Lebron James can’t help himself; can’t control himself from stomping, sulking, and whining when there is trouble brewing in paradise, and because of this the Miami Heat could be in for a very rough, hazardous season regardless of the glut of individual talent located on South Beach.

Pat Riley knew that Lebron would deliver stomach-churning moments like last night’s post-game new conference, where he proceeded to throw Coach Spoelstra under a figurative freight train, and decided he would be worth the risk.  

This has nothing to do with his talent - there is no denying that Lebron’s skills are simply awesome and he may possess the greatest collection of physical gifts the basketball world has ever seen.

His attitude is a different story and like many others I believe his arrogant, pompous, self-absorbed ways threaten to derail Miami’s season that once looked so promising.

Look beyond the regular season statistics, the two consecutive MVP awards, and the marketing hype and what you find is a fragile and insecure human being - those are traits that haven’t helped a team win championships in the past and never will.

When the lights are brightest and the whole nation is watching Lebron James morphs into that four-year old you hear screaming uncontrollably down aisle five of your local Shaws because mom won’t hand over the M&M’s. Remember that perpetual tattletale in elementary school who couldn’t wait to throw you under the bus when the both of you left the playground together? Yep, Lebron is simply a grown-up version of a spoiled-rotten crybaby who can’t fathom that someone, ANYONE, would hold him accountable for his actions and failures. At any point now I fully expect the “King” himself to jump under the table at a particularly intense post-game press conference and threaten to never come out.

His facial expressions scream to us: “How could you blame me?” and “Don’t you know who I am?”.

“What should I do?” he asks us in his newest Nike ad. Stop resembling a juvenile, for starters.

Unfortunately, we as fans and the media that covers our beloved NBA deserve equal blame for creating his unfathomable arrogance. Between landing covers with “Slam Magazine” and “Sports Illustrated” as a high school student to the unbelievable hype he received as the number one pick in the 2003 NBA draft to being coddled by former boss Dan Gilbert and co. Lebron James has always been in control and never held accountable. Even after he clearly took plays off in game five of last year’s playoff series with the Celtics (check this out) a plethora of teams organized ridiculous presentations for James and his “team” in the hopes of convincing HIM to become wealthy playing for THEM. The Cavaliers even allowed him to alter the team’s travel itinerary at his whim, for goodness sake!

You “spoil people with your play”, Lebron? It’s “hard for you to congratulate someone after you just lose to them - I’m a winner”, huh? Spare us, will you?! We should have all seen his escape-artist mentality during the 2007 NBA Finals as well but we ignored his faults because goodness, what a talent!!! You couldn’t blame him for having Eric Snow in the backcourt, could you? You would sulk too!

Thankfully, karma is a wonderful thing, and finally Lebron is receiving a mountain of criticism that threatens to drown James and his super-friends like a catastrophic Tsunami.

The Miami Heat dropped to 5-4 following last night’s home loss to the Celtics and it wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated. Lebron missed shot after shot in the clutch and stayed true by going off post-game about playing too many minutes and critiqued Coach Erik Spoelstra’s rotation choices. “For myself, 44 minutes is too much,” James declared. “I think Coach Spo knows that. Forty minutes for D-Wade is too much. We have to have as much energy as we can to finish games out.” Too many minutes? The best player (supposedly) on the planet is complaining about too many minutes in November? Really? Think Larry Bird complained during the 1984 Finals in the sweltering Boston Garden? Did Michael Jordan whine like a baby during the 1997 NBA Finals’ “flu-game”?

They most certainly did not. True champions go out there and make things happen, no matter what time of year it is. When their teams fail they take responsibility and rally the troops. Case closed.

The next few weeks and months should tell us much more about how Lebron James responds to adversity. What James didn’t realize is that leaving Cleveland may have eased his worries of shouldering ALL of the burden of bringing home a title but it never changed the fact that fans realize he is the most talented player of his era and expect him to act the part by being a legendary champion and acceptable role model. 

What’s truly amazing is that true NBA fans are beginning to see that just because you can average 22 points, nine assists, and six rebounds while baking a cake and singing Christmas carols does not mean you have what it takes to captain a championship roster. Regardless of how endlessly talented Dwayne Wade may be and how splendid this roster looks on paper Lebron is this vehicle’s chauffeur and he’ll either drive them straight into a gutter filled with disappointment or make the neccessary adjustments and reach the top of the mountain. 

The playoffs are far away and there is plenty of time for them to view the potential storm on the horizon and steer clear of the hazards. The Miami Heat have the potential to become a fantastic juggernaut. Unfortunately for them I don’t think that Lebron James can withstand the scathing South Beach heat - at least not this season. Getting used to the weather takes time, after all.

At some point James may prove all of us so-called analysts and critics wrong. If he doesn’t Miami is in for one long season.

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