LeBron James Should Be Suspended

[DariusRickyMilesDavis]

How do you spell hypocrisy?

Oh wait...

[Wizardspride]

How do you spell hypocrisy?

LeBron James?

[DariusRickyMilesDavis]

A few quotes from an ESPN article.

"Awww," Haywood said in a whiny, high-pitched voice to mock James. "They are trying to hurt me."

"No one is trying to hurt him, everybody is trying to play basketball, trying to play tough. Play basketball and leave it alone."

So Lebron is a baby for talking. I can accept that. But if Lebron is a baby, what does that make the people still talking about a half-elbow and then bashing Lebron for making a similar comments?

H-y-p-o-c-r-i-t-e-s

Again, if you want to call Lebron a baby, fine. Just make sure your own house is in order before you assault his.

[Kanyewest]

A few quotes from an ESPN article.

"Awww," Haywood said in a whiny, high-pitched voice to mock James. "They are trying to hurt me."

"No one is trying to hurt him, everybody is trying to play basketball, trying to play tough. Play basketball and leave it alone."

So Lebron is a baby for talking. I can accept that. But if Lebron is a baby, what does that make the people still talking about a half-elbow and then bashing Lebron for making a similar comments?

H-y-p-o-c-r-i-t-e-s

Again, if you want to call Lebron a baby, fine. Just make sure your own house is in order before you assault his.

Half elbow? It was an elbow that hit him right in the jaw. If Blatche did the same thing to LeBron, Blatche would have been ejected. Is it that hard for you to see the double standard?

[DariusRickyMilesDavis]

-= original quote snipped =-


Is it that hard for you to see the double standard?

Now go ahead and re-read my post. It doesn't matter if its a half-elbow, a one-eighteenth elbow, or a full elbow; that is not the point at all. What I'm trying to say is the Wizards are complaining a whole lot about complaining, and then are complaining about very similar fouls.

[doclinkin]

-= original quote snipped =-



Now go ahead and re-read my post. It doesn't matter if its a half-elbow, a one-eighteenth elbow, or a full elbow; that is not the point at all. What I'm trying to say is the Wizards are complaining a whole lot about complaining, and then are complaining about very similar fouls.

Actually no, Blatche just took the elbow to the jaw, checked for blood and kept playing, no biggie. It took our Coach 2 days to mention it, and even then it was in the context of responding to Mike Brown lobbying the refs for a slobjob on LeBron. That foul, and maybe DeShawn's foul were the only intent-to-harm fouls I've seen. But we've seen 1-game suspensions for similar actions to LeBron thrown 'bow.

Facts is facts, the double standard is real. Shoot, DeShawn got fined for a throat slashing gesture, even thought DJones gave the same gesture in the last WizCavs game of the regular season, following a 'can't feel my face' hand wave. Think they'll go back and 'retroactively' assess him a fine? Doubt it.

I don't complain about a hard foul, you just want the league to call the game the same for both teams. Win or lose on your own merit. Cavs fans should want the same thing. Be real for a minute, with the rep of your intelligence at stake: if they called that a flagrant in-game would you have complained too much then, or would you have said LeBron needs to calm down.

A retroactive foul is about as useful as tits on a bull. I suppose it makes a pretense of saying 'we're watching you buddy' but in fact it points out the stark difference in how the refs are watching the game. As a Cavs fan you got to admit it used to drove ya nuts when it was Jordan getting the phantom calls and benefit of the doubt, allowing pushoffs and palming violations and the like, all game long. Better to give than receive, sure no problem, but no point calling for help from the refs when you're getting lookaway help from the refs as it stands.

Makes you wonder what Tim Donaghy knows and ain't saying...

[DariusRickyMilesDavis]

1) Alright, I agree with you Blatche took it to the jaw and kept playing. Different circumstances though considering a) no foul was called and b) the ball was already moving towards the other end. As for EJ not saying something, he probably should have. But consider for a moment if Lebron had elbowed Gilbert or Caron. EJ would have been all over that because that is HIS star player, his ticket to fame. I guess you could call that a double standard but it is hardly limited to Lebron.

2) I'm not sure what you're insinuating in the second paragraph. If you truly believe that the league has a Cavs double standard, the history book needs to be studied more thoroughly. If you truly believe that Damon Jones gets any sort of elevated respect from officials...

