Lebron Fan to a Lebron Hater: Part 4

Man!! It's getting busier and busier at work, not only that, I got to take care of my wife while she's being pregnant.

For lighter news, Scottie Pippen recently took back his comments on how he stated "LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game because he is so potent offensively that not only can he score at will but he keeps everybody involved." Pippen reiterated on how Jordan is the best player of all time and how the media took his comments out of context. Pippen went on to say statistics-wise Lebron could be the best, but when it comes to accolades Jordan is by far the best to ever play the game. Interesting if you ask me, however, regardless of stats, accolades, or whatever, Lebron will never be considered as the best because stats don't mean anything unless you win championships.

Little Old Don't Ya Think

2009-2010

Back to the story...

Lebron by now is going into his last year on contract with the Cavs. You can tell he was having fun, buying gifts for his teammates, posing pictures along with his teammates, and still doing his infamous chalk chuck-up. You know? Good times.

We even got to see two years of Lebron vs Kobe NIKE commercials. It first started in the 2008 season and lasted by a good two-to-three years. It was funny, and Nike used this opportunity to promote Kobe's new shoes.

But regardless of having all that fun, everyone knew there was only one thing on Lebron's mind for this season. Championship. I predicted that if Lebron did not go to AT LEAST the Finals, he'll leave town to go for another championship contender. We all knew it, Lebron wants championships and was asking his team to get better players. So in the beginning they signed Shaq (Shaquille O'neal) and during the season they traded for Antawn Jamison without having to give up their prized upcoming star J.J. Hickson. When this trade happened, I just stood up and exclaimed the Cavs are going to the Finals and they're going to battle the Lakers for the title. What's even more interesting is that before this Jamison trade, the Cavs were pursuing Amare Stoudamire and who knows what would have happened if we got to see both Lebron and Amare on the court playing for the same team. Although no knows for sure how close this deal was, at this stage we can only imagine what could have been (coulda, woulda, shoulda). Anyways, the Cavs had another stellar regular season, even finished with the best record in the NBA for the second consecutive year.

This season was about winning a championship or how Shaq would put it "Win a Ring for the King". Winning home court advantage throughout the entire postseason was a must. Shaq needed to stay healthy, Jamison needed to solve his mental lapses, shooters needed to stay consistent, and of course, LeGone needed to take this team to the promise land. Meaning Lebron needed to be that guy, that one leader, Jordaneque. Lebron won his second consecutive MVP for the regular season, and got his to the playoffs in a very good position minus the Cavs facing the Boston Celtics in the second round. So the Cavs end up beating up the young Chicago Bulls, and got ready to face the much better team, the Boston Celtics. This was the moment for Lebron to add on to his legacy. Everything he has done throughout the season wouldn't mean anything if he wasn't able to get past this Celtics team. Big Three with an up-and-coming PG Rajon Rondo vs The King and Co.

This series wasn't quite epic as you would want it to be, but you got to watch some weird basketball, and at the end of it, wonder how on earth did the Boston Celtics come out of this alive without having to really throw a desperate punch. That's right, the Celtics won this series in 6 games. When I watched this series, especially after games 4-6, it left many asking "where the F*** was the fire?" No, seriously!!! Where was it?! Games 1 and 3, the Cavs showed up, rose to the challenge and just completely dominated the older, wreary-looking Celtics. The Cavs exploited the Celtics weaknesses and easily won both games 1 and 3. However, and that is one very big HOWEVER, the Celtics showed up and came to play for the remainder of the series. For the Celtics, it was like Rocky Balboa refusing to stay down and got back up and fought throughout the match and eventually won it. I'm not going to talk about what exactly happened in games 4.. Although, I will mention that in game 4, Rondo saved the Celtics season with his dynamic and unstoppable play.

So the series goes back to Cleveland TIED at 2-2. Game 5 is a MUST WIN, NO FREAKING CHOICE, WITHOUT A DOUBT IN ANYONE'S MIND because you want to put yourself in a position to win.  And what happened? They lost. Simple as that. They just simply lost. What was the score? An embarassing 120 to 88. AT HOME!!! How do you let that happen, Lebron? I'm just tickled by his performance going 3 for 14, and not rising above the moment.

Lebron said and I quote, "I spoil a lot of people with my play. When you have a bad game here or there, you've had three bad games in a seven-year career, then it's easy to point that out. So you got to be better. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be out there and be the best player on the court, and when I'm not I feel bad for myself because I'm not going out there and doing the things I can do. But I don't hang my head low or make any excuses about anything that may be going on, because that's not the type of player or person I am."

At that time, supposedly his last game in Cleveland, and Lebron still looked nonchalant, without a care in the world that they lost, not making excuses, but stating things with no emotion attached to it. Even in the press conference (above vid) he subliminally admits he doesn't care whether they lose this game or not. Throughout the game, Lebron looked confused, he hesitated ALOT throughout the game, there was no confidence at all, and it all left you to wonder where was the Lebron we watched all year long. Where was the MVP we've been waiting for? Where was the Jordaneque performance the media depicted Lebron to have in game 5? Where was the urgency, the strive that we see in not only Jordan, but also Magic, Bird, Kobe, etc? Where?

Embarrassing. I would have hated to pay for those tickets nevertheless actually being there at the game. Couldn't even keep it close. Lost by more than 30 points with a team that was on paper supposedly better than the Celtics. And what was even better? To hear Lebron being booed by his own fans all the way out to his car after the game. If you watch the vid, you can hear the tension from the crowd. The fans wanted some urgent play, some aggressiveness, and ultimately they got nothing. So to see him getting booed, Priceless ladies and gentlemen. Just utterly priceless. Because at that time I was fed up his Lebron, all throughout the year it was Lebron this, and Lebron that. The media acted as if this guy already won the championship without having to say it. There was no stopping this Cavaliers team, but after losing gmae 5 his magnitude of failure was being magnified as if he lost the series and his team. In other words, bye bye Lebron and hello somewhere else. Lebron was and still is cocky, but rightfully so because if you're that good, you have the right to be cocky. But at the same time, if you're that good, you better back it up otherwise people need to understand, that's what you call a BUST (I'll go into this in my later post titled "BUST" so please don't ridicule me on this just yet). Again, just like the previous years, this was Lebron's moment to shine, to really take his name and put it somewhere on the "legen-wait for it-DARY" map. And just like the previous years, he failed. Not just any fail, EPIC fail. You don't lost game 5, at home, to the Boston Celtics, with game 6 going back to Boston, spoon feeding the Celtics a chance to close it out. After this loss, you can right away tell who wanted it more.

