Cavs drop Clippers 102-101
January 17, 2010While We’re Waiting… OSU and Iowa, Mangini’s Jets, and Arenas to Orlando?
January 18, 2010That’s right – I borrowed from the Def Poets’ Society. You’re the best, Geoffrey.
For those of you unfamiliar with things here, I’m as critical of LeBron as any of the writers around here, and probably the most so (or at least the most outspoken about it). I’ve taken issue with his whining, with his seemingly nonchalant efforts to hold the team hostage, with his rampant ego, etc. I understand that he’s wicked good at basketball but feel there are certainly ways that he can improve his game.
That being said, it seems like the guy can’t get a break anywhere outside of a 100 mile radius of Ontario and Superior. I’ve said it before but for those of you who aren’t totally familiar with me, I live in the epicenter of LeBron vitriol – DC. I see all sorts of embittered tweets coming from a lot of the (very good) DC bloggers – The Mottrams, Truth About It, Andrew Sharp, Unsilent Majority, etc. Sometimes they’re warranted. However, following last week’s LeBron Bootygate incident, it’s obvious that anybody wanting to pick a bone with LeBron will do so regardless of whether it’s warranted or not. This is nothing surprising, but it’s becoming more rampant than even I would have expected.
To rehash what happened, check out the original post at Blazers’ Edge, or Scott’s fine piece that came the day after the game (Monday, the 11th). Four days later, Andrew Sharp at SB Nation decided to fire up the ol’ LeBron hate machine and did his best “LeBaby” writeup.
“See? This is why the internet is great. It promotes transparency, even from someone like Lebron James, as closely guarded and carefully packaged as anyone in the universe. When you consider the amount of time and care that James and his representatives put into crafting his public persona, it makes Lady Gaga look authentic.”
He goes on to talk about how a “normal person” would laugh off a couple of kids slapping his rear. Instead, according to Sharp, ‘Lebron James gets all huffy, takes off his headphones, and makes a huge deal out of it. âIncredulous and indignant ⊠a string of profanities flew from his mouth as he relayed what had just happened to his teammates, who hadnât seen it.â’
Normally I’m a big fan of what Sharp does – if you haven’t read his take from the summertime when he sat in at Barry Farms in Anacostia and watched a summer league game featuring Kevin Durant, you should – but this is unadulterated LeBron hate.
I fully agree that LeBron’s public image is completely contrived. I have no argument with that. But to go from saying LeBron’s image is forced to saying that because LeBron has no right to be upset about some kid grabbing ass because he’s a big jerk is 1) silly and 2) as contrived as the man’s image that is being flamed.
I understand disliking LeBron. I really do. But to twist this story and make LeBron look like some sort of a pissed-off arrogant primadonna because a kid checked his oil is absurd. And to bring it up four days later because things “got lost in the shuffle” and start banging the anti-LeBron drum is absurd.
Punte at With Leather had a great reaction to everyone’s reactions after Sharp’s piece came out:
I donât even know where to start, except maybe with this: LeBron James is not a museum exhibit. He is not a roller coaster ride, and he is not that Ronald McDonald statue on the bench in front of Walmart. Heâs a human being, and being able to tune up your J with the expectation of wayward teens from a different city wonât be checking your oil isnât too much to ask. He deserves that.
My main point isn’t whether or not some kid should try and reach out and touch an athlete while they’re practicing (they probably shouldn’t) or whether said athlete should get indignant about it (they probably shouldn’t) but is more focused on the coverage that ensues. It’s something that we all unfortunately have to deal with – and whenever LeBron makes a decision about where he’ll end up, we’ll either be the brunt of “LOL CLEVELAND SUX LBJ LEFT!” or “LBJ LEAVING IN X YRZ CLEVELAND SUX!”. That’s the reality of what we have to deal with – the fact that LeBron can be a baby, and a whiner, and a diva only adds to that. But it’s the reality of the situation.
It’s a nice little sociological and media experiment – who is wrong here? Who loses out? I think in this case, we all do. Except for the kid that touched LeBron – he’s probably noticing a significant improvement in his jump shot by osmosis at this point. He’s gone nameless and faceless here – all the focus is on LeBron. In like 3 years, hopefully we see him burning the nets up at Gonzaga, and then he plays in the NBA. And he slaps LBJ on the rear again. And it all comes full circle. Wouldn’t that be fun?