3) The game gets called differently? This is where I disagree. One happened during a fluid play following a non-call on the previous offensive series. Clearly a technical on replay but in real life I could see how the ref simply believed Lebron was trying to initiate contact. And I'm pretty sure the Cavs have been winning on their own merit. They have outworked the Wiz defensively and on the boards and thats where tight games are won.'

4) Don't insult my intelligence. Just because my opinion and bias is different from yours does not make me any dumber or any less correct. Personal attacks aren't called for and personal challenges are worthless on a message board. To answer your question, of course I would have been ticked at the time. But thats because I'm a Cavs fan. Did he deserve a T? Yes. Did he deserve anything more than that? No.

5) I agree that a retroactive technical is garbage. No reason to do it. But if you think for one moment that the refs have decided any single one of these games in this series, you're just plain wrong. A ton of very level-headed Wizards fans have said as much. Star players throughout the history of the game have ALWAYS received the benefit of the doubt from the officials. You mentioned Jordan. Think about Reggie Milller. Think about Bird. They all got the calls. Calling Lebron a "wimp" for getting those calls is the same as calling any of the top 10 players in the history of the game that same name. Because they all got them. Now complaining in the media, again, show me where Lebron does it. Phil Jackson is famous for this very thing and I think debating what a coach said is nothing short of ridiculous and is certainly nothing to challenge a player's integrity on.

-= original quote snipped =-



Actually no, Blatche just took the elbow to the jaw, checked for blood and kept playing, no biggie. It took our Coach 2 days to mention it, and even then it was in the context of responding to Mike Brown lobbying the refs for a slobjob on LeBron. That foul, and maybe DeShawn's foul were the only intent-to-harm fouls I've seen. But we've seen 1-game suspensions for similar actions to LeBron thrown 'bow.

Facts is facts, the double standard is real. Shoot, DeShawn got fined for a throat slashing gesture, even thought DJones gave the same gesture in the last WizCavs game of the regular season, following a 'can't feel my face' hand wave. Think they'll go back and 'retroactively' assess him a fine? Doubt it.

I don't complain about a hard foul, you just want the league to call the game the same for both teams. Win or lose on your own merit. Cavs fans should want the same thing. Be real for a minute, with the rep of your intelligence at stake: if they called that a flagrant in-game would you have complained too much then, or would you have said LeBron needs to calm down.

A retroactive foul is about as useful as tits on a bull. I suppose it makes a pretense of saying 'we're watching you buddy' but in fact it points out the stark difference in how the refs are watching the game. As a Cavs fan you got to admit it used to drove ya nuts when it was Jordan getting the phantom calls and benefit of the doubt, allowing pushoffs and palming violations and the like, all game long. Better to give than receive, sure no problem, but no point calling for help from the refs when you're getting lookaway help from the refs as it stands.

Makes you wonder what Tim Donaghy knows and ain't saying...

[cavsfan_osiris]

As a Cavs fan you got to admit it used to drove ya nuts when it was Jordan getting the phantom calls and benefit of the doubt, allowing pushoffs and palming violations and the like, all game long. Better to give than receive, sure no problem, but no point calling for help from the refs when you're getting lookaway help from the refs as it stands.

It does remind me of how I felt about MJ and how he used to torch my Cavs and get all the favorable calls. I was a big Reggie Miller fan also and that series which went 7 games was brutal with how awful the bias was in favor of the Bulls. Recently Dwayne Wade got similar treatment the year Miami won the championship.

I'm a Cavs fan, but I'm a fan of the NBA. I'll take the advantage with calls like this and LeBron getting away with obvious no traveling calls, but I want to see the right calls made. I don't want things like this happening.

This won't get any talk by anyone with any impact, but missing a flagrant call like that in a close game is not good. I'd be upset if I were a Wiz fan.

Right now the bottom-line is similar to when the other #23 was around. When you go into a season and have aspirations of winning the championship you will have to have a good enough team, game plan, execution and poise to overcome the bias.

The Wiz came into this series talking smack (mistake), didn't have a good enough team (injuries, this is a different series with the real Agent Zero), didn't have a good enough game plan (focused on fouling hard more than defending hard), not enough execution and not enough poise to overcome the bias.

The series isn't over yet, but they have an uphill climb to address all those areas and pull off 3 games in a row while overcoming the bias.

[TheOUTLAW]

It never would have happened had the refs called the elbow by Blatche to begin with. It was the fact that they missed the call that led to the retaliation. By the way, it appears that LeBron actually did get a retroactive flagrant 1 on that call.

