Ding dong, LeBron is gone
The pro hoops series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic is over, and Orlando prevailed. This sets the stage for a championship series between the Magic and the hated Los Angeles Lakers, and it relieves the world from the nauseating marketing that was already building around a Cleveland-L.A. LeBron-Kobe matchup.
For us, it's better this way. It would have been difficult to spend much time with LeBron vs. Kobe. It's no fun rooting against both teams.
For at least another day or two, the buzz will be about where LeBron is going to be playing next. His frustrations with his Cleveland team may have grown to the point that he'll take big bucks to pull up stakes and head to a better situation elsewhere when he is free to do so next year. Will he do it, who will win the bidding war, yada yada yada.
LeBron stomped off the court after tonight's loss, not staying long enough to shake hands with his victorious opponents, which is the custom. A truly classless, and thoughtless, move. We are all witnesses, all right, to his insane egotism. Buh-bye, Lebron. Don't let the door hit you.
And remember, it rains all the time in Portland. The coach here wants team play. No matter how much money Paul Allen paid you, you really wouldn't like it.
Comments (21)
Well, LeBron James selfishness can be summed up in his refusal to sign a letter offered by a teammate regarding China's actions in Darfur, likely for fear of jeopardizing his endorsement deals:
http://www.africanpath.com/p_blogEntry.cfm?blogEntryID=864
Posted by PMG | May 31, 2009 7:47 AM
Watching LeBron, boring..... Run that one on five play again.
Posted by Bark Munster | May 31, 2009 9:31 AM
Watching the way Orlando spreads the floor and makes quick, crisp passes until a shooter comes open - eptiomizes team play. Even the so-called conspiracy to effect a LeBron/Kobe showdown could not influence the outcome. It must be Magic.
Posted by genop | May 31, 2009 10:06 AM
The entire Cav team is probably feeling a little sheepish. Have you seen the pre-game theatrics they go through? Posing for an imaginary camera, posturing like professional wrestlers, or throwing chalk in the air? When Portland played at Cleveland a few months ago and we got to see the full show, I nearly spit out my coffee. I couldn't help but wonder what the lunch-bucket Blazers and Nate McMillan were thinking as they watched their polar opposites strut around like ridiculous chickens. They'd get fined, perhaps drawn and quartered, if they pulled that crap.
Does LeBron realize he's put a giant bullseye on their backs? Hopefully they learn to be humble until they actually win something.
Meanwhile, Orlando is quietly showing why the inside out game wins championships. I was thinking that their offense is something the Blazers should mimic, Dwight Jaynes said something to that effect too...
http://www.dwightjaynes.com/the-magic-my-new-favorite-team-to-watch
Come on Orlando, Beat LA.
Posted by TKrueg | May 31, 2009 10:19 AM
Is somebody at Nike's ad agency working right now, putting together a Dwight Howard Muppet?
Posted by Don | May 31, 2009 11:19 AM
All of us have had similar moments of anger, it just hasn't been in front of the world.
If you criticize him for his behavior there is some part of that behavior in you.
Lebron is a class act who had a moment. He's still a good guy and the best player on earth.
Posted by Body You Want | May 31, 2009 12:15 PM
Team Ball will always win , though it doesn't hurt to have a big man ...
This show [and Boston last year] are the models for the Blazers. Give Oden one more year and we will be BEATIN THE LAKERS in the WCF's and going to the finals every year.
Posted by billb | May 31, 2009 12:58 PM
LeBron has made no secret of his wish to play in New York.
And since he failed to make the Finals, can we start calling him LeBronze again?
The only better scenario would have been if LA had also lost the Western Conference championship.
Posted by none | May 31, 2009 2:07 PM
The Nike KB/LJ Muppet ads were atrocious, boring, and pointless. And long! Hated them. With luck, they'll pull them.
James coming to the Blazers would be a disaster. One of the many reasons we all love the Trailblazers is that they play team ball, whereas every night with the Cavs, it's the LeBron show.
Though, in his defense, he really didn't have much back-up.
I thought it was interesting that Barkley and Kenny Smith said, post Game 5, that James could not pull off another performance like that and shouldn't have to. And man, he did look beat last night from the first quarter.
Since Portland's been out, I've come to love Orlando. I hope they kick LA's butt.
Posted by Nancy Rommelmann | May 31, 2009 2:20 PM
I liked Denver, too. They disappeared the last two games, however -- I'm not sure what that was about.
Posted by Jack Bog | May 31, 2009 2:42 PM
May the team with the least tatoos win!
