Misplaced Villainy

This probably is the angle of the story you won't hear much about.

An angle that you may not care about.

Definitely the angle that gets overlooked in the sea of hatred that exists between the American people and LeBron James.

Last summer, 10 million viewers were turned into nothing more than zombies, anxiously awaiting LeBron's announcement of where he would sign to pursue a championship and establish his legacy.

Only, "announcement" wasn't quite the right word.

"The Decision" as it was billed, was an hour long ESPN special broadcast from the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich, CT. It was pushed to LeBron as a good marketing idea by childhood friend turned embarrassment agent Maverick Carter. In retrospect, it couldn't have been a worse strategy for tarnishing LeBron's seemingly ubiquitous brand. As the words "in this fall, i'm going to take my talents to south beach, and join the Miami Heat" stuttered out of LeBron's mouth, pandemonium ensued. The hate that stemmed from those few seconds in time left spilled blood in social networking sites, the media, school hallways, homes, and basketball courts everywhere. Hate and disagreement that still burns strong today.

The average American had a reason to be upset with him. He crushed the city that had drafted and "supported" him for seven plus years. James single handedly aborted a franchise, its dedicated fans, and all the businesses that relied heavily on him for profit in a struggling Cleveland economy.

NBA fans had a reason to be mad at him, as he teamed up with two other superstars in Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to create a so-called "super-team." A super-team that was prematurely thought of as unfair by many fans, and deemed "tampering" by certain executives.

Even factions of Heat fans had the right to hate the mega-star that would take over a team thought to be "owned" by Wade- 2006 NBA champion and finals MVP. A larger than life ego that would assuredly bring a magnifying glass over their city and franchise.

Everybody had a reason to disapprove.

Everybody though, really had a reason to respect him for it.

Many say it wasn't his decision to leave Cleveland, but the manner in which he went about it. The "all eyes on me," egotistical way of promoting self. However, did anyone commend, seriously report, or even notice the fact that all the money made by "The Decision" was being donated to charity? Over $3 MILLION dollars was donated to Boys & Girls Clubs across the country. If you think that in itself is insignificant, maybe you should have your screws readjusted. That amount of money can do worlds to help improve disadvantaged children's lives everywhere, and thats an understatement. Take it from someone who traveled to hell and back as a child, and knows what a single bit of hope and care means.

While i know every man can't be a David Robinson, a good portion of athletes NEVER break out their pocketbooks to give back to the community that loves and supports them. LeBron has had a history of being charitable. Whether it be distributing 700 Thanksgiving meals to needy families in his hometown of Akron, or donating a huge playground in Phoenix, or even donating outside of David Stern's empire on his own time and dollar. All of these things get overlooked. It angers me more when seeing other athletes getting praised by the media. Athletes who have committed actual and sometimes brutal crimes, but are "winners" and therefore get a free pass. After all, being a role-model is more than acting in an "NBA Cares" advertisement every once in a while.

"I know a lot comes with being a professional athlete," James said in an interview with The Associated Press. "That's also being a role model to a lot of kids that look up to me. This automatically comes with it. And I have nothing but time for kids. I could easily be at home and just relaxing. ... But the opportunity to be here and giving back to these kids, I'm happy to do it."

This quote came this week, after donating another 1,000 computers and distributing upgraded furniture (with his longtime girlfriend Savannah Brinson) to Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide.

"I would do it again," James said. "I won't play this game forever. But the things that we're doing in the communities, things that we're doing in the gymnasiums, in the computer labs, they will last. When I'm done playing basketball, I can still go back to some of those same parks and see what we were able to accomplish that day in 2011. That's important to me."

To me, something just seems out of place.

...the way we judge athletes.

...our morals.

We all know that in life hindsight is 20/20, and though you may not want to, you have to applaud LeBron for saying he wished the free agency process could've have been handled differently. After all, he still is a very young man, a man growing and maturing rapidly every day. That being said, there isn't many of us that cam impact the world like a LeBron James can. For the betterment of man, we all ought to be behind someone like that. Not every country or community is lucky enough to have such heroes. At the end of the day, no matter how high or low in regards we hold somebody, we are all human.

Sometimes petty hate and ignorance can blind us. Blind us from the beam of light in a seemingly gloomy situation. Not only is that a theme in our lives, but a story of our nation and our people.

We have always found a way to overcome differences.

So just this once, let LeBron live.