In 1940 England met its darkest hour. Winston
Churchill rallied the British people to fight the Nazis with the sacrifice of
"blood, toil, tears and sweat."
LeBron James faces something similar. Okay,
it’s not life and death. This is the NBA not World War II. But LeBron James, superstar
leader of the Cleveland Cavaliers, has been called upon to lead his team from
the depths of depression, The Cavs have experienced a spiritual meltdown—and
its under LeBron’s watch.
I learned about the Cleveland Cavaliers
meltdown in their game with the Houston Rockets. The Cavs got whipped by an
embarrassing score of 120-88 a few nights ago.
The Cavs massive loss to Houston Rockets revealed the dispirited Cleveland team
has serious problems. The fans feel immense respect for LeBron James He brought
the city a NBA championship in 2016. This put an end to a 52-year professional
sports title drought.
LeBron won back Cleveland fans and the entire
city when he returned to Cleveland after winning back-to-back championships
with the Miami Heat. Lebron was praised as a societal leader. He wanted to
return to Ohio, his home state, to help lift the morale of the citizenry.
LeBron showed selfless devotion to a cause
beyond himself with his decision to return home. And the he led the team to a
NBA championship in 2016. That achievement elevated King James to near Saint
status. But being King is not bad.
LeBron’s past glories add greater angst to the
struggle happening now Cleveland. The Houston game felt like a blowout from the
opening minutes and stayed that way the entire game. The Rockets superstars, James Harden and Chris Paul, put on an offensive show. The Rockets looked like the Harlem Globetrotters with the game almost won
from the opening tap.
LeBron James experienced naked humiliation in
front of the home crowd. Cleveland had no defense. They had no defense. They
looked out of sync and over-matched in every aspect of the game. But the secret
was in the team’s body language—and that included LeBron.
LeBron's nonverbal cues showed a auperstar
looking disoriented at the very place he usually dominates the competition. LeBron is
the one who takes over games. Against the Rockets he seemed vanquished. His
troubled expression showed a frustrated man with a sense of desperation. One of
the announcers, Jalen Rose, wondered if the Cavaliers team have become toxic.
And maybe the most troubling... as the
Cleveland team broke from a huddle LeBron spoke a few inspirational words to
his teammates but concluded with strange advice: “Be in the moment… Enjoy the
moment.”
The breaking of the huddle to New Age
self-help phrases shocked me. If a NBA guy playing in an ESPN televised game
for a national audience is not already “in the moment” you have to wonder where
they are…
If LeBron is going to have his Winston
Churchill moment he will transform toxicity into team play.
Makes you wonder about LeBron himself. He may
be thinking beyond Cleveland. LeBron’s mojo for Cleveland may be gone. He took
on a lot to become a societal leader, maybe too much even for a
Lebron playing for another team! In another
city! Another state! A change could bring welcome relief. LeBron... 33 years old. Late career.
Lebron has to find a way to make basketball fun again. Not like that Rockets game.
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