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Thread: The Truth about LeBron James

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    Default The Truth about LeBron James

    http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slu...broncavs051210





    CLEVELAND – This isn’t important enough to LeBron James(notes). That’s the uncompromising, unconquerable truth. Everything has come too easy to him, and he still doesn’t believe that winning championships takes a consuming, obsessive desire that borders on the maniacal. He is chasing high school and college kids on recruiting trips for his fledgling marketing company, medicating his insecurities with unending and unfolding free-agent dramas.

    James is chasing Warren Buffett and Jay-Z the way he should be chasing Russell and Jordan and Bryant. He wants CEOs to bow before him, engage him as though he is a contemporary on the frontlines of industry. Only, the truth of the matter is, he’s a singular talent who’s going to watch his playoff failures start to chip away at the thing that seems to matter most to him: his marketability and magnetism.
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    LeBron James is one loss from falling short of the NBA Finals for the third straight year.
    (NBAE/ Getty Images)

    Most of all, James is forever selling something of himself – an ideal, an image, a possibility. Something nebulous, something promised. He’s chasing a global platform, the bright, blinking billion-dollar fortune, and he’s largely gotten the natural order of things backward.

    Stop strutting, stop preening, stop stomping away as an ungracious winner, a sore loser, and win something, LeBron.

    Win something now.

    No more excuses. Not now, not after this biblical bottoming out that pushes the Cleveland Cavaliers to the brink of an unthinkable collapse. And yet, after Tuesday’s ferocious failure of his professional career, the encompassing embarrassment of a 120-88 Game 5 loss to the Boston Celtics, James dismissed his unthinkably poor performance with this colossal cop-out: “I spoil a lot of people with my play. When you have three bad games in seven years, it’s easy to point them out.”

    Who is he to be indignant after he gave a playoff game away? What’s he ever won to be so smug to the masses? That’s what drives the Celtics crazy about James. Eventually, he will understand his greatness isn’t measured on the hit-and-runs through NBA cities across a long season. It’s measured now, in the teeth of the battle, when a tiny guard, Rajon Rondo(notes), has stolen his stage and nearly a series.

    Somewhere, the whispers of the game’s greatest talents became a murmur louder and louder: James still doesn’t understand part of the price of greatness is inviting the burden on yourself and sparing those around you. He missed 11 of 14 shots. James didn’t score a basket until the third quarter. He was terrible, just terrible, and yet James couldn’t bring himself to say the worst home playoff loss in franchise history began and ended with him.

    For all of James’ unselfishness on the floor, he can still be so selfish off it. They could’ve lined up the greatest players in the game’s history Tuesday night in the primes of their championship lives, and there isn’t one of them who would’ve deflected and deferred like the self-proclaimed King James. They would’ve been livid and they would’ve put it on themselves. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant(notes). Tim Duncan(notes) and, yes, Shaquille O’Neal(notes).

    They had titles, and they would’ve mutilated themselves for public consumption. James is too cool, too stubborn and maybe too self-unaware. This is on me, they would’ve told you, and, I’ll get us out of this. They would’ve made sure teammates and opponents, fans and enemies understood. They would’ve made sure the whole world understood: This isn’t how an MVP plays in the playoffs. This isn’t how he lets a legacy linger in limbo. What you heard out of James was self-righteous: “I put a lot of pressure on myself to go out and be great and the best player on the court. When I don’t, I feel bad for myself.”

    This wasn’t the night to feel bad for himself. There’s been enough pity for him in this series. As much as anything these past two years, the Cavaliers have taken on James’ persona: Entitled, arrogant and expectant that the sheer divine right of his greatness will win them a ring. Only, the Celtics are proud, old champions arisen out of the rubble and on the brink of closing out the Cavaliers on Thursday night at the Boston Garden. No one saw this coming on Tuesday night, the surgical removal of the Cavaliers’ hearts surrounded with a stunned silence that devolved into the debris of boos.

    James lorded over one of the most agonizing, humiliating losses a championship contender ever endured. So much comes with this collapse, bookended with decades of a city’s championship sports futility set against the free agency for the son it spawned in neighboring Akron.

    This collapse will cost people jobs. This will change the course of the franchise. Where’s James going? And as job security goes, the CEO of British Petroleum has more going for him than Mike Brown right now. Forty feet away Tuesday night, Kentucky’s John Calipari was sitting under the basket with Leon Rose, the agent Cal shares with his buddy, LeBron.

