There are all sorts of columns making the comparison today that LeBron James, whose Miami Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs, is the new Alex Rodriguez, a great regular-season player who chokes in the playoffs. I can see the comparison a little, but I don't totally buy it, for several reasons.
First of all, as clueless as A-Rod can be when it comes to how to handle his image, from opting out during the World Series to saying all sorts of dopey things over the years, he never did anything as self-aggrandizing as "The Decision." When he was traded to the Yankees in 2004, the team had a press conference for him, not a pep rally. (And when he re-signed after the 2007 season, he talked to the media via conference call -- on the day the Mitchell Report was released. For once, he low-keyed it.)
Second, the comparison of LeBron to A-Rod in the 2004 ALCS, as I've heard some say, doesn't quite work. If the Yankees had been able to win Game 4, Rodriguez would be perceived as a great postseason hero. Why he gets the goat horns, when the entire team tanked the last three games, doesn't add up.
But the thing that really irks me about the comparison is that even A-Rod, somebody who didn't get that kissing himself in the mirror wasn't exactly a good look, would never say anything as offensive as what King James did last night:
James agreed the loss felt like a "personal failure" but also said "it hurts of course, but I'm not going to hang my head low."
And he said he wouldn't let it bother him that so many were so happy to see him fail.
"Absolutely not, because at the end of the day, all the people that were rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day, they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today," James said. "They have the same personal problems they had today. I'm going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that.
"They can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy about not only myself, but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal. But they have to get back to the real world at some point."
Good grief. First of all, you can't trash the fans as losers who don't have the great life you do, even when they're rooting against you. The last player to pull such a thing was Red Sox reliever Keith Foulke when he slammed Boston fans who booed him as being "Johnny from Burger King." That move didn't exactly work out well for him.
Second, fans who root for you want to hear that you actually care about losing. LeBron sounds more upset with basketball fans cheering against him than he does about losing the series. We know that LeBron is still famous. And rich. And talented. But for somebody who just lost in a spectacular fashion, he seems more concerned with getting back to his fabulous life than anybody else. And that's something not even A-Rod would be foolish enough to say.
What do you think? Tell us about it!
Showing posts with label LeBron James. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LeBron James. Show all posts
Monday, June 13, 2011
Friday, July 9, 2010
LeBron James: The new A-Rod?
Let me indulge in a little basketball banter this morning, with my thoughts on the whole LeBron James saga. Yes, I'm glad LeBron James isn't going to the Knicks. And I'm also glad that King James is about to take the most despised sports superstar title away from Alex Rodriguez (who really should have gotten that dubious crown lifted from him after the Yankees won the 2009 World Series.) Because the way LeBron handled The Decision - with an hour-long nationally televised dog-and-pony show - made A-Rod opting out during Game 4 of the 2007 World Series look positively restrained.
Look, I'm not going to be a hypocrite and chastise LeBron for leaving Cleveland and heading to to the Miami Heat - or "South Beach," as he called it. After all, I root for the New York Yankees, a team loaded with free agents who did just what he did. And James is taking less money to be with a franchise where he thinks he's got a better chance of winning it all. Kind of like how A-Rod was willing to take less money to get out of Texas, and how he gave up the chance to be the greatest shortstop of all time by going to the Yankees and deferring to Derek Jeter.
But LeBron had better win - right away - or he's going to get the same reputation as a postseason choker that A-Rod did for so long with the Yankees. I saw a lot of talk on Facebook and Twitter last night about how the Miami Heat is Dwyane Wade's team, the way many Yankee fans said when A-Rod came to New York that the Bombers were Jeter's team. Although James and Wade (and Chris Bosh) are all friends - apparently they cooked up this scheme to play together back in the 2008 Olympics (reminds me of the rumors that Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens planned going to the Houston Astros months ahead of time), Wade already has his ring. And if the Heat falter in the playoffs, James, not Wade, is the one who is going to get the, um, heat over it.
Frankly, given James' failure in the postseason, capped by this year's debacle against the Celtics, I'm surprised he doesn't already have more of a rep as somebody who can't hack it in the playoffs. Or as a very poor sport - I lost a lot of respect for him when he refused to shake hands after losing in the postseason.
LeBron has put as big a target on his back as A-Rod did with his $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers. People forget that A-Rod's rep was squeaky clean - and he was a beloved figure - when he was with Seattle. But when he left the Mariners at age 25 (the same age LeBron is now), A-Rod's reputation took a huge hit, and it never really recovered. Heck, they're still throwing fake dollar bills at him in Seattle, as they did just last night!
I don't think there was any easy way LeBron could have left Cleveland. But I also think he couldn't have handled it much worse, from having the six contending teams kiss his ring, to not giving the Cavs a heads-up to his plans, to making his decision a nationally televised debacle. ESPN's Stuart Scott is defending what LeBron did, saying they were giving money to charity with the broadcast. So what, who cares, as Joy Behar would say.
