The Chuck, Mike, and Magic Smear Campaign

He's 6'9 and a dead eye shooting small forward. Can play off the ball, he can spot up and knock down threes off of your double teams. The Bulls have cap room and they want to sign this guy. You're the "man" so you tell your GM, "nah that's cool, he's my rival and our team is good enough. Trade Scottie Pippen while you're at it he's trying to reach "the man" status and I ain't having it."

This is essentially what Michael Jordan said about James, Wade, and Bosh. No way him, Bird, and Magic would have ever played together. They were too busy trying to beat the snot out of each other. Easy to say that in hindsight. Even easier to say that when it wasn't possible during your era, so you were never faced with the decision.

Lebron should have stayed in Cleveland. One title there would mean more than however many he wins in Miami. He's taking the easy road. Now he's playing for Dwayne Wade's team. The source? Charles Barkley, the same guy who's been telling anyone that would listen that Lebron James is the best player in the league for the past two years.

Yesterday the third stooge chimed in. "We didn't think about it cause that's not what we were about," Johnson said at Baruch College in New York, according to Bloomberg News. Not what you were about? You were about winning weren't you Magic? You didn't think about it because the opportunity didn't arise.

"From college, I was trying to figure out how to beat Larry Bird." This coming from the PG who luckily fell into a situation where he played with one of the most dominant centers in the history of the game, Kareem Abdul Jabbar for all five of his championships and another hall of famer in James Worthy for three of them. So it's ok to play with a big three, you just all have to be friends? You don't beat Larry Bird without Kareem and company.

Chuck also stated, "Two-time MVPs don't leave to go anywhere, people come to you." Really? In Cleveland, Ohio? The city we were made to feel sorry for as a result of Lebron's departure because of their long history of sucking in every professional sport? Bosh wouldn't come, despite reports that Lebron tried to recruit him there. Would Barkley suggest he follow his lead, living the life of an NBA nomad, and then jumping on the Olajuwon bandwagon a year too late?

Firstly, I can understand the sentiment with regards to "the Decision." With all James' cohorts announcing their decisions in traditional fashion, how arrogant of him was it to string out the decision on ESPN over the course of an hour. Who would dare watch that?

Secondly, I do not believe that Lebron James will ever surpass Jordan on the all-time list. Outside of going absolutely crazy and winning 8-9 rings in Miami, while averaging an Oscar Robertson triple double, its not going to happen. But everybody knows there was no way in hell Lebron was winning 6 rings in Cleveland either. Free agents don't want to go there, as evidenced by Bosh shunning his recruiting attempts. But that's not my argument.

What I don't understand is people saying Lebron took the "easy" route. It's a matter of perspective. You won't find one basketball fan who thinks that if the Heat win one championship this entire charade was a success. In essence, in order to get any respect at this point, the Heat will need to win multiple championships, I'm talking at least four. They'll probably need to win 73 games at some point also. Anything less than being in the discussion as one of the best teams of all-time is a disappointment. Who wants that pressure?

Who's team is the Heat now? Barkley and others have indicated that the Heat are still Wade's team. Really? While it's true that Wade was there first, Lebron is a better player than Dwayne Wade. Now that he's pissed everyone off and has put on a different uniform, does that not still hold true? What has changed that leads anyone to believe that James will not be the best player on that team?

If the Heat are deadlocked in the playoffs next year and Lebron is deferring to Wade late in games, then you've got a valid argument. However, if Bosh and Wade are as smart as they've put on, they both know in the back of their minds that Lebron is better than both of them. Bosh is not in the conversation and Lebron does everything Wade can do with another 4-5 inches and 50 lbs. Not to mention he'll be the best passer/playmaker on the team from now until their run is over, regardless of who else they sign.

What are we fighting about? Barkley, Jordan, and Magic are players who think old-school. Just like when your daddy said he used to walk to school everyday, barefoot, in the snow, with a blindfold on, just to stress how easy everything is for you, they're doing the same thing to Lebron. For Jordan and Magic its nothing short of a smear campaign. A pre-emptive strike. If Lebron surpasses them in championships, which he's put himself in position to do, they are laying the foundation to discredit him when experts start putting him ahead of them on all-time lists.

