LeBron has made some questionable decisions. But it's safe to say people are starting to overblow every little thing the guy does at this point.
Nick Saban knows all about how to leave classesly, the way he left the Miami Dolphins. He's also white.
Like I said in my subsequent post, I appreciate the genuinely good people that are in sports. Its why I have such affection for our current team -- lots of good guys. I just don't get worked up too much over players with the less appealing personalities. Its not worth the aggravation, and it certainly doesn't help add to the enjoyment of the game in my opinion.
Oscar Robertson defending LeBron James towards the end was interesting. It looks like he sees some of himself in LeBron. <object width="384" height="216" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" id="ESPN_VIDEO" data="http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf" allowScriptAccess="always" allowNetworking="all"><param name="movie" value="http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><param name="wmode" value="opaque"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"/><param name="flashVars" value="id=5710768"/></object>
Is blowing a 3-1 series lead choking? How about blowing a 20 pt lead at home to an underdog Boston team in the 08 Finals, and losing the final game by almost 40? What about almost getting swept by Detroit in 04, while you post the worst numbers of the series?*
Or they are ok with LeBron exercising his rights and showing the league/man that he isn't owned by them, but rather controls his own destiny.
I can't see the video at work, but Robertson should see a lot of himself in James. They're both outstanding players, arguably the best in the game and stuck wasting their primes with teams that can't put great supporting casts around them. Unlike Robertson, James was lucky enough to play in the era of free agency, and found himself a better situation instead of waiting for management to do the job for him or trade him to a contender when he's on his last legs.
They didn't lose to underdog, they overachieved but came short, very different story. It's a team game and individual can only do so much, but there's always a sense who's the underdog before the series. They did lose to Detroit in 04, but the main reason was that Malone was injured. Plus, that wasn't his team, was it? If Shaq's gonna win the FMVP had they won it, Shaq's the one to shoulder the blame too.
Having the best team in regular seasons in consecutive years is bad management. It's always everybody's fault but LeBron's.
He has said it more than one occaision: '“I love our fans. Cleveland fans are awesome. But I mean, even my family gets spoiled at times watching me doing things that I do, on and off the court.” http://outofbounds.nbcsports.com/2010/08/17/lebron-cleveland-fans-were-spoiled/
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