My beef with LeBron James
by Tom Martin on Jun 2, 2009 6:03 PM CDT
in Random Commentary
Email
PrintHandshakegate was overblown the minute it hit the teleprompter, the printer, and/or the online template. So LeBron James didn't congratulate Dwight Howard on his annihilation of James' Cavaliers. Big deal. Rather, the focus of James' critics should have been placed on his decision not to address reporters after Cleveland's Game 6 loss.
Rook6980 over at Bullets Forever wrote this piece about James' unsportsmanlike attitude on the court. It was a great assessment, but the most important point he made was near the end of the article in a single sentence:
It wasn't important enough to show up at the post-game interview; instead passing off that difficult task to teammate Mo Williams.
My beef with LeBron James is that he hung his teammates out to dry. It's hard enough to answer questions about your team's lousy performance. But to have to answer questions about LeBron's performance and his postgame attitude as well? It makes everything much more difficult to take in.
If James has a fantastic game, it is his responsibility to address the media and answer questions about his performance. If James has a horrible game or suffers a gut-wrenching loss, nothing changes; he still must address the media. It's commonplace in the NBA to do so. Every other Cavalier was aware of this, especially by the time they were done answering questions that didn't pertain to them.
People can make a fuss about LeBron's image being hurt by his postgame silence and lack of sportsmanship. But that's a non-issue. We're talking about LeBron James. A single glance at one of those puppet commercials can make you forget about a small deal like not shaking hands.
But this has to do with teammates and being a good teammate. LeBron put himself over his team, and while he may have to do so on the court, he should not do it off the court as well. It is his job as the leader of the Cavaliers to face facts instead of running away from them.
You always see Yao Ming talking to the press. You see his angst, his frustration, his sadness. You see all of the reasons why he should talking to his family, or to his team, or to someone he knows and trusts. These are all of the same reasons why LeBron chose not to talk to the media. But you see Yao up there every time. That's what separates the two superstars.
In Remember the Titans, T.C. Williams defensive end Julius Campbell said, "Attitude reflects leadership." In this case, it not only reflected LeBron James' leadership, but it also reflected the state of the Cleveland Cavaliers. If the leader of the Cavs hides away from criticism, then the entire franchise appears to be hiding as well.
Now, let's stop talking about this and get ready for the finals.
34 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
nononono
1. LeBron’s teammates are grown men. Talking to other grown men is not a chore or something to be feared. Just answer questions and go home. It’s simple. He doesn’t have to hold their hand through the process.
2. “Sportsmanship” is the most bullshit concept ever. America promotes winners and frowns on excuses. There is no middle ground. The only people who are called “good sports” are what we refer to as “losers”. Michael Jordan… Muhammad Ali… Patton… Babe Ruth… Bob Gibson… Nolan Ryan… these are guys who would kill you before they said “good game” when they didn’t mean it. And we celebrate these men. Lombardi was right. Winning is everything in this country. If you can’t accept that – then you must be the commissioner of some podunk little league organization.
In fact, LeBron not shaking hands and leaving the arena is the first interesting thing he has done since he has entered the league. I actually applaud him for giving a proverbial middle finger to everyone here.
uh
1. LeBron’s teammates are grown men. Talking to other grown men is not a chore or something to be feared. Just answer questions and go home. It’s simple. He doesn’t have to hold their hand through the process.
It’s not a holding hand issue. It’s a matter of, like you said, answering questions and going home. Leaving guys like Mo Williams and Delonte West to answer questions about “Why did LeBron James not show up?” or “Since LeBron isn’t here, what can you tell disappointed Cleveland fans about your failure?” is cowardly and unnecessary. It also makes him look bad.
Yes, they are grown men, but it’s not that simple. LeBron is not above his team. Like I said when mentioning Yao, everyone does it, no matter how powerful he is. He should have stuck with his teammates instead of singling himself out.
As for the sportsmanship thing, yes I agree.
The Dream Shake
"I think girls are probably just better shooters." - Steve Novak
i dont think...
that lebron is in the wrong. however, if its in the rulebook that he has to conduct post game interviews, then i think he should be fined just like anyone else who would have been fined.
you cant blame lebron for walking out without saying anything. the best player in the league is playing on the best team. he does so much for his team and when he needed them the most, they didnt show up. you think about all the work hes put into being the player that he is right now and how the players around him shouldnt be there. mo was the alternates alternate and was probably an all-star due to a good campaign by his teammates. when lebron looks around at the teams hes facing and competing against what does he see? the magic with three all-stars and a great supporting cast. kobe has pao and a slew of guys that take their turns going off night after night. boston has its 3 all stars. i think lebron feels a little hung out to dry and probably like the weight of the world is on his shoulders.
so what if he misses a post game interview. eveyone knows hes an ideal citizen and the media just wants to jump at the first chance they have to bring this guy back to earth. im not a real lebron fan, but i think all the hype about him not shaking some hands and not telling the media that his team isnt good enough and that he’ll do everything he can to win the finals next yr is BS. all interviews of losing athletes are the same anyways, minus the tebow speech that is. i think its just a little overblown
I could care less about rules or fines or whatnot.
