Why LeBron Matters

With today’s announcement that LeBron James finally won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, it’s worth reflecting on why he is such an important figure, particularly on the Cleveland sports scene.

I remember back in the late ‘90s, when my friend Bob Dezso was a volunteer assistant on Keith Dambrot’s coaching staff at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. Bob coached the JV team in addition to assisting with the varsity, and he told me about a freshman playing for the Irish who had catapulted past everyone to become the standout player at the school. “His name is LeBron James,” Bob told me. “Remember it, because he’s the real deal. Best I’ve ever seen.”

Within two years, James was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Within two more, he was the number one pick in the NBA draft, the much-anticipated savior of the woeful Cleveland Cavaliers.

In his first game as a pro, LeBron exceeded expectations. Nervous? Forget about it. Intimidated? Hardly. And, for six consecutive seasons since then, he’s continued to silence the naysayers and redefine excellence on the basketball court. In so doing he has single-handedly made the Cavaliers relevant in Cleveland, no small task in a town so devoted -- for so many generations -- to the Browns and Indians.

That devotion is understandable, given the fact that in the 1940s and 1950s, both teams were perennial championship contenders. But Cleveland and Northeast Ohio have never had an athlete to match LeBron’s stature.

Mind you, Jim Brown was as good as it gets as a fullback for the Browns in the ’50s and ‘60s, and is still widely regarded as the best running back in the history of the sport. Before him there was Otto Graham, who deserves a mention of his own in the “best-ever” arguments at quarterback.

But theirs was a different era, a simpler, more romantic time in our nation’s history. And neither Brown nor Graham was called upon to do what LeBron has been asked, even expected, to do: Lift a franchise and, for that matter, an entire city, on his shoulders, and take them to the promised land.

It’s a role he has embraced. Lead the team? Check. Strive to be the best in the game? Check. Accept the challenge of becoming the best ever? Why not -- check. Whether he earns that status or not isn’t the issue. The fact that he’s willing to go for it fascinates us. And the fact that he rarely disappoints amazes us.

A few weeks ago, on an NBA telecast, ABC’s Mark Jackson said that the Cavs teams of Mark Price, Brad Daugherty and company -- the teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s -- were better overall than this year’s model. Boothmate Jeff Van Gundy agreed. As I heard that, I thought, “Wha-a-a-a-a-t?”

Jackson argued that the Price-led Cavs were deeper, and better at every position -- except LeBron’s, of course. But that’s precisely the point. They didn’t have anyone close to him in ability. Nobody does. And that ability alone tips the scales in the current team's favor.

He still has holes in his game, but they are becoming increasingly few. James is like a runaway train, physically overpowering his opponents with strength and speed. He has the look of a man on a mission. His teammates are on board, and so are we.

Anything can happen on the way to the NBA Finals, and in sports, as Yogi Berra once famously intoned, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” The Cavs dare not look past the Atlanta Hawks -- their second round opponent -- or anyone else. But the stage is set for something dramatic to happen this year, and smart money is on LeBron James making it so.

There’s simply never been anyone like him on the Cleveland sports scene, and there may never be anyone like him again. We should enjoy it while we can, and expect the best. Because you just get the feeling that, of all the great ones, The Chosen One will finally be the one to deliver.