Here’s a sample of my Facebook Timeline after Miami’s game 5 win:

Championships aren’t championships in shortened seasons….

Dexter Pittman and Eddy Curry get rings. Worst part of tonight’s result.

Man… This league sucks. Terrible terrible officiating.

The NBA is garbage!!!

After watching all 5 games of this NBA finals, I’ve come to the conclusion…I don’t hate LeBron, I don’t hate the Heat, and I’m happy that LeBron has his ring.

I know I’m in the minority about this. LeBron is one of the most polarizing players in the history of the NBA. He’s the shining example of the “Me First” attitude of the NBA. “The Decision” was horribly conceived, and just added fuel to the hate fire. But as I watched him lying on the ground in pain towards the end of Game 4, after his hamstrings had cramped up, I realized that this guy is a competitor, and doesn’t deserve nearly the amount of hate that has been put on him.

Sure, he deserves some. The guy did participate in The Decision, he did leave his hometown to go to Miami to play with

his friends, and he did always seem to choke in the biggest spots.  But this year that all changed. 40 points vs Indiana when they were down in the series. 45 points (including 30 in the first half) of a must win game IN BOSTON, one of the toughest places to play, and then a triple double in the clinching game of the finals, all while everyone hoped he failed. The degree of difficulty was off the charts.

LeBron’s youth is well documented. The guy was the most celebrated high school player since Lew Alcindor, drove a Hummer around his senior year of high school, and then immediately was compared to Jordan when he was 18 years old. How is it even possible for him to have the perspective that an average American would have? He’s grown up his entire life being told that he’s the best. He’s grown up with everyone bowing to his feet. He’s grown up with an army of people just trying to get close to him to hang on to his success. I can’t even imagine how he figures out who to trust in the world.

Every detail of his life since 2010 has been under intense scrutiny. Yet he’s been able to somehow mature enough to clear all of that out of his life.  He took it upon himself to become the best player he could be, and he came through in the clutch. It’s a story of a man realizing his flaws, correcting them, and then excelling at the highest possible level. Shouldn’t we be celebrating that?

PS to this blog: Kevin Durant…wow. That guy is unbelievable. I’ve never seen someone score 32 points so quietly so many times. I definitely was pulling for KD and the Thunder to win. They’ll be back I know that for sure.