(ThyBlackMan.com) My mind is still unable to wrap itself around how LeBron James went from being considered to be a great athlete and team player to becoming one of the most hated athletes in all of sport. I hear people talk about LeBron like he’s the devil or a man who deserves to spend a year or two in prison. Ohio Governor John Kasich recently named the Dallas Mavericks honorary Ohioans because they defeated LeBron in the NBA finals. Why the governor would go out of his way to reward people he doesn’t know for defeating someone who doesn’t even live in his own state is beyond me. I guess the taste of sour grapes takes a long time to die down.
When I first saw LeBron James as a high school kid, I called my friend (a professor at Georgetown University) and told him that LeBron was 
something special. Not just “McDonald’s All-American MVP” special, but the “This could be another Michael Jordan” kind of special. My friend was skeptical and told me that I was crazy to think that any high school kid could impact the NBA in a significant way during his first three years in the league. I would say that I won that particular argument with my friend (I won most of them anyway, since his basketball instincts were way off base).
For years, LeBron was advised to get out of Cleveland. He was too big of a star to play in a relatively weak market for a team without the money necessary to get the kinds of players needed to compete for an NBA championship. But like a man who can’t stop loving his high school sweetheart, LeBron remained loyal to Cleveland, giving away seven years of his life that could have been spent creating a Kobe Bryant-like resume for himself. He won no championships and did everything in his power to become the Superman he had to be in order to single-handedly elevate a mediocre team to the NBA’s elite.
When LeBron left Cleveland for Miami, some felt offended that he chose to exercise his personal labor rights. The owner of the Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert, played to the lynch mobs and spoke of LeBron as if he were a disloyal runaway slave who should be shot before being allowed to cross the Mason-Dixon Line. Some interpreted LeBron’s televised announcement, “The Decision,” as the ultimate media crime, and failed to even consider the fact that James gave the proceeds of the ESPN show to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Rather than congratulating him on his charity, some chose to hate him for being an arrogant negro.
Mind you, it’s incredibly rare that a white athlete is convicted of the crime of arrogance. But at least once a year, there is some black male athlete who is treated like a common criminal for showing a little too much confidence or doing what’s best for himself and his family. The white male-dominated sports media places irresponsible and destructive value judgments on young, hard-working men as if they are dastardly, dysfunctional, sub-human savages who don’t deserve an ounce of the public’s respect. Before LeBron James, there were other athletes like Terrell Owens, Tiger Woods, Barry Bonds, Michael Vick and the long list of NCAA athletes who (gasp) have the audacity to request compensation for their own labor. If NCAA athletes were to stand up and demand even a fraction of the billions earned by their coaches, commentators and corporate sponsors, they too would receive the arrogant and ungrateful negro label that was given to LeBron James.
Of course, LeBron’s recent remarks about the fans who despise him were ill-advised, but I personally see the comments as the frustration of a 26-year old man who wants the world to like him. LeBron grew up as a team player and the kind of person who has consistently done all he could to remain loyal to his teammates, even when he had opportunities to play elsewhere. When I first saw LeBron play in high school (as his school and ESPN earned millions by displaying him on TV), I wondered why he hadn’t left for Oak Hill Academy or one of the other basketball manufacturing facilities that masquerade as academic institutions. The bottom line is that even when LeBron had the option to be selfish, he always did what was best for the team. Even his playing style reflects the perspective of a man who enjoys sharing the spotlight and doing whatever it takes to win (any regular basketball player knows that you can usually judge a person’s personality by how much he/she shares the ball, and LeBron shares the ball more than he has to). The fact that LeBron’s been given the “Arrogant Negro” label by America is probably confusing for a man who isn’t arrogant enough to tell the world to go screw themselves.
The bottom line is that LeBron James is not a criminal. He’s not a deadbeat dad, thug, wife beater, or drug addict. He’s a young father who loves his family, cares about his team and badly wants to win an NBA title. All the value judgments that come from media and fans who’ve been trained to hate African American males are reflective of the poisoned psyches that produce this kind of hatred. LeBron James is NOT the devil.
Staff Writer; Dr. Boyce Watkins
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. For more information, please visit http://BoyceWatkins.com.