I'm Lebron James and I'm kind of a big deal

"I feel like no NBA player should wear 23. I'm starting a petition, and I've got to get everyone in the NBA to sign it. Now, if I'm not going to wear No. 23, then nobody else should be able to wear it."

This story came out last week following the Cavaliers win over the Heat. Lebron proclaimed that he would change his number from 23 to 6 out of respect for Michael Jordan. For the most part people seem to think that it was a commendable move by James. However, if you read between the lines, or words in this case, a different message appears.

Lebron personifies today's "look at me" athlete. Sure he is an amazing player and could go down as the greatest ever someday. But he still has an arrogance about him that players like Dwade and even Kobe don't have. The last line where he says,  " if I can't wear number 23 than nobody else can" really personifies this cockiness. Look, players don't only wear 23 because of Jordan, and the ones that do, wear it out of respect for him. The fact that Lebron thinks that because he is changing his number everyone else should follow suit is pure narcissism.

First off, Lebron is nowhere near as great as Jordan was, at least at this point in his career. With the rules the way they are today, Jordan would've averaged about 45 points per game. Though Jordan made some questionable decisions off the court, he was all business on the court and never put himself over his teammates. Also, don't talk to me about supporting cast. Jordan had Bill Wennington and Luc Longley as his starting centers for most of his career.

Lebron needs to realize that you can't truly be " The King" until you've actually won something. Maybe when he wins a championship or two he can start telling the NBA what numbers to retire, but even then he will never be bigger than the sport. I feel like it is a little too much of a coincidence that he said all this right after he asserted that he no longer was talking about his plans for the 2010 off-season. Maybe he has a little Brett Favre in him.

This story, along with Shaq's reported affair with Gilbert Arenas's fiance (column to come tomorrow), makes me despise the Cavs even more. Lebron is a great player, but he needs to realize the world doesn't revolve around him.