[Purple Haize]

I can't believe I am even having to defend anything I stated in this thread. Because frankly nothing was as inflammatory as some posters suggest. But if it was interpreted as such then there is little I can do to alter opinions. I am curious where my alleged hate for Lebron was so obvious.

And for the record, I only referenced my experience of covering the NBA on a daily basis for over a decade once my knowledge of the Association was brought into question. I admit that the game bores me these days so that I don't live and breath it like I once did. But I am far from disconnected.

I thought what happened in the locker room STAYS in the locker room!

I'm glad you are in the same boat as me regarding the NBA

[thepostman]

I can't believe I am even having to defend anything I stated in this thread. Because frankly nothing was as inflammatory as some posters suggest. But if it was interpreted as such then there is little I can do to alter opinions. I am curious where my alleged hate for Lebron was so obvious.

And for the record, I only referenced my experience of covering the NBA on a daily basis for over a decade once my knowledge of the Association was brought into question. I admit that the game bores me these days so that I don't live and breath it like I once did. But I am far from disconnected.

I think its comical you can't even admit you misread the guys posts and even more comical you can't admit you do not like Lebron. Such is life.

I don't like lebron, never have and his little MVP speech he gave after the game seemed to be that of an angry, angry man that made me dislike him more. Still doesn't diminish what he has accomplished it just makes him an idiot.

[Purple Haize]

Shuck typed that it was ONE OF THE BEST performances. This is a statement which is ambiguous and open ended to the point it is almost not debatable. It looks to me like Sly misread him to say it was THE BEST performance, which of course is very much subject to debate, and he responded in kind.

By that standard ANY performance could be ONE of the best. Because even the worst performance is still nothing more then the last on the list of great performances. IMO, I'd put it in the Top 50

[lynchburgwildcats]

Shuck typed that it was ONE OF THE BEST performances. This is a statement which is ambiguous and open ended to the point it is almost not debatable. It looks to me like Sly misread him to say it was THE BEST performance, which of course is very much subject to debate, and he responded in kind.

By that standard ANY performance could be ONE of the best. Because even the worst performance is still nothing more then the last on the list of great performances. IMO, I'd put it in the Top 50

Yeah sure if you want to be mr. literal.

[SuperJon]

Lebron's MVP speech sounded like a dude that was mad and finally didn't care what people thought of him. If he switches into eff you mode, the entire NBA should be scared.

[Purple Haize]

Lebron's MVP speech sounded like a dude that was mad and finally didn't care what people thought of him. If he switches into eff you mode, the entire NBA should be scared.

For what reason? I would think because his off court antics will start becoming more prevalent.

[SuperJon]

Lebron has always wanted to be liked. He did everything in an attempt to make people like him. If he truly stops caring what people think of him and simple focuses on proving them all wrong, he'll take his game to a whole new level that the league may have never seen.

[thepostman]

Lebron's MVP speech sounded like a dude that was mad and finally didn't care what people thought of him. If he switches into eff you mode, the entire NBA should be scared.

I agree to an extent but I would believe he didn't care if he hadn't gotten so angry at that question, if he would've said "who freaking cares I just won a championship" or something along those lines then I would believe he doesn't care.

He still cares and it effects him so much that instead of being happy during is MVP acceptance he was down right angry.

He is still the same ol' Lebron, that is impossible for me to like. The difference is he is a lot better then he was a few years ago.

[Purple Haize]

Lebron's MVP speech sounded like a dude that was mad and finally didn't care what people thought of him. If he switches into eff you mode, the entire NBA should be scared.

I agree to an extent but I would believe he didn't care if he hadn't gotten so angry at that question, if he would've said "who freaking cares I just won a championship" or something along those lines then I would believe he doesn't care.

He still cares and it effects him so much that instead of being happy during is MVP acceptance he was down right angry.

He is still the same ol' Lebron, that is impossible for me to like. The difference is he is a lot better then he was a few years ago.

You hit part of the reason LeBrons marketability is taking a hit.