If you thought game 5 was bad, game 6 was probably the "Kwame Brown's" version of game 5. It was one of those games, it was well over before the game even started. It showed, everyone knew in the Garden (Boston's stadium) that Lebron was without confidence, without urge, without focus. It was an ugly game, not quite close, not a whole lot entertaining, it was what one could call a "Boston-style" type of game. Think of it this way, there was an over-lining difference between the Celtics and the Cavs that stats wouldn't be able to tell you. Confidence; the Celtics knew they had to win game 6 at home, but even if they did lose, they had every bit of confidence to win game 7 on the road while somewhere along the road, the Cavs somehow lost all the confidence they needed to not only win this series, but also the confidence to win games.

If you were a Cavs fan, it sure was a shame to watch this series because the whole time, numerous writers across the world let alone the U.S. were talking about how the Cavs will win this series. Lebron's Redemption as it was labeled, and here in game 6, Cavs done 2-3 in the series, a must needed win, and the spotlight pointed right at Lebron for him to shine. Stage is set, lights all pointed at him, cameras focused on him, there was only one of two directions Lebron could take, the "Lebron came back to beat the Celtics in unbelievable, epic winning fashion" or the "Lebron losing, can't get it done, botched and full of utter disappointment".

Game 6, Lebron and the Cavs lost to the Celtics, 85-94, even with Lebron getting a triple-double but still committed 9 turnovers, which could have equated to a potential range of 18 points to 27 points. Got to commend the Cavs for keeping it close in the first half, but the 3rd quarter is what destroyed them at towards the end of the game. Right after the game, the focus wasn't really on Boston winning or even the next series (Finals between the Lakers and the Celtics). Instead, the media's attention quickly shifted to "Where is Lebron going next?" If this series taught the NBA anything, teams win game, teams normally win championships, and in this case, a team beat the hell out of Lebron and his team. Like I said, regardless of stats, at the end of the day, stats don't matter unless you win those games. Here's a recap video of what happened in game 6.

Sad huh? Even the commentators were pleading for LeGONE to do something, but it was quite obvious Lebron didn't think, didn't believe, didn't have any hope whatsoever this Cavs team could pull off an upset win. But what amazed me the most was how after the series, people were ready to defend Lebron once again, a full range of arguments from elbow injury (with Lebron being modest about it) to blaming others like coach Mike Brown for his lack of motivation as a coach. They were ready to come to his aid. Here's some example quotes of what the media was saying to back Lebron up:

Chris Sheridan, ESPN.com: There was too much focus on getting Shaq involved in the offense, not enough on LeBron. Was that coach Mike Brown's way of making up for the Game 4 benching of Shaq? I've never seen LeBron so uninvolved in the offense, but Boston and its D have to get some of that credit. The Celtics got the ball out of his hands and kept it out.

Kevin Arnovitz, TrueHoop: For all the talk about LeBron James, Game 5's most defining feature was a prolific display of offense by the Celtics. Their 130.3 efficiency rating was their second-best outing of the season. The C's destroyed the Cavs one-on-one, were effective in transition, got a ton of production from the reserves, crashed the boards and made only a handful of bad decisions all night. Cleveland's paralysis on the offensive end was a stark contrast to Boston's brutal efficiency. Though James' unassertiveness was most notable, neither Antawn Jamison nor Mo Williams could generate anything against the Celtics' smart defense.

Obviously there's a lot more, but we won't go into too many. My argument here is while the media does mention Lebron's ineffectiveness, they will also state some sort of excuse so that the entire blame doesn't shift solely on Lebron. What a shame. There were even rumors on how Cleveland Cavalier Delonte West was sleeping with Lebron's mother, which led to Lebron not being able to focus throughout the series. WOW!!! First off, regardless of injuries, Lebron should be go out and make the most of it. Even with his elbow injured, he can still contribute in MANY ways, and not just on scoring. He still had two good legs to run on, he still had at least one very good arm to defend with, picks, passing, rebounds, etc. Jordan had numerous injuries and yet still played and WON. Let's go back to the Be-Like-or-Better-than-Mike-or-Magic Check list, won regardless on injuries, uncheck. Couldn't win the big game when it mattered most, uncheck. Couldn't win a championship in six years, uncheck. Couldn't take his team to the promise land, uncheck. Again, another proof that should help people that this "supposed-phenom will come and take over and rule the NBA for years to come" COULDN'T get it done. Another potential Kobe vs Lebron  series gone to waste. There was only thing I could say to Cleveland, "bye bye Lebron".

There were people in the NBA who did blame Lebron 100% for losing this series. People like Skip Bayless, please watch the 2 vids to see what Skip and Rob Parker has to say about Lebron, but most people still tried to give Lebron a brake. The second vid shows Skip placing the blame on Lebron, but all in all, both vids are good to watch.

For my next blog: Part 5 of Lebron Fan to a Lebron Hater, The Decision

I am not the owner of any of the articles and pictures and videos. The sources and materials are owned by Yahoo Sports, ESPN, CNN, Youtube, and Wikipedia.

Lebron Fan to a Lebron Hater: Part 3

Apologies! For not posting anything recently. I had my cousin's graduation, and I also had to pick up my wife from the airport and spend some time with her since it was also Father's Day this past Sunday.