Sometimes I wish that if he’s going to leave, LeBron would sign with the Wizards in the offseason just to see all these haters suddenly change their tune. Then again, they’ll still be defending Gilbert Arenas so hard they won’t realize what’s happened.
28 Comments
Word up, Denny. The Blazer’s Edge piece was boiling haterade, and the reaction to it was even worse. It’s amazing how far these folks have gone to bend or ignore the most basic rules of civil society to justify their hate of The King.
How does that song go? Hmm hum Jealousy. We have him and you don’t. Deal with it.
Well done, Denny.
I wonder if we will think the same way about LBJ’s attitude if he leaves town? đ
@ orbi – I won’t. I’ve said before the only thing that keeps me from completely disliking the guy is the fact that he’s on my team. Otherwise, I’d likely dislike him as much as everyone else. The difference though, is I won’t obsess and write about it all the time. There are people in sports that I don’t particularly care for, but I don’t take the time to write about how pompous or contrived they are just because they knocked my team out of the playoffs (ex: Dwight Howard’s image is plenty contrived, but I don’t write articles about him being a hypocrite for having a child out of wedlock when he’s such an “upstanding Christian”).
Vitriol for the sake of vitriol is silly, and that’s my point.
Everything I want to say was already covered by UU in the WL comments.
im still boggled as to why this has blown up the way it is. the bottom line is that in a day and age when a guy can knife a tennis player while she takes a rest or an errant cup toss can bring a furious ron artest into the stands, ITS WEIRD TO HAVE A KID YOU DONT KNOW TOUCH YOUR BUTT.
Well said, Denny.
Also, for those of you who watch The Basketball Jones Podcast, a middle school teacher from Portland left Skeets and Melas a voicemail about how one of his students slapped LeBron’s ass. And the teacher was pissed at the kid because LeBron tore the Blazers apart, but apparently that kid is now really popular at his school.
Just an FYI
LeBron can whine all he wants he’s the only Cavalier who brings it night in and night out and he continues to do it with a roster full of role players. I’ll always be an LBJ fan even if he leaves Cleveland I mean the Cavaliers have had seven long years to get him a better supporting cast and frankly even in the last two years The King’s supporting cast hasn’t stacked up to the rosters in LA, Boston or Orlando. Even still LeBron led his team and worked with what he had. Ferry it’s time to go out and get another legitimate All-Star – Jamison, West, Jefferson – get it done!
You mean the same podcast where Skeets said “WaitingForNextYear, the great Cleveland blog?”
@Scott. I think so, but I’m pretty sure he has praised WFNY in several episodes.
Yea it was that same episode – it also was the one where they answered your West Coast player question Amin. So there’s that.
I never bothered to read the whole post from the Blazers Edge but the part about LeBron not getting dressed up like Kobe to talk to the media was almost vomit inducing. 99% of players get interviewed in towels. Kobe only dresses up because of his pathological desire to be just like Jordan. I also can’t believe that he would criticize LeBron for giving uninspired answers to questions he hears every night. DON’T HATE THE PLAYER, HATE THE GAME!
Denny… this is where you learn from Blazers Edge and make a sound business decision. Start talking smack about Kevin Garnett. Just think of all the hits WFNY would get from links from pissed off Boston writers.
@ Stink – yea, I realize that’s an aspect of the whole situation. My issue isn’t as much with Blazer’s Edge – at least their piece was relevant to the game the previous night. Yes, it drove page views, etc – but I’m not gonna write some junk piece just to make people mad. Oh, wait.
@ Denny – I laughed even harder at that article today than I did when I read it in June. “Gilbert throws more money around than Pacman Jones on the Vegas strip. He striaght makes it rain Homey!” Possible the greatest 2 sentences ever written.
I’m curous as to why there doesn’t seem to be as much hate thrown around at Kobe or Howard or D-Wade. Is it because I’m oblivious to it? Or because my team has Lebron and I pay more attention to that? It just seems like there’s a LOT more hate for LBJ than any other player.