It’s a matter of singling yourself out above your team like that and hanging your teammates out to dry. You just don’t do that if you consider yourself a leader. You don’t flee the facts.
Yao does it. Why can’t LeBron?
The Dream Shake
"I think girls are probably just better shooters." - Steve Novak
And.
His team had the best record in the NBA. I don’t care who the Magic had. Cleveland should have won that series. That roster was more than capable of getting to the Finals.
However, if they want to guarantee a finals berth next year, they do need another star.
The Dream Shake
"I think girls are probably just better shooters." - Steve Novak
if they should have won...
then why do they need another player?
my point
is that they should have won with the roster they had. but if they want to really guarantee their chances of winning, they could use an upgrade. This roster was good enough to win, though. I’m just saying that if they have the option to add another player, they should.
The Dream Shake
"I think girls are probably just better shooters." - Steve Novak
This proves T-Mac actually showed heart...
Remember the Game 7 loss at home to the Jazz when T-Mac poured in 40+. He still addressed the media and expressed his sadness and said “I tried, I really tried…” He showed his emotions and let the whole world rip him apart, but he took responsibility for the team. Like T-Mac, LeBron knows it was “on me” to lead his team, but he led his team only until the 3rd quarter of Game 6… and simply hid in shame after that.
by Rocket's Red Glare on Jun 2, 2009 10:53 PM CDT reply actions
It was in Utah
But otherwise I will give you credit. Dave is about to destroy you, though.
The Dream Shake
"I think girls are probably just better shooters." - Steve Novak
Dave's hater-sense is tingling
Seriously, though. McGrady’s “it’s on me” comment was ultimately undermined when he (justifiably and rightly) noted that it wasn’t really his fault that everyone was fucking up in the Utah series last season.
Still, McGrady has always been relatively up-front about his emotions. It’s why he’s a likable person and Kobe’s an asshole.
Now, Dave’s going to say that McGrady caused the team to lose the ’08 Utah series. He had a good series, the problem is that everyone else the Rockets relied upon in 2008 were playing poorly. Battier had those bone-spur issues. Rafer, who was for once in his career not totally fucking everything up, got injured. Shit happened.
Your friendly neighborhood Dreamshake mod.
nope
Tracy didn’t cause shit in ’08… without Yao the Rockets were simply outmanned.
but I do ask that you go look at the play-by-play of the 4th Q in Game 7 from ’07. McGrady was having a fantastic game (which he will constantly remind you of), but the last twelve minutes of the deciding game – Tracy wanted no part of the offense or big shots.
Incorrect… 2007 Playoffs Game 7 “Utah Jazz 103, Houston Rockets 99”… Rockets had home court. T-Mac had 40pts 10rebounds that game.
This is quoted from Wiki… [However, in the playoffs, the Rockets lost their first round series to the Utah Jazz 4–3, again preventing McGrady from advancing to the second round of the playoffs. A tear fell down his cheek during the press-conference after losing game seven 103–99 to the Utah Jazz in the 2007 Playoffs.7 Prior to the series with the Jazz, McGrady had stated in an interview with Stephen A. Smith that if he and the Rockets failed to make it out of the first round again, it was “on me”.]
by Rocket's Red Glare on Jun 2, 2009 11:20 PM CDT reply actions
WRONG
McGrady dd not have 40 points or 10 rebounds in that game.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200705050HOU.html
He had a good first three quarters though. Bummer he didn’t want to shoot in the 4th.
Oops..
that was 2008 playoffs…
http://www.nba.com/games/20080502/HOUUTA/recap.html
All those times playing the Jazz got me confused. But still my point was T-Mac never let his team out to dry after a Playoff loss like LeBron did.
by Rocket's Red Glare on Jun 3, 2009 12:12 AM CDT up reply actions
nope
You are right, he does not leave his team after a playoff loss. Instead, T-Mac leaves ’em hanging out to dry before the game even ends. You got me there.
this is just an interview...
it has nothing to do with leadership or taking the blame. i have no idea when interviews became mandatory, but if i had to guess, i would say that it came into affect sometime during stern’s term. these mandatory interviews arent a reflection of leadership, they are a chance to get attention and give the media what they want. you cant say that lebron is any less of a leader because he didnt wanna answer some questions. so what if his team had to answer questions without him, after all this guy has done is that REALLY what we are gonna rip him for?
