LeBron James (2008-09 NBA MVP)

[OH10]

Man, Lebron has to feel like a 14-year-old girl at an R. Kelly party with how much he is getting [censored]ed on.



We'll see come playoff time.... then, I think you'll see the alarm go off.

[Bob.Barker]

Originally Posted by GatorsAreGood

He talks about being the first Billionaire in Sports more than winning a Champiosnship. http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur28217.cfm

Congratulations on destroying your argument's credibility with a link (nowhere does it mention winning a championship)

Originally Posted by StadiumDorm

Man, Lebron has to feel like a 14-year-old girl at an R. Kelly party with how much he is getting [censored]ed on.

I was thinking moreso the maturity of the arguments.

[tibor75]

Originally Posted by Bob.Barker

Congratulations on destroying your argument's credibility with a link (nowhere does it mention winning a championship).

I'm pretty sure that was the point.

[OH10]

Originally Posted by tibor75

I'm pretty sure that was the point.

When the article is about marketing and not a seeking a championship, then it's not the point.

I suppose in every article about Lebron James, he should mention his quest for a title.

[Napoleonbuck]

Originally Posted by GatorsAreGood

I'm not confused about anything. As a rookie Wade took his team to the playoffs and into the second round. It too LeBron till his third year. You Wade haters are all the same, jealous that Queen James hasn't done [censored], so you put down Wade. Face it, LeBron is nothing more than a glorified Dan Marino right now, stats galore but he can't sniff a Ring.

I'm not one to call name, but you'r delusional!

He's 23 years old, and you're already calling him a bust?

Wow.

That's a Florida education for ya folks...

[Bob.Barker]

Originally Posted by tibor75

I'm pretty sure that was the point.

That article addresses his global business aspirations, which are linked to international basketball participation. It has nothing to do with the NBA.

If someone does an article about his involvement with the LBJ logo on the upcoming OSU bball jerseys, does that somehow speak ill of his commitment to the NBA?

[SanAntonioBuck]

AP

LeBron maintains hot hand to carry Cavs

By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer

CLEVELAND (AP) -- The little boy in the front row stuck out his tongue, razzing LeBron James enough that he clanged a free throw. Luckily, LeBron James Jr. didn't make his daddy miss again.

Continued...

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

LeBron takes to heart jabs of the critics

By Brian Windhorst

CLEVELAND - LeBron James is always talking, and everyone is always listening.
He holds more media sessions than most of the NBA's superstars, and that doesn't include the special network sit-downs for each national television game.
As a result, he tends to fall into rote answers, ones he doesn't always really mean. His desire to build and maintain a certain persona, though, can't always hide his true feelings.
For example, he will tell you that he does not believe in pressure. This is one of his favorite answers to routine fawning queries as the Cavs cross the country and he's asked how does he ``handle it.''

Continued......

[ScriptOhio]

A funny thing happened to LeBron James on the way to becoming a hybrid of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.
He has gotten worse.
As a rookie, James was the best 19-year-old in NBA history.
The following season, he was one of the top five 20-year-olds in league history.
Last season, James remained among an elite group of players. Only Shaquille O'Neal, Julius Erving (ABA) and Michael Jordan were better at 21 years old.
This season, not only is James not one the best 22-year-olds of all time, he might not be one of the top 15 players in the league.
Most of the regression is because of his career-low .682 free throw percentage, which has declined every season.
The rest is shrouded in conspiracy theories and circumstantial evidence.
Among the accumulating pile of it, James isn't playing as hard as last season and might even be trying to get Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown fired.
The Cavaliers play the 10th slowest pace in the league, which isn't good for a young, athletic player like James and another reason some of his numbers are down.
Last month, James questioned Brown's style of play.
"We don't get easy buckets," he said. "I don't get easy buckets like I used to. Easy buckets can always help. It doesn't hurt. At times, it's fun to get up and down and throw lobs. I've probably caught two lobs this year. That's a career low."

Entire article: http://www.washtimes.com/sports/2007...1349-5131r.htm

[exhawg]

Originally Posted by ScriptOhio

A funny thing happened to LeBron James on the way to becoming a hybrid of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.
He has gotten worse.
As a rookie, James was the best 19-year-old in NBA history.
The following season, he was one of the top five 20-year-olds in league history.
Last season, James remained among an elite group of players. Only Shaquille O'Neal, Julius Erving (ABA) and Michael Jordan were better at 21 years old.
This season, not only is James not one the best 22-year-olds of all time, he might not be one of the top 15 players in the league.
Most of the regression is because of his career-low .682 free throw percentage, which has declined every season.
The rest is shrouded in conspiracy theories and circumstantial evidence.
Among the accumulating pile of it, James isn't playing as hard as last season and might even be trying to get Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown fired.
The Cavaliers play the 10th slowest pace in the league, which isn't good for a young, athletic player like James and another reason some of his numbers are down.
Last month, James questioned Brown's style of play.
"We don't get easy buckets," he said. "I don't get easy buckets like I used to. Easy buckets can always help. It doesn't hurt. At times, it's fun to get up and down and throw lobs. I've probably caught two lobs this year. That's a career low."

Entire article: http://www.washtimes.com/sports/2007...1349-5131r.htm

That writer probably should have written that article before Lebron scored at least 29 pts in 8 straight games. I never understood the whole faster offense thing. Do you run down and throw up a shot just to get a shot off before 7 seconds run off the clock? Is Mike Brown telling them not to run a fast break? It seems to me that the Cavs run on the break every chance they get. The big offensive problem is they don't have a good plan and tend to stand around too much.