Some interesting news, RORY McILROY (supposed next "Tiger" or possibly better) won the 2011 U.S. Open this past Sunday (6/19). In case if you didn't know who Rory is, in golf's world, he's what many labelled as a "choke-artist" since the past couple of majors, he led the first three rounds and eventually crumbles at the end. This past Masters, Rory was leading the start of the 4th round and completely lost it. Which is why Lebron has been labelled as another Mcllroy, until Rory decided he didn't want to be in the same sentence or have anything to do with Lebron, and won the U.S. Open. Good for you, Rory! You deserve a round of applause; at first I felt sorry for this guy, but ultimately, I didn't care whether he wins or not, but to see him better himself and get himself out of the same hole as Lebron, PRICELESS!!! Just, utterly priceless, period.

You can read all about it in the news or online, I can get into the debate on how Rory is a far better champion and loser than Lebron will ever be, but that'll just take too much time. Also, there's already other blogs and articles you can read that talks about that debate.


Anyways, back to where I left off in the previous post...


And so the hate begins...

2008-2009


Before the season began, I've been hearing rumblings about Lebron contacting other athletes to join his Lebron Inc. He's been mainly targeting several college players who were primed to be fit in the NBA. I'm not exactly sure who actually did sign on with Lebron inc, but there was a good number. Also Lebron decided to join the Olympic squad to help the U.S. win the gold in the 2008 Summer Olympics. We'll skip all the way to the final gold medal game that was between the U.S. and Spain. In the 2nd half, Spain had numerous opportunities to tie the game and if you watched the game, Lebron looked "lacking". What I mean by this is when you have an arsenal, a colossal, a giant of a roster in what the United States had, NO ONE on that team should be anywhere close to lacking confidence. No player on that team should be looking as if they are waiving that white flag, no one. Imagine you're the U.S. military going against the Ancient Mayans. Enough said. And yet, we have one soldier on the U.S. team who was asking himself "what if those Mayans have enough strength to pull this one off?" I'll admit, Spain did very well, they played as best as they could to actually win the gold, but let's face it, there is no way, a team with Kobe, CP3, Melo, D-Wade and dare I say Lebron who was and still is consider as the best player in the world, is going to lose to the underdogs. If you look at the stats of the game, it won't tell you what really happened because Lebron had a decent game especially with a bunch of all-stars on the team. But the way he played it, it was terrible, and both Wade and Kobe bailed him out. U.S. won the game 118 to 107. Congratulations to them, but it made me wonder if we could have done better if we didn't have Lebron playing. I'm extremely happy that Lebron wasn't the leader of that U.S. team because if he was, there wouldn't have been a gold or possibly a silver. After that, right after what I saw in the previous Boston series, I was thinking Lebron was going to be a force to reckon with throughout the Olympics, and truthfully he was MINUS the gold medal game, and this is when I started to think can Lebron handle the pressure? Or the biggest question I had was "Can Lebron James take over games when he's called to do so?" Hmm...

If there ever was an important time for Lebron to really elevate his game and name amongst the bigs, "now was the time to do it". That was just my opinion even before the season started. They revamped their roster, they had decent guys in the post, they had shooters to help space the floor and of course, they had one of the best finishers in the game, Lebron. Now, I know most people are talking about finish as in clutch type moments. I'm not talking about that, instead what I mean by finish is being able to drive, slash, cut or get yourself to the basket and just right out finish it by obviously scoring (HIGHLIGHT DUNKS, this was before Blake "You don't wan be guardin me cuz I'm Gon Dunk on yah Face" Griffin) This was when I also started noticing, ESPN favoritism towards Lebron and how they religiously worshipped him; numerous writers throughout the country beefed Lebron up so much that some people didn't have a choice, but to root for Lebron, and rightfully so. Think about it, this was going to be his year, this was the year when we got to see more of Lebron and the decline of Kobe. It was just the beginning...

For those Kobe-lovers out there, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Lebron is better than Kobe, but we all have to admit at some point during 2008-09 season, the media loved Lebron a whole lot more than Kobe. Just when I was hoping those talks of how Lebron is better than Kobe was going to die down, it only got worse. Several writers and bloggers were stating how much better Lebron is to Kobe, he can do this that Kobe can't, he shares the ball, he has better vision, he grabs more rebounds, etc. NUMEROUS stats were given to back up to claim on how Lebron was better, but the rebuttal was obviously Lebron's ZERO rings compared to Kobe's at the time (don't forget the previous season was when Gasol got traded to the Lakers and Kobe's 2nd consecutive trip to the finals). What those writers claimed may be true; in fact, I may as well admit that Lebron is a better overall player than Kobe. BUT Kobe has something that MOST NBA players do not have, it's what separates the men from the boys, it's something that only the greats have; killer-instinct. My goodness!!! Kobe never EVER was afraid to shoot the ball; if Kobe air-balled 9 shots in a row, I guaran-DAM-tee you Kobe will shoot the ball without fear and might as well be beyond the arc, and make the shot...swish. Jordan had and still have it if he was still playing, Magic, Bird, and some other hall-of-famers, but Lebron doesn't seem to have that trait, that one characteristic that can really help him out in his career.


AGAIN, Lebron had a phenomenal season. He carried this team, and I believe he did it well throughout the season. If you went back and checked out the ESPN highlights during the 08-09 season, Lebron will definitely be there. Whether it be a dunk, a shot, a pass, it didn't matter because Lebron was getting it done. They ended the season with a 66-16 record, amazing, simply put. Not many teams can get more than 60 wins and not many players in history can lead their team to accomplish this. But this is the regular season, those 66 wins won't matter unless a championship was going to come with it. We all know, the post season is far more intense than the regular. In other words, during the regular season, teams can afford to lose a couple of games here and there in order for them to rest up or try new things out or something else. Basically, the regular season should be used to get the teams ready for the post-season. In the first two rounds, Lebron was getting it done and helped the Cavs sweep both the Pistons and the Hawks. Lebron was playing well on both sides of the court, offense and defense, and at times, you were watching a cross-bread of Jordan and Magic. It was indescribable until they met the Magics...


I don't want to take anything away from the Magics, but this series was the Cavs to lose. No excuse, nothing. Game 1 the Cavs lost with Hedo Turkolgu hitting a timely shot at the end of the game. Sometimes, good teams will beat great teams and so in Game 2, the Cavs were up 23 points until they allowed Orlando to tie it and take a 2 point lead with 1 sec remaining. I'll let the video speak for itself. Please do watch...at least the first 35 seconds...

