The Out Route

Let me preface the following with this: I like LeBron James, and I hope he wins a championship and becomes a legend because it's rare that people with such expectations live up to them, and it'd be refreshing to see that happen for a change instead of watching someone disappoint and bear the "bust" tag. That being said...

The "LeBrons" ad campaign is about as funny as watching a dog get kicked in the face. Whoever came up with it should be dragged to a town square and shot point blank in front of a crowd. Not to take anything from LeBron's basketball skills, but his ability as a comedian and as an actor is limited.

And SportsCenter's in-depth "psychoanalysis" of the different LeBron characters by Jeremy Schaap this morning was a joke. The fact that they wasted five minutes of airtime dissecting each of the LeBrons proves that ESPN is about as serious as Disney's other animated delight -- The Santa Clause trilogy, Cars, or Meet the Robinsons.

UPDATE -- Dan Shanoff gives insight as to why the LeBrons got the SportsCenter spot last night. The show is only going to air LeBrons commercials during tonight's show and that was the build-up. Ahhh, cross-promotion! Gotta love it. He also compares the different LeBron characters to the different characters of Da Ali G. Show, which I take as a personal affront. Sascha Baron Cohen is a comic genius, a pioneer. LeBron's a really really good basketball player. They're both great at what they do, which are on opposite ends of the pop-cultural spectrum. That's it.