Disappointment to New York and Chicago

The vehicle was an hourlong ESPN special last night, which was unprecedented in American sports history and which was decried by many as an astonishing manifestation of egomania on the part of a young superstar who has basically conducted himself in a mature manner throughout his career. But James seemed to veer into a new realm during this recruiting process, culminating in this look-at-me declaration, which was in direct contrast to the low-key M.O. chosen by Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant, who announced his decision to sign a five-year contract extension via Twitter.

But this is 21st century America, and LeBron James is a classic product of his times. He is five years younger than ESPN itself. The network put many of his high school games at Akron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary High School on television, which many thought was crass. But it all seems natural and normal to him. There is little sense in exhibiting great moral outrage about the process. To paraphrase a certain football coach well-known in this area, it was what it was.

And now the Miami Heat are what they are, a bizarre collection of top-level players who will be surrounded by a lot of low-level, minimum-wage talent. LeBron James will be teamed up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the former a player who is only slightly less gifted than James, and the latter a top-flight forward whose range of skills separates him from all but a few big men in the NBA. They will automatically become the latest so-called Big Three to terrorize the league.
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