Mo Williams tweets Dwayne Wade "… watch your mouth. I read your article."

... And he's still a much better basketball player than Derek Fisher.

 

How about the fact that he was doing it for a team that won 66 games instead of a team that won 26 games? A guy that puts up 17/6 per game on a 26-win team is not an all-star caliber player.

 

No, it appears YOU have no idea what you're talking about. Why don't you check out how his TS% reached career highs when he played in Cleveland? Fact is LBJ made Mo a more efficient player.

Of course you also disregarded what I said about Mo Williams freezing Bogut out, causing his team to be less productive. Bogut shoots over 50% FG, much higher than Mo William's %.

 

Good lord, all this hate and stat fluffing for Mo Williams.

I don't think the point is whether or not he was better or worse in Cleveland, etc. IMO, the point is he has every right to tell Wade he didn't like being blamed for the playoff losses.

I mean, I like Williams more for having an ounce of pride than I do Wade for blaming Lebron's teammates for failure.

And like I said, this is just going to motivate the rest of the league more. I love it. Everyone is going to be gunning for the pre-anointed, self-proclaimed champs every night.

Why Wade needed to toss off comments like that to defend Lebron is beyond me.

 

Maybe because as a fellow superstar Wade understands it hard to carry a team by yourself. When LBJ left Cleveland its like he left a contender to join the enemy, when the truth was he was the only one holding that sad sack team up. Any astute basketball observer should know that the Cavs sans Lebron sucks. Why he has to be judged for not sticking with a crappy team is beyond me.

 

I definitely agree with you here, but I think it's going to have a positive effect on the Heat long-term over the course of the season. I think the constant adversity and intensity of their games will prevent them from coasting and make them become a more cohesive unit come playoff time.

 

Any team that lost a superstar like LeBron would suck. Nobody is denying that. The superstar is supposed to carry the team, fair or not. Only weak superstars would make excuses when they failed. Again, few people fault LeBron leaving Cleveland. But he, and Wade, could have done it in a lot more class than what they have.

 

i luv mo. i hope he takes wade out!

 

Yeah, but he also isn't supposed to do it alone. Except for Hakeem, I can't think of any other team that won without multiple superstar or star players. What happens is there is a double standard with Lebron James. When he was still in Cleveland people were calling him a overrated for not winning a ring, but now that he decided to form a stronger team people are saying he should have stayed in Cleveland, even if it meant he'd be ringless forever.

Obviously LBJ could have done with more class. However, "doing it in a classy manner" doesn't correlate with all the "Quitter", "tarnished legacy", "2nd fiddle" talk going around. What happens is haters call LBJ all these quitter labels, then when asked to explain how he is somehow supposed to owe Cleveland anything after he made them relevant for 7 years, that's when they resort to the "he could have done it with more class" argument.

Anyway what kind of argument is "he could have done it with more class" anyway? If you aren't a Cleveland fan, who gives a ****? LBJ didn't commit any crimes against the people of cleveland, and whatever debt he's owed to his own hometown has been paid long ago with that finals appearance and multiple playoff runs. Yes LBJ has a huge ego and is totally self-centered. However I'm sure people are gonna be willing to overlook it if he brings the hardware (see: MJ and KObe).

 

This has been typed here and elsewhere a million times, but there aren't many of us judging him for leaving Cleveland. The way he did it, however, says a lot about him. That's just my 2 cents.

Want to play with your favorite players and reach enormous success? Yeah, go for it! I'm not one of the "oh his legacy!11!!! oh noes!1!!" guys. I'm one of the guys who would like to have seen an ounce of class and/or humility.

As for playing with lesser players and carrying the load, there's a classy way to handle that and talk about that also. I thought Wade could do better than that, but I guess not.

 

I'll check out his TS% after you check out Rafer Alston's shooting percentages, whom you compared Mo Willams to, roswellian.

 

B-Bob, yeah, everyone was gunning for the Bulls to. At some point it sinks in those guys are going to kick your ass and it works against opponents who think maybe they can save a little to go after the W the next game. As far as I can tell the NBA players in fact like the Heat trio and more or less respect their decisions and say damn that is going to good team.

