| 31 May 2009
I don't know if you heard after last night's closeout win by the
Magic over the Cavaliers but everything good and pure in society was
turned upside down. Our children were bamboozled. Our game was sullied
with selfishness. Dr. James Naismith's grave was spit upon while the
only films that recorded Michael Jordan's greatness, Magic Johnson's
unselfishness, and Oscar Robertson's ability to double everything he
did on a basketball court were burned like a crazed ex burning old
pictures in a cooking pot in their kitchen while the smoke alarm is
blaring and the R.E.M. song "Everybody Hurts" is running a current from
a personalized iPhone to someone's sorrow-ridden ears.
That's right; LeBron James refused to shake hands with his opponents after being closed out in Orlando and he refused to talk to reporters after the game. He tarnished his reputation and shat on his entire marketing and product enterprise because he took a loss badly. He was Isiah Thomas in the '91 Eastern Conference Finals or worse Motaw at the end of Above the Rim, wielding a glock as he looked to end the celebration for the other team. Whatever poor sport example you want to compare him to, it's going to be rightfully justified for the next year.
People are going to say that this is a black eye in the appearance of today's NBA. It's going to be another example of a superstar athlete, pouting when they don't get their way. Michael Jordan faced the music when he lost. So did Karl Malone and John Stockton as they ended their careers without a title to go with their Hall of Fame status. Hell even, Kobe Bryant faced the music after his team lost by 39 points in the Final game of the 2008 NBA Finals.
But LeBron James? He couldn't be bothered with facing the defeat. Shame on him.
The fallout of this episode on temper tantrums is already being blown way out of proportion. Respect for him has disintegrated. He doesn't deserve his MVP trophy. He doesn't have the heart or the manhood to be an NBA superstar. He's a diva. He's a phony. He'll never win an NBA championship with that attitude. He'll never win an NBA championship period.
Now, I'm not the biggest LeBron James fan in the world. I'm pretty hard on him in fact. I think that he's too concerned with making money instead of winning basketball games. I think that he's a bit of a drama queen on the basketball court. He poses too much for me. He pulls the Chris Webber of making a tough play and going back up the court with a snarl on his face for as long as he thinks the camera is on him. He over exaggerates contact and tries to create a hero moment out of the simplest fouls. I wish he would be a tougher and even smarter basketball player by realizing that he can shut any player down on the offensive end of the court, that he can dominate in the post, and that he should be taking more shots around the basket than around the three-point line, even if he DOES think that he has unlimited range.
But with all that said, I think that this episode of him not talking to the reporters after he was eliminated from his chance at a title run is being blown WAY out of proportion.
I almost like it to some degree because it showed to me that he cares about winning more than I thought he did. Perhaps, it's out of complete selfishness because an NBA championship notch on his career bedpost would have been great folklore for a 24-year old phenom. He showed that he cared. No matter what the reason was, he showed that it mattered to him more than the money.
Could he have handled that better? Absolutely. You've got to shake
hands with the winners after a game. You just should. Good
sportsmanship is often the last thing on everyone's mind as they try to
show their swagger and self-proclaimed importance in this league
(see:Ricky Davis). And this was a chance for LeBron to show his
millions of witnesses fans that he doesn't have to
accept losing but he can still be a big enough man to congratulate the
team that just bested you. He should have talked to reporters after the
game, even if it meant having a Rasheed Wallace type of press
conference. You do half to face the music in pro sports, especially if
you're going to be the headliner for a billion-dollar league.
And this will simply all be a learning experience for a still very young superstar. He was probably furious at not holding serve as the best team in the league (as indicated by regular season record). He was probably furious at his teammates for leaving him out to dry for six games as he had to single-handedly fight by himself against a team full of camaraderie and ball movement. He was probably disgusted with his coach's strategy that seemed to be two steps behind at all times. But whatever it was, he should have been a man and stood up to the post game questions.
This will assuredly turn into speculation of him wanting to leave Cleveland for a bigger market or declarations that he doesn't have what it takes to win the NBA championship. I disagree with all of that. To me, it was a low point in a great player's young career. It was a sign that it matters to him.
Did he handle it the right way? Not even close. But we move on and let him learn from his mistakes.
We've got to get over it. I already did.
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