    James invites these storylines into the gymnasium, this drama, and leaves everyone else to live with the consequences. Owner Dan Gilbert has fostered a culture of permissiveness with James that hasn’t served him or the franchise.

    The Cavs live in fear of him, his moods, his whims, and it’s the reason no one ever tells him the truth: Hey ’Bron, you looked childish for refusing to shake the Orlando Magic’s hands last season. You sounded small grumbling about criticism for your wildly up-and-down play in this series. James walked out of the Q on Tuesday night and there’s no guarantee he’ll ever return as a Cavalier here.
    The Cavs need consecutive wins over the Celtics to keep alive Shaquille O’Neal’s goal to “win a ring for the King.”
    (NBAE/ Getty Images)

    Yet make no mistake: James has enough around him. This team isn’t perfect, isn’t assured of beating the Los Angeles Lakers, but it has no business losing in the conference semifinals – never mind failing to even compete. And, yes, as much as ever, this is on James.

    He invited all this drama about walking out on his hometown team this summer, and now free agency hung over the Q like an anvil. Here’s a city that’s waited 46 years for a championship, a town that reacts viciously to the sheer suggestion that James could leave for New York this summer. These fans have been much better to James than he’s been to them. It hasn’t been the media that’s built his role in the summer of 2010 to a crescendo, but James himself. He constantly manipulated it with suggestions and hints and wink-winks to New York.

    James proclaimed July 1, 2010, as the biggest day in the history of basketball, ramping up suspense of his ultimate decision: Do I stay or do I go? What it has done is throw more palpable pressure in the air, more desperation, and it’s come back to haunt him now.

    James says the Cavaliers know all about what it takes, but he knows about winning in the regular season. This is a different time, a different game. Three bad games in seven years? He’s kidding himself. Now, he has a championship cast around him. Now, he’ll be judged. No one gives a damn what he did in the regular season.

    Perhaps sooner than later, he’s going to get his coach fired for losing this series. Or the next to Orlando. He’s mocked Brown for acting too angry with the Game 2 thrashing, but the coach understood what James refused to acknowledge until Tuesday night: The Cavs have been wildly inconsistent in these playoffs and they’re nowhere near playing championship ball.

    Across the regular season, James can play hard, let his talent take over and embark on all the side gigs that gobble his time.

    This isn’t a part-time thing. Winning everything takes a single-minded, obsessive devotion. Michael Jordan had it. Kobe Bryant does, too. They didn’t want to win championships, they had to win them. They needed them for validation and identity and, later, they became moguls. LeBron James is running around recruiting college kids to his marketing company. He picks up the phone, tells them, “This is the King,” and makes his pitch to be represented in his stable. Think Kobe would ever bother with this? Or Michael? Not a chance when they were on the climb, not when they still had a fist free of rings.

    LeBron James is on the clock now, and Game 6 in Boston could be for his legacy in Cleveland. He has been prancing around the edges for too long now, angling for a transcendent existence he believed his brand could bring him. Only, it’s all a mirage. It’s all vapor until he does the heavy lifting that comes now, that comes in the shadows of Magic and Larry, Michael and Kobe. This isn’t about selling an image to Madison Avenue, about pushing product through all those dazzling plays across the winter months. This is an MVP’s time, his calling, and there was LeBron James standing in the middle of the Cavaliers’ locker room at 11:25 p.m., staring in a long mirror, fixing his shirt before the long walk down the corridor to the interview room.

    James stood there for five seconds and 10 and maybe now 20, just staring into the mirror, just taking a long, long look at himself. For the first time in his career, the first time when it’s all truly on him, maybe the sport stood and stared with him. All hell breaking loose, all on the line now. Forget everything in his life, all the make-believe nonsense, Game 6 and maybe Game 7 will promise to serve as the most honest hours of his basketball life.
    Adrian Wojnarowski is the NBA columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Send Adrian a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
    Updated May 12, 4:05 am EDT

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    This nails it. LeBron James is nothing new. He's a great player that's way overhyped.

    They called him 'The King' after he took his team to the championship series, not after they WON the championship.

    ESPN covers LeBron so unfairly. I've seen the Cavs lose a game by big numbers but they don't focus on that, just the awesome dunk or block LeBron made in that game and briefly cover the opposition.

    People tear NFL WR's a new one for celebrations, but LeBron is free to dance around the court and mock the opposition.

    He's a big ticket, and he's the face of the NBA, which is sad because he's not that much better than several guys in the NBA, like Kobe or Dwayne Wade.

