GIVE THIS MAN A HUG

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Not only am I a huge sports fan, I am also a hip-hop head. No matter what I am doing, I am usually doing it while listening to music. I earn my living as an engineer, and whenever I am at my desk, you will usually find me with headphones on listening to music as I work. The same is true of writing this blog. Each week when I sit down to write, the first thing I do is open iTunes and decide on a playlist or album to write to. My musical choice is usually determined by my mood at the time or the topic that I will be writing about. Although I listen to a lot of Outkast and Jay-Z, you might catch me rocking to Lupe Fiasco, The Clipse, Jay Electronica, Kanye West, or even 2 Chainz (go figure). That being said, there is only one album that can provide the appropriate soundtrack for this week’s entry. That album is “Take Care” by Drake. Drake’s sophomore release is one of the dopest, softest, emotional, man law violating, I need a hug albums in the history of rap (I use the term rap loosely).

Drake is appropriate because today’s topic is the one and only LeBron James. Bear with me for a moment and I will explain why. For my money he is the best player in the NBA, and to be perfectly honest, second place isn’t even close. Anyone who says that LeBron James is not the best player in the NBA is either lying or related to another NBA player. In just his second NBA season James returned the Cleveland Cavaliers to respectability. Think about it, prior to LeBron’s arrival, the last respectable Cleveland basketball team featured Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, and Craig Ehlo. Yeah, that Craig Ehlo. You know I couldn’t mention his name without including a video of his crowning moment as a pro (please see clip below).





In his third season, the Cavs won 50 games and made the playoffs. This was truly amazing, especially when you consider who some of his teammates were that year. He had the honor of playing with such household names as Alan Henderson, Ira Newble, and Damon Jones (I promise you that I am not doing this on purpose, but we may as well look at the biggest highlight of Damon Jones’ career while we’re here).





LeBron spent the first seven years of his NBA career in Cleveland. During that time he led them to the NBA Finals once, the Eastern Conference Finals once, and the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals three times. It’s safe to say that he put Cleveland back on the NBA map.

After the 2009-2010 season, LeBron was eligible for free-agency. This gave him the right to play for any team that he chose. As we all know now, he chose to go to Miami. Who could blame him, he gave up the brutal Cleveland winters for South Beach. He decided to play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh instead of Jamario Moon and J.J. Hickson. Can we really blame him? It was his right to leave Cleveland, and he did. However there was one small thing that he did wrong. He decided to announce his “Decision” in primetime on national television. That was awfully arrogant, but again it’s his right. Oh yeah, there is one other small detail I failed to mention, Cleveland was his hometown team, so the people there kinda hate him now; which is their right as well.

LeBron’s decision to dump his hometown in front of the whole world, has led to something that he couldn’t have ever imagined, a backlash. No longer is he America’s sweetheart, the player that everyone admirers and loves. He is now public enemy #2 when it comes to athletes (behind Michael Vick of course). This is by far the most adversity that James has ever faced in his basketball career. They say adversity shows a person’s true character, and if this is indeed true, we now know that LeBron is about as tough as Drake’s music. I must admit, he had me fooled. Silly me, I thought that a 6’8”, 250 lb. man from the hood would be tough. I was wrong. Apparently LeBron is that dude that always went crying to his mother when someone took his toys. He has turned into a walking, talking pity party.

In Lebron’s first year with the Heat they made it to the NBA Finals, but I am still trying to figure out if he was there with the team or not. I watched the replays of the games on NBA TV during this off-season and I simply didn’t see him. As any superstar player should, he received a great deal of criticism for his no-show. He also started ducking the media after games because he couldn’t handle the fact that everyone noticed that Mario Chalmers was a bigger factor in the series than he was.

(Let’s pause a minute and let that last sentence sink in).

Needless to say James probably had the worst off-season of his career due to the way he played on the biggest stage. What I’m wondering is which bothered him more, losing the finals or being criticized?

