I love what (LeBron) does on the court when the ball is moving, the offense is being run, he’s in the open court, he chases people down, etc. I really, really don’t love what he does when he takes the ball and runs a 22 second iso play. I don’t love when somebody touches him and the world ends.
When the team is losing and he’s busy whining and thinking about one call and not getting back in the game, I draw the line. It was clear in the Washington game. It was blatantly clear last night. I don’t know about the games in between because I didn’t see them, but maybe similar things happened in between. All I know is I want the guy that I like to show up, and not the guy that likely things he can part Lake Erie (OR THE HUDSON RIVER OMGGGGG) just by walking towards it.
via Cavs 87, Bobcats 94 – Unlike Chuck Norris’, LeBron’s Tears Don’t Cure Anything. | WaitingForNextYear.
It’s like LeBron spent two years building up credit with public opinion and since the clocked ticked 0:00 in Game 6 he’s been blowing it like Antoine Walker at the Wynn. Not shaking hands, not meeting with the media, the MVP shirt, the incessant whining, the jersey retirement silliness, and all the “I don’t want to talk about free agency. Have you seen my new Yankees shoes while I’m in town for the Yankees parade?” business.
You can tell great blogs from good ones with how they approach the weaknesses of their best players. It’s hard to say that LeBron’s whining too much, that Ben Gordon’s sucking up too many possessions, that Joe Johnson should handcuff himself if he’s cold, that Dwight needs to play with more focus, that (insert Kobe criticism that Lakers fans will violently rebel against even if it’s blatantly obvious because they cannot deal with the idea of Kobe ever having a bad game). So this is mostly a sign of how good WFNY is, day in and day out. It’s also something to file away for when the collective Cleveland fanbase is on the psychiatrists’ couch dealing with abandonment issues (to go along with an inferiority complex and PTFD – post-traumatic fan disorder).
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Thanks for the kind words, Matt.
Hey Matt -
Thanks for the link. As one who tends to mock the over-reactionary, this is about as reactionary as I get to a game. It was a bad loss. LBJ was walking down the court. I was hammered when I wrote the recap. Etc.
If LBJ leaves Cleveland (and I hope to sweet baby Jesus that it doesn’t happen), I will not be surprised if some yay-hoo gives me flak and tries to place blame on me because I wasn’t 100% cheerleader. Everyone else and their mom has been talking about how LeBron’s a baby (or maybe it’s because I live in DC I just hear it all the time), and I’ve been one to defend him. Howevaaaa, the past few weeks have seemed egregious even to me, a Cavs fan.