Lebron Not Ready for Prime Time

Sarah Palin is still the leader in the clubhouse.

And that's quite a feat considering the closure of the politics board & the departure of so many of our friends who were obsessed with her.

 

I wonder if some of this is motivated by return to high school syndrome. In HS winning championships was easy, he just crushed the competition putting on a show and celebrating along the way. But this crap battling Boston and Orlando every May is HARD. Who needs that if D-Wade and Bosh can make it easy again.

 

I think it's more about wanting to play with his best buddies than wanting it to be easy again (just a guess, obviously, can't know for sure). They can play their game, then the next day, they can talk about the cheerleaders in study hall.

 

His brand is shit? Seriously? Because he made a choice y'all disagree with and didn't look great doing it? Because he left his hometown and dared to do it for some destination other than New York? Is this thread sponsored by the owner of the Cavs?

I'm not sure which is more ridiculous -- the venom directed at James or delusional attempts at psychoanalysis people keep tossing around about the guy.

I don't even like James, but this shit is just sad.

 

If you don't think he and ESPN did a disservice to their brands, I don't know what to tell you. ESPN let a handpicked guy come on to throw him softballs alongside their quartet of worshippers who didn't ask him a signle tough question. And the toughest one about Cleveland prompted the guy to start talking in the third person. There's also a reason you haven't seen Nike anywhere near this.

 

That's a good point.

 

cwilson, I'm not saying it was handled well. But to say his brand is now "shit" is a joke.

 

Must be nice to play a game of "Whatever he does, we get to rip him for it!"

If he had stayed in Cleveland . . . .

"Typical money-grubbing selfish player. Took the max contract he could get and doesn't really care about winning, 'cause that group he's with is regressing every year. Too fucking chicken to face the pressure of being EXPECTED to win in a place like Miami or Chicago. Too much of an egomaniac to have another star on his team, because The King always has to be The Man. Now he can just play it safe in front of his adoring hometown fans who will kiss his butt no matter what and keep losing in the second round of the playoffs."

 

His brand is shit because lebron turned out to be a lefraud. You'll see as many LeBron jerseys in New York and Chicago as you see ARod jerseys in Boston and Philly.

lebron chose miami 2 years ago and put many organizations thru a charade to satisfy his narcissistic personality and immature intelligence. You don;t build a brand by alienating the 2 biggest sports markets in the country. Want to leave Cleveland? Fine. Wanna do it with the class of a drunk making a pass at a waitress? Fine. But to stage a week long kabuki dance and make others dance and then announce a predetermined decision? well, you just lost NY and Chicago. LeFraud, like AFraud might win, but the love will not follow. Everyone loves Jeter, Everyone loves DWade, but LeFraud and AFraud will have to be content counting their money. At least ARod gets it and isn't a poseur any more.

 

When athletes get great, they have a couple of years in which people will decide if they are in the "We love them" or "We hate them" category. Win a championship or have a great personality in those first few years, and you get to be in the first category, and everything you do will be lauded. Otherwise, you go into the second category and everything you do will get hated no matter what.

LeBron and A-Rod are in the second category. A-Rod just singlehandedly led a team to a WS title with a never-ending string of super-clutch hits, and he still can't get any credit.

 

I could be wrong, but I doubt too many people would have ripped him for staying in Cleveland. Some people might have, but I feel like most would have been like: Dude wants to say in his home town, cool. No one is calling Joe Johnson a money grubber for taking the max to stay in Atlanta. Now, people would probably have ripped him if he kept crapping the bed in the playoffs in Cleveland, or failing to win a title, rightly or wrongly. But I don't think they would have ripped him for stay. Could be wrong though.

That said -- I think the ripping he is taking now is more for the way he went about it than the fact that he left. If he came out a while ago and told the Cavs and the rest of the world, hey, you know what, this is a game and I really just want to play it with my best friends, I don't think there would have been nearly this much, if at all, the criticism of James.

 

I kind of agree. Once he's back to having fun and wowing everyone on the court, I think a lot of this will be forgotten, at least by those outside of Cleveland.