    LeBron is focused on being Lebron, and he's lucky that it's almost taboo to criticize the walking highlight reel.

    He's also fortunate that he plays in the city that he does, because he wouldn't survive in Boston or in L.A.

    He's not classy but he's charismatic. He's not a winner or a loser. He's somewhere in between. He's not soft but he's definitely not gritty. He's not a warrior on the court and he's not a pansy. He's not an egomaniac, but he's not humble.

    He is by far the most overrated player in professional sports.
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    LeBron acts like he had a bad game, but he ignores the fact that he essentially quit on his team. Whereas superstar players continue to work hard, hustle and help their teams when they are struggling offensively, LeBron merely stood around offensively and settled for long jump shots while playing so so defense and not hustling on a consistent basis.

    LeBron also claims that he has ONLY had THREE bad games in his career.

    He has arguably had three bad games in this series. Paul Pierce has also had a bad or tough series, but he has continued to play hard defensively, hustle, rebound, and try to make his teammates better every game.

    Even if you disagree with LeBron having 3 bad games this series, I think you can clearly make an argument that between this series, the Orlando series last year, and the NBA Championship series against the Spurs, he has had more than 3 bad games. LeBron is delusional if he thinks he has only had three bad games in his career. LeBron's new nickname should be the "King Delusions".

    He also completely confuses having a bad game with quitting on your team.
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    Last night on Sports Center, they were talking about James, and one of the comments was that some of the Cleveland fans feel James is doing this on purpose as he will not be coming back to Cleveland, and by doing this, the fans would be in favor of him leaving - WHO KNOWS.

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    Child Please.

    In elimination games he is 4-2 and averages an NBA record 32 points in those games, along with 8 boards and 7 assists. Is he overhyped? Maybe. But he's still far and away the best player in the NBA.

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    I wouldnt say Lebron is over-rated.

    Most people think there is still a comparison when arguing Kobe and Lebron when its not even close anymore. I wouldnt say thats over-rated. This guy is a career 27/7/7 player... thats up there with the greatest of alltime and hes only 25. Hate him all you want off the court but when hes playing hes one of the greats.

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    Kobe has Pau and a good supporting cast to pass the ball around to now...If Kobe wanted he would put up 40+ points a game. Plus he has been playing with broken and dislocated fingers half of 09 and all of this season. Half of you haters don't even have one ounce of the balls and toughness this guy has, and still discredit him because of personal hatred. LOL...That's some funny shit.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Benetto View Post
    Kobe has Pau and a good supporting cast to pass the ball around to now...If Kobe wanted he would put up 40+ points a game. Plus he has been playing with broken and dislocated fingers half of 09 and all of this season. Half of you haters don't even have one ounce of the balls and toughness this guy has, and still discredit him because of personal hatred. LOL...That's some funny shit.
    Whose hating on Kobe Bryant?

    I love Laker fans, so sensitive.

    Dont get offended because I said Hes not close to Lebron James, that doesnt mean Kobe isnt elite he is still a top 3 player in this league I just dont think hes on Lebron's level anymore. Lebron already has more MVP's and as many scoring titles as Kobe and hes only 25... Thats scary good.

    Winning is a team effort so please dont come back with the "well Kobe has the rings" argument.

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    Quote Originally Posted by BaileyTheBest View Post
    Child Please.

    In elimination games he is 4-2 and averages an NBA record 32 points in those games, along with 8 boards and 7 assists. Is he overhyped? Maybe. But he's still far and away the best player in the NBA.
    How the hell do you figure he is 4-2 in elimination games considering he has never won the championship and has therefore always lost one elimination game every year the Cavs have been in the playoffs. According to my quick research the Cavs have made the playoffs four years with LeBron so he has to have 4 losses.

    I didn't investigate the matter in-depth but doing a quick search I determined that LeBron is 1-4 in elimination games:

    In 2005-2006, LeBron went 0-1 in elimination games losing his only elimination game to the Pistons in the Eastern semi-finals.
    In 2006-2007, LeBron went 0-1 in elimination games losing his only elimination game to the Spurs in the NBA Finals.
    In 2007-2008, LeBron went 1-1 in elimination games winning game six and losing game seven to the Celtics in the Eastern Semi-Finals.
    In 2008-2009, LeBron went 0-1 in elimination games losing his only elimination game to the Magic in the Eastern Finals.