Wow!! Right?! I was amazed when I saw this. This buzzer beater Lebron made won't answer ALL the questions on his ability to take over games, but it'll definitely soothe a lot of anguish and questions for the time being, meaning winning the series. With the series tied at one apiece, you very much know who has the momentum going into game 3. But still, the Cavs couldn't maintain any of that momentum and lost the game with them shooting a .372 field goal percentage to Orlando's .429. It's not like Orlando was lights out either, there were opportunities for the Cavs to take over this game, but when you go for 5 for 26 in 3 pointers, that's not gonna get anything done. The Cavs fouled 10 more times and shot 16 less free throws than the Magic; I don't know if it's nerves, but this team should be experienced enough to contain their emotions and flat out win this game. In game 4, Lebron missed a buzzer beating attempt, which led to a 3-1 series advantage for the Magics.


That was his moment to shine. That was something where he can tell all the nay-sayers to "shut the hell up because I got it done." That was yet again another opportunity gone wasted. It's mind-boggling on how long the fans will have to wait for Lebron to come through, but like I said earlier, if there was a time for him to put himself on the map, this was the time to do it. Note: 6 seasons in and still can't get it done. 1-3 series with the Magics in favor now to win it, it would be an amazing series if Lebron can help turn the series around AND win it. Imagine that Lebron took the Cavs and helped them win this series and carried them to the Finals, again.


Ultimately, the Cavs won game 5, but lost game 6 in losing fashion. It was terrible, and it was just something that showed how "lame" of a game Lebron played, even throughout the series. Some games you can see Lebron CAN take over and other games where you're just watching another NBA "role" player looking lost. So they lost, again, but the part that really got me hating on Lebron was when he just left game 6 without shaking ANYONES' hands. Are you kidding me? Really Lebron?! Come on, show some good sportsmanship, a team player, a guy who people especially children can look up to. If my kid(s) starts playing a sport and at the end never shakes the opponents hands win/lose, I promise you, they are going to have a long talk. 


What did he say? Something like...
"It's hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them. I'm a winner. It's not being a poor sport or anything like that. If somebody beats you up, you're not going to congratulate them. That doesn't make sense to me. I'm a competitor. That's what I do. It doesn't make sense for me to go over and shake somebody's hand."


I actually can see where he's coming from, but when you are scrutinized, criticized, and repeatedly looked-up upon the many, many fans across the globe, you gotta do your diligence. Basically, if you are a superstar in the NBA, you need to act the part, be a role-model, be the guy everyone can look up to. So even with all that knowledge, it didn't make sense to me on how Lebron wasn't being it, in fact, you can tell RIGHT AWAY he doesn't want to be IT. To me, this was the starting point when it all went down hill. This was when I thought to myself, this guy doesn't want to be THE GUY in the NBA. Sure, he wants all the attention, but he doesn't want the responsibility that comes with it. Lebron wants the glamour, the fame, the money, and most importantly the power in the business of the NBA, but when it comes to the responsibilities, the roles, the liabilities, and even the obligations that comes with those aspects, Lebron doesn't want anything to do with it. Lebron is just another King George III (England's King who abused his power that led to America's Revolution, know your history =P) who wants people to follow him, but can't accept the blame and burden that comes with it. I'm thinking it's too much for him; sure, we're all human, we only want the good side, most of us do not want to or are not willing to handle the bad side. AND that to me, ladies and gentlemen, is an act of a child and not of a man.


I was still dumbfounded and astonished on how QUICKLY people came to the rescue and back up Lebron on not only his actions, but also his comments made afterwards. He simply would not apologize, and again, defended himself to the point that I just did not want to hear this guy speak anymore. Whoever his publicist was at the time needed to get FIRED immediately because some of the things Lebron said at the time were just pathetic and those were the words a superstar caliber type player should NOT be saying at all. Now, a lot of people gave me a lot of crap on how I was telling them Lebron should be ashamed of himself for not only losing the series, but also being a sore loser who just can't handle the pressure. They told me, I wasn't giving him a chance and how we are all human, but my question is, if the guy is so human, why does he NOT admit that he doesn't want to be considered as the chosen one??? This guy declared himself as the chosen one, as the guy who's going to take this team to the promise land, who's heard the cries of his people and going to MOSES-it-up and win a championship for the city of Cleveland. So if he made all these claims, and NEVER EVER denied being the next Jordan, the next superstar, the next whatever then don't tell me he can make excuses like this and everyone should be ok with it. Come on now!!


Today, I end with this video on Lebron trying to defend himself...

For my next blog: Part 4 of Lebron Fan to a Lebron Hater, He's Heating Up!!

I am not the owner of any of the articles and pictures and videos. The sources and materials are owned by Yahoo Sports, ESPN, CNN, Youtube, and Wikipedia.

Lebron Fan to a Lebron Hater: Part 2

Before we continue where I left off, I want to share some interesting news. Last night on the Letterman Show, Betty White gave Top Ten list on “Betty White Tips for Living A Long and Happy Life”. Here's what she had to say:

"No. 10 – Get at least 8 hours of beauty sleep, 9 if you’re ugly.


No. 9 – Exercise. Or don’t, what the hell do I care?


No. 8 – Never apologize. It shows weakness.


No. 7 – The best way to earn a quick buck is a slip and fall lawsuit.


No. 6 – Avoid tweeting any photos of your private parts.


No. 5 – Schedule a nightly appointment with Dr. Johnnie Walker


No. 4 – Take some wheatgreass, soy paste and carob, toss in the garbage and cook yourself a big piece of pork.


No. 3 – Try not to die


No. 2 – Never dwell on past mistakes – especially you LeBron


No. 1 – Don’t waste your time watching this crap."


If an 89 year old is taking a jab at you, you seriously got some issues for that to even come close to happen. I really don't know what's worse or just plain stupid, Lebron being a egotistic choke artist, Charlie Sheen's rant on "Winning", OJ Simpson, or Tiger Wood's putter (both ways, you know what I mean). Anyways, I just had to get that out there...let's get back to the story.


