“My life, your entertainment You watch it while I live it You wait for me to lose it I guess I’m just here for your amusement.”
— rapper T.I. from “My Life,
Your Entertainment”
Have you ever seen a city turn so fast on its Messiah?
Granted, America’s favorite pastime is building up its heroes to obscene proportion and then tearing them down.
But have you ever seen sports fanatics and columnists summarily back-flip so savagely on a sports divinity for prematurely ending a season fraught with majestic expectations with three straight losses and not “suitably” squirming or shriveling when interrogated by the outraged or “appropriately” accepting full responsibility?
Remember what John Wooden said to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (nee Lew Alcindor) when the star center beat himself up after a rare UCLA defeat?
“If you want to blame yourself for every loss, then you’ve got to take credit for every win.”
Denounce LeBron James all you want for being consumed with conceit . . . as if all the greats aren’t ego-tripping in their fields and don’t reek of narcissism.
Who knows, maybe he’s as arrogant, condescending and scheming behind the screens — as well as sidetracked by outside interests — as at least one dot-com grenade launcher claims. I’d have an easier time respecting the courage of such convictions had they been hurled when LeBron was up rather than layin’ in the weeds until he was down. I suspect James’ hangin’ in board rooms instead of “staying in his place” — outside his agent’s office — makes people uncomfortable.
We tend to be less tolerant of icons whose goals far exceed perfecting a wicked jump shot than those whose off-hour existence is spent gambling and chasing women.
But later for all that; the point is, I can’t recall a time when LeBron didn’t deflect the floodlights onto his teammates.
Paul Simon sure knew what he was singing about when he composed, “Every generation knocks a hero off the pop charts.”
Or attempts to, at least. Still, what are we to make of such an abrupt about-in-LeBron’s-face?
Wilt Chamberlain inarguably was the most criticized player in NBA history . . . and yet got less condemnation throughout his career than LeBron did in the days immediately preceding and following the Cavaliers’ crumple versus the Celtics.
Despite the after-the-fact incontrovertible certainty the Celtics boast the series’ next four best players now that they’re whole, healthy and peaking — especially on defense with its impenetrable interior wall — the vocal majority, shrugging off LeBron’s ailing elbow, is all over him like a blanket indictment.
The remaining people think the stained-glass free-agent-in-waiting is ideal for their house of worship.
Again, only this time with more feeling, I’ve never seen someone go from deified to vilified so fast, and not just by the national gnomes, but from his homeys as well.
I cannot recollect a fan base turning on its star, let alone a pin-up pet, who had yet to desert or commit a grievous indiscretion. Mariners fans turned on Alex Rodriquez, but that was after he left to sign a $252 million contract. The Steelers have one of the NFL’s most rabid fan bases, but they are starting to turn on Ben Roethlisberger now that they think he’s a lowlife who trolls for drunk college girls in dive bar bathrooms. Even O.J. Simpson received a bigger benefit of the doubt from a jury of his peers.
Last I checked, all LeBron did was lead the Cavs’ funeral procession. A series was lost, but no one (or two) died, was sexually assaulted, or was exposed as a serial wife beater or cheater.
Hey, if underachieving is a crime, I’d have been sent to the chair decades ago.
Again, last I checked, LeBron was 25 and already had carried his team once (2007, his fourth year in the league) to the Finals.
Michael Jordan didn’t plead his case on the Supreme Court or win a title until he was 28 . . . with Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant and Bill Cartwright by his side and trusty shooters on the outskirts.
Neither Kobe nor Shaq won a title unless aided by one another, or abetted by Dwyane Wade or Pau Gasol. Oscar Robertson never won until he joined Kareem in Milwaukee. Magic never won without Kareem, either.
Go back to the 1980s. The lone franchise players ever to capture a championship without another Top 50 player were Isiah Thomas (twice) and Hakeem Olajuwon (once) … and Tim Duncan (three times), but he had Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.
Meanwhile, columnists and Cavaliers fans are enraged James isn’t as apologetic as they’re apoplectic.
“Cleveland is such a negative town, to being with,” one of its citizens replied when asked to explain their stunningly rapid rebuke. “Every silver lining has a black cloud. When the savior cracked, it hurt. When it didn’t appear to bother him, whew . . . that was too much to take. When he didn’t, he didn’t seem to care. ‘I’ve spoiled you’ is all anyone heard.”
Another perspective is Cleveland’s history, that of having its dreams and teams pulled out from under fans for so long they know how the movie ends: Cavs lose, LeBron leaves, franchise decays.
So the reaction is the fans’ way of getting up and leaving before the movie ends. They’re leaving LeBron before he can leave them.
Unrealized expectations get the coach canned every time. The bad news is LeBron might be out the door along with Mike Brown. People thought he’d stay if the Cavs won. The way they lost, so early and decisively, fans are convinced he’ll never commit now if he didn’t do it before. To protect themselves, they’re trying to convince themselves they don’t care anymore, anyway.
peter.vecsey@nypost.com