Losing respect for LBJ...is it just me?

fareweatherfan · Post #1 » by **fareweatherfan** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 5:10 pm

Disclaimer - this has nothing to do with his basketball abilities. He is absolutely amazing!

But lately he is coming off so damn cocky I find myself disliking him. Until recent months, I always loved the guy for his apparent humility, both on and off the court. Things have changed.

In recent interviews he has made some of the most cocky statements. I'm sure there were more, but the ones that come to mind are: after Phoenix game he described his play to block JRich on the dunk attempt as a great effort on his part to cover the whole floor and said he got all ball (get the F out, he didn't even touch the ball), and last night he basically called himself "great" during his post game interview.

I don't mind all the staged "photo-ops" the Cavs do before the game, its all fun and entertainment. But this guy is getting way too full of himself. Kobe may be one of the cockiest players on the court (even before he earned it), but he never made these types of comments about himself. Its just bad taste. Act like you've been there LBJ! As Mark Jax would say, "you're better than that."

Is it just me?

Post #2 » by **infinite11285** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 5:28 pm

1) Would you rather him to say, "Ah man, I fouled J Rich. Thankfully the refs didn't call it".

2) Doug Collins said, "Isn't watching greatness great" (in regard to his triple double and his two hook shots to seal the game). The interviewer told LeBron what Doug said and LeBron replied, "I love Doug Collins, he's the greatest. If he believes it's takes greatness to win these games, then I can do that".

The Cavs have been doing the photo thing for over two seasons. I'm surprised ESPN is reporting that this is new.

Your reaching IMO.....but hey...what do I know? After all, it's your opinion....

fareweatherfan · Post #3 » by **fareweatherfan** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 5:33 pm

infinite11285 wrote::lol:

1) Would you rather him to say, "Ah man, I fouled J Rich. Thankfully the refs didn't call it".

2) Doug Collins said, "Isn't watching greatness great" (in regard to his triple double and his two hook shots to seal the game). The interviewer told LeBron what Doug said and LeBron replied, "I love Doug Collins, he's the greatest. If he believes it's takes greatness to win these games, then I can do that".

The Cavs have been doing the photo thing for over two seasons. I'm surprised ESPN is reporting that this is new.

Your reaching IMO.....but hey...what do I know? After all, it's your opinion....

I'm not sure 2) is accurate. I didn't see the whole interview (or the game for that matter), I distinctly remember him saying, "then I'm great" or some variation thereof. I understand what you're saying about the context of his comment, but a truely great player and a humble one would simply say something to the effect of "its an honor to be talked of that way," etc.

And no, I don't expect to him say he fouled JRich, but I expect NOT to take credit (and even moreso to talk up how great the play was) when he knows better than anyone that it was a FOUL.

TonyMontana · Post #4 » by **TonyMontana** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 5:57 pm

infinite11285 wrote::lol:

I saw that last night and it was funny cause the entire TNT staff laughed at your team, specially Barkley, he said "This is really not necessary" "Its pretty redicoulous" and I thought it sounded like Kenny Smith, but somebody said " YA Specially when you havent won anything yet" :lol:

hermes · Post #5 » by **hermes** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 7:08 pm

fareweatherfan wrote:Disclaimer - this has nothing to do with his basketball abilities. He is absolutely amazing!

But lately he is coming off so damn cocky I find myself disliking him. Until recent months, I always loved the guy for his apparent humility, both on and off the court. Things have changed.

i've never had that impression of him, and i've had little respect for him outside of basketball

like Chuck i'm really tired of the pre-game photo ops, what is this middle school?
but it's not going to change because his antics don't appear to disrupt his game at all, going out a dropping 30-8-8 every night, he can walk the walk as they say

Siem · Post #6 » by **Siem** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 7:16 pm

um yea your reaching. I mean I'm tired of all these fake no personalities. If he's a bit cocky and he think he made a great play so be it. And how can Charles Barkley talk? boy was he cocky. Everybody is not the humble type, and some of the players that act humble are just doing it for the camera ya know. it's good to see some of these players act human. I aint hear him say, I'm the best player in the league no arguments, I'm the best ever and blah blah blah. Then you got a point, but I think people are way too critical. Truthfully I like to hear players say somebody cant guard them, or that was good hustle, or give themselves some props, esp. a player like bron b/c he is definently about the team.

Benedict_Boozer · Post #7 » by **Benedict_Boozer** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 7:29 pm

fareweatherfan wrote:Disclaimer - this has nothing to do with his basketball abilities. He is absolutely amazing!

