Yea, I realize that. You do realize that it was also LeBron James bringing attention to LeBron James, don't you? Hell, LeBron has all but admitted that. Sure, he can say he expects to win every year, but don't [itch bay] and whine that people criticize you when you don't. You can't have it both ways.
Lebron gives more of his money and time away than just about anyone in the league. Certainly as much as any superstar.
Maybe, though they do the same with Tiger Woods and I think he's awesome. Not as much with Bron. There's more to it, I believe.
It's not just that. Anytime a black athlete does what they want instead of what the public thinks they should do, they catch hell. Lebron James owed the city of Cleveland not one [dadgum] thing. He carried that garbage franchise and that sewage treatment plant of a city on his shoulders for years. He finally woke up and did something for himself. I say way to go.
In hindsight, of course. However, roll the clock back without knowing the backlash and he'd do it all again. He did nothing wrong.
I don't think LeBron's catching hell has the first thing to do with him being black. I agree with you that he owed nothing to Cleveland. He played his ass off for them. However, he knew, or should have known, when he decided to go to Miami that he was going to get incredible scrutiny, not because he's black but because he's the best player in the NBA that joined a team with two other franchise players in order to win championships. It just comes with the territory.
I don't think it was wrong either; I just think it added to the level of scrutiny he was going to receive, and I think that's fair.
Ray Borque whined his way out of Boston to go to Colorado and win a Stanley Cup. The ESPN staff couldn't line up fast enough to fellate him and celebrate his win. Lebron simply exercises a choice he had in free agency and they use him as a pinata. I guess that's all just coincidence.
Now race has been brought into the equation. Now we are comparing hockey and basketball? Half of America has no idea the NHL exists.
Part of the media's roll in the LeBron narrative. As much as they force the issue of him being not clutch, his abandonment of Cleveland, the decision and the pep rally that followed, they should be ready to strap on the knee pads for him if the Heat pull this out.
The noston series put the LeBron shit to an end for me. He willed his way past a team that was better than his and wanted it more than his team. He gets too much shit.
He's had an unheralded amount of expectation places on him, people want him to be something he's not. He still has a lot to prove but I think he has finally realized that shooting jumpers isn't going to win him a title. It appears that the work he put in working on his post game is showing now.
LeBron does get too much shit, mostly because we are saturated with media analysis and fan discussion over every minute detail in sports and he's a pretty big deal. However, Jordan got a lot of shit, too, until he won a title in '91 and look where he is now. The only thing, though, is that LeBron lacks the unbelievable mental determination of Jordan and I do think pressure situations have affected him in the past. Still, the obsessive hatred is a little ridiculous. Cleveland can suck it, he didn't owe them anything. I can't think of a person who wouldn't relocate to Miami from Cleveland for a better job. I also think he fouled Durant. I generally follow my hard and fast rule of calling fouls in pick-up games. I very rarely call a foul for physical play, but, if you mess with my arms while I'm shooting, it's a foul every time. To me, it was a foul when LeBron had his arm wrapped around Durant's right arm and that was a pretty clear foul. I also hate the "let the players decide" mantra in the end game situations. Obviously, a ticky tack foul should be off limits, but, if it's a foul, then call it. Otherwise, you are giving the defensive team the advantage by allowing them to play at a more physical level than the rules normally allow.
By the way, this is 100% true. I don't think anyone here does this (now that Savage Orange Jug is gone), but the real world is made up of dipshits who do. Generally, people (i.e. white people) consistently downplay and scoff at this idea, but it's definitely out there.
