Lebron James is arguably the best player the NBA has to offer. The NBA, the United States' most dynamic and popular sport internationally, is obviously a pretty big deal. When Lebron James chose to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers after several attempts at winning championships, he upset a lot of fans in Cleveland, and especially the owner of the team Dan Gilbert. I can understand the anger towards his departure from a standpoint of a Clevelandite. But to spread hateful speech about him and stage a burning of his jerseys is a bit too much.
Lebron left Cleveland for the sunny beaches of Miami to play with his two good friends who he also happened to win gold medals with in 2008 in the Olympics in China. The reasons he left are the reasons I still support him fully: he left to win. No matter who you are a fan of, you have to appreciate an athlete who wants to win, and tries his hardest to win. Compounded with this, he took a very large paycut to play in Miami. The best player in one of the most popular sports in the world took a paycut to play in Miami. He also chose Miami to play with his friends. I can fully respect this. If I had an opportunity to play with two of my closest friends, and it was in Miami, and they were such great ballplayers that it would immediately give me contention for an NBA Finals championship, I would jump at the opportunity. So although Clevelandites may boo Lebron tomorrow when he returns to Cleveland for the first time as a member of the Heat, I think they should still respect the decision of a guy who really is just a man who wanted to win, and win with his friends.
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