Disappoinmentville!

For the past 24 hours I’ve been absolutely dumbfounded, perplexed and just plain disturbed over Lebron James pivotal game 5 performance or lack thereof. I must admit, I am a huge Lebron fan and living in Los Angles you can imagine how much heat I get from my Lakers fan buddies. All day on ESPN radio, Lakers fans were rejoicing over the Lebron debacle. You would have thought that the Lakers won the Championship. I was waiting for them to announce the Parade date. What a devastating turn of events. Just 2 weeks ago, I was having the time of my life ridiculing my friends with those LA Times Kobe photos. I was on cloud 9, attaching one of those photos to practically every email I sent for 2 days straight. Sigh….Good times.

And just like that, the Air Jordan is on the other foot. Never in my wildest dreams could I have seen this coming. Lebron James, 2 Time MVP and universally (except in LA) recognized best player on the planet, becomes nonexistent in maybe the biggest game in Cavs history. A monumentally significant game because of the impact it could have in Lebron’s pending free agency and the Cavs first legitimate shot at winning the title. What in the world happened to Lebron? I know the naysayers want to believe that this is who Lebron is but really? If Kobe played like that, would it shock the basketball world like this?? Would it even be a shock? Didn’t he have a similar disengaging demeanor in Game 4 of the Lakers 1st Round match up against the Thunder? And let’s not forget Kobe’s refusal to shoot in Game 7 of ’06 playoffs against the Phoenix Suns. But Kobe seemed to do it to prove a point. Lebron actually looks uninspired on the floor. Almost as if he doesn’t want to be out there. Probably very similar to how I look at work. Where’s all the love and joy for the game that fans have become accustomed to seeing. Where’s the focus, determination and hunger it’s going to take to fight back into the series? If the Cavs have any hope of getting back into this series, it’s going to take Lebron playing at his very best. The weight of an entire city and organization rests on his shoulders. Can the hometown prodigy from Akron lift the curse or will he become part of its miserable sports folklore?