Leslie’s Articles
The Difference a Day Does Not Make
LeBron’s Decision to Come Home
NE Ohio, especially the Cleveland-Akron area, held their collective breath for ten days while the King-LeBron James-made his free agency decision. And then on July 11 millions of people let out that collective sigh of relief when LeBron announced his decision in what will now be known as “The Letter”.
There are many things we will not know for years to come. When LeBron went to Miami he promised 4, 5, 6 NBA Championships. Upon his return to the Cavaliers, he said he can’t promise when they will win a championship. So the difference in him coming home can not now be counted in wins, regardless of the odds Las Vegas has now given to Cleveland. The vendors surrounding the Q, the arena where LeBron will once again become our gladiator, will prosper. How much we can’t now know.
The week leading up to THE LETTER, the street in front of LeBron’s house was lined with cars, people, news guys and TV satellites. The night of the actual decision, the street was empty.
There are few really life changing decisions. We may think a decision is a big deal, but really it does not change our life on an everyday basis.
A title, a raise, or a new client is all nice. But not life changing. When LeBron left after The Decision, after the jerseys were burned, the sun did come up the next day. People went to work, got married, and had babies. In that order or not in that order. Whether the Cavs won or lost did not affect our lives on any kind of daily basis. On paper Dan Gilbert’s franchise lost half of its value, but it was just on paper. He still flew on his private plane and could put food on the table.
No matter how thin you make that pancake, it still has two sides. That there are few life changing events is both positive and negative. If we could see events as less life changing, perhaps that would reduce the anxiety level and we could make better decisions. When adrenaline goes up learning goes down. The more even keeled we are during the decision making process, the better thought out the decision should be in the final result.
Our fortunes, whether they are really fortunes or just our good luck, come and go. The night of The Decision the franchise lost half of its value. The night of The Letter, the franchise doubled in value.
The street LeBron lives on is now my metaphor. For a week it looked like the Oscars. Now it looks like any other street in Middle America. After weeks of holding our breath, LeBron came home. And the sun came up the next day.
