He hasn't shown much interest in his post game in the first 7 seasons - but I think he's missing more than a post game - he's missing confidence in his jumper and something in between his ears and in his chest.
James played small in the Finals. His game shriveled instead of elevating. Where was the player that was confident and is the best finisher in basketball? He was nowhere to be seen save one of the early games in the Finals. Yes I credit part of it to the Mavericks defense, but great players make big plays and baskets. LeBron lacked confidence and aggression. Then to top it off he and Wade make fun of Nowitski. Really, that made me lose a lot of respect Lebron. His post game remarks were bush league. Be a man and don't put down reporters when they state the obvious. You probably are not a prime time clutch player.
I've heard this line of reasoning before and I think it's mightily premature. Russ Westbrook is 22 years old, this is his third year in the league and his second play-offs. It's absurd to think him and the rest of the Thunder can't learn and grow further still. After eight years, I think it's about time to accept that LeBron will never come back with a post-game. If he was interested in adding that to this game, he would have done so a long time ago...
The coughing time wasn't a big surprise, Wade and Dirk have little love for each other. But LeBron should have known better than to join in. If a guy outscores you five to one in the fourth quarter, you should know better than to mock him.
When some have written LeBron is missing a post game are you referring that he does not post up players like centers and big men of the past or are you referring to his dismal play in this playoff as well as previously at Cleveland. He never stunk as badly late in Cleveland as he has this series. Thinking about LeBron in big spots wilts a lot like Danny Manning. Such a shame a guy this talented doesn't have mixture. When we were in trouble in the Olympic Final against Spain. It was Kobi not LeBron that elevated his game. Oh well.
You gain a lot of good will from people when you make remarks like this. “At the end of the day,” James said, “all the people who want to see me fail, they gotta wake up tomorrow and have the same life they had when they woke up today. Same personal problems they had today. I am going to continue to live and do the things I want to do and be happy with that.” Hey Lebron I want to clue you in, I'm glad I'm not you. I'll take my intellect over yours any day of the week. Oh one last thing you are one ugly dude to boot.
I think (but am not sure) that this is a response to a question from one of the media at the conference. And he has a point, expecially about the Cavs fans, as they do still have to live in Cleveland. My next check says LBJ isn't a BigSoccer member. Meaning he isn't going to see this. Given that, I'm not sure I'd take your intellect over his. First Big Ben, now this. You're going to run out of people to hate on if you can't just watch a game without injecting a lot of personal feelings into it. Or you can cheer a .175 team of goofy Eagle Scout virgin teetotalers
Pretty hard to defend some of Lebron's comments - but it's a shame the guy is torching his brand in this way - he went from universally loved to universally hated overnight and the guy doesn't know how to deal with it. He needs to hire some good PR, fire all his friends and family, and start to get a sense of humor over the comical situation he's in. He could learn from Shaq to make jokes and smile. Trying to be the misunderstood bad guy just isn't who he is, and people hate phonies the most.
The guy just lost in the NBA Finals. Not exactly the time to be cracking jokes. He tried to be funny in those State Farm insurance TV commercials.
He just needs to go away for awhile, make some ads like this, and then cry and be gracious if/when he wins it finally. Sorted. America loves winners. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdfrOa6spYI"]YouTube - Kobe Sprite Workout Add‏[/ame]
I think maybe he needs a life coach of sorts- someone who will remind him from time to time that the people who hate him are the ones who are making the loudest noises. He has no reason to believe that everyone gets in a huff over an athlete's choice of team or manner of making that choice known. Not everyone hates him or the Heat just because he escaped the Cavs before his career could end without a title. It's true that he was pretty much universally loved, but he isn't universally hated now. My circle of sports students simply acknowledges his desire to play for a contenda and then records the score. I think he's being who he is in responding to the haters. I think that's genuine. What I wish every athlete or personality would do is refuse to respond to haters when they surface- not even bother to engage them. They don't deserve it.
This isn't just about the choice - it's about the way he did it and the declarations of "not 1 not 2" at the big pre-Championship signing party. The guy has become massive talk show joke fodder and it's hard not to let that get under your skin, especially if your goal is to have an MJ-esque brand.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NHRD10DmCc&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - Lebron James: The New Decision‏[/ame] Lebron's new decision... he is joining wnba.
Now... for that, he just has to suck it up and deal. I see that quote as being waaaaaaaaaay worse than the decision/announcement. Shouldn't have run his mouth about winning titles, not even one. He doesn't have to. And he probably doesn't live there most of the time anymore.
But he does you were the one that made the comment about living in Cleveland out of no where. Dont judge a city on what you see in the news.
You would take his intellect. Ok that's your prerogative. I'm not saying LeBron is stupid. Clearly he's not, but your supposition is truly laughable.
I was kinda kidding, man. I got nothing against Cleveland. So... IYO, what's the percentage of Cleveland resident basketball fans who are openly happy that LeBron didn't get his ring this season? But is anyone laughing with you? Your post doesn't qualify as even an open letter, because James isn't ever going to see the doggone thing!
