LeBron is amazing and nobody is happy

LeBron James reacts during the Miami Heat’s celebration after winning the Eastern Conference finals.
(Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

One of comedian Louis C.K.’s most memorable bits from several years ago had to do with the fact that the instant nature of everything in today’s society makes it impossible for us to appreciate just how incredible certain technology and other advancements have become.

“Everything is amazing right now and nobody is happy,” he observed on The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien in 2009, going on to rant about people who complain about in-flight Internet service and other newly invented conveniences. I was thinking about this routine Monday night while watching LeBron James score 32 points on the Indiana Pacers in Game 7.

We are watching the best player of his generation score over 30 points in a Game 7 for the third time in his career, seeing him nearly get his entire head above the rim on a ridiculous second-quarter dunk and yet there is a collective dissatisfaction among many NBA fans with what we’re viewing.

Perhaps it was the way this team was assembled and the proclamations that followed. Maybe it’s the non-stop legend building created by four-letter shoe companies and media conglomerates since he was a teenager. It might be Bieber. Yeah, it could definitely be Bieber. It’s easy to root against the defending champion, especially when they keep insisting that they’re built to win in the Finals.

The chatter becomes too much. Whether it’s Sportscenter dominating their coverage with tales of his greatness, or the dozens of #LeBron #overrated tweets muddying our Twitter feeds, the conversation actually seems to be overshadowing the performance.  Most fans with no allegiance to either Indiana or Miami couldn’t help but pull for the Pacers in Game 7 just to shift the narrative.

That’s crazy.

As a basketball fan, why would I want to root against watching an NBA Finals with one of the league’s top-five players of all time? We’ve been oversaturated by the preordained legend of LeBron for the past decade that watching him actually achieve that level has become joyless.

Maybe it’s because I’m an adult or perhaps it’s because sports is now my profession as opposed to a childhood pursuit, but I don’t remember joylessness while watching Bird or Magic or Michael.

That’s a shame, because what LeBron is doing on the court right now is utterly amazing. There’s no reason it shouldn’t make us happy to watch.