Posted by Dean | May 31, 2009 4:08 PM
I have to disagree. I don't think anybody has ever gained so much hype, so early in his career, AND lived up to it, and remained fairly down to earth. He is the MVP of the team and one of the Top 5 players in the game, if the not THE best. Yet James has handled it pretty damn well compared to the likes of Stephan Marbury, Kobe Bryant, etc.
I think James wants to stay in Cleveland, but they have yet to put a team around him that can hold its own. They passed on his friend and sometimes-mentor, Jason Kidd, because he was too expensive, then took on Ben Wallace! The Cavs have had four years now to find a co-star for James, and he continues to fight through double and triple teams to get the team within a gander of games of an NBA title.
LeBron should be angry. His departure from his hometown of Cleveland may now be a foregone conclusion. If management senses that, maybe they'll deal for the best marketing advantage they can get. How about Lebron for Oden, Sergio, Outlaw, and cash?
Posted by Ted | May 31, 2009 4:30 PM
and remained fairly down to earth.
He's a tremendous player, but you've been watching too much television.
His departure from his hometown of Cleveland
Cleveland is not his hometown. never lived there, never went to school there. he's from Akron, over 40 miles away. saying he's from Cleveland is like saying Albany is Portland.
and he's not a big city boy--he went to a private Catholic school, his mom bought him a Hummer for his 18th birthday, and he's never had a reputation for being humble--that is, unless you're reading an NBA marketing brochure. Lebron James was carefully packaged, promoted and managed long before entering the NBA.
Posted by Portland Citizen | May 31, 2009 5:08 PM
Cleveland is not his hometown. ... he's from Akron, over 40 miles away. saying he's from Cleveland is like saying Albany is Portland.
From the Rose Garden to Albany City Hall: 71 miles.
From LeBron's "private Catholic school" to the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland: 33 miles.
Not that it matters, of course. But if you're going to pick nits, it's probably a good idea to have a clue as to what you're talking about...
Posted by Pete | May 31, 2009 6:31 PM
Not that it matters, of course. But if you're going to pick nits, it's probably a good idea to have a clue as to what you're talking about...
not too good with the geography, are you?
and if you've ever used online mapping, you know it's not precise. I've personally driven between Cleveland and points south (including Akron), and the mileage is well known. it's about 40 miles or so.
or would it have made your anal retentive day better if I had said...Salem?
wow. talk about missing the point.
Posted by Portland Citizen | May 31, 2009 6:43 PM
and speaking of James the "humble sportsman":
""It's hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them," he said. "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."
http://www.nba.com/2009/playoffs2009/05/31/cavs.lebron.ap/index.html
"It doesn't make sense for me to go over and shake somebody's hand."
no, LeBron, I guess it doesn't.
Posted by Portland Citizen | May 31, 2009 6:48 PM
40 miles makes him a hometown player. Sheesh. Danny Ainge was from Eugene and was always considered a hometown player when he played for Portland, and that's over a hundred miles.
I've always found LeBron to be a pretty good guy, and amazingly good for his age. Maybe he left after the game the way he did because he hates to lose. He needs to be on a team where he isn't relied upon to be the whole team.
Posted by GJoubert | May 31, 2009 9:03 PM
Ya, I don't this post. As far as NBA players go, LaBron seems like a class act, last game of the playoffs not with standing. And I think he would thrive in PDX.
Posted by Travis | May 31, 2009 9:20 PM
He needs to be on a team where he isn't relied upon to be the whole team.
you might not have noticed, but the rest of the team scored the majority of the points, rebounds and assists in the playoffs. in fact, most starters were in double figures in 1-2 categories every game. James didn't "carry" the team--but it's a really popular myth to say so.
and why not? he's even said it to the press himself, humble good guy that he is.
Posted by Portland Citizen | May 31, 2009 10:38 PM
I remember back in Lebron's first or second year, he was photographed at some rapper's pool party... drink in hand prior to being 21, with naked women all around. Personally, I don't care (in fact, I'm jealous) but at the time the Blazers were battling image issues for similar stuff. It was discouraging that some people find themselves above the scrutiny, simply because of who they are or what market they play in.
Lebron is far from being a bad guy, but he's not exactly sympathetic. Everybody but sportswriters, the NBA, ABC and the city of Cleveland is laughing their a*s off today because King James was fed a fat slice of humble pie.
On that note, I'd like to see Dwight Howard serve up more of that pie for Kobe.
Posted by TKrueg | May 31, 2009 11:31 PM
I'd rather see the Magic as a team "serve up more of that pie to Kobe".
Posted by Lee | June 1, 2009 2:41 PM