By: Opinionated MJ

Since Kobe is gone, LeBron apparently wants to be the villain of the NBA. There is no other candidate anyway. Who else? Kevin Durant? Russell Westbrook? Maybe even James Harden? No. Just LeBron.

We watched as Stephen Curry won his 2^nd consecutive NBA MVP award after he came back from injury, OFF THE BENCH, to score 40 points in a winning effort against the Portland Trailblazers. Humble act indeed. We watched this man score 17 points in 5 minutes! Come on LeBron! How could you not respect the body of work and the offseason work put in to improve by the current reigning MVP Steph Curry? How could you not respect him being knocked down time and time again, including by himself with those ankles, to become an NBA Champion? How could you not respect him becoming MVP and being seen as the BEST PLAYER IN THE GAME? Last time I checked, you needed shooters around you. ALL shooters because that’s the only shaky thing in your game. Everyone has a weakness. I’m stating that to put out the obvious, everyone needs SHOOTERS.

Now, let’s talk about the shooters. You have to respect them. Steph, Klay, Ray Allen, Shane Battier, Mike Miller, Channing Frye, Kevin Love, I could go on. We have a player who is the size of Allen Iverson with handles that rival Kyrie Irving and James Harden, but with a shot so golden that he has become the standard of shooting, period! All within 2 years. Last time I checked, you were shooting Kobe percentage levels during the regular season. You’re very much improved during the playoffs. I give you credit. I want to dive in to the times your peers respected you, LeBron.

• Dwayne Wade WILLINGLY becoming 2^nd option, Chris Bosh becoming 3^rd.
• Kobe being seen as the 2^nd best player during his PRIME only to you, LeBron. He put up astronomical numbers during this time and was flat out the best scorer, but you outlasted him with your unselfish play and how you incorporate your teammates. Maybe it was the whole Denver thing that accelerated your status past him. They never gave Kobe the same treatment after the case. NEVER! Until he decided to want to have a retirement tour. They didn’t love him last year, LeBron.
• During your MVP runs, everyone was saying you deserved it, you earned it! No one said that it didn’t mean that you were only the “Most Valuable” not the “Best”.
• During your championship runs, everyone saying it took hard work and a great effort from LEBRON JAMES! They said the only reason the Heat won was because of LEBRON JAMES!

I think LeBron has lost touch with the “respect” aspect of the NBA. He doesn’t seem to fully respect his own teammates at times. Let’s not forget his rants during the year, especially in March. Talking about wanting to play with Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwayne Wade before it’s all said and done instead of riding out the rest of his career in Cleveland. He did this during a time where Cleveland was losing but still were 1^st place in the Eastern Conference. Let’s not forget the friction he caused with Kyrie and Kevin in order to try to pull another level of play or attitude out of them. Wait, sounds like Kobe’s tactics! I bet your fans will hail you for it but your fans bashed Kobe for having that attitude. You seem to have learned how to be more of a leader through it all although you’ve definitely had your rough patches as far as “vocal” leadership is concerned. You managed to get your coach fired, well, you fired him. You also managed to trade your buddy, your pal, Anderson Varejao. Crazy to think. You did it at the expense of finding another shooter to help stretch the floor for your unstoppable play going to the basket.

I’m expecting hate from your fans for this. I’ll finish by saying, I’ve watched you dismantle teams. I’ve watched you rise. I’ve watched you become a great player and remain at that level. I’ve told people that you haven’t fallen out of your prime, you’re controlling it, you’ve harnessed it. I want you to win a championship in Cleveland. Here’s the fun part. Not this year. Now, with this little small, potentially media-altered piece from you, I want Golden State, Steph Curry, to three-peat. First though, Finals rematch (although I prefer OKC/GS vs Heat), and I want the Warriors to dismantle your healthy Cavaliers. Matt and Tristan defense > Kyrie and Kevin defense. Good Luck LeBron!