The LeBron James Thread

[dramachild11]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Actually people started to realize jordan wasnt exactly a choirboy once the chicago beat writer wrote the book called "the jordan rules" in 1988(?)... kerr, pippen, cartwright, grant, an a few of the scrubs over the years expressed their dislike for his attitude, but winning cures all ills (or a least conceals them a bit lol) so when or if bron wins his than the hate will recede somewhat

[DocHolliday]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

I love that Rings are such an important part of being "Great" in the NBA. What fun would it be if no once cared and greatness was only stat based.

In a world where these guys are making 100's of millions of dollars, you see the one thing that makes them sweat, the pressure of getting a Ring and the backlash of failing to do so.

Get those Rings, or you will never get a seat at the head table. Personally, I think it is a reason the NBA is so great.

[Drewski]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Personally don't see how winning one ring with Wade and Bosh should change anyone's opinion on Bron.

[DocHolliday]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Yeah I think they need multiple Rings for Opinions on Bron to change.

[King_B_Mack]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

That still really isn't going to help Bron's legacy cause there's really no reason whatsoever that he shouldn't win a ring with those two. Not winning with the two of them will have a bigger impact on LeBron's legacy than winning three or four with them will in the eyes of the public because of the way it happened.

[DocHolliday]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

He needs to win 8 rings, like he said.

[airjoca]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

He needs to win 8 rings, like he said.

And then do another 1 hour special just to say "I told you!"

[RedSceptile]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

And then do another 1 hour special just to say "I told you!"

That'd be awesome.

[wwharton]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

LBJ has always been willing to take "clutch" shots and he routinely does so. I think the actual numbers should be the end-all be all:

If anything LBJ could be described as schizophrenic in these situations. He has shown numerous times both the willingness and ability to get it done in end of game moments (last year's playoffs up until the Finals for instance) and he can be strangely passive as well. Some of it may be attributed to not being entirely comfortable with his jumpshot for so long. In many cases early on if he didn't see a clear path to the basket he'd automatically revert to looking for a teammate.

In any case, ring/s for LBJ means most if not all of his flaws (both personal and on the court) will be glossed over, fair or not. Before KB got ring number 4 many had written him off as a pariah and the MJ comparisons had all but been erased away. Fast-forward past ring number 5 and you no longer hear words like "inefficient", "selfish" ect being hurled at him on an hourly basis. Now some have him as high as top 5 All-Time and he's hailed as the prototypical offensive guard. LBJ doesn't have to doing anything out of the way to "mature" or get people love him. All he has to do is win, people love winners. No matter how *****y their personalities are.

I agree with a lot you've said (including your first paragraph here) but this is the mentality that's gotten him into trouble in the first place. Win a ring or two and you can act like as big of an *** as you want. It worked in high school, and it worked in Cleveland when you created the closest thing to a winner they've had. It's not going to be that simple here... correction, it may be even simpler but only if he "gets" it.

When Kobe became a public villain (Denver) he disappeared and STFU. The success makes it hard for his haters to pile on basketball related criticism, but his fans returned bc he allowed them time to heal and/or forget. Not to mention both Kobe and MJ are different than LBJ in that they don't really care if they are hated. There's reason to believe James' play is effected by how people feel about him or how much he cares. Even people here say "he'll get hammered if he takes the shot and misses it anyway so he can't win." Superstars don't care about crap like that... they can't. So it's more important for James to rebuild his image than any of the guys he's being compared to.

A title would silence the talk about him being ringless but people would still hate him so they'd focus on other things. He only has 1 title? He rode Wade (and maybe Bosh) to get it? Can't believe what he said in the post game interview? How is he going to try to kiss up to Cleveland after leaving and winning a title somewhere else?

Not having a ring is not why people don't like him.

Sure they do. Look no further than our most beloved winner over last decade, Tiger Woods. All a person has to do is not be a criminal (or a horribly bad person terms of his/her morals or at the very least not project it) and dominate at the highest level he'll always have a place in hearts of the majority of people. Hell, Tiger still has a huge stable of fans even though he hasn't won anything substantive in over 2 years and he's been exposed as mostly a liar, hypocrite, ***hole, adulterer ect. All on the strength of fact that at one time he was one of the most incredible winners we've ever seen.

Following on my last response... Tiger is arrogant and snippy, to the point where reporters were scared to ask him certain questions before. Now he's much more humble (more being the key word, lol) and he hasn't done a thing to fuel the fire of why people began disliking him. Moral: STFU.

Man, please let's be real.

If Lebron wins one ring and does it where he actually shows up for a full 4 quarters and not 3 like he did last year, outside of "The Decision" people will start to look over the other nonsense he brought on himself over time.

Hell, look at Jordan. Probably the biggest ***hole in Sports but yet everyone loved him and why? Because he won.

