King crybaby
Well another well-packaged athlete showed his true colors when his agent and PR lackeys weren’t around to pull the strings.
LeBron “King” James showed that he can be a royal crybaby with the best of them when things don’t go his (or the NBA’s) way. After being knocked out of the NBA playoffs with a 4-2 series loss to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals, James stormed off the court without congratulating any of the Magic players and then slinked out of the locker room without addressing the media. And then to compound the problem, despite having a little time to reflect on his adolescent hissy fit, James tried to justify his actions as those of someone who just wanted to win.
"It's hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them," James said the day after elimination. "I'm a winner … it's not being a poor sport or anything like that. If somebody beats you up, you're not going to congratulate them. That doesn't make sense to me."
Seems to work well in boxing and hockey your highness.
Along with the rules of the game, the next most important thing kids are taught as they participate in sports is to be a “Good Sport” and play the game fairly. At the end of my daughter’s softball games, the girls rush to form a line and slap hands with the opposing team. It’s cute, but it is also a valuable life-building lesson. They actually seem to enjoy the postgame ritual, not treat it as if they’re going to the dentist.
We could go on another tirade about just how fairly the NBA treats its sub-superstar players, but showing good sportsmanship is the backbone of athletic competition, otherwise we’d just hand two teams sticks and let them beat the crap out of each other or do like the Aztecs (or maybe it was the Mayans) and the losers were turned into human sacrifice fodder.
"It doesn't make sense for me to go over and shake somebody's hand," added James.
How about the fact that the better TEAM actually won! You were magnificent LeBron, and that last-second, 3-point shot you hit to win Game 2, was one of the greatest clutch plays I’ve ever witnessed. But you didn’t seem to have any problem talking yourself up in the postgame interview.
I guess when you’re blessed with that kind of athletic talent and have been told since you were in high school that you’re going to be the next greatest thing since the wheel, it can be kind of hard to accept being relegated to the land of us mere mortals. Despite what the commercials and billboards and NBA pundits and sports talk shows led you to believe, you were not entitled to be in the NBA finals.
After averaging 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.2 assists during what will most likely be an MVP regular season, James put up 38.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8.2 assists against Orlando and finished with 35.3/9.1/7.3 numbers for the entire playoffs. He elevated his game, but may have devalued his image.
Since Day 1 when the ping-pong balls magically fell so that he could be drafted and play for his hometown Cavaliers, James and the NBA have promoted him as the heir to Jordan as the face of the league. There are those that would argue for Kobe Bryant, but a rape accusation tends to scare off the advertising execs to a degree. For the most part, James has been a poster boy of good behavior for a superstar. Until now.
The NBA has often been accused of marketing its individual stars instead of the game itself or some of the great teams that have come along recently (think Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs). Well now they do have the perfect poster boy for its sport – the spoiled, petulant athlete who thinks he is above the game and that the entire sport revolves around him – welcome NBA fans to the beginning of the James dynasty.
LeBron “King” James showed that he can be a royal crybaby with the best of them when things don’t go his (or the NBA’s) way. After being knocked out of the NBA playoffs with a 4-2 series loss to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals, James stormed off the court without congratulating any of the Magic players and then slinked out of the locker room without addressing the media. And then to compound the problem, despite having a little time to reflect on his adolescent hissy fit, James tried to justify his actions as those of someone who just wanted to win.
"It's hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them," James said the day after elimination. "I'm a winner … it's not being a poor sport or anything like that. If somebody beats you up, you're not going to congratulate them. That doesn't make sense to me."
Seems to work well in boxing and hockey your highness.
Along with the rules of the game, the next most important thing kids are taught as they participate in sports is to be a “Good Sport” and play the game fairly. At the end of my daughter’s softball games, the girls rush to form a line and slap hands with the opposing team. It’s cute, but it is also a valuable life-building lesson. They actually seem to enjoy the postgame ritual, not treat it as if they’re going to the dentist.
We could go on another tirade about just how fairly the NBA treats its sub-superstar players, but showing good sportsmanship is the backbone of athletic competition, otherwise we’d just hand two teams sticks and let them beat the crap out of each other or do like the Aztecs (or maybe it was the Mayans) and the losers were turned into human sacrifice fodder.
"It doesn't make sense for me to go over and shake somebody's hand," added James.
How about the fact that the better TEAM actually won! You were magnificent LeBron, and that last-second, 3-point shot you hit to win Game 2, was one of the greatest clutch plays I’ve ever witnessed. But you didn’t seem to have any problem talking yourself up in the postgame interview.
I guess when you’re blessed with that kind of athletic talent and have been told since you were in high school that you’re going to be the next greatest thing since the wheel, it can be kind of hard to accept being relegated to the land of us mere mortals. Despite what the commercials and billboards and NBA pundits and sports talk shows led you to believe, you were not entitled to be in the NBA finals.
After averaging 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.2 assists during what will most likely be an MVP regular season, James put up 38.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8.2 assists against Orlando and finished with 35.3/9.1/7.3 numbers for the entire playoffs. He elevated his game, but may have devalued his image.
Since Day 1 when the ping-pong balls magically fell so that he could be drafted and play for his hometown Cavaliers, James and the NBA have promoted him as the heir to Jordan as the face of the league. There are those that would argue for Kobe Bryant, but a rape accusation tends to scare off the advertising execs to a degree. For the most part, James has been a poster boy of good behavior for a superstar. Until now.
The NBA has often been accused of marketing its individual stars instead of the game itself or some of the great teams that have come along recently (think Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs). Well now they do have the perfect poster boy for its sport – the spoiled, petulant athlete who thinks he is above the game and that the entire sport revolves around him – welcome NBA fans to the beginning of the James dynasty.
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