Lebron ahead of pace

Monday night LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers played against the Detroit Pistons in Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals. It was a close game, and they prevailed in the end. During the Cavs' last possession they had a chance to tie or win the game when the ball was in LeBron’s hands. He elected to pass to his teammate, Donyell Marshall, for the go ahead basket. Marshall missed the shot.

After the game the TNT crew blamed James for the loss, saying his decision to pass the ball instead of shoot it was wrong. The crew was on to something: LeBron does need to be more assertive in certain situation - at the end of the game - but he needs to find a balance that only he can figure out, and that will come with time and experience. Experts are criticizing the very thing that makes him better than many other young super-stars – trust. They were wrong in saying that LeBron made a bad decision by passing. His decision showed maturity beyond expectations.

Many exerts compare James to Michael Jordan. They look at the teams they were both on in their early years, their rivals (the Pistons), and their development. Supposedly, James is on a path to duplicate Jordan. Yet James has shown uncanny development that is beyond Jordan’s development at the same time in his career. The two problems people had with Jordan as a young player was that he played on a bad team, and because of that he was a selfish player. They said he needed good teammates to win. One could argue that James plays on a bad team as well, and needs his own Scotty Pippen. Until that happens, no matter how well he plays, it is unlikely that he will win a championship. Yet, during this time, he is not letting it get to him; instead, he is growing as a player at a more rapid pace than Jordan. Experts say that Jordan did not become a champion until he learned to use his teammates, but LeBron already does that. Unfortunately, that is what he is criticized for. Don’t fault James because of the pass. He didn’t do it because he was afraid to shoot; he did it because he had confidence in his teammate. That is something that cannot be taught. He does need to work on timing, but the choice shows a mature mindset that Jordan did not display early on.

Don’t criticize the failure: Praise the development.