Let LeBron Live

Unless you've been under a rock you know that the Miami Heat did not win the NBA title.  

#respect

You also know that LeBron James has been taking the majority of the blame for it. Some might say he's just getting what he deserves. There were so many things from b4 the season (the Decision, the concert style intro) to the Finals (the way he celebrated with Wade, made fun of Dirk, the disappearing act he did in the 4th quarters of this series) even post finals (game 6 postgame interview) that provide justification in people's minds.

Ever since "The Decision" LeBron has arguably become the most hated person in the NBA. I've hated on him all year, consistently calling him LeBama and RTing nearly every insulting tweet about him that crosses my TL:

I'm done hating now though. I'm starting to feel bad for him. If you know me and how hard I hate things you're probably thinking "Wow Chris, really?" Yes, really. 

If there is one thing I can say about this whole LeBron thing is that he has had to deal with a ridiculous, unfair amount of pressure. I hate pressure, more than I hate LeBron, and so I think its time to let up and let them man live. 

Perhaps he made his own bed and now has to lie in it. Perhaps. I'm a little skeptical though.

I will be the first to tell you that LeBron disrespected the fans of Cleveland by announcing on national TV that he was "taking his talents to South Beach." That's the initial reason why I hated him. He could have went about that better for sure.

I also didn't like how he decided to join forces with another elite player (Top 5), rather than try to win it on his own and potentially becoming better than Jordan. I think these are the reasons why most people hate him. Everyone needs to chill.

LeBron carried a team a city on his back for 7 years. He played the best he could (back to back MVP awards) and took them as far as he could with what he had ('07Finals) for as long as he could. Truthfully, he had done everything he could as a Cavalier. They always say once you've done everything you can at a particular job its time to move on to a new challenge. And its not like he demanded a trade, he served out his contract and then moved on. Nothing wrong with that. The way he decided to say it, yea that was bad, but how long can we hate him for that?

Now going to the Heat to play alongside Dwanye Wade doesn't present much of challenge at all, but I think that's exactly what LeBron wanted.

We get on him for not being clutch and for crumbling under the pressure. What if its true and he doesn't like the pressure and having to perform under it. What if he knows he's simply not wired that way (very few people are). So he decided to go to a place with less pressure and that had a guy who is perfectly fine when the heat is on (see what I did there?). In LeBron's mind he was escaping the pressure of having to be the go to guy every night. There's nothing wrong with that either.

Think about anytime you were the go to guy/girl. You may have enjoyed it and may have even been good at it. Eventually I'm sure you got tired of the pressure and expectations. I'm sure that whatever it is that you were relied on to do wasn't being watched and counted on by millions of people. I'm sure that if you had a chance to step out of the pressure cooker you would. You did. LeBron did too.

At some point in the series Jeff Van Gundy said that all LeBron did was change his place of employment and decided to go work with his friends and that if we had the chance to we'd do the same thing. Its absolutely correct. We would. Nothing wrong with that.

Then we have the Jordan comparisons. Well Jordan wouldn't have done that, Jordan would have perform under pressure, la la la. True Jordan would have and did. That's why he's Jordan and LeBron is LeBron. JA Adande wrote that it's us who compare him and want him be the next Jordan or even better. That's what we want but clearly not what LeBron wants. We can't seem to appreciate his greatness as is because we want him to be the next Jordan. He's not. Guess what? Nothing wrong with that either.

LeBron has been under more media scrutiny than any other athlete (maybe person) ever. Everything he does get dissected and blow out of proportion. I mean in game 2 did he really celebrate more than any other player does at a timeout? More than Jet does? 

No. But it was made to seem that way. Even his post finals comments got blown up. If you listen to the whole statement you'd see he wasn't being malicious, he was just stating facts: we all will return to our normal lives. We have.

Its time to ease up on the man. Time to stop expecting him to be something or someone he's not. Let's pull the microscope back. Let's realize that at any given moment he can be the best player on earth. Lets also realize that the Heat are still the best team in the East and will probably represent the conference in the finals for the next few years. Lets let the man live.