Monday, June 1, 2009
The LeBron Rules
If there's one thing that we learned over the past week, it's this: LeBron James is no Kobe Bryant.
And for once, this comparison has nothing to do with basketball.
That's because Bryant, despite his out of this world talent, will always be the most polarizing player in the game. You either love Kobe or you hate him. There is no middle ground.
Clearly, based on the coverage the Cavs/Magic series got, there is nothing polarizing about LeBron. Everyone loves the "King."
Never, in all my years of following sports, have I seen a player get so much credit for doing so little. Sure, averaging 38.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 8.2 assists over the course of the series is an amazing accomplishment. But the bottom line is the Cavs lost the series four games to two, and it wasn't even that close.
Basketball, more so than any other sport, stresses the importance of winning over any individual success. How else do you explain the fact that Bill Russell has the Finals MVP trophy named after him and Wilt Chamberlain is more or less just the answer to the most obvious trivia question in sports?
So why is it that LeBron seemingly got a free pass from the media the entire Eastern Conference Finals despite the fact that his team was clearly overmatched the entire series?
If the Lakers trailed the Nuggets three games to one and Kobe was averaging nearly 40 points per game, everyone would have been talking about how selfish Kobe is and how he needs to get his teammates more involved.
When the Cavs went down three games to one and James was averaging nearly 40 points, all we heard about was how great LeBron was playing and how the rest of the Cavs needed to step it up.
The Pistons walking off the court and not shaking hands with the Bulls after the '91 Eastern conference Finals is still to this day viewed as one of the most classless acts in all of sports.
LeBron did the exact same thing on Saturday night when he put his head down and walked to the locker room, not saying a word to anyone. Only for some reason, when LeBron did it, it doesn't even get mentioned in the AP recap of the game.
Then, taking poor sportsmanship to the next level, LeBron got dressed, threw on a set of gold headphones, and stormed out of the arena without addressing the media. The same media that had been putting him on a pedestal, not just for the duration of this series, but since he was a high school senior.
Say what you want about Kobe, but there's no doubt in my mind that if Orlando beats L.A. in the NBA Finals, Kobe will take the podium and say Orlando is a great team (he won't mean it, but he'll say it), put the blame on himself (he won't mean that, either), and talk about how hard he's going to work this offseason to get back to the finals again next year (that part will be genuine). His response to the obvious questions will be calculated, boring, and far from quotable. But at least he'll be man enough to say something.
LeBron didn't even have respect enough for the league that's given him the opportunity to turn himself into the global icon he strives to be to half-heartedly sit through a five-minute press conference.
But that's okay. I mean, after all, he did average 38.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 8.2 assists. That speaks for itself, right?
For better or worse, addressing the media is part of the job description of being an NBA superstar. James had no problem marching to the podium after his game two buzzer-beater and confidently declaring, "I knew it was good." It's not a one-way street. If you can sit in front of reporters and accept their praise after a win, you have to be prepared to sit in front of those same people and take their criticism after a loss.
LeBron had the entire basketball world in the palm of his oversized hands this week. Win, lose, or draw, all he had to do was keep putting up gaudy numbers and flash a smile every once in a while and the media would keep running stories about how great he was, regardless of the outcome of the series.
It's time to start holding LeBron to the same standards we hold every other NBA superstar to. Anything less than a championship for the Kobe is a failure. That's the way it should be.
LeBron James is no Kobe Bryant, but it's time we start treating him like he is.
(Note: Throughout the NBA playoffs, I've been sending out non-sequitur NBA text messages to my friends that are also diehard NBA fans. After some convincing, I've decided to create a Twitter account so that I can share these important thoughts with you the reader. If you'd like to get updates on important topics such as "Joey Crawford's doing the game, I'm setting the over/under for technical fouls + flagrant fouls at 3.5. Any takers?" and "Was there any doubt that things would get chippy between J.R. Smith and Sasha Vujacic?" you can follow me at twitter.com/scottosports. I'll be updating (tweeting?) before, during, and after all NBA Finals games.)
Be sure to check back at Sports Central on Thursday for Scott Shepherd's NBA Finals preview, and every morning after each NBA Finals game as he recaps all the action.