@Vare-A-Jay, there is way more hatred towards LeBron.
@Denny, I don’t really like your tone in this piece. How many times do you have to write that LeBron is a baby?
Here’s the thing about LeBron that NO ONE ever talks about.
He plays a very intense professional TEAM sport where his INDIVIDUAL reputation is being shaped by the TEAM success. Case in point, he had the single greatest playoff performance in the history of the NBA in 2009 and no one outside of Cleveland will give him any props for it. Many people use it as AMMUNITION that he’s not a winner. Do you know how frustrating it must be to be by far and away the best player on the basketball court every given night and to dedicate yourself to doing what’s best for the team to be let down because Mo Williams suddenly can’t hit a jumper? And the second best player on your team is Joe Smith?
Let me just put it into my own perspective. I’ve been watching and playing basketball for a long time. When I play pickup games, I get VERY emotional. (PICKUP games) I can get in peoples faces on my team or the other team. If someone on my team is dribbling with their head down and someone is open up court, I get mad. If someone sets a pick and then doesn’t roll, I get mad.
LeBron is playing PROFESSIONAL basketball. What do you think is going through his head the other night when he is scoring 16 points in 3 minutes and Z and Anthony Parker can’t hit FT and Mo has played with his head up his butt the entire game and fouled out?
I don’t know what he’s thinking. I know I would have been thrown out of the league for roundhouse kicking my teammates in the face if they did that. And I don’t think I’m a bad person, I just REALLY want to win.
LeBron has had to live with Tractor Traylor/Drew Gooden’s mental lapses. Carlos Boozer’s disloyalty, Larry Hughes’ jumper, Damon Jones’ wardrobe, Lucious Harris’ complete inability to remember how to shoot, blockbuster trades in season, contract holdouts, etc. Now he has to deal with constant criticism every night. I read Brian Windhorst (who is great at his job) criticize LeBron because he “stalls the offense” sometimes. OK. Now I have to come on here and read your posts about LeBron being a baby and whining. I mean, yeah does he make faces at the officials when he wants a foul? Yes. Who doesn’t?
The bar is set so incredibly high for this 25 year old. Every time he exceeds expectations we don’t stop and say “Are you serious?!….” we find something ridiculous and inconsequential about him that we use to say “see, I knew he wasn’t all that…” People still call him LeBronze (PAID ESPN ANALYSTS EVEN) despite the CLINIC he put on in the 2008 Olympics en route to a USA gold medal.
It’s like nothing he ever does is good enough and there is always something to nit-pick about. As someone said before, it’s VOMIT-INDUCING! [He shouldn’t have passed to Donyell Marshall, he traveled on that game winner, if only he could hit foul shots, if only he had a reliable jumper, he can’t be considered great because he doesn’t have a post-game, he’s a sore loser for not shaking hands, he’s a egotistical jerk because he wore a t-shirt that said MVP, he’s a baby protected by the league because he confiscated the tape of grainy footage of someone dunking in his general vicinity, he’s showing other teams up when he dances on the bench….now, he doesn’t like when people he doesn’t know touch him.]
People don’t have to even LIKE LeBron but I wish they would just hold him to the same standards they hold everyone else. Kobe was accused of rape and threw his teammates under the bus. He ran shaq out of town because of his ego and remains the most vain prima-dona in the NBA. Despite that, everyone seems to love him and find ridiculous or inconsequential things about him to use to PRAISE HIM! His “killer instinct”, his “will to dominate”, blah blah. Honestly I could care about none of the above. But when I watch Kobe jack up 35 shots a game to his teams detriment, and take 15 ‘hero’ shots a week so that if 3 of them go in he can keep his inflated reputation, and watch him get down on his teammates who then sulk into oblivion, I appreciate LeBron James and what he means to our city and our team. He never gets down on his teammates. When the Cavs lose, HE TAKES responsibility, he doesn’t blame other people. He could have thrown Mike Brown under the bus at ANY TIME over the last 5 years, and he never has. He echos the coaches mantra. He stands by teammates, even when everyone else in Cleveland wants to run them out of town. He is a true professional in every sense, and I’m sick and tired of 99% of the coverage of LeBron. It’s either, he’s leaving Cleveland, or else he’s an jerk with a huge ego that can’t hit jumpers and is protected by referees.
