In judging LeBron, context is king

I do not follow basketball. At all. But it's impossible not to follow LeBron James.

Lebron's team, the Miami Heat, lost the NBA Finals to the Dallas Mavericks. After the decisive game, LeBron set the world on fire by saying this:

Pretty inflammatory stuff... when you listen to just that clip. But take a look at this video, which includes James' full answer as well as the question that provoked it (you can stop watching after the first 45 seconds).

Hmm... That's a horse of a different color.

LeBron was asked, point blank, "Does it bother you that so many people are happy to see you fail?" Wow. That's harsh. It's a harsh thing to realize and a harsh thing to be asked. If I had been asked that question, I'm sure my answer would have been, 'F*** those people!" or something even less eloquent.

James, actually, gave a thoughtful answer to the question: people can hate me all they want, but it doesn't make them better people, and it doesn't make me a worse person. We all have to keep living on this planet.

We have to remember something important here: LeBron James is 26 years old. Twenty-six. I still consider myself young, and I'm five years older than LeBron James. And ever since he was 18, he's been a multimillionaire. His world view has to be considerably skewed compared to our own.

Just give the kid a break. There's no reason to hate this guy. He plays a game for a living, for crying out loud.