[crazybuckfan40]

Originally Posted by exhawg

That writer probably should have written that article before Lebron scored at least 29 pts in 8 straight games. I never understood the whole faster offense thing. Do you run down and throw up a shot just to get a shot off before 7 seconds run off the clock? Is Mike Brown telling them not to run a fast break? It seems to me that the Cavs run on the break every chance they get. The big offensive problem is they don't have a good plan and tend to stand around too much.

Bingo...I also remember a writer writing the same type of article last year from the Washtimes...Anyone know if this is the same guy...

[buckeyeboy]

Originally Posted by ScriptOhio

This season, not only is James not one the best 22-year-olds of all time, he might not be one of the top 15 players in the league.

. The author of that article lost any credibility he had when he made that ridiculous statement. I'll tell you this much--if you polled the GMs of each of the NBA teams, I guarantee they'd laugh in your face if you asked them whether there are 15 players in the NBA right now that they'd take over LeBron. Right now, I think you can make a legitimate case for two players in the league being better than LeBron, those two being Nash and Kobe.

[buckeyeboy]

Originally Posted by crazybuckfan40

Bingo...I also remember a writer writing the same type of article last year from the Washtimes...Anyone know if this is the same guy...

I remember what you're saying--there were a few sour grapes articles written by some crybaby reporter from Washington following the Cavs eliminating the Wizards from the NBA playoffs. As you said, it would be interesting to find out if this is the same author. It would explain a lot.

[Piney]

About James not playing well over the first half, I noticed no one posted Simmons' follow up post to his "LeBron is coasting" article. It was in his February 26th blog.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...6&name=simmons

In it was a great response explaining LeBron's play this year. And over the past few games it seems like he is proving this theory.

MATT IN LONG BEACH
I am writing to you with the aid of beer and Xanax, and which makes writing a coherent e-mail both challenging and ill-advised. But I'm from Cleveland, I've watched LeBron since he was a sophomore in high school, and I think I have some non-scout, non-Tim Legler based perspectives.


First off, there is NO doubt LeBron is taking the season off. And as one of the four optimistic Cleveland sports fans alive, I present this to you:


1. Last year, they were one rebound away from taking down the Pistons in six and moving on to the Heat (a very good matchup for them), but thanks to Ilgauskas, Varejao and Flip Murray, they missed three straight rebounds off Detroit free throws which would have given LeBron (virtually unstoppable at that point) one of three chances to score ONE hoop.


2. LeBron was coming off a season in which he NO doubt deserved the MVP, and put on a truly effort-based performance in the playoffs. (Remember, no one mentioned his killer instinct when he shot three consecutive daggers into Washington's hopes, and then literally bruised his way to three wins against Detroit.)


3. His team's two biggest signings in his tenure have been Larry Hughes (a complete bust) and Ilgauskas, who signed a five-year deal and realized that no matter where he is in five years, he will still be a viable big man on any team. Z's been playing with less heart and effort than you would think BECAUSE he's a 7-foot-3 slow white man with bad feet, but trust me he's still a liability on both ends of the floor, and has been starting in a "showcasing" role for two years and sitting during crunch time during the last two seasons.


4. He just watched his friend and rival D-Wade take advantage of having Shaq, Payton, Walker, Mourning, Haslem and Jason Williams (all better than their current counterparts on the Cavs), as well as silly officiating almost explicitly aimed at making a new star after Kobe's near-trial.


Now LeBron is tired and frustrated. He's waiting for Z to get a rebound. He's waiting for Marshall to make a layup. ... If LeBron had competent teammates (not good ones, competent ones), there is NO DOUBT he would be averaging eight assists per game. Watch tapes from last season, he had guys legitimately blowing 5-7 great looks a game (bunnies, dunks, layups). He has NO confidence in his teammates, so naturally his passing and shot selection dwindled. He's now in Year 4 and the best shooter he's ever played with is Damon Jones who's one trade away from setting the record for most teams played for in a career. Think about what he's had: J.R. Bremer, Eric Williams, Lucious Harris, Ricky Davis, David Wesley, Eric Snow. ... These are guys that started!!


I think he's frustrated AND exhausted. Outside of Iverson, NO ONE gets beat up like him. No one. Wade jumps aimlessly with his back to the basket into traffic, throws the ball over his head and gets a whistle five times a game. Dwyane Wade is Reggie Wayne: Fast, agile and you better not touch him. LeBron is LaDainian. Can you imagine how good LeBron would be with Lorenzo Neal setting picks at the free throw line for him? He took the WBC's off because they were the World Basketball Championships. Remember? He was regrouping. He started the season as a MORTAL lock to enter the playoffs as a top-four seed, knows he could put up 29-7-7 every night and STILL not win the MVP ... so screw it, he coasted a little (and keeps coasting).


The real issue: We crowned him the next Jordan before he played a game, forgetting that Chicago didn't give MJ a supporting cast for six years. LeBron outperformed expectations in his first three seasons; in his fourth season, even though he's been a "disappointment," the Cavs are within 2.5 games of the No. 1 seed and sitting in a better position than Kobe's Lakers and Wade's Heat. (By the way, he's 3-1 this season against Wade and Kobe.) The next two months are completely and utterly irrelevant -- LeBron is saving himself for the playoffs and a true push against a wide-open Eastern Conference.

[crazybuckfan40]

That guy makes some good points, but most of his stuff is just off the wall type stuff...Like LBJ not playing well trying to get Brown fired...

I didnt want to buy into the LBJ stuff about being tired early in the season, but I think it was true and LBJ has done more attacking in the couple games before the break and after...

I think we should reserve judgement until after the season...Lets remember that just b/c you win the most games during the regular season doesnt mean that you will them in the playoffs...Also LBJ has allowed other guys to be more involved with the offense this year...