[lynchburgwildcats]

Lebron's MVP speech sounded like a dude that was mad and finally didn't care what people thought of him. If he switches into eff you mode, the entire NBA should be scared.

I agree to an extent but I would believe he didn't care if he hadn't gotten so angry at that question, if he would've said "who freaking cares I just won a championship" or something along those lines then I would believe he doesn't care.

He still cares and it effects him so much that instead of being happy during is MVP acceptance he was down right angry.

He is still the same ol' Lebron, that is impossible for me to like. The difference is he is a lot better then he was a few years ago.

You hit part of the reason LeBrons marketability is taking a hit.

Yep, it's taking a hit. Such a big hit that Darren Rovell says that LeBron will likely become just the second NBA player to earn $50 million in annual endorsements. Not salary or anything else, just endorsements. Only other player to achieve that is Jordan.

Such a big hit, he still manages to be the leading shoe salesman for NBA players and second place isn't even close. "Nike generated $300 million in U.S. retail sales in 2012 for James’ signature shoes...The second best-selling active NBA pitchman is Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers. His Kobe 8 signature shoes sold $50 million at U.S. stores last year."
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenha ... -salesmen/

Such a big hit, he merely ranks #2 overall and #1 among NBA players on the Fortune 50 highest earnings athlete's list.
http://nba.si.com/2013/05/15/lebron-jam ... etes-list/

I think LeBron is doing just fine in the marketability department...

[thepostman]

Just imagine if he was likable

[Purple Haize]

Just imagine if he was likable

If he had the charisma of MJ, Magic or countless others his ratings would be off the chart. The fact that he didn't get a bump from winning the gold medal in London is very telling. That is an event that should have catapulted him to never before seen heights. Also, interesting was the snippet that most fans in the US were rooting for the Spurs. The guy is making a fairly decent living, but he is losing a lot of money.

[thepostman]

if he was likable he would surpass MJ in endorsements simply because the endorsement climate has changed significantly since MJ was active and players are paid a ton more to endorse products.

Oh well, he has much more money then I ever could imagine so I am sure he isn't thinking too much about it. Or at least shouldn't be.

[ALUmnus]

These NBA threads cause more slap-fights than any other. Postman, you show more contempt for Sly in all your posts than Sly has ever shown for Lebron. What's the deal?

And likeability is very subjective. I personally think Lebron is very likeable compared to most of the other NBAers, and I'm not a Lebron fan. It's espn's obsession and hyperbole that turns me off. I think Lebron handles himself very well, he's just not the most comfortable with a mic in his face, gets kinda awkward and nervous and that affects what he says. My personal opinion.

[thepostman]

Honestly I am not sure why Sly's post often annoy me, but they do. I can admit that.

[RubberMallet]

jordan was still relatively a nobody at 19 years old. lebron was touted as the next jordan in jr high. i can't imagine trying to grow up and be "likable" through that type of life. i probably would not be likable and probably highly annoyed. i think the amount of poise lebron has is remarkable given the circumstances he's been dealt. we think its easy...you're rich! be happy! but we of all people should know that isn't the case.

[Purple Haize]

jordan was still relatively a nobody at 19 years old. lebron was touted as the next jordan in jr high. i can't imagine trying to grow up and be "likable" through that type of life. i probably would not be likable and probably highly annoyed. i think the amount of poise lebron has is remarkable given the circumstances he's been dealt. we think its easy...you're rich! be happy! but we of all people should know that isn't the case.

In person, MJ was an azzhat when he wasn't doing some type of endorsement. Stories abounded in the Chicago area about what a cretin he was, just like they go around Miami now in regards to LeBron. Both MJ and even Tiger Woods managed to a much better job than James has done glossing over that. IMO, a lot of that has to do with their actions on the court/course. LeBron has garnered the reputation as a flopper and a cry baby, not very becoming for someone who is supposed to be The (current) Greatest Player.
But again he has more money then he could ever need and 2 rings so..... He almost has as many as Robert Horry

[RubberMallet]

jordan was still relatively a nobody at 19 years old. lebron was touted as the next jordan in jr high. i can't imagine trying to grow up and be "likable" through that type of life. i probably would not be likable and probably highly annoyed. i think the amount of poise lebron has is remarkable given the circumstances he's been dealt. we think its easy...you're rich! be happy! but we of all people should know that isn't the case.

