LeBron James: A King Deposed

Sports columns everywhere are thick with schadenfreude today after LeBron James yet again vanished during the fourth quarter to hand Dallas the NBA title. Here’s what people are saying:

• LeBron is still royalty, but he’s not a king—he’s “an emperor with no clothes,” writes Mark Heisler of the LA Times. “James came out firing and making … then faded into the mists.” The Mavericks have exposed him, and everyone will keep him out of the lane from now on.

• In the past, LeBron has walked away from failing seasons “with his head high while quietly blaming others,” writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. “Now, in the real world, there’s nowhere to hide.”
• After the game, LeBron tweeted, “The Greater Man upstairs know when it’s my time,” but Kate Ward of EW calls shenanigans. God, she muses, is “likely a tad too busy with Europe’s debt crisis to determine the results of the NBA final. Especially when The Glee Project was on!”
• “Where does LeBron James fit with Michael, Magic, Larry, and the greatest players of all time? He doesn’t,” says Gregg Doyel of CBS Sports. LeBron may yet win some rings, and even make the hall of fame. But Greatest of All Time? After this epic choke, “that’s one conversation we won’t be having. Ever.”

Of course, LeBron says his detractors don't bother him. Click here for his much-criticized post-game reaction. (More LeBron James stories.)