So here we are at the precipice of a moment ESPN and every sportswriter in America has touted for so long as the one that will change the landscape of sports as we know it. In a few tiny hours we will know where LeBron James, king of basketball, will take up court for the next five or six years. The anticipation is palpable, but does it really matter. After tonight’s scheduled “Decision”, which is just an over the top version of a talented high school player choosing a college by playing ball cap three card monte, I am beginning to wonder if LeBron James has become more of a performer than a basketball player.

This whole process has been one long shout of “Look at me”. I keep hearing the LeBron wants to be a global icon and expand his brand, but what about being a great basketball player? Yes, LeBron is capable of averaging close to a triple-double for the next 5-7 years, but is compiling stats really what makes the best basketball player? Karl Malone is the second leading scorer in NBA history, scoring about 4,000 more points than Jordan, but if anyone had to start a team tomorrow with one of these guys in their prime is there any doubt which one they would choose? LeBron seems to be confused with how greatness is achieved. For years we have seen the ad slogans and watched the powerful James hammer down dunks with ease. We have been “witnesses” and told LeBron is young just wait until he gets a little more seasoning or when he gets the right teammates watch out NBA. At some point doesn’t it eventually fall on LeBron to put up or shut up? Yes he may not have been playing with four other future hall of famers, but neither is anyone else in the NBA. For the past two years his supporting cast has been good enough to help him to the best record in the regular season, but were “inadequate” come playoff time. It was four years ago now when King James wowed the world with his Game 5 virtuoso performance in the overtime thriller against the Pistons. It looked like the beginning of James’ ascension to greatness. Even when his team was summarily dismantled by the Spurs in the finals it was seen as a young team overachieving. They were just taking their lumps and learning what it took to win like all young teams do. Is it possible that what we all assumed was the start of a meteoric rise was really the peak?

From that moment on it seems that James has become more interested in selling his brand and becoming marketable than winning. He fashions himself in the mold of Kobe, Jordan, or Bird, but he is trying to skip a step. Those three are synonymous with greatness not because of their image off the court, but because of their ruthlessness on it. Jordan didn’t want to just beat people, he wanted to crush their soul, give it back to them, and then crush it again. If he was a hitman, the bodies he left behind would have 81 bullets fished out of them. He didn’t care how people perceived him as long as when you thought of Jordan you thought winner first. Kobe is the same way. He doesn’t have cutesy fake picture taking parties with his teammates. He’s not always laughing and joking on the court. It is well known that he doesn’t pal around off the court and eats, drinks, and sleeps basketball, but everyone of his teammates respects the hell out of him because they know he would crawl over broken glass to win. Just look at LeBron in this year’s playoffs. He shoots a free throw left handed to call attention to an injury no one knew about laying the groundwork for another excuse for another failure. He drug that arm around like it was an 1100 lb weight attached to his shoulder for the rest of those playoffs. You know who would’ve never done that, Kobe and Jordan. Jordan would’ve shot and made that free throw with a prosthetic arm if need be. This is a man who played in the finals, while insanely ill from the flu, scoring nearly 40 points and staying on the floor for 44 out of the games 48 minutes. Kobe Bryant has played the past two seasons with a completely torn ligament in his shooting hand, because he didn’t miss any time.

I think LeBron James is an amazingly talented basketball player, and truth be told a pretty funny interesting guy; I’m just not so sure he is as important as we are all led to believe. Icons become icons because they win, and winners become winners because they do what it takes. LeBron keeps telling us he wants to win titles and be a global icon. In the end I’m not sure he does either.