Id say 90% for people who follow basketball in Cleveland 5% dont care and 5% are Lebron fanboys til they die.
Yeah. My team, to the degree that I follow this game every season (I follow the history, but not much more) is the Lakers. But I didn't even hate the Celtics like hardcore old-school Laker fans do. Never could understand that mentality, but I suppose it is what it is. I did hate on Kobe for a bit for his selfishness in the 2004 Finals. But he played on "my" team.
I dont know where youre from and how much you like where youre from but if you have pride in your city or region imagine an athlete from youre city or region become one of the best in the NBA lie for several years saying he wont leave til he gets a championship making everything seem its ok and theyll be back then go on national TV and slap his/your city in the face and expect everyone to still love him. Our sports teams are everything to us the media shits on us all the time and some people are stuck in some really shitty situations in Cleveland like poverty and the only thing in their life that has always been there is the sports teams. This isnt Miami who could care less about their sports teams.
But this anti-Lebron phenomenon went way beyond Cleveland this year. Lebron the past 12 months reminds me of the pro-wrestlers who play the part of the bad guys and who purposely say the wrong things in order to piss off the fans and incite them to cheer when they are getting beat, boo when they are winning, and make the show what it is. Except that with Lebron it's probably not intentional. He's not a "bad guy", there are no stories of him beating women or breeding fighting dogs or any of that crap that gets people to think somebody's a bad citizen. But he's on a year-long streak of doing and saying the kind of things that piss off many fans, starting with the way he handled the decision to leave Cleveland, and his smack about going to South Beach and about winning multiple titles. So now even little things like the laughing at Dirk (which was really mostly Wade), and the unwillingness to take big shots at key times in the final, and the comment about people not having lives, all seem to add up and take on a special significance, and most basketball fans outside Miami are now all cheering his failure. At least here in the Bay Area most people were. I think it will blow over. Lebron doesn't seem to be a bad guy worthy of hatred, and he's too talented to play again as poorly as he did against Dallas. Odds are he'll get some titles before he's done and when he does he'll be considered one of the all-time best and this season's failure will lose significance. Really this was Dallas' year, they were due and nobody was going to beat them. Lebron wasn't the only one who failed against them. Just think of how they handled Kobe and the Lakers. Does that mean Kobe is also a choker? Obviously not. Just give Dirk and the Mavericks their well deserved due, and Lebron will be fine.
That was Lebron's whole point. A poor person in Cleveland isn't going improve their personal situation by hating on Lebron or having the Heat lose a basketball game. Whether it is MJ, John Elway, Earnest Byner or Jose Mesa, what is done is done, you can't go back and change the shot or the fumble or the drive or the decision. Lebron played hard for the Cavs and took them to the Finals. He became a free agent and decided to go to a different team. For years he talked about his desire to win a title and how the Cavs needed to improve and everyone in basketball knew that they needed to add players if they had any hope of keeping him. In fact, most people thought it was a foregone conclusion that he was going to bolt for the NY Knicks. Only delusional Cavs fans thought that Lebron owed them something or had any obligation to stay. Lebron did the same thing former Indian Cliff Lee did- he didn't go for the money, he didn't go for where he would be a media star, he didn't go for the team that would treat him like a king and the main man, he didn't stay near his home just like Lee didn't stay near his homestate, he went to a team with another established star with Wade being his Halladay, because Lebron wants to win a title so much. The Cavs are supposed to be a franchise with some class. Gordon Gund, Lenny Wilkens, Brad Daugherty, Mark Price. Lebron's gone, the Cavs fans need to get over it and stop embarrassing themselves, their team and their city. They need to have the same attitude as Lebron- focus on winning a title.
I don't. I'm from Alabama. I don't really get into local or regional athletic team support beyond my HS and my university. I don't care about Alabama or Auburn. I was a Steelers fan long before the Titans came to Nashville, and I don't really care about baseball. I do watch the Braves in the postseason. While you have a point, I don't think I'd respond (to a player leaving after honoring his contract) the way a lot of folks have even if I'd been a longtime resident of the city he left. You'll always have Jim Brown's legacy, for starters. The media can't take that from you. Confession: I can understand how Cleveland might hate on Art Modell forever and ever, amen, but a player? Bah. Fixed. Poisoning century-old public trees over college gridiron and naming your daughter Crimson Tyde... 30 year-old trucks with more rust than paint sporting the latest national championship tag on the front... people with drawings on their wall of Bear Bryant and Jesus Christ standing on the sideline together... I know all about Fans With Nothing Going On In Their Accounts or Heads, man. Miami isn't any worse than most pro sports towns. It isn't New York, Boston or Chicago, but those three are in a class of their own sportstownwise. This. Exactly. It's like no one saw this coming, but they should have, decision announcement and smack talk aside.