From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

 

LeBron's critics can take a walk

 

It is nonsense to fix the perception of James from what happened in the final seconds Tuesday.

 

The seconds of James' career that will always be remembered are those when he drove the baseline with his off hand and knifed to the basket like the villain in a slasher flick in the last seconds of playoff overtime against the Wizards and the sinewy bank shot on the way down earlier in the series.

 

Still, some of us do remember tales about a player who played twice as many games in a different sport and played hard in everyone of them. Why?

 

"Because there might be somebody there who's never seen me play before," said Joe DiMaggio.

Thats weak!!!!!

"Because there might be somebody there who's never seen me play before," said Joe DiMaggio.

 

 

Honestly I'm 6'2" 245 and I play softball this way. The past 3 summers I've had shoulder surgery, lower back problems, and knee problems. I still can't round second and just stop. If they lob it in I have to take the base. My knee problems playing in a 3 on 3 game and running into a wall for a loose ball. Pay me millions and I would have went through it.

So LBJ can walk off the court because he doesn't have X amount of kids with X amount of women? Or because he hasn't been accused of smoking weed? Or because he hasn't pulled a gun on somebody?

 

I'm not buying that logic. Is that really what we've come to expect not only in the NBA, but in society as a whole? If so, that's sad, IMO.

 

 

Re-read my post.... I didnt say he should be able to walk off the court. I clearly stated he made a poor decision and I do not condone it. I was only trying to offset the bad press he is getting for one mistake by saying that he is not your typical NBA loser like .....Ruben Patterson, Shawn Kemp, Steven Jackson, etc.....

 

Can we agree there?

I still can't believe people want to dredge up something that happened more than a decade ago and bring it into the arguement. Pippen got blasted for what he did, the Bulls kept him around, he won three more titles, and he's long gone.

 

All you're doing by bringing it up is attempting to make what James did look less bad. He was wrong.

 

1. I didn't bring Pippen in the discussion. I simply replied to a poster who tried to equate them.

2. They're nowhere near the same.

 

One LOOKS bad. The other is a player ACTUALLY quitting on his team in a PLAYOFF game. If you equate those, you then have to say a kid who steals bubblegum from the corner store is the same as a bank robber. Stealing is stealing, right?

 

I would simply disagree with your assessment of the sitauation. Lebron did not quit on his team. Instead of standing and not doing anything like the other 9 players on the floor, he left. Bad judgment on his part but in no way was it quitting. Pippen flat out quit.

First off, the huge difference is when NFL players run off the field as mentioned, the ball is not in play, and isn't going back into play.

 

But don't tell me you understand (condone) his "frustration". That's the problem with athletics and why it keeps filtering down to the kids. That's why high school kids and even younger want to peel off their jersey when they foul out now (they're just frustrated after all). It's why kids want to talk back to their coaches (he's just frustrated after all). I guess the next thing is some 10-year-old "little LeBron" will miss a three and keep walking before the game ends, and everyone should be okay with that. After all he's frustrated and his teammates need to step up.

 

James gets paid millions to play the game, sports are suppossed to teach a few life lessons, like having a touch of mental toughness and composure. If you give James a free pass on this one, what do you expect the kids to learn?

 

 

No, I disagree that it is not the same as the NFL. If SD is leading the Bengals and the ball is in play with 20 seconds to go and the SD QB is going to kneel it down at the 50 and Tory James leaves the field and runs to the tunnel (which some players do especially on the road) how is that different than James leaving with 7 seconds left and Lue standing at half court just holding tha ball?

If Kobe had done this it would have been worse than Pippen. Just because you're fans of King James (and I am too) doesn't make what he did right. Moss was torn from head to toe when he did THE EXACT SAME THING!!!!

A bad move by a frustrated player who has been carrying the Cavs all year.... outside of Hughes.. they need someone else to step up.

Lebron needs to lead his team. His team is a lot more talented than most of the teams in the NBA. He needs to show some foot steps for them to follow and staying on the court would be a good start.