May 24, 2013

Is LeBron Doing Himself a Disservice in the Offseason

September 4, 2009 by 23 Comments

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It’s been quite publicized that during this offseason, LeBron has been touring the world while promoting his film More Than A Game.  He’s also been doing lots of interviews, which inevitably means he’s asked many, many times what he’s going to do next summer.

It’s absolutely up to LeBron to do what LeBron wants this offseason (which, by the way, is exactly how he would say that sentence in the third person) – he’s free to do as he wants.  He’s played in offseason pickup leagues with Jordan Crawford, Gilbert Arenas, and plenty of other folks.  He’s off until October, when training camp kicks off for the NBA.  It’s his first real summer off in a while, considering his past commitments with Team USA.

But to me the question is this: can he be doing more -

If you look around the league, there are plenty of guys that are out of the spotlight, and then there are guys like Kevin Durant who are making bloggers’ dreams come true while playing at the Berry Courts in DC.  Yes, it’s a rec league – but it’s competition at least.

I know LeBron is playing “pickup” games while on tour, and coach Chris Jent is traveling with him.  There are a lot of things at play here – he’s got a summer off for the first time in a while.  He had a surgery early this summer.  He’s got a film to promote.  But sometimes I wonder if he’s working as hard as he has in the past, or whether he’s getting a bit complacent, having won a league MVP award.

He’s got plenty of detractors already, but this may just feed the fire a bit.  Reading the NikeBasketball Twitter account is almost sickening – even to a LeBron fan like myself.  Tweets along the lines of “The King has taken the court in Paris!!!!!!” are pretty ridiculous IMO.  We need Killer LeBron this coming year if we’re going to see the Cavs win a championship.  Right now, we’ve got Salesman LeBron, and I must say I’m not much of a fan.

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  • DCBucks

    Maybe a rested and relaxed LeBron gets it done this year.

  • JK

    If we’re talking about The Lebrons.. I always thought the child lebron was the funniest.

  • adam

    trust me, lebron wants to win more than every player in the league. if he thought his world tour was sacrifcing that he wouldnt be out there

  • Isis

    LBJ can do whatever he wants, as long as he shows up for camp on time. He’s still only 24 and having fun. He burns to win, I’d not be concerned in the least.

  • http://mvn.com/cavalierattitude Amar Panchmatia

    Pretty good points, Denny. I’ve always wondered about this guy’s priorities.

    adam, with all due respect: trust you? Unless you know LeBron personally, why should we trust you when you say that he wants to win more than every single player in the league? I, like most on here, don’t know him personally, but I have been able to form my own opinion after following his career. And it seems like he is far more concerned with being that “billionaire” and “global icon” than he is being a champion. That’s just me, though. I think Kobe and Dwight want it a little bit more than LeBron right now.

  • http://www.zfcomics.com dgriff13

    I agree. There’s plenty of time for the “business lebron” after he wins some championships. Besides, a “business lebron” is going to do a hell of a lot better with some bling-bling on his fingers first. Getting tired of his “game”.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Denny

    @ DC – that’s a very valid point, and I hope it’s true. There’s a good possibility that the rest will help him more than hurt him.

    @ Adam – I hope you’re right.

    @ Isis – agreed that he can do what he wants. I can’t blame him at all for seeing the world, etc – I just hope that come time for camp he’s focused solely on basketball and winning that chip for Cleveland.

  • Dmike

    Haha yeah but as soon as the season starts and he starts putting up 28-7-7 then everyone will shut up. Come on people as true cavs fans and nightly lebron watchers, i expect better.

  • Isis

    Denny..as a Cavs season ticket holder and fan I’m totally with you. I just think that he’s totally committed to winning that championship, and even more so now with the new supporting cast members (ie Shaq). I wasn’t excusing any conduct, just merely pointing out that as mature as he/we think he is, he’s still 24 and enjoying his world icon status.

  • madskis219

    Really? You are questioning if Lebron will show up this season prepared? Complacent with just the MVP award? Have we not been following the same Lebron James for the great part of a decade?

    The King will bring it. No doubt about it.

  • akronshaun

    I never worry bout bron’s priorities. Shaq doin the same thing and he 40

  • whipjacka

    denny, i think you are way off on this one. Between the NBA, national team, and the Olympics, James has been playing nonstop basketball for years. The offseason exists so the players can have a break, especially if you play till late may or june like the cavs do. He gets four months off for the first time in a long time; let him do whatever he wants.

  • MrCleaveland

    MrCleaveland thinks LeBron ought to stop jerking around MrCleaveland and the rest of the Cavs fans. MrCleaveland thinks LeBron’s head is big enough and doesn’t need to get any bigger because it’s going to affect his game.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Denny

    @ Dmike – if he’s putting up 28-7-7 and the team’s doing poorly because of his play, I’ll say something. Doubt it’ll be the case, but he’s not beyond reproach just because he’s good at basketball.

