NBA fan conversation reveals the LeBron truth???

I cut and pasted this conversation on IM between my soon-to-beat-out-of-the-military son Robert, who is a basketball nut like his father and, well, me. I wondered if Rob had hit upon what the problem really is with LeBron James, near the end? You decide...

(PS - Full disclosure, we are both Bull's fans who saw them and rooted for them back in the days of domination and rooted for them through the bad years as well. We try to go to at least one Bull's game every year and lately it has been a lot more fun...)

We start with regular NBA chatter

Robert : Hey, I gotta go to work in about an hour, but I can talk for a little.
Me: yep, I am at work but saw you online....how you doing?
Robert : Good. A little teed off at Gilbert Arenas
Me: oh yeah, what did he do now?
Robert : Well, he said he was gonna get back at Nate McMillian, the trailblazers coach, cause he had something to do with Gilbert not making the Team USA. So he said he was gonna put up 50 against them
- Instead, he shot 3/15, and blamed his selfish performance on his coach, Eddie Jordan
Me : oh THAT
Robert : I thought what Jordan did was awesome
Me : He challenged the Portland guys and they took it personally
Robert : Yep, Jordan said after the game that (paraphrasing here) Gilbert is not a leader, doesn't have the qualities, and his comments about losing because the coach put too much emphasis on defense was "stupid"
- *were stupid.....
Me : So Hibachi finds out he isn't end-all and be-all. Hope he can remove his head from his back end
Robert : I wrote a thing about how the NBA's image is on a decline. Starting with Lebron all the way to Gilbert..

Then comes the mandatory Bulls talk...

Me : Didja see the Bulls knocked off Phoenix?
Robert : YEP
- That was sweet
Me: Phooey on arenas, Captain Kirk is for real
Robert : Deng and Hinrich kicked butt
Me : Yeah, if the Bulls just had a post player they would win the East
Robert : Oh yah, no doubt. - I guess we really see just how valuable Steve Nash is to the Suns.........yikes.
Me: Wallace can't shoot and Thomas is too young and Sweeney is, well, I dunno

Now we segue to Phoenix and Dallas, which becomes Wade V Dirk

Me : Oh yah, without Nash they can't keep it going can they? Banks is not the answer and Barbosa is more of a scorer
Robert : Yah...oh well.......
- Not a huge Phoenix fan....
Me : But with a healthy team they will be so tough to beat. Diaw was out, and Nash, and Thomas too
- Mavericks still probably win the West though
Robert : Hope so.
- I think this whole Dirk vs Wade thing is dumb
Me : In the East, Cleveland would be tough if they obtained a coach and Toronto is getting actually good
Robert : Don't know why Dirk said the Mavs "Gave the championship to the Heat", and Wade's comments were equally not necessary
Me: oh, wade versus dirk? surprising to me, wade usually seems to be a pretty classy guy. he may regret that someday
- Wade is a Christian guy who writes a tithe check of $384,000 to his home church every year
Robert : Well, he basically said if "Dirk had been more of a leader like he should have been, the Mavs might not have lost the games"
Me : Married his HS girlfriend, supports various family members....
Robert : Was probably true, but he didn't have to fire back
- Yah, I like Wade

Which finally focuses on LeBron

Me : ah well. I still take wade over lebron anyway
Robert : I just think they both need to chill
- No doubt
Me : give wade three inches and maybe a bit more athleticism and he could be Jordan all over again
- same killer instinct
Robert : Well, I dunno......he choked the year before
Me : same passion 94 feet 24/7
Robert : I'd say he'd be close, but no cigar
- I dunno if we'lll ever see another Jordan.
Me : Wade was injured the year before and played in pain
Robert : Yah, but he took a lot of bad shots
Me : Yeah, no more Jordans. Wade is as close as I've seen and he is still a ways off
Robert : Yah, Wade is cool though.
- In my top five favorite players
Me : Kobe had the talent to be pretty close, never had the heart
Robert : Yah, very true
Me : lebron doesn't have the drive to dominate
Robert : Lebron.........I can't stand the guy now.....after hearing an interview with him
Me : oh yeah? how so
Robert : He is SO selfish and self-centered. He said he wants to be the richest man alive. He wants to be a global icon. He wants it all basically, it's all about him
Me : Guess what? If he isn't a winner, the plaudits will begin to fall away. His appeal was that he could be a super special player. He is beginning to fall short of that.
Robert : Yup. Meanwhile, as you said, his stats are dropping off the radar. When Jordan was doing commercials, he was winning scoring titles, MVP's and Championships.
Me : Hey, where is that "thing" you wrote?
Robert : Oh, it's just on a comic site I like to go to.
- I don't have a blog or anything though.
Me : Comment on my sports blog sometime. Maybe you should cut and paste it onto my last LeBron post?
Robert : Cool.

~~~~~~~

Is it true that LeBron James is focused more on becoming the next celebrity icon rather than the next NBA kingpin? Anyone have any answers???