2006–2007


This season was full of promise, but just taking a glance at the Cavs roster that year, it wasn't going to jump out at you. On paper, the team was mediocre at best. Come on, your next best 2 players were Larry Hughes and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Do you really think this team is going to cause some noise in the NBA and have Finals written all over it? Let's be honest to ourselves, yes they have Lebron James, yes he can single-handily put a team on his back and let them ride, but this is reality and at some point the camel will break its back.   



We all know how good Lebron James is, I'm done talking about statistics so I'm not going to tell you what he did that year. Even though after this season he and Oscar Robertson are the only NBA players in history to average 27 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists per game for three consecutive years. That's something Jordan never did, so just at this point you can start imagining people are making bold claims Lebron may, can,will, definitely be better than Jordan. I heard it, you heard it, we all did at some point. BUT, we also know or need to understand regardless whether or not him and Oscar were able to accomplish this, stats alone will never win you championships. Maybe, it can help you win games, but never, ever championships. Oscar only won once, just once, even with all the accolades he was able to do, while Jordan won 6 times. 


Lebron got to the playoffs, swept the Wizards in the first round, and in the second round, the Cavs beat the New Jersey Nets in 6 games. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavs came back from a 0-2 deficit to win it in 6 games. Now, I watched this series like a hawk and I can definitely tell you, if Lebron wasn't there or somehow he got injured, NOT only would this series be done in 4 games, but obviously, without a doubt, it would have been in favor of Detroit. Like Mark Jackson would say, "Hand down, man down." I also would believe that if Lebron wasn't there, the scores would have been on average Detroit winning it 100 to 30, and that's just on average alone. Lebron was that good in this series, and I, for one, can tell you he man'd up from the previous year. He learned something from last year, and took this team to the Finals, single-handily.


Although the Finals was a different story. First off, the Cavs were no where near favored to win it. The Spurs coming off an impressive victory over the red-hot Suns were primed to win this thing. The Spurs were to me the best defensive team in the NBA at the time, and if not the best, then at least top 2. Also, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have been to the Finals and won it in the past. And, Greg Popovich is too good of a coach to let one guy (Lebron) beat him.


I don't like the Spurs, I liked them back in 94-95, but got humiliated by the infamous Dream Shake and the Houston Rockets. So it was obvious I was routing for Lebron. The Cavs got swept, they got embarrassed by a better, deeper, stronger, and wiser team. Lebron looked confused, he looked helpless, he had this look like "if only I had better players would I not only be able to compete, but I can win this thing." I was hoping for the Cavs to at least win one game, that's all I really asked for when it got to Game 4. One win, and maybe another win in Game 5 to push it to Game 6. Trying to be optimistic and hopeful; however, I and several fans got let down and the body language of Lebron showed me he didn't quite believe this team of HIS can win one game of the Finals.  


Other than that, I listened to him during his press conference after getting swept. It was actually very nice because he talked a lot about facing a better team, even going as far as congratulating the Spurs and specifically Tim Duncan even though Duncan didn't win the Finals MVP that year. Lebron talked a lot about disappointments, needing to get better, on improving himself and the team, but with him saying all the right things his body language was saying something else. He wanted better players, simple as that. 

It's pretty much after this season, this is when Lebron Inc started to meet with other execs and showed them what the company can do. His endorsements, his dealings, just his appearance alone got him making millions. A true multi-million dollar businessman climbing his way to the top. I think this is when he can start tasting power in the NBA. Let's face it, the NBA loves Lebron, needs Lebron, even breathes Lebron. Without him, the market would be a whole lot less, but one has to think at what price. With him, making millions, and his fame still growing at a phenomenal rate, we got to admit, Cleveland was not going to appease his stardom. Eventually Lebron will need a bigger market, LA or Chicago can fit that bill, but is Lebron really going to leave without him fulfilling this promise. That's when I started to question Lebron's methods on how he operated his business as well as himself. 


2007-2008


Again, we all know Lebron had another great season. Again, this Cav team didn't look like championship contenders on paper. Lebron was able to take the Cavs to the playoffs, again. They got to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the all out defensive, look at me now, fake injury player, "we're the Big 3", Boston Celtics. One team I despise the most, Boston Celtics. I respect their history, their players and their organization, but I hate them (NOT a fan of green). So, I was definitely routing for Lebron in this series so the NBA fans can see what everyone wanted to see and that was a matchup of Lebron vs Kobe. Who wouldn't want to see that? Yeah, Boston vs LA was another good matchup, but I wanted to see something that still to this day haven't seen before (Kobe and Lebron, Finals). 


Lebron helped this measly Cavs team to force 7 games. Impressive, but you can tell by watching the whole series who was the main force in the offense, and probably the ONLY force. Lebron was doing everything, scoring, rebounding, passing, stealing, you name it, but as we all know, one man can't do it by himself. At times, I really thought it was 9 on 1 throughout the games. It was horrific, it was something where I frequently changed the channel if I didn't want to see Lebron lose, and here we are at game 7 which surprised me. I really thought the Celtics should have just swept the Cavs and get on with it, but you can tell the Celtics were not worried about Lebron at all. That was the formula though, make Lebron teammates score, they knew they could not contain Lebron, but they also knew they could contain the others. 


In game 7, Lebron did everything he could do to get this team back to the Finals, but it wasn't enough. Writers everywhere was routing for Lebron to win, ESPN (aka Lebron's other company) were writing articles in favor of Lebron. But most critics will tell you, while they wanted Leborn to win, they knew the Celtics were the better team so they picked the Celtics to win it. At the same time I was hearing people talk about how Lebron is going to come and show us a Jordanesque performance. The main stage was set, this was Lebron's time to shine. For his name to be written in glory and get his team to the Finals once, again. And what happened? He lost, his team botched, he couldn't take them, and a once in a life time matchup between Kobe and Lebron would have to wait yet, again. 


