LeBron James is at it again. Making a big scene out of a situation of his own devising. Creating chaos from a place of mere uneasiness.
And because he's LeBron James, we're all talking about it.
It was one thing when LeBron was subtweeting his teammates — we passed that off as him attempting to light a fire under a team that needs to ratchet their game up another notch (or two) if they plan on beating the Spurs or Warriors in the NBA Finals.
But instead of the Cavs' play, it's LeBron's passive-aggressiveness that's been rounding into form at the perfect time.
LeBron's team continues to struggle to find the best five-man version of itself, and a 122-101 loss (that wasn't as close as the score indicated) to the surging Miami Heat in what could have been an early preview of the Eastern Conference Finals hasn't helped that problem.
Subsequently, LeBron unfollowed the Cavs on Twitter and Instagram. Then he abandoned his post as the Cavs' locker-room DJ, instead opting to listen to his curated pregame playlists through headphones.
And when he's asked about either of these ridiculous incidents, whether by a reluctant media member or a teammate, James has no comment.
LeBron is attempting to sell this drama as him locking down for the playoffs — #ZeroDark23 — but it's coming across as anything but focused.
What LeBron is doing isn't leadership — it's trolling.
LeBron's latest bit of troll mastery: telling Bleacher Report that he would like to join up with the "Brotherhood" of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and Dwyane Wade on an NBA team, wherever that might be, before his career is over. Maybe he won't wait until the twilight years, either.
"I would actually take a pay cut to do that," James said. "It would be pretty cool... We'll see."
The comments put everyone in a frenzy — again — and so LeBron has remained at the center of the NBA conversation during a time where the Warriors are chasing down a wins record that was once thought to be unbeatable with only one worthy adversary, the Spurs, in their way. Add in the Kevin Durant free agency saga — which Durant seems to abhor, by the way — and there was no way James was going to be a trending topic without this latest bit of nonsense.
Whether this is LeBron's subconscious crying out for attention at a time where he's no longer the top story of the day, or if it's a calculated, deliberate move to bring the spotlight back towards him, the result is the same: We're all looking at LeBron now, and over the last few weeks, it's hard to say that anyone likes what we're seeing.
LeBron went back to Cleveland to wash away the stain of "The Decision" — a spectacle that, despite the money it raised for a worthy cause, was deemed egocentric and emotionally calloused — but over the last few weeks, he's been falling back into old habits.
Sure, he's trolled before — wearing the No. 6 in practices after an inflammatory report comes out, refusing to re-sign with the Cavs until Tristan Thompson's deal was settled last summer — but this is next-level, big-picture stuff.
In many ways, this is "The Decision" all over again, only it's playing out as a slow-burn drama in a world narrated by social media.
LeBron and Wade have both admitted that the plan to unite in Miami wasn't spawned in the summer of 2010 — it was calculated.
And as LeBron's contract with the Cavaliers enters its final weeks, he's hinting that he might have hatched another plan to leave "The Land."
What's he trying to gain out of it? Does LeBron think that he'll spark his team by creating off-the-court drama? There are too many examples to count of it doing the exact opposite.
Does he want Cleveland fans, with whom he might no longer hold unanimous admiration (it's at 99 percent now), to languish over the fact he could leave at the end of this season and love him even more?
LeBron is a smart man — we can't discount the fact that he merely enjoys leveraging his power by playing with the emotions of a city and sports-crazed nation. But isn't that behavior beneath someone of his stature?
The greatest basketball player of a generation's career has already been disproportionately highlighted by one troll job, and because of that, there's zero percent chance he chooses to leave Cleveland without a title.
So all of this is posturing. It's empty.
It's also sad.
King James has been usurped from his throne, and instead of trying to regain the crown, he's opted instead to take on the role of jester.