    Therefore, his record in elimination games is 1-4, not 4-2. Please explain or enlighten me as to how you came up with a record of 4-2 in elimination games?
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    Quote Originally Posted by EMB6903 View Post
    Hate him all you want off the court but when hes playing hes one of the greats.
    When you say, "when hes playing" do you mean the games he decides to play or are you also including the games he quits on his team and teammates and merely goes through the motions like he did in game 5?

    In order to be one of the greats, a player can't and doesn't quit on his team and teammates. Therefore LeBron is not presently one of the greats because he quits on his team and teammates as shown in game 5.

    LeBron is still young and has plenty of time to rehabilitate and redeem himself by working himself in to the category of being one of the greats.
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    Quote Originally Posted by MNPatsFan View Post
    How the hell do you figure he is 4-2 in elimination games considering he has never won the championship and has therefore always lost one elimination game every year the Cavs have been in the playoffs. According to my quick research the Cavs have made the playoffs four years with LeBron so he has to have 4 losses.

    I didn't investigate the matter in-depth but doing a quick search I determined that LeBron is 1-4 in elimination games:

    In 2005-2006, LeBron went 0-1 in elimination games losing his only elimination game to the Pistons in the Eastern semi-finals.
    In 2006-2007, LeBron went 0-1 in elimination games losing his only elimination game to the Spurs in the NBA Finals.
    In 2007-2008, LeBron went 1-1 in elimination games winning game six and losing game seven to the Celtics in the Eastern Semi-Finals.
    In 2008-2009, LeBron went 0-1 in elimination games losing his only elimination game to the Magic in the Eastern Finals.

    Therefore, his record in elimination games is 1-4, not 4-2. Please explain or enlighten me as to how you came up with a record of 4-2 in elimination games?


    Yea, not sure where he got the 4-2 from either.

    Although didn't Lebron win game 5 last year when they were down 3-1 to Orlando?


    So hes actually 2-4 in Elimination games I believe. I think he just has a slight case of dyslexia.


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    Quote Originally Posted by MNPatsFan View Post
    When you say, "when hes playing" do you mean the games he decides to play or are you also including the games he quits on his team and teammates and merely goes through the motions like he did in game 5?

    In order to be one of the greats, a player can't and doesn't quit on his team and teammates. Therefore LeBron is not presently one of the greats because he quits on his team and teammates as shown in game 5.

    LeBron is still young and has plenty of time to rehabilitate and redeem himself by working himself in to the category of being one of the greats.
    Well thats your opinion... I guess you dont think Kobe is one of the greats either... I can tell you I saw Lebron James quit game 5 after getting blown out.. That is the only time Ive ever seen it from him though. Dont act like this is a common thing from him.

    My opinion? whoever doesnt think Lebron James is a "great" basketball player doesnt watch basketball. Or is just a hater.

    His resume speaks for itself.
    Last edited by EMB6903; 05-13-2010 at 09:45 PM.

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    Knicks fans are loving life right now.

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    Quote Originally Posted by EMB6903 View Post
    Whose hating on Kobe Bryant?

    I love Laker fans, so sensitive.

    Dont get offended because I said Hes not close to Lebron James, that doesnt mean Kobe isnt elite he is still a top 3 player in this league I just dont think hes on Lebron's level anymore. Lebron already has more MVP's and as many scoring titles as Kobe and hes only 25... Thats scary good.

    Winning is a team effort so please dont come back with the "well Kobe has the rings" argument.

    I wasn't speaking specifically certain haters..Just in general bro...

    Lakers fans on the internet are the sensitive ones..Everyone outside of CA Hates Kobe and the Lakers..What do you expect?

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    I don't like Kobe or Lebron. But Kobe is the better player.

    Lebron is pretty dope though. Its like Manning and Brady in the NFL. Some say Manning and some say Brady.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Benetto View Post
    I wasn't speaking specifically certain haters..Just in general bro...

    Lakers fans on the internet are the sensitive ones..Everyone outside of CA Hates Kobe and the Lakers..What do you expect?
    Im a Kobe hater.. I wont deny that, but I appreciate his greatness and how hes able to put off season long injuries like its nothing. For awhile he was the best player on the planet and in my opinion the 2nd best SG of alltime but right now Lebron is just way too dominant on the court. Hell tonight he played bad and still had 27 points 19 rebounds and 10 assists. the way hes able to impact the game other then scoring is what seperates him.

    Take Kobe off the Lakers and i still think they win around 40-45 games...

    Take Lebron off the Cav's? they win 25 tops.

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