MIAMI _ LeBron James is many things: basketball virtuoso, philanthropist, entrepreneur, icon.
One thing he is not, or at least has not been for more than a decade, is victim.
Despite how the past week has played out.
It started last weekend, when, on his HBO vehicle, "The Shop," he mentioned his shock, chagrin and indignation about Magic Johnson abruptly stepping down on the final night of the regular season as leader of the Los Angeles Lakers' front office.
Then came word that Tyronn Lue, James' former Cleveland Cavaliers championship coach, would not be getting/taking the Lakers' coaching job in the wake of hardline negotiations from what remains of the team's from office.
Woe be he?
Not exactly, not in the wake of the turbulence so often left in LeBron's path.
Take the indignation on his HBO talkfest about Johnson's sudden departure.
"I came here to be a part of the Lakers organization, having a conversation with Magic and really kind of breaking it down and saying how we were going to make this Showtime again, and I wanted to be part of that process," James said. "So it was just weird for him to be like, 'I'm out of here.' ... I feel like there's a time and place for things."
Actually, what was even odder was James to be so pent up with disappointment _ and then allow three weeks to pass from the taping of that episode until it was aired last weekend.
It was in stark contrast to the immediate ire in Cleveland when James announced his initial departure from the Cavaliers in 2010 on ESPN's The Decision and then when he brushed aside Pat Riley in the hours leading to his 2014 departure from the Heat.
A rebuttal was eloquently offered from former Duke standout Jay Williams on ESPN's First Take.
"That was the same thing we saw when he did it to Dan Gilbert," Williams, an emerging talk talent, said of the Cavaliers owner. "When he made his decision, he didn't call Dan Gilbert and give Dan Gilbert a heads up. This was the same thing we also saw LeBron do when he made the decision to leave Miami. And he had Pat Riley fly all the way out to Vegas to pitch him on it. Didn't give Pat Riley a call.
"What goes around, comes around in the circle of life. Come on, you did the same thing twice. You can be mad about it, but that's the way it goes."
Then came the courtship of Lue, bungled to the point that Monty Williams, the Lakers' other leading choice, signed on in the interim with the Phoenix Suns.
In the wake of the Lakers breaking off negotiations with Lue, pundits began mulling the possibility of James either asking out or forcing his way out.
That led to offshore book Bovada offering up a betting line on where James, 34, will start next season. While the Lakers are the prohibitive favorite, with a $100 wager on remaining in place returning only a $17 payoff, the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers were listed at 7-to-1, with a reunion with the Cleveland Cavaliers or Heat each at 10-to-1, a shift to the Chicago Bulls at 15-to-1 and a move to the Indiana Pacers at 18-to-1.
LeBron, of course, is, save perhaps for the lottery winner offering up the rights to Zion Williamson, going nowhere. The move to Los Angeles was about far more than basketball. And rather than the annual torment he put the Cavaliers through with short contacts, James' current deal still has two more seasons under Lakers control before a player option in 2021-22.
It all is part of what you get with a player who has more than earned the right to set his terms of employment and also have a hand in the decisions of that employer.
But indignation about a sudden departure? This very much is a case of been there, done that.