It is the media and panzy fans b****ing and whining like a losing bachelorette (except for people living in Clev/Akron, where it is understandable) .

And yes Mo Williams declining productivity and efficiency in their elimination series the last two years has big a problem. Lebron's has averaged more double his PPG, double his APG, triple his steals, (won't even get to blocks and boards), and shot a higher %/scored with more efficiently vs Boston/Orlando in those 12 games. Mo Williams has been shown if he is supposed to be your #2 guy you are not going to beat a good playoff team no matter how good your #1 guy is. Jordan/Kobe/Wade/Magic couldn't get any farther either if their #2 was Mo Williams.

And the only reason Mo W go to the all-star game as because of James. Point guards who top out at 17 & 6 on bad teams and don't play defense normally don't sniff all-star games.

Saying all this I don't think it is Mo Williams fault or that he quit. He and the rest of his teammates not named Lebron are just not excellent, late playoff worthy, players. Delonte West is the only Cav where his character, motivation & focus are at issue--but I think he has diagnosed mental health issues. And he has positive things to say about Lebron & the Cavs org: http://www.bvonsports.com/2008/10/21/cavs-delonte-west-s-depression-made-him-want-to-quit-team/

 

Actually, Mo Will was a shooting w**** on a sucky team the bucks.

 

Does demanding a trade if you don't get help count?

 

It was too obvious that Lebron quit in the playoffs. Regardless of the reasoning..

Now Wade is just trying to deflect some of the blame for his new teammate. If Lebron said it... it would be seen as a copout answer.

I think it was a combination of both actually.. teammates not stepping up AND Lebron quitting.

 

Mo was never all star caliber. He just got worked onto the team. He's a marginal starting point, no better no worse.

All that said, I'm starting to wonder if the Cavs just might muster up a F U season because of all this. Had LeBron left w/o his own TV special, they would have just rolled over.

If this brings out the best in the rest of the league, it's a great thing.

 

Wade needs to re-watch game 6, Cavs vs Celtics. If you can't tell that LeBron gave up.... there is no reasoning that can change your mind.

You can count on your hand the amount of times he drove past the free throw line. The body language of a defeatist was there. He deferred and passed it to guys in bad situations with little shot clock left. He gave up.

 

That's true, that's a positive.

But you're right, it's because of the TV special (among other things). Fans are learning what kind of player LeBron really is. Some people aren't super thrilled that the best player in the game is an attention seeker instead of a more fierce competitor.

Like BBob said, everyone isn't down on LeBron only because he left Cleveland. Who cares about Cleveland?

 

Quick example: Bulls. When Jordan played baseball they still were a fairly good playoff team.

Jordan is considered the GOAT and yet when he left they still were a decent squad to say the least. Lebron wanted to be in that position and only time will tell if he trully was when the Cavs either surprise us or have a really bad record.

 

I agree with most of your post except the "panzy fans." If you love the game like I do, and you've been an NBA junky for over 30 years, then it's okay if you say "I hate what this diva is doing, bringing the NBA that much closer to WWF." If that's a panzy statement, then I'm with panzy this time.

When your league's best player doesn't handle competition like Bird, Magic, Jordan or Zeke... When he quits in a playoff series, dances on the sidelines like a junior high girl, and then creates a ridiculous reality-TV-inspired spectacle for his free-agent decision... I think it makes the whole enterprise less interesting to me. I'm disappointed in a brand and a product that I've mostly enjoyed for a long time. And if he doesn't want to be a roll model, fine, but good lord, what is he telling youngsters? "Bring as much attention to yourself as possible." Like we don't have enough of a problem with that right now in US America.

Again, no problem with him teaming up with great players and wanting to have fun. None whatsoever.

Still maintain Wade knows better than cheap shotting the other Cavs players, who'd been very supportive of Lebron's decision (as you noted and referenced.) Wade has been pretty classy in his career and here's hoping he maintains that track record and tutors Lebron a bit.