Although Jordan's teams were not as talented as this Heat team looks on paper, even the great one had help when he won. Scottie Pippen is a hall of famer and top 50 player of all time. Horace Grant was all-NBA on defense during Jordan's first three title runs. Grant and Armstrong made the 94 all-star game. Dennis Rodman was a perennial all defensive player and one of the best rebounders the league has ever seen.

All indicate there is no way they would play with each other. Shennanigans! Firstly, hindsight is 20/20, and I'm sure that rivals look back and repeat what you would expect: "I wanted to kill that guy not play with him." I can't blame them for saying that, its almost disloyal to the teammates you won with not to.

But ask yourself this question. After Kareem left, Magic didn't win a single championship. He's languishing in LA, not winning championships and for the sake of argument, lets assume the Lakers had enough cap room to sign a max free agent. (didn't exist then, but it's my hypothetical) The GM approaches Magic and says, "Jordan, Clyde Drexler, and Hakeem Olajuwon are all free agents and we're going to extend offers to them." Is there really anyone out there who believes Magic Johnson would say, "nah dog, we straight, this team is good enough, don't bring any of those guys in here." How about "hell" and
"no."

Remember the Jordan/Bulls, Thomas/Pistons battles in the Eastern Conference? It was one of the meanest rivalries in all of sports. The teams and players hated each other. Dennis Rodman played for the Pistons. When Jordan returned and needs a post presence, guess who the Bulls got? The Worm. I'm sorry if I missed Jordan's press conference where he said, "Screw Dennis Rodman, he is my rival and I want to beat him. We don't need rivals on our team regardless of whether they make us better."

The Heat have been labeled a "Super Team" by many. Find me an all-time great with multiple rings who didn't play on a great team. You can't. Magic, Worthy, and Kareem. Jordan, Pippen, & Grant/Rodman. Bird, McHale, Parrish, and Johnson. Russell, Cousy, and Havlicek. The only difference in this team and those is that it was built completely through a new age free agency system.

Are the Lakers not a "Super Team?" After his playoff performance, most rate Pau Gasol over Chris Bosh. Considering that going 6/24 in Game 7 of the finals erased the general consensus all season long that Lebron had surpassed Kobe as a player, the Lakers have a 2/0 advantage right? Add on Odom, Artest, and Bynum and you see where I'm going. So what's the big deal?

Kobe Bryant is the enigma in this alleged team stacking saga. He is one of the few players who arguably did what MJ & Co. claim they would have done. He and Shaq were arguably two of the top three players in the league, and Kobe made it abundantly clear, he wanted the diesel gone so he could win as "the man."

The Lakers, brought in long time rivals, Karl Malone and Gary Payton to win titles. Neither Shaq nor Kobe said, "we're not playing with those guys, we want to beat them."

What happened when all that blew up? The Lakers were mediocre. Kobe Bryant refused to shoot in a decisive game against the Suns and was accused of "quitting." He demanded a trade from LA, unless the Lakers proved they could improve the roster. He pouted and threatened to sign with other teams in free agency.

Then a miracle happened. The Lakers got Pau Gasol for a hot bag of trash with a rotting fish carcass in it. Kobe was happy again.

The difference. People want to play in LA. No one wants to play in Cleveland. It was widely reported, prior to signing, Lebron tried to recruit Bosh to Cleveland. If the Lake Show can get top 5 big men for little to nothing, why can't Cleveland? Because it's Cleveland. Because their owner is an ungrateful jackass who screams about loyalty while showing none in return. Because not a single professional sports team in the city has won a championship since 1964.

Chuck, MJ, and Magic, need to knock it off. I've bought many pairs of $100 shoes you've sold over the years, but if any of you three think I'm buying this **** you're selling, you're mistaken. If any of your chief rivals were free agents and your team had the cap room to sign them, you're either all liars or fools if you wouldn't want them on your team because you were "the man." Clearly your egos are more important than winning.