Letter To Lebron James by Victor R. Moore II

Dear Lebron James,

This is going to be rough and believe it or not I generally feel bad for you! The media is going to be unforgiving but moreover the average NBA fan will have no compassion for you and kick back and put their hands behind their head and say "you deserve this asshole"!!! Is that fair? Probably not, but Lebron, that is the price you pay when you put yourself above the game!

Ok, let me first say that I am a Michael Jordan fan. Born and raised Michael

Jordan fan! Us, Michael Jordan fans, are a strange lot. We saw the maturation of a basketball God and saw him dominate and destroy an entire generation of

basketball superstars. Stockton, Malone, Barkley, Ewing, Mourning, Payton,

Drexler, Miller, Shaq, Penny, Grant Hill, I can go on and on.... But, what

made Jordan...JORDAN for us, is one simple thing...every day, every game, every play...he was Michael Jordan! And so, from that point of view, we feel like we saw something perfect, something that would never happen again...and it annoys us, Michael Jordan fans, when people say..."Here is the next Michael Jordan". Kobe Bryant had the talent but lacked the charisma. More than that, he impersonated MJ!!! He copied his swagger, his mannerisms, his game, his walk, his expressions....he wanted to be Michael so bad that he lost what it was Kobe Bryant was.....and MJ fans seethed!!! To MJ fans, he was just a bad copy and nothing he did was original or indigenous to Kobe and thus made him a fake....but as Kobe became more successful as this MJ impersonator, I started to be more fearful than hateful that people would start to view the fake as the real and forget the true greatness of the original...if that makes any sense...? But, then came you! Super athletic, big, powerful, young.....DIFFERENT!!! The antithesis to the Kobe clone! I admired you from afar and secretly craved to see you destroy Kobe on the world’s biggest stage! I COULD HAVE REALLY BEEN A TRUE FAN OF YOURS!!!

Then, "The Decision"! Lebron man, I have no idea what you were thinking and even today it blows my mind. I could have forgiven you for not picking Chicago, especially to stay in Cleveland. But, what you did was inconceivable. You showed that you had no heart, no killer instinct.....no set of brass balls to tell the world that "I'm Lebron James and I am the best basketball player in the world"......no matter who on my team, I'm going to win!!!!!!! I hate to say it but that's what MJ did...he had Dave Corzine, Brad Sellers, Rory Sparrow, Sedale Threatt, John Paxson, Charles Oakley and Orlando Woolridge going to war with him early on....the team got better and better and the rest is NBA history!!!!! But you, you seemingly chose the easy route and then you became the true fake!

Lebron, you made me respect Kobe! Kobe has that killer instinct that you don't have and with your enormous talent I feel like it is such a waste! But, I say all of this to get to the point of this letter. What's next? Where do you go from here? Next year it will only get harder! Dallas is done! They are very similar to the 2006 Miami Heat team. They are loaded with aging veterans and they probably played their best ball this series. The Lakers are done. Orlando is trying everything not to deal with them and if Kobe is as finished as he looked this playoffs (the Lakers must know something cause they hired a coach without his consent) they will be 2 years away at least! Boston is done! Age has them in serious decline! But, you have Oklahoma City. Young, hungry and talented....maybe more talented than you....especially if they get Chris Paul! Very scary!!! But, what should keep you awake at night is Chicago!!! Ok, I'm a Chicago guy and I really love my Bulls but this is the new NBA rivalry for the next 5 years! This is where your championship are! You have a real young player with that killer instinct (Derrick Rose)! You embarrassed Derrick Rose on his home floor and he will never forget that! There are reports that he is taking an unprecedented 2000 jump shots a day!!!!! The whole squad has stayed in Chicago to work out together! This is where you must focused.

Lebron, you will have to get in the post! You have to. You need options to your game and you are killing yourself facing up! In the post, JJ Barea, Jason Kidd or Shawn Marion or Deshawn Stevenson could even think about checking you in the post! You are a unselfish player but you are also a unconfident player! Unconfident players usually don't prepare well. You have to start preparing your mind as well as your body! As the superstar and leader of your squad, it is unacceptable for you to be confused by a defense! Jason Kidd recognized everything the Heat was doing and remained calm! Derrick Rose got flustered because you kept bringing the pick & roll double from different places and he forced things and committed turnovers (don't think he did not see Dallas pick that apart with precision). Most importantly, you have to develop a mid range game (the post will help this). It’s either three or layup with you. That will not work. Watch some tape of Rip Hamilton.

Lastly, you are going to have to humble yourself. It is incredibly ridiculous for you to be as arrogant as you are and to be such a prolific loser! Humble yourself Lebron and refocus this summer and pray to God that Pat Riley can get some size and some athletic shooters to put around you and Wade. I would also keep an open eye on DRose because he coming. Like Rocky in Rocky III and he working with Apollo Creed right now at this very moment!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank You

Victor R. Moore