It was disappointing to watch, especially towards the end of the game. With little more than 2 mintues remaining, the Cavs were down by one. Both Lebron and Paul Pierce were having stellar games. It was an epic battle throughout the game, and yet when the Cavs were asking or more like begging for clutch they got none. West misses a three, then Lebron misses a three, basically for the remainder of the game Lebron missed ALLL HIS SHOTS and make 1 out of 2 free throws. Tell me that is clutch, just, please tell me because when you miss 3 critical shots at the end of the game that speaks volume on how you are NOT clutch. What's even more sad is that throughout the season, Lebron was the leader on 4th quarter scoring earning the reputation as Mr. Clutch. Even though this is the Boston Celtics he's playing against, he should have enough confidence and focus when it comes to scoring in the 4th quarter. Let's face it, Lebron wasn't able to take over the game when the opportunity did present itself to him. It was there for the taking and Lebron just let it slip away. I was starting to really 2nd guess on when this "better than Jordan or Magic" was going to show up. And yet even after the series, people was still supporting him, still riding his back, basically still saying things like "it was his teammates, his supporting cast is of no good, Lebron did his best but came up short, Lebron is still young, he'll learn and he'll get his chance, Lebron is going to win numerous championships." Him getting his championships in the distant future is probably what I heard the most not only from writers or critics, but also from fans, and other current and former stars in the league. People making excuses for him and I was starting to get sick and tired seeing the same thing over again when I was being so hopeful for him to rise above and show us that "yes, I, Lebron am this good." Something, but got nothing. 

To be continued...


I do want to apologize, I know in my previous post I said I'll make this into a 3 part series, but I decided to make this a 5 part series.

For my next blog: Part 3 of Lebron Fan to a Lebron Hater, Lebron yet again failing

I am not the owner of any of the articles and pictures. The sources and materials are owned by Yahoo Sports, ESPN, CNN, and Wikipedia.

Lebron Fan to a Lebron Hater: Part 1

Thank you to those who took the time to read and comment and let others know about my blog. Hope it entertains.

I remember back when Lebron James actually was contacted and considered going to Dallas during his "Decision" making process back in 2010. How ironic that Lebron had faced the Bulls and the Mavs, both teams he was rumored to sign with. He might have beat one, but obviously lost to the other. I'll be honest, I really thought that Lebron would go to the Bulls, but who can really say no to Pat Riley?

Today's post is actually a 3-part series on how I used to like Lebron James to hating his guts as a NBA Player. But before I go into depth with this, I've been hearing how I jumped the band wagon of hating and should mind my own business and such. I'm not sure exactly when I started to dislike him, but I'm guessing it was after he got swept in the 07 Finals. My question is, "What's the point of being a fan then?" I love the NBA; before I'm any team's fan I love and respect the game of basketball. All kinds of fans are going to be following the big names in basketball. Even people who hate on Kobe, they still pay attention to him. Same thing Lebron-lovers, Lebron is right though, we should mind our own business, but it's all part of the game, it's part of the NBA, it's part of basketball. People are going to dissect every move you make until you do something to shut them up which happens to be winning. 


Lebron came out today saying 


"Congratulations Mavericks on the championship...especially Dirk (Nowitzki), (Jason) Kidd & (Jason) Terry who have done so much for our league and worked so hard to get here. They deserve all the credit for what they have accomplished. Thank you to all my family, friends and especially the fans for standing by me this year. Miami fans are incredible. A special thank you to my teammates, coaches and Pat Riley and Micky Arison for all of their support. A lot to learn from this year, a lot to build on, and a lot of work to do this summer."


I highly doubt Lebron actually wrote this himself. I'm very positive his PR group came up with this, and told him to say this so that his image won't be tarnished that much this off-season. Lebron should have said congratulations to the Mavs, Dirk, Kidd and Terry A LONG TIME AGO. Sunday. Monday passed (yesterday), today is Tuesday, but you are telling me, it took him two days to think of this and say what he stated. This quote of his sounds way too political and doesn't feel like he's speaking from the heart. Just saying it just to say it isn't enough because it all comes down to timing in this case. I honestly would have been ok with this quote if he said this yesterday, but he took his time and took that extra day and now it's just too late. I've seen this many times before and every time something like this happens people tend to forgive him and come to his aid without question. I'm wondering when will people stop defending this guy, always giving him the benefit of the doubt, always saying things like "he's still young, he'll learn from it...just you wait". When? People has been defending this guy, pampering him, supporting him without fail ever since he got into this league. While guys like Dirk, Terry or even Kidd have to bite, crawl, do whatever they can just to get people defending them. But that's the beauty, they don't. They don't need people to defend them. They do it by playing hard, living up to the moment and respecting the game of basketball. 


I don't want people thinking this guy is pure evil or anything. I don't know Lebron, I don't who he is, what he's about, or what not. But I do know and see his actions, and as of recent, his actions aren't going to win him any "best-role model" type awards. 

2003:

I was 18 years old when I first heard of Lebron James. My friend first mentioned his name, and I was like, "Who's that?!" I was told he might very well be the next Jordan or the next Magic because of his size, his speed, and how well he can just dominate the floor. Anybody who can be the next Jordan or Magic is definitely special. Also, I'm not gonna lie, this guy is graduating high school in my graduating class, so of course I'm going to be cheering this guy on. I was able to watch some high school footage of him, and I'll admit, this guy can really play. I decided to root for the guy, but ultimately I wasn't going to be an all out only Lebron fan like some of my friends. 

After the draft, I also was able to see him state on TV, "I got a goal, and it's a huge goal, and that's to bring an NBA championship here to Cleveland, and I won't stop until I get it." I was amazed on how committed he sounded, on how determined he looked, on this promise, this goal he was devoting himself to. All the high school draftees never attempted to say anything bold like that; you never heard Kobe say that, Garnett, McGrady, Amare (etc), and what made it even more sweet, he was going to play for his own blood state. That's deep. Not many in sports history can show you a kid born in that state, grew up there, played professionally there and won a championship THERE. But I did have my doubts, it's because of the fact that it's never been done in NBA history, why all of a sudden would it work now? My only concern at the time was can he really play amongst the pros and excel the Cavs to become champions. In other words, does he have that leadership quality, that mental focus that the greats have, the strive, yearn and devotion on being among the best? Time will only tell.

