LeBron James: A Changed Man In 2011-2012? (Videos)
Miami Heat superstar LeBron James is one of the biggest and most polarizing athletes in the world right now. During his seven-year tenure with the Cavaliers, James was revered by virtually the entire NBA universe. Two summers ago, when James “took his talents to South Beach,” his image completely changed.
James, along with his Heat teammates, became villains and the most hated team in the NBA. Miami publically embraced that role, but privately, it may have been a different story.
Last season, ifollosports.com captured original videos of James ignoring fans and even receiving heckles during stops in both Los Angeles and Minneapolis.
This heckling video took place outside of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, when the Heat swung through LA in January of 2011.
This second ifollosports.com original video showed James simply ignoring fans, outside of the Target Center in Minneapolis, during April of 2011.
Entering this lockout shortened season, James indicted that he did not necessarily enjoy being the villain. He also expressed regret regarding how he chose to handle his “decision' to leave Cleveland.
The above ifollosports.com original video shows James willingly interacting with fans, while also slapping five with a few of them. This scene took place outside of the Target Center last Friday.
Ironically, the Timberwolves home arena is the very same place where James elected to ignore fans less than one year ago.
What a difference a few months makes!
A few hours after this display, the Heat defeated the Timberwolves 103-101. Friday also happened to be King James' birthday, as he turned 27-years-old.
It seems pretty clear that LeBron James' goal for this season is to finally win his first NBA Title, while also ridding himself of this newly branded “bad guy” image.
As noted in an ifollosports.com article, displaying multiple
original videos of Derrick Rose's up and down interaction with fans, it
appears possible that James might be heading in one direction, while
the reigning MVP may very well be creating an opposite path among this same
group of NBA followers.
