A Game of Thrones Indeed!

A son of Zeus, King of the Gods, the hero Hercules had extraordinary talents, but he was mortal. As such, he could be influenced and persuaded, and a trick by Zeus' wife Hera, who felt betrayed by her husband, set Hercules off in a jealous rage in which he killed his family. To make penance, he had to endure 12 labors, extremely challenging tasks set forth by King Eurystheus that would take him 12 years to accomplish. With help from other gods like Hermes and Athena, Hercules was able to complete the feats and reached immortality.

LeBron James is not a character from Greek mythology, but this last week and a half has played out like a Greek tragedy. This NBA Finals was supposed to be a coronation, a realization of supposed limitless potential for #6 of the Miami Heat, a basketball god walking amongst mere mortals. However, with 3 late-game implosions leading to 3 unfathomable defeats, Miami stands to lose everything they were prematurely given, and LeBron stands as the centric figure behind what could be a historically epic failure. Unfortunately, he didn't ask for the role assigned, but the gifts he was born with thrust him to an ethereal level of stardom.

Peter Parker never asked to be bitten by a radioactive spider, nor did the Fantastic Four asked to have their molecules fundamentally altered by cosmic radiation, but it happened and they were forced to become superheroes. It wasn't always a position wrought with praise or easy goings, but they had to accept it. At times, they probably wanted to relinquish their power, to be average and forfeit the hardships associated with their received abilities, like Prince Akeem in Coming to America, willing to give up all his privilege to find exactly what he was looking for, in this case a perfect woman to be queen. (That analogy would've been perfect with LeBron had he actually gone to New York.)  Failures, or foreboding failures, have a habit of making people look for a way out.

    (LeBron and D-Wade couldn't get away with those necklaces under the Dress Code)

 

LeBron's attitude over the last 2 games have really made me wonder if he sometimes regrets his supreme basketball talents. If given the opportunity, would he zap some of the talent from his body to be a basketball player without great expectations? The decisions he has made over the last year seem to support that theory, and his regression toward absolute deferment of the basketball in this series has given credence to LBJ's uncomfortableness with the spotlight. Don't get me wrong, he will smile, laugh, flex his muscles, and do whatever he can to hype up a crowd while 40 cameras are pointed right at him, but I'm starting to believe it all is a facade, played-up machismo so as to appear like he relishes the attention. In all honesty, I think he deplores it, but he has to at least make an effort to fit in, like any socially-conscious teenager in high school.

On the eve of what is now the biggest game of his career, LeBron James faces a crossroads in his career, at the ripe age of 26. An interview with this high school coach revealed that LeBron is aware of basketball history and the impact this Finals will have on his legacy, and he obviously cares about his legacy or he'd still be suiting up for the Maroon and Gold, but are his outside influences making him care this much? Like Hercules, he is an incredible specimen, but he is mortal and can be swayed by external forces. How much did they play in murdering his relationship with Cleveland and looking for redemption with this title? If the Heat manage to take these last 2 games at home and win the crown, the stories of LeBron and Hercules will parallel one another completely. Even if they don't win, the stories will still mirror each other, maybe even more so since LeBron will have to deal with more criticism, more hardship, and spend more time wondering about lost chances and long roads ahead. The ultimate prize is immortality, and with a little help from some gifted friends, LeBron can take his rightful throne as King.