But lately he is coming off so damn cocky I find myself disliking him. Until recent months, I always loved the guy for his apparent humility, both on and off the court. Things have changed.

In recent interviews he has made some of the most cocky statements. I'm sure there were more, but the ones that come to mind are: after Phoenix game he described his play to block JRich on the dunk attempt as a great effort on his part to cover the whole floor and said he got all ball (get the F out, he didn't even touch the ball), and last night he basically called himself "great" during his post game interview.

I don't mind all the staged "photo-ops" the Cavs do before the game, its all fun and entertainment. But this guy is getting way too full of himself. Kobe may be one of the cockiest players on the court (even before he earned it), but he never made these types of comments about himself. Its just bad taste. Act like you've been there LBJ! As Mark Jax would say, "you're better than that."

Is it just me?

Lebron used to toe the corporate line, give canned answers to everything, etc. etc.

Lately he is actually voicing his opinion on stuff for better or worse. I can see how some of his comments can rub people the wrong way. Given that he has had people worshiping him since he was a sophomore in HS, and basically is treated like a God in OH, it's not a surprise he is arrogant (Not an excuse, that's just the reality)

The pregame stuff and all that, you gotta remember he is still VERY YOUNG. Just turned 24, he has been in the league awhile but he is barely older than alot of rookies. He's not gonna be mature like an MJ in his prime. Also based on the team chemistry on the Cavs this year, if his teammates like it who cares what he does in pregrame?

Just my 2 cents.

TonyMontana · Post #8 » by **TonyMontana** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 7:52 pm

Benedict_Boozer wrote:
Lebron used to toe the corporate line, give canned answers to everything, etc. etc.

Lately he is actually voicing his opinion on stuff for better or worse. I can see how some of his comments can rub people the wrong way. Given that he has had people worshiping him since he was a sophomore in HS, and basically is treated like a God in OH, it's not a surprise he is arrogant (Not an excuse, that's just the reality)

The pregame stuff and all that, you gotta remember he is still VERY YOUNG. Just turned 24, he has been in the league awhile but he is barely older than alot of rookies. He's not gonna be mature like an MJ in his prime. Also based on the team chemistry on the Cavs this year, if his teammates like it who cares what he does in pregrame?

Just my 2 cents.

Ya I can see that, you do have a few good points.

fareweatherfan · Post #9 » by **fareweatherfan** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 8:22 pm

+1, good points.

vinnycorleone · Post #10 » by **vinnycorleone** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 8:33 pm

Megan (LA): Hollinger stated that people who say "Kobe is better than Lebron" choose to believe what they want to regardless of the facts. Statistically, Lebron is beating Kobe in every meaningful category, including clutch stats. I'm sure you disagree?

SportsNation J.A. Adande: You're sure? You know exactly what's in my mind. First let me state LeBron is closing in on the MVP, especially given his performance in OT last night vs. Kobe's back-to-back poor-shooting games (mitigated only by his jumper with 6.6 left vs. philly). But I feel much better about Kobe taking a jump shot than I do LeBron taking a jump shot, so that makes Kobe more of a threat. I was talking to a former NBA coach about that on Wednesday. You gotta shoot. The good news for LeBron is you can always work on your jumper...and he has. When it's as reliable as Kobe's he will surpass him.

shobe_81 · Post #11 » by **shobe_81** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 9:12 pm

Who cares, LBJ is very good now and isn't a rookie, he has established the right to voice his opinion and be cocky. He's not some chump who thinks he's better than he actually is.

magic1fan · Post #12 » by **magic1fan** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 9:34 pm

i have no problem with lebron,just the double standard. if kobe would have said some of things lebron has said he would have been called out in the media quickly. lebron is a great player though and he has the right to feel the way he does. he is the second or third best player in the game right now. also it's not like he is putting someone else down to hype himself up.

TonyMontana · Post #13 » by **TonyMontana** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 9:58 pm

magic1fan wrote:i have no problem with lebron,just the double standard. if kobe would have said some of things lebron has said he would have been called out in the media quickly. lebron is a great player though and he has the right to feel the way he does. he is the second or third best player in the game right now. also it's not like he is putting someone else down to hype himself up.

And so you also have a good point Magic.
I agree Lebron can basically do and say as he pleases, but Magic made a good point let Kobe say or do something like that and the entire media will be up his arse about his comments or his actions.
But I guess the only time Kobe can really SHUT I mean make everybody STFU is if he wins an MVP, a title and a finals MVP, then I guess we can say that nobody is above him other than M.J.

