Has LeBron Earned A Headband Or The Crown?

A lot of people take joy in taking shots at Allen Iverson, and I have taken some shots as well. But unlike others (writers and journalist) it was not a personal attack!!! Sure he’s made tons of mistakes and some of his own volitions which he has paid for. The one thing that A.I. does not do is run from his problems or hides from his detractors or any situation that faces him. Coming from the rough streets of Newport News, Virginia; He as been in the spot light since middle school and has always managed to be himself (which in theses days and times seem to be very hard to do a lot of Athletes and Entertainers. I.E. Michael Jackson and Kobe Bryant to name a few) and not listen or be effected by what the world thinks or may say about him.

In the case of Michael Jackson, after getting from under the thumb of those who wanted to control him, he flourished, but seemed to have his struggles with himself and the way the world thought he should be. Moving on to Kobe Bryant in his early years (Off the court) he appeared to care more about keeping up the image Nike and all the other high-paying sponsors wanted him to be instead of being himself and thus we have the Colorado incident, to which all the sponsors who said they loved him but ultimately left Kobe out into the cold by himself with no blanket; only to move on to the next best thing…King James!

Iverson like Jim Brown, Charles Barkley and Bill Russell and a few others Allen is not afraid to stand up and protect those whom society has deemed to be dishonorable. Let’s not forget that when everyone was kicking Kobe while he was on trail for rape and being accused of ratting on Shaq; which we all know is a big no-no in the fraternity of Sports. When other Athletes and sports fans were treating Kobe like he had leprosy, it was Allen Iverson who on national television told the world (In regards to Kobe being on trail for rape) “I know he did not do that, I know he did not do that in my heart”.  After that, the road back to being accepted by the NBA players was made easier.  This is the reason why Iverson is so beloved; he is fearless on the court and honest about his life and lifestyle there is nothing fake about Allen Iverson.

Now LeBron on the other hand is still learning how to deal with being a superstar or it seems like he is on the fence about his image verses who he really is.  This latest incident with the sophomore guard from Xavier University Jordan Crawford dunking on Lebron at his own skills camp in Cleveland and there are reports that Lebron collaborated with a Nike rep that was there and confiscated the two video tapes that were rolling at the time in hopes of the tape not getting out to for public consumption.

If that is true, then the crown is definitely too big for his head.  A.I. on the other hand would have gone back down court and crossed Jordan Crawford over into next week; instead of taking or having the tape taken away like some member of  the Saddam Hussein regime.

We all remember Alonzo Mourning swatting shots away and roaring to the crowd and we also remember Vince Carter dunking all over ZO. How about the time when Jordan dunked on Ewing and John Starks dunked on Jordan plus three more players at one time. How about Dikembe Mutombo waving his finger after blocking a shot but if you go to YouTube and type in “Dunking on Dikembe Mutombo there is a single video of the top 20 dunks on Dikembe. In LeBron’s first NBA summer league game (Check ya YouTube files) Britton Johnson out of Utah dunked on LeBron and celebrated and got the crowd hype!!! In this years playoffs Courtney Lee got Lebron twice in the Eastern Conference finals. By the way Courtney Lee went to the skills camp as well, there might be a theme developing here. Attend the camp and you too can dunk on “The King”.

In all seriousness, Iverson got his signature move the “Crossover” from a guy he met in college. Iverson was a victim himself of the crossover and instead of feeling embarrassed he asked the guy to show him the move and he perfected it and made it global!  So, Nike, release the tape. Give us a great commercial to laugh at and make fun of and at the end of the 30second spot invite the kid (Jordan Crawford) back to the camp for part 2, “The revenge of King James”.

On another note I know one of LeBron’s mentors Jay-Z is called the God of rap “Hova”  which is very dangerous for anyone to be chanting about another human being; but truth be told with no championship rings it’s hard to be called the “King”.   In that case if he is the King then what is Michael Jordan?  Kobe? Magic? Bill Russell? The only thing we have witnessed is one MVP, several playoff losses, swept in the NBA finals, a Gold Medal, poor sportsmanship and lots of dust in the air.

There is a War going on outside that no one is safe from especially King James: Humility vs. Pride.   Proverbs 16:18-19 says “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall”; Better it is to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Hay LeBron, the headband fits better than the Crown!