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We Are Three Games Away From Everyone Forgetting That LeBron James Acted Like An Asshole Last Summer

LeBron James and the Miami Heat won Game 1 of the NBA Finals last night, comfortably. Now, the wheels have begun to turn on the “LeBron James made the right Decision” movement, and with three more wins (which, depending on the condition of Dirk Nowitzki’s hand, could come sooner rather than later), we will officially have forgotten about all of that ugly business last summer.

This is good. This is the way it should be. If you are able to prove that you are the best player on the best team over the course of 82 regular season games and (so far) 16 playoff games, you should be able to make up for a few weeks where, for reasons that have yet to be explained, your judgment took a vacation and you allowed yourself to be an instrument in Jim Gray’s shadowy plan to reanimate his earthly corpse.

But it needs to be pointed out how absurdly far we’ve come. Buzz Bissinger, who once referred to LeBron as “a player who is psychologically soft, not a leader,” is now praising his ability to handle pressure and… his leadership. Adrian Wojnarowski, who once called James a “sad, lost robot,” notes that he’s “grown smarter” since that fateful night last July. Last summer, LeBron James was a scared little boy who wilted under the responsibility of carrying a franchise. Now? He’s a brave captain of pressure.

Assuming Miami wins this series, you’ll hear a lot about how much growing LeBron has done ever since he left Cleveland. James, who is about as polished as an athlete can be when it comes to the media, will play into this narrative. He’ll say he has changed. He did learn a lot since the Decision. He might even apologize to Cleveland again (the benevolent King!). But make no mistake: nothing has dramatically shifted in his psychological makeup since last summer. If you believe something has, you’re buying too much into the sports-as-life metaphor. The reason we’ll be okay with what he did is because he’ll be successful. It’s important not to forget that.

Email: Dan@sportsgrid.com