Actually a lot of people hated Jordan, and the media did try to nitpick as well... just wasn't as easy back then as it is now. Gambling, never passes, always travels, selfish, etc. He was getting a ton of heat right before the first time he retired. He just didn't care. If Lebron didn't care and just let the media and fans do the talking, this stuff wouldn't have so much momentum and longevity. Like I said, he's doing better so far this year, but we'll see if he can contain himself come playoff time when all eyes are on the Heat.

[Sam Marlowe]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

^^^
Great post man.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Actually a lot of people hated Jordan, and the media did try to nitpick as well... just wasn't as easy back then as it is now. Gambling, never passes, always travels, selfish, etc. He was getting a ton of heat right before the first time he retired.

Of course it wasn't easy and I wonder why? Hmmmm LOL

I'm not saying that Jordan was a saint and nobody disliked him or whatever, but he definitely got more love from people than he did hate from people. Just like I'm not saying if Lebron wins one ring that all is forgiven.

[King_B_Mack]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Following on my last response... Tiger is arrogant and snippy, to the point where reporters were scared to ask him certain questions before. Now he's much more humble (more being the key word, lol) and he hasn't done a thing to fuel the fire of why people began disliking him. Moral: STFU.

Dude, I've been saying this for the longest now. LeBron needs to just stop talking for a while. Stop talking, stop tweeting, stop doing everything but playing basketball and even then he's gotta focus on attacking whatever negative people have to say about him. People wanna bitch about him not taking shots, **** 'em go out there get to the basket (like he can) and throw it down to end a few games. Stop being scared of the free throw line and drive to the damn basket. Make the free throws as an F you to everybody that says he can't hit them in the clutch. Whatever negative people have to say about him, go out there and prove them wrong and walk off like a bad ***. No posing, no running to big brother for approval or trying to see what he's going to do to mimic it just make the play and walk off all business until Finals time and even then only bringing out the celebrating when you've won three games and playing in an elimination game.

[wwharton]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Of course it wasn't easy and I wonder why? Hmmmm LOL

I'm not saying that Jordan was a saint and nobody disliked him or whatever, but he definitely got more love from people than he did hate from people. Just like I'm not saying if Lebron wins one ring that all is forgiven.

I think you're saying it's because he won but that's my point... he was getting a ton of heat right before he retired, after winning 3 championships. I wish I could remember details but I think I even remember some reports trying to blame his father's death on him (maybe saying it was link to a gambling debt or something).

It wasn't as easy to nitpick back then because we didn't live in the internet, camera phone, etc. world we live in today. A lot of stories had little meat so how much you believed or cared depended on if you were already a fan. Imagine if there was hype about him gambling and then we had cell phone shots of him in casinos before games, or tweets about losses on the golf course. Stations that had various shows to analyze a grainy picture every which way for 24 hours.

There were more fans that hated Jordan than you remember too. They were a lot louder before he started winning bc they didn't have much ammo after... he walks every time, gets away with every call, etc. Nobody's listening to that as an argument. Lebron's "non ring" criticism has a lot more behind it for haters.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

1. I'm not saying it's because he won. It was because he didn't have to deal with the type of Social Media we have now. Trust, I remember every single thing that went on with Jordan just like you.

2. Of course there were more fans that hated Jordan before he won. But again, once he got his FIRST one(and eventually the others)he got more love from people than he did hate, unless you were from NY where most, if not all of the LOUDEST hate came from.

[wwharton]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

1. I'm not saying it's because he won. It was because he didn't have to deal with the type of Social Media we have now. Trust, I remember every single thing that went on with Jordan just like you.

2. Of course there were more fans that hated Jordan before he won. But again, once he got his FIRST one(and eventually the others)he got more love from people than he did hate, unless you were from NY where most, if not all of the LOUDEST hate came from.

I think the difference is you're saying he got more love than he did hate... that's inevitable when you kill the biggest argument haters have. I'm saying he still had a TON of haters. Winning rings didn't make his haters go away.

The biggest difference between James and Jordan at this point in their careers (lets say before Jordan won his first ring) is how they handle criticism and carry themselves off the court in general. Jordan would barely acknowledge some of the crap Lebron chooses to engage in from the media, and definitely wouldn't say anything to create issues unprovoked. Non-NBA fans knew about Jordan bc gatorade made them want to be like Mike and Nike/Spike Lee revolutionized the shoe game around him. What's Lebron doing on commercials since his puppets with Kobe (ironic the biggest campaign was with another star)? A Nike campaign mocking his critics and would be fans after making a horrible Decision (the show, not the move to Miami)? Or a McD's ad mocking his claim of getting 7 rings? The casual/non fan of the TMZ world doesn't have much positive, happy things to go by since he left Cleveland.

I'll give you the argument that more of that should come after winning a ring also, but there was much more to Jordan's popularity than championships. His haters got greatly outnumbered bc he gained more fans... people that liked him off the court that wanted to see him do magic on it. THOSE people don't like Lebron off the court so the haters still have a strong voice. And again, if he keeps adding fuel to the fire he gives them more to focus on. Jordan was an arrogant ***. Hell, so is Shaq. But there isn't much you could say about their game, and they knew how to answer the questions and make the fans happy in the interviews.