4/10/15
Disclaimer: I am WELL AWARE and deeply appreciative of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s efforts to make this country a better place to live in. By no means is this piece meant to be disrespectful to him in any way. While I also realize that LeBron James is the face of the NBA, I also know that the media puts him on a ridiculously high pedestal and shoves him down our throats every chance they get. This is why the first day of the 2014 NBA Free Agency was billed as LeBron Luther King Day. I respect the man and his game, but I'm sure I'm not the only one that's tired of him being treated like a demigod. That's my biggest motivation for writing this piece.
**This is LeBron speaking in 3rd person.
I am happy to join with you today in what will not go down in history as the greatest demonstration of dominant basketball in the history of our nation.
One half score and two years ago, a local high school basketball prodigy, in whose gargantuan shadow the league stands today, signed his first NBA contract. This "momentous decree" came as a great beacon light of hope to fans all over Northeast Ohio...fans who had been suffering in the curse of never-ending mediocrity . It came as a breath of fresh air and with a lot of hope of ending a long period of futility.
But seven years later, a title still had not been won. Seven years later, the city of Cleveland is still strapped in the straitjacket of mediocrity and bound by the chains of futility. Seven years later, LeBron is weighed down by all of his futile attempts at a title after carrying a team and a city on his back. Seven years later, LeBron is still languished in the failures of his team and his broken promise to the city. So he came to the decision that he wanted to take his talents to South Beach, only to find himself exiled from his own land.
In a sense LeBron went to Miami to cash a check. When the architects of the Heat organization worked the system to put together that super team, they were signing a promissory note to which every team in the NBA would fall prey. This note was a promise of not 2.....not 3.....not 4.....not 5.....not 6.....not 7 titles would be guaranteed to the city, along with the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
There was a prevailing sense flowing through the city of Miami that the decade belonged to them, so much so, that Flo-Rida released a theme song for them called We Already Won.
It is obvious today that LeBron has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as his teammates are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, LeBron has given the people of South Beach a bad check; a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."
But the media refuses to believe the bank of justice is bankrupt and that the system is broken. They refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds for LeBron in the great vaults of opportunity in the NBA. So King James goes back to Cleveland to cash this check- a check that is believed will give them upon demand an excess of trophies and a long reign as a champion.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind the media and America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of instant gratification.
Now is the time to make real the promises of a championship. Now is the time for LeBron to lift his team up from the dark and desolate valley of mediocrity to the sunlit path of becoming a champion. Now is the time for LeBron to lift his city from the quicksands of sports futility to the solid rock of sports history. But now will not be the time this is made a reality for all of Cleveland's citizens.
It would be fatal for the NBA and the media to overlook the current champions and guarantee a title for the Cavaliers. This long-suffering by the city of Cleveland will not pass until there is an enormous amount of humbling as well as certain sacrifices being made. Two thousand fourteen was not a new beginning, but a continuation. Those who hoped that LeBron needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the Cavaliers return to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in Cleveland until the city is granted its championship trophy. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of the city until the bright day of justice emerges.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of a tacked Western Conference, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the city's championship dreams.
I have a dream that one day my teammates will rise up and show everybody what it is to have the heart of a champion and prove this mantra to be true: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that this team was not created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the lakefront of Cleveland the families of the players, former players and the families of current and former Cavalier executives will be able to sit down together at the table of championhood. I have a dream that one day even the city of Cleveland, a city sweltering with the heat of an empty trophy case, sweltering with the heat of oppression from the West, will be transformed into an oasis of trophies and parades.
I have a dream that my teammates will one day live in a city where they will not be judged by their failures on the court but by the clutchness of their games.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day down on the lakefront in Cleveland, with our sports curse lifted, with our fans having been starved for a championship, that one day we would be united as one in the city and celebrate this monumental breakthrough.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every Cavaliers player shall be exhalted, every coach and every executive shall be held in high esteem, the city will be made billions of dollars, and the economy will be made thriving, and the glory of LeBron will result in me becoming a billionaire athlete, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is my hope. This is the faith that I came back to Cleveland with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the ongoing futility of our franchise into an organization with a storied history.
With this faith we should be able to work together, to play together, to win together, to be on parade floats together, knowing that we will be champions multiple times over one day. And if Cleveland is to be a great city, this must come true. Let the ring bling from every ring finger on every hand in our organization. All day every day, let the ring bling.
And when this happens, after we have skull-drugged whoever came out of the West and I rack up another Finals MVP, we let it bling from every alley and every block, from every neighborhood in Northeast Ohio, we will be able to speed up that day when me, Uncle Drew, K-Love, J.R., and the rest of the squad, even Coach Blatt will be able to join hands at the end and sing We Are The Champions.
Ring at last?? Ring at last?? Will LeBron Almighty finally win them a ring at last?
