Lebron James Is Anything But A King

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Last night the Brooklyn Nets defeated the defending champion Miami Heat 104-95 in double overtime to win their fifth straight in Brooklyn.

It was “nickname night” so all the players got to wear their supposed nicknames rather than their last names on their jerseys. I am not a fan of this NBA money grab marketing ploy but it does bring to light a few issues with the game today.

Nicknames are names given to people by “other” people who know you and not given to yourself.  Lebron James and his self proclaimed “King James” nickname has always rubbed me the wrong way since I watched him on ESPN in high school. The media has shoved this guy and his nickname down our throats for years even before he accomplished anything in the NBA.  Just look at how and why he left Cleveland as an example. He could not bring the level of his teammates up high enough to win a championship there so he left in a cloud of dust to greener pastures in Miami.

All-time great players raise their teammates to levels they didn’t even think they could reach and make other players come to their team to win and not vice-versa.

Watching the Nets/Heat game crystallized a few things in my mind that I have preached for years.  James plays like a bull in a china shop on the floor and the refs allow this behavior which is more football than it is basketball.

He continually drives down the floor with reckless abandon and uses his forearms and lowers his shoulders to push off every time he goes to the basket. What is worse is how he thinks that no one can step in front of him on the break or foul him to prevent the basket and if they do he simply runs them over with his 6’8 250 pound frame and complains the entire time. This occurs mostly when the fourth quarter comes around and he knows the refs whistles go in their pockets and he can bully his way to the basket with ease.

Last night was a perfect example of his “complaining-whiny-you can’t touch me self”on full display. He literally whined and barked to the refs every time down court when his team lost the ball or he missed a shot. It got to the point where even the YES and ESPN announcers made note of his constant harping on the refs.

The play in the fourth quarter where he got the rebound on the break and proceeded to forearm shove Andrei Kirilenko at the mid court line to create space and shockingly got called for offensive foul only to continue to the basket after and get fouled by Mirza Teletovic in the paint. Well the problem with that play is that NO ONE is allowed for foul James at any point during the game let alone in the paint in the fourth quarter of a game his team was losing.

Take a look for yourself at his football mentality on the play.

In the postgame he demonstrated one more non-King like way when he moaned to any reporter with a microphone that Kirilenko flopped and he did nothing wrong.  Is this guy serious?

[quote_box]”I thought Kirilenko flopped a few times,” James said. “To be honest, I thought he flopped a few times and he got the call. I thought the last one that fouled me out could have been a charge for sure, but he kind of put his hands on me while I drove which put him off-balance, which led him to getting the call.[/quote_box]

[quote_box]”It’s all right,” Kirilenko said of James’ comments. “I don’t really care, I don’t take it personally. … He’s a strong guy, he tries to overpower his defenders. And every time he’s trying to [get] open, he has to use his force. I didn’t flop. That’s what I can tell you.”[/quote_box]

Teletovic did everything that a coach teaches on that play when he tried to wrap his arms around James to not allow and and-one layup or an easy dunk late in the game.  That cannot be done against James because in his ind he is above the other players in the NBA and all peasants should pay homage to him.  The audacity of a menial player like Teletovic fouling the legend in his own mind.

It was the best moment of the night for myself and my son watching the game.   The wry smile that Teletovic gave to an angered James who came at him like a raging bull after he fouled him was picture perfect.

Teletovic was probably like ” Really man……that wasn’t even a hard foul and you are crying.”

The best anti-King comment came when he couldn’t even give Teletovic enough credit to care how to pronounce his name correctly (Tel-LET-O-Vich) and then saying “It’s not a basketball play.”

[quote_box] “It was just a foul,” Teletovic said. “I just tried to make a foul, and he was coming down the court. He shouldn’t be reacting like that. It’s just basketball.”[/quote_box]

How the hell would you know Lebron what is a basketball play and what isn’t?  You play a version of football on the basketball court on a nightly basis.

The sad part about all of this is that it is coming from a guy who is coddled every single time he steps on an NBA court by referees everywhere.  The guy has only fouled out six times in his NBA career and it was the first time he had fouled out of a regular season game since April 2nd, 2008.

What does that tell you about the NBA officials today?

Did you ever see Michael Jordan bull rush someone on the court or did he just rise up above the player and dunk on his head the way basketball is supposed to be played?

Stop playing football Lebron – keep your mouth shut and maybe one day you can be called a Prince because you will never be KING!

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