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

Like Kobe in game 7 of the finals this year. Kobe tried to throw the game but Ron Artest saved him....

 

Kobe played horribly in game 7 of the finals this year. His performance was historically bad for a superstar in such an important situation. But to say that he quit or had the body language of a defeatist is just stupid.

 

I don't have a problem with the criticism of the spectacle. Particularly in light of his unique situation with his hometown area. That part was crass. But the guy is 25 and mostly plays the game the right way and all effort. I personally appreciate his influence on the game a lot more than Jordan or Kobe's.

And as far as being "competitive" (or lack thereof), so Mo Malone, Chuck, KG and Shaq (and nearly Hakeem & Kobe) showed the same when they left or forced their team to trade them so they can play with better players?

And you can be sure many other greats (Wilt, Kareem, Oscar) would have used free agency if they could have.

 

Kobe in game 6 in Boston and Kobe in game 7 in Phoenix was way more "I give up and will pout in a corner and lay the blame on my teammates" than anything I have seen out of Lebron.

 

I agree that Kobe quit in those games. I was talking about game 7 this year.

 

We're just not communicating. I never saw Moses or Hakeem quit, especially in a playoff game. And either I don't know basketball at all, or I saw Lebron basically give in during the playoffs this year. It was incredible and shocking to me. I've rewatched some of it to make sure I'm not crazy.

And like I say, maybe I'm wrong and it was something about the lighting, an injury, and weird coaching and incredible defense, over multiple games, but I think I saw a guy quit on his team. That's what I'm talking about. Not pushing for trades, etc. Like you say, plenty of competitive guys have pushed for trades. They want to win, and who could blame any of them?

Anyway, my last post in the thread. I've repeated myself way too much already. He's not the devil, and people like me should calm down, but it's been disappointing. The way he handled this, the way he played down the stretch, the way the media has pretty much been riding his jock forever until now... all disappointing.

 

Did you not see Cleveland/Boston Game 5 this year?

Did LA have homecourt advantage in any of the games you cited?

 

Being on the road is now an excuse for giving up in an elimination game?

 

The media created Lebron James and now everybody wants to turn in him. This whole 2010 free agency has been hyped for years and it's the media and the teams that gave lebron too much power.

You give a kid a box of matches and he blows up the house, you don't blame the kid, you blame yourself.

I've hated lebron for so long, partly because of the hype from the media. Now that all this backlash has happened, I'm happy that lebron screwed over the cavs and the media doesn't like it. The cavs/media made their bed, now they have to sleep in it.

 

WHEN has Lebron EVER blamed his team? We blame his teamates, anyone who watched the orlando series blames his teammates, so how does the fans blaming lebrons teammates make Lebron a weak superstar?

 

Ofcourse he quit. Especially in final seconds of game 6. He was passing up open shots and trotting up and down the court on defense. Yet, NOBODY would dare accuse Lebron on quitting.

 

Not sure where you're going there. I don't think Kobe completely gave up, I think the C's defense stepped up. There was a difference.

 

No, HCA means you had the better record, were seeded higher, and more home games remaining than the other team. In other words, you should be in the driver's seat. And in Lebron's case, you were favored to win. "Giving up" when you're already defeated is much different than doing it when you're still the favorite. Not that either is good.

 

On your 1st point, for sure Moses, no. I'd have think about Hakeem a bit. I wouldn't use "quit", but at least one of those Seattle series he was so frustrated he wasn't his usual self on either end. The last Shaq series was ugly too--but I don't think it was effort. Kobe (vs Detriot, Phx & Boston) has look disinterested and played poorly in big playoff moments too (and looked pouty and blown up his team and thrown others under the bus for it).

In truth, did part of Lebron quit, I don't know. I know he played phenomenal in losing series to the Pistons, Celts & Magic--maybe between that history, an injury, knowing even if they get by the Celts the superior Magic & Lakers wait, off the court family stuff, and knowing he was a free agent--perhaps it all got to him. Even IF so, he still went out and produced a 27-19-10 elimination (hard to really quit and get 19 boards, let alone the rest).

The only thing disappointing to me was "the show" in light of feelings of his home area. Still, it is not a rape incident that goes to trial that at best is infidelity, it is not packing guns, it is not having someone get shot by your posse, and it is not punching a fan in the stands (well, maybe some of them deserve it). Still, I hope he regrets that & from my view few athletes have been as vilified in the media as Lebron for something legal and within the league rules agreed by the owners and players--a freedom other great unfortunatly couldn't use (e.g., Wilt & Oscar) and whose legacy's probably suffered.

 

I admit I was annoyed with all the crap about this high schooler too. Thought it insane someone would draft him over a 19 year old freshman who just dominated college basketball. I was routing for Anthony to be better.

But at some point a few years in I realized the guy was an amazing specimen who played all phases of the game and played it the right way. I stop holding the media phenom thing against him and just focused on his play. Seems like a good teammate too, and doesn't appear to run around in dog rings, with guys packing heat, or b**** about foreigners (John Rocker?) or gays (Reggie White?).

 

Even if Lebron quit going into game 6 this year, his team didn't have homecourt advantage any more.