How do they not reflect leadership?
This is LeBron’s chance to answer the critics, to explain himself to the fans and media…and he runs away?
LeBron can’t go into every fan’s room and tell them he is a good leader. This is his chance to connect with the fans – through the media. And he failed to take the opportunity.
The Dream Shake
"I think girls are probably just better shooters." - Steve Novak
to answer the critics?
is anyone really questioning lebron? lebron left all his talking on the court, at the end of the day, it wasn’t good enough. would it of been nice to hear him say a few words? maybe. was it maybe a little bit selfish? perhaps. does it make anyone in cleveland feel any better? no. all he’s gonna say is BS anyways. he’s gonna say he’s disappointed. he’s gonna say we just didn’t execute. we just didn’t make shots. what he really wants to say is “im not too sure why half of these guys are around me and im not too sure why we dont run any offensive plays. cant my coach tell im exhausted at the end of games bc im the only one doing anything?” or maybe something like “why didn’t ferry do anything to help me out when he could have”
is that not right?
LeBrick James
James is just a publicity magnet. Yes he is good and dominant but he doesn’t even have a ring yet. He’s been in the league since high school and he hasnt won anything but MVP in the regular season not the Finals where it really matters. If he really wants to be great he needs to step up his leadership game and not ball hog. His lucky shots get him media attention while Kobe is barely getting any when he has 3 rings and all his shots are amazing. LeBrick cant even make his 4th quarter shots when it matters the most.
you're right
lebron hasn’t won anything yet. but tell me, if you were lebron, who would you dare pass to on that team during these playoffs?
also, are you saying kobe barely gets any media attention? for the past month i vaguely remember a vitaminwater commercial being played with lebron and kobe. oh, there’s also the lebron and kobe puppet commercials. and you see these ads probably 25 times for any given game. then there was the piece that espn just ran on kobe that was an hour long i believe. not to mention all the hype he got for being a MVP candidate or all the attention he gets from playing in LA and on the best team in the west looking for revenge from last yr. i know lebron gets a lot of attention, but kobe is right behind him.
you’re also right that kobe has 3 rings…but he won them when he was the #2 player on all three of those teams! “lebrick” was the reason the orlando series was a 6 game series and not a sweep and if he had anyone better than him playing on his team, you might as well hand them the next 5 championships barring any injuries.
yeah, that dude was just the best player in the league this year.
He fucking sucks.
Seriously, lay off the crack pipe.
Your friendly neighborhood Dreamshake mod.
almost there
but Kobe was the best player in the league this year. LeBron’s stats were voted MVP by media guys who hate bein redundant with their votes.
It's all nice and everything.....
but to say that lebron is a competitor b/c he didnt want anything to do with the post game, c’mon now. lebron acted like a baby back b***h. say what you want about being a good sport, but how about giving credit where credit is due, and howard was deserving of a hand shake from “king james”. lebron is so high on himself he just thought he was gonna coast to the finals and not be tested, then he met a team that was not gonna let it be so easy, and they beat them in 6. and as expected there came out the little girl inside of him.
oh and maybe some of you should read this little article (grundgedave) about how credit should be given, even from MICHAEL JORDAN….. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-lebron060109&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
- seed in the nba, best in the east, mvp…lebrons got alot to think about while he’s at home watching the finals, unless he’s too childish to watch the team that beat him.
MJ and sportsmanship
Yeah, anyone who says MJ was a good loser or a good sport is sadly mistaken.
Remember the Pistons’ series in the late 80s?
the bad blood Jordan and Isiah had carried over into the Dream Team roster.
and no one shook hands in those series, either.
You said LeBron left his teammates out to dry.
But didnt his teammates leave him out to dry the entire series. I honestly think Bron didnt show after the game because he didnt want to bullshit people and say that he wasnt mad at his teammates or coach. Bron did everything he could, but didnt have enough around him to advance. He was probably pissed at his owner, coach, gm, and teammates for not doing everything they could to help him advance.
Waiting for the day Houston gets some sports respect
Yeah amazing
Lakers dominate Game 1 with Kobe 40 points, 8 Reb., 8 Assists.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on The Dream Shake
Related FanShots on The Dream Shake
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sport
- Behind the Box Score, where the Lakers absolutely melted down the stretch
- Shaving a picture of Matt Bonner in his head could net a young Spurs fan an in-school suspension
- Greg Oden wants to play for the Miami Heat
- LeBron James and Kobe Bryant on Forbes World’s Most Powerful Celebrities list
- Evan Turner loves getting his butt kicked
