Just a few things tonight — I was in transit today, and now I’m back at school for my last semester and settling in a bit.
First off, here’s a fairly substantial piece I did for NBC on what LeBron’s game might look like next season in Miami.
Not many people know this about me, but I’ve actually been published in China. Here’s the story: SLAM China needed someone to grab quotes about LeBron from Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant, and I was in LA and available, so I got the gig. They gave me two questions to ask, one of which was the following: “Which of these four terms would you say best describes LeBron James to you: A Man, The Man, My Man, or a Humble Human Being?”
Seemed a little silly at the time, but isn’t that the question just about everyone has been wrestling with w/r/t LeBron this off-season? Just kinda struck me as interesting. (I do suspect that there aren’t a lot of people who would choose the “Humble Human Being” option at this point in time.)
So J.R. Smith is available, apparently. Once upon a time, I wanted to see him on the Cavs, but I think his bad habits are embedded way too deep. Jacking threes whenever you feel like it when you’re as talented as JR isn’t the best way to go about things, but he’s convinced that that’s “his game,” and he’s been successful enough to get away with it, I suppose.
-Delonte with a 10-game suspension to start the season, assuming he gets picked up. Amazing how quick his stock fell, and I really hope he lands on his feet somewhere. I still think he’s worth taking a chance on, assuming the off-court stuff wasn’t too terrifying.
-Oh, let’s please get at least one documentary film crew to capture the Kwame/MJ reunion. Open thread question: Nobody really cared about reports that MJ repeatedly and viciously blasted Kwame with a certain anti-gay slur back in the early part of the milenium.
I feel like LeBron or Kobe would get in a LOT more trouble if reports of that nature surfaced about them now. Is it just that MJ will always be made of Teflon in the eyes of the public? Is it that our sensitivity to homophobic slurs has gone up in the last decade or so? Is it the integration of twitter/TMZ/Gawker-type stuff into the sports world? Or do people just not have sympathy for draft busts? Or am I just wrong here, and people/media types still think that homophobia in the sports world is just “boys being boys?”
That’s all I have for tonight. Until tomorrow, everyone.
I think its the sympathy factor, or lack thereof. The public has a hard time feeling bad for a guy making millions to play a game. Especially when this article basically tells the world how soft you are:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/28/AR2006112800709_pf.html
JR Smith is not coming here. Scott coached him in New Orleans and got him out of there, doubt he’d want to deal with him again.
I personally have no problem with a leader of a team letting his teammate have it when they continuously suck. The whole slur thing is a part of this world right now and frankly I’m not gonna throw stones for that when I’m living in a glass house.
But, I never had a problem with Kobe screaming at teammates…it’s needed from somebody.
Excellent article John. I fully expect Lebron to post a PER over 35 this year.
If the cavs don’t want D. West because he’s just a little crazy then they clearly aren’t going to be interested in JR’s attitude problems. I like watching JR play and I do think he would be a good pick up for the cavs. It doesn’t seem to be the right time for that kind of move.
D West definitely deserves way more praise than he’s getting. He would be a huge asset to any team.
Thanks John, I must admit I am skeptical of the media members who are blithely predicting that Lebron will average a triple-double. I mean, sure he could but if he didn’t do it with the Cavs when he was the best passer and the best rebounder and had unfettered domination, why would playing with Bosh (a better rebounder and one-on-one scorer than anyone the Cavs had) and Wade (a better playmaker, rebounding guard and one-on-one scorer than anyone the Cavs had), necessarily increase his rebounding and assist opportunities rather than more likely the other way around? Also, the Cavs will probably blow teams out and if all goes to plan Lebron will play fewer minutes than he did last year. A monster season in terms of efficiency, I completely agree is in the cards. Averaging a triple-double, I don’t really see it (and I don’t think you do either) unless Lebron does something really contrived, which seems pretty pointless. People have short memories but J-Kidd almost certainly could have averaged a triple-double if fabricating that particular honor for himself was a particular priority, so I don’t see what the big deal is anyway.
I’m sorry not Cavs, Heat (old habits die hard . . .)
@ colin z
this article told me a whole lot more than how “soft” kwame brown was. and yes, i say was, because you quoted an 8-year-old article. go through what your own quoted article says this young man, boy even, went through, and then get thrown into the limelight and given millions of dollars. we’ll see how you would have responded, and at that point you will have earned the right to label a person, in my opinion.
@brian c:
I realize the article’s intent was not to say Kwame was soft, but that’s how it read to me. Did Kwame have a bit of misfortune in his life? Yeah, but so does everyone. LeBron grew up without a father, and his mother had/has some serious issues. Allen Iverson and Caron Butler both spent time in prison before they even got to college.
What I took away from that article was that Kwame had never really been challenged. He came into the league as a kid who’d never had to think for himself. And, you know, it makes sense that he came in soft. Even if his two oldest brothers are in jail, he still had two more older brothers sheltering him. It makes sense that he would be weak coming into the league. I mean, this is a guy who’d never spent a night alone in his first 19 years.
Now, I’ve been very lucky and fortunate to grow up with the family I have, so I can’t really empathize with Kwame. But I don’t see why I should feel sympathetic for a guy who’s biggest problem when he came into the league was that he was out of shape and lacked a strong work ethic. You have a chance to play with the greatest player ever your first years in the league, and you’re going to complain about a sore back and teammates not understanding you? Come on.