Armchair I used to play basketball regular job working traveling league coaches, sports pundits and everybody else I forgot to mention that think they are basketball guru’s are going to have something to say about this, but as the title says HI HATER’s!
Tonight the Miami Heat are tipping off against the Oklahoma City Thunder in what is sure to be one of the most talked about finals in recent memory. Why? Because Lebron James one of the best players the game has WITNESSed, pun intended, will be appearing in his 3rd championship series but has yet to win one. I believe this will be the one.
Lebron James has been cast as a villain every since he came into the league because he accepted a title that the league and his sponsors bestowed upon him. And that title was King James. The marketing material that followed pictured him in a crown and sitting on a throne just as a king would, and it was accompanied by a simple word. WITNESS!
Behold the best basketball player has arrived at 19 years old straight out of high school. Since then he’s been loved by many and hated by many, even though he had nothing to do with his branding, he accepted it just like any other 19 year old who thought they were the best player in the world would have done. I guess that was a mistake?
Then he realized that he would never win a championship with the team that he was on and exercised his right as a free agent to put together and become part of a team that had a far greater chance to win a title than his former team, which gained him the HATE of an entire city and the league brass. Every since that move he has been cast as a bigger villain and the aforementioned armchair, travel league and I used to play basketball, but now work a regular job super coaches and pundits can’t get enough of calling him everything but what he is, one of the best players that has ever played the game.
Here are a few myths that continue to be propped up by the league and the sports media:
- Lebron Isn’t Clutch, he doesn’t want to shoot the ball in the 4th quarter when the game is on the line – since 2006 Lebron has taken 12 shots with the game on the line with a few seconds remaining on the clock, he’s hit 5 of those. Kobe has taken 27 and hit 7, but that’s 1996, since 2006 he has taken 12 and hit 3. That’s 41.7% vs 25% in the same amount of attempts over the same period of time. I’m using Kobe because is widely held as the best clutch shooter in the game. click here for stats
- Lebron Isn’t a Beast, he needs to play like he did in game 6 of the 2012 series against Boston all the time, a 45 pt, 15 boards and 5 assist night – the very next game he scored 31 pts, 12 rebounds and 2 assist. He is averaging 30.8 pts, 9.6 rebounds and 5.1 assist per game during the playoffs this year. Compare that to Durant’s 27.8 pts, 7.9 rebounds and 2.8 assist and Kobe’s 30 pts, 4.8 boards and 4.3 assist per game and LBJ beats both of them out in every category. But he’s not a dog; he doesn’t go hard every night. Show me a player that has averaged 45 pts, 15 rebounds and 5 assist every night, especially in the playoffs, I’ll be waiting.
- Lebron isn’t Great, until he wins a championship ring – Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, John Stockton, etc, etc, etc. These 4 players are considered 4 of the best players to ever play the game hands down, no one can dispute that, yet they have never won a ring. Lebron James career stats are better than all 4 of them, plus Kobe’s and KD’s; yet people continue to say that Kobe and KD are much better than him. Lebron James is the #3 all time leader in points per game at 27.6, only Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain have better per game stats. click here for stats (Durant isn’t featured because the amount of years he’s played)
So if you can look at these facts and still say that Lebron James isn’t clutch, a dog, or going to be considered one of the greatest players to ever play the game then guess what, you’re a HATER. No matter how you try to twist these numbers in your favor, you lose; you’re operating strictly off emotion because Lebron isn’t the player that you want him to be, even though he is better than the people that you claim he should be like. You just can’t see it because you are blinded by your HATE.
The first step to recovery is admitting that you are a HATER simply because that’s what you are; embrace it and give the man his props.
WITNESS!