ROOKIE SEASON:

His first game was pretty epic, I mean, come on, 25 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals and shot 60%!!! No freaking way can that happen! Especially how it's your first game in the NBA. This guy scored 40 points as an 18 year old in professional league. Most guys in the NBA can tell you how difficult it is to do that especially how the league has changed over the years since the 90s. I, strongly believe ever since the beginning of 2000 the league has made it their duty to call ticky-tacky fouls. I don't think you should call those fouls because it leads to more points and at the time, that's exactly what the league wanted, MORE POINTS. That's just me though, players were able to benefit through this and get more points while slowing the game down a little bit. Lebron averaged 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game for the entire season and became the only 3rd player in history to average at least 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in their rookie season. Only Jordan and Oscar Robertson were able to accomplish this feat; just absolutely incredible. Lebron did something Jordan did in his rookie year, so far so good, you can check that off the list. BUT...did Lebron played just as well or possibly even better than Jordan? I'll just give Lebron props that he was able to do something not many were able to do. Lebron won the Rookie of the Year and because of him, he was able to give a +18 games on the win column. Just one guy's addition to your club, allowed you to be that much better. Again, amazing. 

Now, let's talk business; since we all now know Lebron is a business owning "Lebron Inc", and we should also understand Lebron's business side. Note that at the time, his agent was Aaron Goodwin who helped him land a three-year deal worth a maximum $12.96 million with the Cavs holding the option for a fourth season that could pay him another $5.8 million. Also at this point, Lebron was able to bring up ticket sales and signed lucrative deals with Nike and Coke along with other smaller companies that lead to him already making millions just through endorsements alone. Money sure does talk.

2004-2006:

While in his second season, Lebron was not able to take his team to the playoffs, he did record his first triple-double and he's the youngest to do so. Also, he improved himself, by averaging 27.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 2.2 steals per game. Crazy stats right there for someone who's in his 2nd year in the NBA, AND 20 years old. Again, not many NBA players could accomplish this feat even if their whole NBA career depended on it. The Cavs were able to reach an above .500 record (42-40), but 2nd season in a row they missed the playoffs. 

However, the 2005-2006 season, Lebron propelled his team to the playoffs. Took three seasons to do so, but for someone like him, it's gotta be amazing. (I know, you're sick reading amazing, incredible, etc, but I'm sick of typing it so please bear with me)  This season was also the starting point when we get to see tripe-doubles as if it was easy as flipping the switch. While many would argue triple-doubles are overrated, we should acknowledge it's not THAT easy to do.  Lebron averaged 31.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game, and helped the club improve their winnings to 50 games. His playoff debut against the Wizards, Lebron got a triple-double (32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists). It looks too easy for him; even Jordan wasn't able to do this. Lebron was able to take his team to the Eastern Conference Finals where they met the Detroit Pistons. I don't like the Pistons especially after Grant Hill left so it's quite obvious who I was routing for in this series. The series went to seven games, with the Cavs losing in Game 7. Even with the loss, this is a testament that Lebron is well on his way to the elites. After the season, at the rate Lebron and his team are improving, I thought for sure the Cavs will be back next year IN THE FINALS. 

It's after the second season, Lebron wasn't seeing eye to eye with his agent. So what does he do? Fire his agent, and create his own company, Lebron Inc. Right now, I'm not going to go into crazy details on what happened, but I will highlight on certain events I think is important. At this point Lebron sided with his childhood friend, Maverick Carter, and had Maverick become the de facto CEO of Lebron Inc. Soon enough Lebron and his company was sky rocketing to the top, even surprising, speaking to, and gaining advice from Warren Buffet. During the off-season, fans were antsy, anxious and suspicious of Lebron jumping gun to some other team. After all, Lebron does like to wear NY Yankees baseball caps, which some though may be a foreshadowing of him leaving to a bigger market like New York or Chicago. Lebron eventually signed a 3-year contract extension with the Cavs worth up to $60 million. One thing to note is Lebron did NOT sign his max contract, he took less money for less years, and other stars like Bosh, Carmelo and Wade all signed around the same time. Suspicious?

To wrap up, this was a period when I had the up-most respect for Lebron. As you can even see I did not even call him LeCry, LeGone, LeShame, LeWhatever. Lebron was the best in the league, he was guaranteed number one draft pick in most fantasy leagues. Why wouldn't he be? He was mainly getting you tripe-doubles left and right; this beast was getting you stats from all over the place. 


Joke(s) of the Day:
Please go watch a Dos Equis Commercial (most interesting man) before you read this
Lebron: "I don't normally miss my shots, but when I do...I prefer the game to be on the line"
Yikes!!


For my next blog: Part 2 of Lebron Fan to a Lebron Hater or how I would like to say the starting point of me disliking Lebron

I am not the owner of any of the articles and pictures. The sources and materials are owned by Yahoo Sports, ESPN, CNN, and Wikipedia.

Le-Cry: Post 2011 NBA Finals

First off, I never blogged before in my life, but my despise, abhorrence, malevolence (etc..) towards Le-Cry Shame (aka. Lebron James) made me want to start. I guess if someone asked what has Lebron done for me in my life, my reply would be on how I started blogging because of him.

Before I get into what I really want to talk about I want to state:
"I am a Lebron-Hater!" So if you don't like what I'm saying please go read elsewhere. Talk all the smack you want to me, but this is specifically for those who like reading about Lebron's failures. If you want to complain tell Lebron to start winning some and I really mean SOME Championships. You will also find out why I hate him by reading my blogs, and if someday, Lebron even gets to reading one of my blogs, I hope it hits home and shows him how despicable he truly is.