This season, the Heat are off to another strong start and are the odds-on favorite to win the NBA championship. That being the case, you would think that all would be happy in LeBronville. Yet, he‘s still in a competition with Drake to see who can whine more about the downside of their fame and success. In an interview a few weeks back, Larry Bird was asked who he thought was the best player in the NBA. Logically, his answer was LeBron James. He was then asked which player playing today would he most want to play with. His answer was Kobe Bryant. Although I would never want to play with Kobe Bryant (because his teammates don’t get to play basketball, they simply do cardio while he plays basketball), I respect Larry’s OPINION. Bird was asked a question and his answer happened to be Kobe Bryant. While giving props to Kobe, Bird in no way insulted the “Sensitive One”. However, LeBron took it as a slight and responded by saying,

“I’m an easy target – let’s say that. When someone wants to get a point across, just throw LeBron’s name in there. If you’re watching cartoons with your kids and don’t like it you say, ‘Blame it on LeBron.’ If you go to the grocery store and they don’t have the milk you like you say, ‘It’s LeBron’s fault. I’m an easy target and I understand that. It doesn’t get me to me at all.”

Is he serious? All that from Larry Bird saying that he wanted to play with Kobe Bryant! It’s obvious that he needs a hug.

Needless to say the good people of Cleveland Ohio have yet to forgive LeBron for spitting in their faces in front of the entire country. To show their disdain for him, they BOO him profusely and hold up signs to express their feelings whenever he visits. This obviously bothers James and I’m sure he cries himself to sleep after each road game in Cleveland. Last week he decided to try to curb the vitriol shown to him by the Cav fans. He stated to reporters that he wouldn’t rule out a return to Cleveland at some point in his career. His selfish need to be loved by all led to him making an incredibly stupid statement and possibly alienating the organization that is currently paying him over $100 million for six years of basketball. Unfortunately for LeBron, he was still booed with each touch of the ball, and now stories are popping up all over the place about LeBron “plotting his return to Cleveland.” I’m sure the fans in Miami are loving that. Now we have a sensitive superstar that will soon have people in two cities hating him, but I’m sure he’ll handle that well. My advice to him is to win a championship this season in Miami and SHUT UP!

There are two things that I am certain that I never want to hear again, a Drake song about his struggles with fame and how it prevents him from finding true love, and LeBron James whining because the people don’t love him like they used to. I think they should just give each other a hug and agree to be one another’s sounding board and support system, because the rest of us are sick of hearing it!


And now for my Baller & Scrub of the Week….

BALLER – Kobe Bryant: It is well documented on this blog that I HATE KOBE BRYANT! Truthfully, I never thought I would see the day that I would actually give props to this _________ (fill in the word that you think I would have used), but I must applaud his comments to the Lakers management concerning Pau Gasol. The Lakers tried to trade Gasol before the season started, but were unsuccessful. Since the season has started, it has been rumored that Gasol was being traded to every team in the league and the Harlem Globetrotters. This has obviously had a negative effect on his play this season because his scoring average is currently at a career low (16.6 ppg.). We all know two things to be true about Pau. He is an enormously skilled post player, and he is about as tough as Keith Van Horn. That being said, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that he is a huge fan of whoever is the Spanish equivalent of Drake.

I have a new respect for Kobe (that will disappear as soon as I hit the “Post” button on this entry) for telling management that they need to either trade Pau soon or commit to not trading him. Bryant stated the obvious by saying that Gasol is not comfortable with the current situation and it is definitely affecting his play. I have always viewed Kobe as a selfish, me-first person. Actually I still do, but he has earned my respect for the next 15 minutes for sticking up for his soon to be ex-teammate. I will resume hating him in exactly 16 minutes, starting….now.

SCRUB – My (kinda) Boston Celtics: I am a person that roots for individual players more than I do particular teams. I have been a Boston Celtics fan for exactly 6 years, which is the exact number of years that my favorite NBA player (Rajon Rondo) has been a member of the team. So it’s fair to say that my allegiance is to him and not the actual franchise. That being said, the Celtics are terrible this season (15-16) and they are looking ancient in the process. It’s time for the C’s to shake things up and trade their one valuable asset (Rondo). In the process they will not only lose one of the best point guards in the league, but they will also lose a fan (me). Our loss may hurt them in the short term, but it will be better for them long-term. I just hope they trade us to a contender.


Follow me on twitter @scashhomey