In person, MJ was an azzhat when he wasn't doing some type of endorsement. Stories abounded in the Chicago area about what a cretin he was, just like they go around Miami now in regards to LeBron. Both MJ and even Tiger Woods managed to a much better job than James has done glossing over that. IMO, a lot of that has to do with their actions on the court/course. LeBron has garnered the reputation as a flopper and a cry baby, not very becoming for someone who is supposed to be The (current) Greatest Player.
But again he has more money then he could ever need and 2 rings so..... He almost has as many as Robert Horry

jordan didn't have to deal with the media attention that exists now. newspapers? sportscenter? his personality would of had him be the villian if he was exposed to the type of media coverage lebron has to endure. tiger is successful because golf is basically unwatchable when he's not in contention. tiger is one of the crappiest people on the planet but is untouchable in the golf world for other reasons outside of anything he's done.

[Purple Haize]

Agree about MJ and the difference in coverage. It was an unwritten rule I think that neither The Tribune nor WGN would report anything negative.
But in a limited defense of MJ and Tiger, I've never been the best in the world at what I do,, so I guess acting like a jerk is part of that

[lynchburgwildcats]

In the world of social media and the height of internet news reporting, Michael Jordan would be taken through the ringer repeatedly for all the crap he did if he were playing now. He's lucky he got the benefit of friendly local media who worshipped the ground Jordan walked on. He is a first class male donkey (for effect, feel free to replace "male donkey" with the word that would get edited out).

Just imagine what would have happened these days had Jordan been fooling around with mistresses left and right like Tiger Woods was doing. We saw how that blew up into a gigantic crap storm for him.

[g-webb1994]

Mebron's performance was a good one, but isn't the goat in the finals, that still belongs to Willis Reed.

The NBA product quality has dropped so much in the past decade it is hard to compare a player like Mebron to legends of the past. It will be interesting to see what the league product looks like in around five years or so now that Stern will be gone.

[RubberMallet]

The NBA product quality has dropped so much in the past decade it is hard to compare a player like Mebron to legends of the past. It will be interesting to see what the league product looks like in around five years or so now that Stern will be gone.

this is always comical to me. we always remember the past as greater than it really was. whether its nba classic game on espn classic or old school he man cartoons on hub, you are always left saying, "really? i've always thought this would be a lot more amazing than this."

[olldflame]

Mebron's performance was a good one, but isn't the goat in the finals, that still belongs to Willis Reed.

The NBA product quality has dropped so much in the past decade it is hard to compare a player like Mebron to legends of the past. It will be interesting to see what the league product looks like in around five years or so now that Stern will be gone.

Revisionist history at it´s finest. One of the all time great game 7 performances occurred that day, but Willis Reed had nothing to do with it. Reed only played a few minutes in that game. He made a couple of perimiter jumpers over Wilt on the first 2 posessions, and that was it. To this day, he regrets that his ¨heroics¨of hobbling onto the court to play a few minutes have overshadowed the real hero, and the reason the Knicks won the game, which was Clyde Fraziers 36 points and 18 assists, almost all of them with Reed on the bench.

[Purple Haize]

The NBA product quality has dropped so much in the past decade it is hard to compare a player like Mebron to legends of the past. It will be interesting to see what the league product looks like in around five years or so now that Stern will be gone.

this is always comical to me. we always remember the past as greater than it really was. whether its nba classic game on espn classic or old school he man cartoons on hub, you are always left saying, "really? i've always thought this would be a lot more amazing than this."

I disagree 100%. I'm one of those who actually ENJOYS watching those games from the 80's - early 90's. I find myself saying 'Now THIS is basketball'

[thepostman]

Ahhh the whole "NBA is horrible now" conversation. It was only a matter of time.