There is very little evidence of ANY of those things, and a LOT of evidence for everything I’ve stated above, yet no one wants to write about that.
I would have thought a CLEVELAND sports blog would at least support their own.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxnYijt19Xk
“because a kid checked his oil ”
best line ever
Great comment, Tsunami.
Unless it’s a ploy, which could be I’m relatively new and haven’t quite read enough from people to know where they really stand, knowing whether someone is being genuine or trying to be sarcastic on the Internet isn’t always easy, I don’t get someone calling or referring to the best Cavalier heck probably the best athlete in Cleveland, in a negative fashion on a web site that primarily covers Cleveland sports teams. Of course if you went to Skip Bayless University you probably know you can make a career out of it so…anyways I can see questioning LeBron’s play at times or perhaps his judgment but anything else just wreaks of HATERADE. It’s easy to HATE on the best tho, I understand. Just my opinion.
@ Tsunami – I think you’ve missed the point here – although critical of LeBron I’m actually defending him here. The point of this piece isn’t the fact that I don’t dig his vibe at times. The point is that people on the outside will harp on any little thing, even when they’re clearly on the wrong side of the argument, and to do so is asinine.
I don’t want to sound like I’m being dismissive of your points, because you bring up very good points.
But, just because I am a fan does not mean that I can’t be critical, and just because I am critical doesn’t mean I’m not a fan.
@boogeyman – 100% serious in this one.
I’m still just stuck on the notion of screaming at strangers in a pickup basketball game.
Tsunami’s kids’ soccer coaches probably cower in fear in their cars during the games.
@Denny,
You make a good point, I just feel like you are trying to legitimize your post by saying you think that LeBron is a lot of the things that people hate on him for, but, in this case maybe things are just getting out of hand. I just don’t like that angle.
I understand you have a right to your opinions, just like Skip Bayless, Charlie Rosen, and Marc Stein. All I’m saying is that I am disappointed with all the constant nit-picking that surrounds LeBron, especially in Cleveland. Not only are there countless inconsequential things about LeBron that anyone in the media could write about that are POSITIVE, but his game speaks for himself.
@DP – I don’t have kids yet and I never played soccer so I don’t know if they will or not. I will probably be the coach, and the only people cowering in fear will be parents/other coaches that get down on little kids. I hope LeBron is still playing when my kids are old enough to watch so I can say, “this is how you play the game of basketball. It’s a team sport, you make your teammates better, you take what the defense gives you, you always make the pass for the easy bucket before you take the difficult shot, you always support your teammates. You always listen to your coach. You show sportsmanship on and off the court.”
@ Tsunami – This post was largely as a rebuttal piece towards the others. I’m not writing it to be antagonistic, or contrarian like Bayless or Rosen or Stein – but in this case, I think clarifying my stance on some of the negative things that have happened around LBJ helps my argument against the positions taken by Sharp and Blazers’ Edge. It was a piece aimed at an outside audience and I felt that it was best to establish my position on LeBron’s antics before making my full argument.
Your criticism is fair and it’s not falling on deaf ears – but I the reason I put my opinions out there was to help support my argument and not to be a rabble-rouser or anything of that sort.
@Denny, fair enough. Thanks for clarifying.
“the fact that LeBron can be a baby, and a whiner, and a diva only adds to that.”
Everybody on the planet acts like a baby, whiner and diva on occasion. Fortunately, most of us aren’t being watched at all times, and aren’t asked to be accountable for every moment where we failed to be perfect.
@Denny well you know what they say about opinions their like (_|_) we all got one! đ I cut LeBron James all the slack in the world simply because he rescued the Cavaliers franchise and it’s that simple but I can understand how alot of people don’t share in my thinking. That being said I don’t have an LBJ altar or anything but I can appreciate the guy for the physical greatness he possesses and the fact that he does everything he can to help his team win. Cleveland hasn’t had a professional sports star of his caliber since the days of Jim Brown.
@Mike, very true. @boogeyman, that’s pretty much how I feel too.