I have a funny feeling thats about to happen soon.
But good point magic.

magic1fan · Post #14 » by **magic1fan** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 10:02 pm

TonyMontana wrote:
magic1fan wrote:i have no problem with lebron,just the double standard. if kobe would have said some of things lebron has said he would have been called out in the media quickly. lebron is a great player though and he has the right to feel the way he does. he is the second or third best player in the game right now. also it's not like he is putting someone else down to hype himself up.

And so you also have a good point Magic.
I agree Lebron can basically do and say as he pleases, but Magic made a good point let Kobe say or do something like that and the entire media will be up his arse about his comments or his actions.
But I guess the only time Kobe can really SHUT I mean make everybody STFU is if he wins an MVP, a title and a finals MVP, then I guess we can say that nobody is above him other than M.J.

I have a funny feeling thats about to happen soon.
But good point magic.

thanks tony. i also think kobe will be hoisting that finals mvp trophy soon,and once again the championship will back where it belongs. in los angeles...

nonplayerzealot · Post #15 » by **nonplayerzealot** » Fri Mar 20, 2009 10:40 pm

fareweatherfan wrote:Disclaimer - this has nothing to do with his basketball abilities. He is absolutely amazing!

But lately he is coming off so damn cocky I find myself disliking him. Until recent months, I always loved the guy for his apparent humility, both on and off the court. Things have changed.

He comes off as an overexposed Fing geek, to be honest. King? More like Fresh Prince of Akron, Ohio.

KobeFan · Post #16 » by **KobeFan** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:25 am

His response:

"If you call doing everything you can for your team to win "greatness", then I'll gladly accept that".

Mamba Venom · Post #17 » by **Mamba Venom** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:32 am

This season now thats he become a better player, I have become a fan of his.

Up until now I thought a lot of that was unearned media hype.

I thought he only had a lot of play-off success because he was in the lEAST. I mean the 4th seed in the West could have made it to the Finals in the East, but he has turned into a GREAT player

I kind of suspect he is A-rodding it maybe but until he is (and Howard and MALONE) are proven guilty Oh well

stycool24 · Post #18 » by **stycool24** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 7:51 am

I really don't understand how saying "If you call doing everything you can for your team to win "greatness", then I'll gladly accept that" makes you cocky??
Even though he is arguably the best player in the game, he never claimed that he is the greatest in the game right now, he always gives the credit to Kobe.
And the family photo thing, Cavs have been doing it for a while, the media recently caught on to it. :roll:

Kobe is a great player, and so is LeBron. Even though LeBron doesn't have as reliable jumper as Kobe, he is a better passer, no one can stop him when he takes the ball to the hoop, and he is also a better team player.

I'd say LeBron and Kobe are both tied at #1 spot as being the best players in the NBA.

Post #19 » by **milesfides** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 9:05 am

Hasn't Lebron been described as screaming "I am the King!" after he dunks?

Meanwhile, Kobe does his big balls dance.

I'm sure people hate either for his own antics.

For the record, I think the charge against Kobe as arrogant and cocky both obvious and overstated. It's obvious becomes most players that good do play with a swagger. At the same time, it's overstated because Kobe has almost never tooted his own horn publicly whatsoever.

So in a sense, yes, I do think there's a double standard when it comes to Lebron James, because he's been welcomed from the start. He won over the media because they hyped him and he lived up to the hype. That's self-validating. The NBA loved him because the image of the NBA sucked at the time - Kobe with legal trouble and the top NBA teams played boring, ugly ball. The NBA is a business, and if pimping Kobe is bad for business, they have to find somebody else.

So I wouldn't worry about it in the sense of trying to defend Kobe. There will always be a double-standard.

As far as disliking James, that's fine too. It's part of sports. We don't always have to respect the other player - just make sure we respect his game. That's the only thing that matters.

As the Cavs continue to play well, it's understandable that Laker fans would increasingly dislike James. As far as Cavs fans disliking Kobe, well, old news circulated in a big club.

As far as James tooting his own horn, I could care less, because it's only setting himself up for embarrassment if he fails. Didn't Tracy McGrady say he's the best player in the league before?

Anyways, nothing Lebron is doing is lamer than the band-aid that Dwayne Wade puts on his face.

freakazoid · Post #20 » by **freakazoid** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 11:11 am

Does it really matter?

Stern wants a Kobe/LBJ matchup in the finals.

Watch it happen. Kobe gets his ring, just like Shaq got his against a FAR superior Dallas team.

You guys don't even need to be concerned with whether or not you're the best team. D-bag Stern has already had the Trophy engraved with the initials KB.

Congratulations on your championship.

Dude is crooked as AIG.