I've been reading numerous articles on the Dallas Mavericks beating the Miami Heat, yesterday, June 13, 2011. It was, is and always will be a great feeling when I see another year go by on Lebron losing. Before Game 1, I jokingly told my wife that if the Mavs win this year it would make up for the rest of this year. She replied laughing, "What about the baby?" since we're expecting a child sometime in September. I'm grateful she took it as a joke, but I share this with you so that it shows how much (I dare say because I don't like to) hate I have for the Heat, more geared towards Lebron James.

I'm not going to go into all the articles I've read up to this point, but I will mention a few. I thought after Le-Cry lost the 2007 NBA Finals it would have gave him the urgency on how freaking important this NBA Finals is not only to him as a player, but also to his credibility and his legacy.

One thing I don't understand is how can one call himself "the King" when you really don't have anything to show for it. It's like me making the claim, I am the best chef in the world without me winning any cooking contest and official cooking tournaments. If someone is going to give me the "you're entitled to your own opinion", that's just epic lame because in this case how can you call yourself something without much hard evidence, proof or whatever. In one article "Lebron could cough up Finals" written by Yahoo expert, Adrian Wojnarowski, it stated:


"Two years ago, an All-American college player told his coach that James called him and the young player didn’t recognize the number.
'This is the King,' the voice said.
The kid was like, 'Huh?'
'This is the King.'
Uh, who?
'King James.'
Oh, right."


This boggles me because he calls himself the "King", but first and foremost he has no rings to show forth. The article also refers to how Wade and Lebron are going to take over the NBA by storm, and how the generation that I grew up (Kidd, R.Allen, Kobe, Garnett, even having the luxury of watching both MJ's, list goes on) is slowly going away. It's just not the same; as each season passes I feel more and more sorry for the NBA and its fans. But going back to Lebron calling himself king is just outright nonsense. I don't want to get into this too much, but I'll agree that Lebron is "the King", of losing.

Another article I want to share is, "A season without acquittal for LeBron" written by ESPN writter, Brian Windhorst. Lebron tweeted “The Greater Man upstairs know [sic] when it's my time. Right now isn't the time.” Really Lebron?! Instead of him saying "It's my fault, I should have stepped up. I didn't rise to the occasion. I should have done more," he uses God. He shouldn't be bringing God into the picture with his failures, in the first place.

But the part that kills me the most is when Lebron said, “All the people that were rooting me on to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life they had before,” James said. “They have the same personal problems they had today. I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want with me and my family and be happy with that.” I know where Lebron is coming from. He's in defensive mode, I don't know if he should rightfully be in that mode, but doesn't this sound like a little boy rather than a man. He's just trying to say he doesn't care when the whole series he was stating things like he does actually care. Contradicting?

I really don't think Jordan, Magic, or even Shaq would be saying these kinds of things...TO FANS!!! In fact, I don't recall them saying anything like that when fans wanted them to lose or going against them. Lebron knows that countless of people wanted not only the Miami Heat to fail but also himself. I know that his comments were meant for the Cleveland fans, but come on. A NBA Superstar like Lebron's status shouldn't be saying those kinds of things. He should just ignore and back his talk up with winning which he hasn't proven, yet (biggest yet ever). Yeah, we know he's rich, we know he has fame, we know he can do a lot of things even though he lost, things that most of us can't even afford to do, but one shouldn't be (especially a grown man) saying kid sh**. (Apologies: I'll try to limit my cussing) It's like a little kid coming up to me saying "I got a Lebron James Auto Rookie Card", with me responding "O yeah, I got a Michael Jordan Auto Rookie Card." Then he follows up by saying "O yeah!! At least I can go meet Michael Jordan. TAKE THAT!!" Really Lebron?? Grow up, Man up, Shut up, do something Lebron, how old are you? Seriously! People especially kids are looking up to this guy, but how can they when he's acting like this? If my child becomes anywhere near an avid basketball fan (hopefully so), I would never ever want them to be a fan of Lebron. Remember those be like Mike commercials?

There are more articles I want to get into, but I don't want this blog to get over-drastically too long so we'll wrap up. The main point of today is that Lebron really has no respect for the game, for the fans and sadly to say even for himself. He never apologized to the Miami Heat FANS, officially and properly. A true man with honor knows how to handle/take a loss. He would know that when he got beat fair and square, he needs to better himself so the next time he can rise up. I saw the same thing with Le-Cry in 2011 Finals as in the 2007 Finals. SAME THING!! 4 years Lebron, and you haven't changed. It's sad and my respect for him as a person is pretty much gone. As a player, Lebron is great, he's a megastar that can put up numbers, a great deal amount, too. But when you truly look at it, when we talk about greats, when we talk about the best players; we look at championships and/or what you've done in your career, it all depends. I'll go as far as saying in order to be considered one of the greatest of all time (not THE greatest but one of the greatest) I feel like you should at least have one championship and one finals mvp. Just winning it is not good enough to be on that list, you need, actually you must have that finals mvp to go with that championship, no choice. Winning championships and being the finals mvp helps define what being one of the greatest is all about. Winning championships is a team effort, one man can't do it all by himself that is why when you are the leader of a team, can you motivate your teammates, can you take yourself and the team over the hill and become champions? To me, men lead, boys follow. Lebron is taking the easy way out by having Wade lead the team with him being the follower. I like Wade, but not as much as before. I'm glad they lost, and I hope Wade can win another one, but at the same time I Hope Lebron Never Wins a Championship.

Is this a face of a champion? Would you want this cryer as your champion???

Joke(s) of the Day:
"Hey. I saw Lebron today. I wanted him to break a dollar. He gave me 75 cents. I asked where's the rest of it and he said "I don't have a fourth quarter." Ouch!


"Apple is coming out with a LeBron James iPhone. But it only vibrates because it has no rings."

"Tomorrow is Lebron James day, everyone gets to leave work 12 minutes early." I'm going to try to use this one haha


Haters out there. Gotta love it. If you got jokes yourself, please do share.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I appreciate any helpful feedback. Please do correct me if my facts are off and not true. Thank you.

For my next blog: I'll be talking about how I went from a Lebron Fan to a Lebron Hater

I am not the owner of any of the articles and pictures. The articles are owned by Yahoo Sports and ESPN, and the picture above is taken from ESPN.com.