I loved that Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert issued such an over-the-top, furious statement last night, calling James a narcissist and a coward. It was like something George Steinbrenner would have done back in the day, showing as much passion for the team as the fans do. Give me anger like that anyday over some mealy-mouthed corporate statement issued by some PR drone.
And I don't exactly feel sorry for the Knicks. My worst fear about the Yankees is that the Steinbrenner kids one day sell the team to the Dolans. What kind of sport is basketball, that you can essentially tank two seasons (yet still sell your tickets at full price), and cheat your fans out of good basketball, just to clear some cap space? Oh, and how about the Knicks' "closer"? You bring in Isiah Thomas, the person who single-handed killed a 50-year-old basketball league, and who helped destroy your franchise, to get the job done? Unbelievable.
Yes, I am loving that LeBron James is not coming to New York. After all the Get LeBron and C'mon LeBron nonsense, after all the tabloid journalists acting like cheerleaders to get him on the Knicks, and the expectation that him coming to New York was inevitable, I'm loving that the city's mediots got their LeBron pom-poms knocked out of their hands.
At any rate, I think the person happiest about this whole LeBron thing is A-Rod. Now James, not Rodriguez, will be sports' punching bag pinata when it comes to complaining about athletes. Alex has to be relieved.
Look, I'm not going to be a hypocrite and chastise LeBron for leaving Cleveland and heading to to the Miami Heat - or "South Beach," as he called it. After all, I root for the New York Yankees, a team loaded with free agents who did just what he did. And James is taking less money to be with a franchise where he thinks he's got a better chance of winning it all. Kind of like how A-Rod was willing to take less money to get out of Texas, and how he gave up the chance to be the greatest shortstop of all time by going to the Yankees and deferring to Derek Jeter.
But LeBron had better win - right away - or he's going to get the same reputation as a postseason choker that A-Rod did for so long with the Yankees. I saw a lot of talk on Facebook and Twitter last night about how the Miami Heat is Dwyane Wade's team, the way many Yankee fans said when A-Rod came to New York that the Bombers were Jeter's team. Although James and Wade (and Chris Bosh) are all friends - apparently they cooked up this scheme to play together back in the 2008 Olympics (reminds me of the rumors that Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens planned going to the Houston Astros months ahead of time), Wade already has his ring. And if the Heat falter in the playoffs, James, not Wade, is the one who is going to get the, um, heat over it.
Frankly, given James' failure in the postseason, capped by this year's debacle against the Celtics, I'm surprised he doesn't already have more of a rep as somebody who can't hack it in the playoffs. Or as a very poor sport - I lost a lot of respect for him when he refused to shake hands after losing in the postseason.
LeBron has put as big a target on his back as A-Rod did with his $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers. People forget that A-Rod's rep was squeaky clean - and he was a beloved figure - when he was with Seattle. But when he left the Mariners at age 25 (the same age LeBron is now), A-Rod's reputation took a huge hit, and it never really recovered. Heck, they're still throwing fake dollar bills at him in Seattle, as they did just last night!
I don't think there was any easy way LeBron could have left Cleveland. But I also think he couldn't have handled it much worse, from having the six contending teams kiss his ring, to not giving the Cavs a heads-up to his plans, to making his decision a nationally televised debacle. ESPN's Stuart Scott is defending what LeBron did, saying they were giving money to charity with the broadcast. So what, who cares, as Joy Behar would say.
I loved that Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert issued such an over-the-top, furious statement last night, calling James a narcissist and a coward. It was like something George Steinbrenner would have done back in the day, showing as much passion for the team as the fans do. Give me anger like that anyday over some mealy-mouthed corporate statement issued by some PR drone.
And I don't exactly feel sorry for the Knicks. My worst fear about the Yankees is that the Steinbrenner kids one day sell the team to the Dolans. What kind of sport is basketball, that you can essentially tank two seasons (yet still sell your tickets at full price), and cheat your fans out of good basketball, just to clear some cap space? Oh, and how about the Knicks' "closer"? You bring in Isiah Thomas, the person who single-handed killed a 50-year-old basketball league, and who helped destroy your franchise, to get the job done? Unbelievable.
Yes, I am loving that LeBron James is not coming to New York. After all the Get LeBron and C'mon LeBron nonsense, after all the tabloid journalists acting like cheerleaders to get him on the Knicks, and the expectation that him coming to New York was inevitable, I'm loving that the city's mediots got their LeBron pom-poms knocked out of their hands.
At any rate, I think the person happiest about this whole LeBron thing is A-Rod. Now James, not Rodriguez, will be sports' punching bag pinata when it comes to complaining about athletes. Alex has to be relieved.
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