Oh and it was generally ridiculus the calls that Jordan got.

[Ruzious]

If LeBron carried a gun with him on the arena floor and shot Stevenson between the eyes, the officials would turn a blind eye, order the blood cleaned off the floor, and LeBron would be taking foul shots.

[Severn Hoos]

If LeBron carried a gun with him on the arena floor and shot Stevenson between the eyes, the officials would turn a blind eye, order the blood cleaned off the floor, and LeBron would be taking foul shots.

Duh.


Dontcha know a blocking foul when you see one?

[dandridge 10]

It never would have happened had the refs called the elbow by Blatche to begin with. It was the fact that they missed the call that led to the retaliation. By the way, it appears that LeBron actually did get a retroactive flagrant 1 on that call.

Oh and it was generally ridiculus the calls that Jordan got.

I'm not sure what you mean the elbow by Blatche. I think it was more of a forearm or hand. Plus, if anything, it was clear that Blatche was going for the ball and was not intending to harm anyone. Yes, it was a foul, but clearly not a flagrant.

As for LeBron, it is clear he was not making any basketball play with the elbow he threw at Blatche's face. He was trying to pay Blatche back for the previous foul. It is obvious by the recent flagrant decision that the NBA didn't believe LeBron's claim that it was accidental.

Now, if the NBA agreed that LeBron's elbow was not accidental, I have to ask why he hasn't been suspended. If it was not accidental and LeBron was not making a basketball play, then why should LeBron's actions be treated any different than Haywood's pushing of LeBron? Why is Haywood's pushing of LeBron a Flagrant 2, but LeBron's deliberate elbow to Blatche's face is only a Flagrant 1? I think this is the double standard we are talking about.

[oikosnomos]

If LeBron carried a gun with him on the arena floor and shot Stevenson between the eyes, the officials would turn a blind eye, order the blood cleaned off the floor, and LeBron would be taking foul shots.

He's right!

[Spence]

Oh and it was generally ridiculus the calls that Jordan got.

But not the calls Lebron gets.

In answer to the question of this thread: No, Lebron should not be suspended for popping Bulletproof with his elbow. It would have been nice had a foul been called on Lebron when the play occurred, but that's probably hoping for too much.

Whatever. There is too much talk about officiating in this series. Yes, Lebron takes 3 or 4 steps every time he drives to the basket, but you have to expect that and adjust for it. I thought the refs were going to be much worse than they have been.

[Insert Cleveland fan comment here: "Did you see the way Blatche attacked Lebron's elbow with his chin?!?! What a bastard! Throw him out! Suspend him!"]

[TheOUTLAW]

[quote="dandridge 10"][/quote]

It doesn't work that way. A few years ago, Rasheed Wallace lifte a piece of scalp off of Z's head. He later receved a flagrant 2 but he was never suspended eventhough that would have meant he'd have been out of that game. The flagrant 1 doesn't even carry with it the disqualification.

[ZonkertheBrainless]

I am so tired of all the whining about the traveling. I wish I had had a chance to actually watch the last game and see if it's true. The games I've watched, LeBron hasn't traveled once. At least not any more than every one else travels. Give it a rest already.

What about LeBron's nonexistent third foul in the first half of the last game (that went to Wallace instead, who was nowhere near the play)? After which he proceeded to score like six straight points before the half? Given that we lost by three, think it would have helped to get that call right? But I think in general refs try to not call fouls on superstars, especially if it would take them off the floor. Just have to live with it I guess.

[DigitalBullets]

I am so tired of all the whining about the traveling. I wish I had had a chance to actually watch the last game and see if it's true. The games I've watched, LeBron hasn't traveled once. At least not any more than every one else travels. Give it a rest already.

Game 2, Caron on the baseline made a "James-like" pivot move to the basket when he plants his right-foot at the end of his dribble, then jumps forward with his left foot. Whistle, traveling.

Fast forward two quarters, James make an almost identical move (with 2 defenders mind you). Score and the foul on the Wiz.

[ZonkertheBrainless]

THAT one I saw. That was pathetic.

Although Caron did hesitate a little while LeBron didn't. That little "oops" motion will get you called for traveling a lot.

[DigitalBullets]

THAT one I saw. That was pathetic.

Although Caron did hesitate a little while LeBron didn't. That little "oops" motion will get you called for traveling a lot.

The sad thing is, you'll probably see more of it tonight.