    @ madskis – have you been writing the NikeBasketball Twitter? “El King, gon bring that ring!! LOLZ!”

    @ whip – I wrote this just to bring up some debate; I’m not totally sure how I feel about it. Yes – the time off will help, especially considering he’d been going full-bore for essentially 30 months or so. A break from basketball may be refreshing. And if he gets his PR-salesman-make that paper stuff done in the offseason so he can focus during season, great. But I see Gil and Durant both playing around the District working their tails off to get better and wonder if he could be doing the same. I’m not saying he needs to have a dartboard that he’s throwing butcher knives at getting mentally pumped in mid-August, I’m just hoping he’s going to be super serial once the season rolls around.

    Side note – wtf does “True ____ fans” even mean – it’s stupid crap that gets thrown around by the most ignorant folks. YOU AIN’T A TRUE CAVS FAN UNLESS YOU PRAY FACING LEBRON’S FERRARI 5X A DAY, YO.

  • Mike

    How much did Kevin Garnett’s “want to win” help him in Minnesota? What good was Kobe’s “want to win” when he *wasn’t* playing with one of the best big men in the league?

    All this killer instinct BS is just a bunch of buzzwords made up by advertising people and sportswriters, having little to nothing to do with the real outcome of a season. The best team is the one with the best personnel and the best plan. Drop this Disney movie “if you just believe and work hard, and your dreams will come true” junk.

    LeBron James put up the best season since Jordan last year after playing all Summer with the Olympic team. And it didn’t mean squat come June. At the end of the season, it’s going to be the team’s performance in the Playoffs that matters, not LeBron’s workouts in the offseason.

  • Dmike

    Wow thank you Mike..

  • Dmike

    Denny by true cavs fan i mean someone who actually watches the games so they dont just go by articles and other ppls opinions. Someone who roots for their team but isnt a homer. Tell it like it is. And we all know lebron will bring it. Like he always does. Like Mike said, the TEAM needs to bring it. I dont hear anyone saying the same about Mo or delonte. Z moon or parker. Nba aint a game of 33.

  • ello

    I love it how the wizards fans hate the Cavs so much, but they havent put up a big enough fight for us to take them serious.

    I guess that makes us “rivals?”

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Denny

    I watch every game that I can. If that’s not good enough then pay for my NBA league ticket. Whose articles and opinions am I rehashing- You allude to a lot here with no real solid footing. You say people who root for their team but aren’t a homer; is that not what I did here –

    you don’t hear anybody saying anything about moon or delonte because they’re not running around pimping a film and talking in the third person.

  • Tsunami

    And…..we’re bored.

    Speculating on LeBron’s work ethic at this juncture seems a little obscene.

    It’s funny how winning and losing changes everything, because up till Mikael Pietrus was draining wet step back out of rhythm 3s in transition with guys in his face and Dwight Howard shooting 95% from the Ft line, the Cavs were 8-0 and LeBron was having the single greatest post season in the history of the NBA.

    I wouldn’t worry about him. I echo Mike’s sentiments. LeBron is the best player in the league. He leaves it out on the court every game (we’re told) every practice. He follows the plan, he integrates his teammates, and he’s smart. He does everything a city could possibly want out of it’s superstar. If he shows up game 1 out of shape and gets dunked on a few times and we lose cus he blows – then we can start wondering if he did himself a disservice. Until then, can we get off LeBron’s back? It’s bad enough the national media is against him now to go along with the millions in the Kobe cult and the Wizards “fans”. Throw Lebron a bone – he’s the best thing we got in this town.

  • Dmike

    Dude relax. I was never talking about you when explaining what a true fan was. And i wasnt talking about your articles. A homer is ignorant because they think their team can do no wrong. A true fan that cares about the team and speaks up when the team is effin up. Exactly what your doing. Therefor you being a true fan. Im just saying lebron has not let us down for 6 years. And he didnt in the playoffs. Other players like mo and coaching did. I dont think its fair to lebron for us clevelanders to start judging him too when we KNOW he turns into a beast on the court. He’ll be fine. And no delotes at kfc freestylin so uhoh i dont think hes going to be prepared this season(sarcasm). They may not be flaunting a movie, but they are doing their thing too.. Not playing is not playing.

  • http://brian23.com Brian

    He’s always “salesman LeBron” IMO.

    Stats don’t tell the story with him, because LeBron can put up 27-7-7 and dog it at the same time. In 07 he had great numbers but generally played lethargic and disinterested all season. And yes, I know that’s the year we went to the Finals.

    I thought this past year was the first time he really had it amped up all season.

  • Ike

    I think a lot of the comments on here are crazy considering it was Lebron versus Orlando in the Eastern Conference Finals last year. The guy busts his butt every night. I can’t believe we’ve gotten to the point where we’re beginning to doubt his commitment.

    Hopefully his teammates show up in the playoffs this year and we can finally win a championship. Cuz the problem certainly doesn’t lie in him. Sheesh.