for money the league is going to get no matter how many (or few) games are played. If somebody with a law degree could explain that one to me, please shoot me an email…

And finally—shockingly—the Red Sox are playing the Yankees on Sunday. The matchup happens to be the late game on ESPN. I have lost count how many times they have been on ESPN, but it seems like every other Sunday…

Fantasy corner:

Let the closer carrousel begin, With Dodger closer Jonathan Broxton and Hong-Chih Kuo both on the DL, Vicente Padilla is now the closer, and yes, Padilla has five career saves in 13 seasons. Then there is the St. Louis Cardinals closer by committee, where Mitchell Boggs, Fernando Sales, Eduardo Sanchez and Trever Miller are all vying for the job. It is starting to become that time of the season where injuries and slumps are starting to wreak havoc on teams.  

Sports tweet of the week:

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco (@ochocinco) is keeping busy during the NFL lockout. First he tried out for the MLS Sporting Kansas City soccer team, now he is getting in the business of riding a bull. “#EPIC RT @pbrcoo: @ochocinco that's the deal. Show up and get on the bull u get 10K, ride him for 8 secs and its a brand new F150”

To translate, the PBR is going to give Ochocinco $10,000 for showing up and riding a bull and if he rides it for eight seconds, it will present him with a Ford F150 truck.

For the record:

After beating the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Heat forward LeBron James apologized to Cleveland for leaving the Cavaliers. Despite being the underdogs in the series, the Chicago Bulls will upset the Miami Heat and the three musketeers will go home empty-handed, undoubtedly crying.

One final note:

Being a sports fan is fantastic. You get the joys of following and rooting for your team, plus the high of winning and rubbing it in your rival’s face, which is priceless and the ultimate pleasure for the diehard and obsessed fan. But like with any hobby, sports are put on the backseat when a tragedy or major event happens in your life.

One such thing happened to me the past few weeks as my neighbor-turned-honorary-grandmother, Lynda Jeffries, is currently at the hospital in the ICU recovering from several major, life-threatening injuries. She is stable after several surgeries, but I ask that you take a moment out of your day and keep her in your thoughts and prayers for awhile as she continues to recover.