LeBron James has never done anything wrong*, yet you probably don’t like him. No matter how you feel about it, ripping the heart out of a city isn’t against the law. That was two years ago. Since then his reputation has remained squeaky clean, but he remains controversial on the court. Everything he says and does – or doesn’t do – is put under a microscope.

A few weeks ago, the Heat stopped in Oklahoma City to refuel on a cross-country flight. They were on the ground at the same time as about a dozen military helicopters that were refueling nearby. When some pilots wandered over, the Heat’s security detail tried to turn them away. From The Oklahoman:

Maybe LeBron could overhear the conversation, or perhaps he could just tell by their body language what was going on. Either way, he piped up.

“Hey, hey,” he said, “any of these military guys can take a picture with us.”

He turned to his teammates.

“You guys get up,” he told them.

He turned to the servicemen.

“Get your camera up,” he said.

He started to wave the servicemen over but noticed that some of the players weren’t yet on their feet.

“Hey, everybody get up,” he said. “Get in a circle here. Anybody that wants their picture taken with us, we’ll do it.”

And that’s exactly what they did. Any of the four or five dozen helicopter crewmen who wanted a photo got one. Not all of them did, but LeBron and his teammates posed with each and every one of them who asked.

Some people are going to say this was staged. Dwyane Wade told LeBron to speak up. LeBron figured someone would tell this story. Does it matter either way? Does it matter why you do the right thing as long as you do the right thing? LeBron isn’t just standing up for others, he’s making his teammates stand up with him.

Dan Le Batard thinks LeBron might be finally growing up. Organizing and posting the team photo in support of Trayvon Martin was LeBron standing up. Telling his teammates to stand up and take pictures with those pilots was another. Le Batard argues that just because LeBron looked like a full-grown man before he was old enough to drive doesn’t mean he was one. Maybe now he is. Not that it matters. [via the Oklahoman]

* Legally.