OT: ESPN LA Article about LeBron
So this was removed from ESPN.com after being there 10 minutes, and it's pretty easy to see why.
This explains a lot: "James' infamous one-hour special, "The Decision," was reportedly the brainchild of Carter, a 28-
year-old who has never managed anyone outside of his friend James."
Glen Davis walked by his party in Vegas, where he had a giant crown cake and people with signs that said "king" and just shook his head. Davis has more rings than LeBron.
Lebron got in a dance off with Lamar Odom and won, Odom pointed at his ring finger.
Lebron has seemed very childish throughout all of this, and this article reinforces that, and I can't help but think that LeBron will end up being most similar to Shaq - had all the gifts, but loved the life/celebrity of it all more than basketball. Not being as dominant as he could be.
It's pretty easy to see why ESPN pulled this article, LeBron is half their programming
he was above the nonsense
I read it then summarized.
All I know is that Adam Morrison - one of the biggest pro busts of the last 10 years - has more rings than LeBron
So does Darko.
"Bust" actually implies you thought he was going to be good in the first place.
Laggy pc made me post twice. My apologies.
People have been criticizing James for the special as if he was the one who called up ESPN officials and negotiated the whole thing. It's been quite obvious this whole time that it was Lebron's people who set up the special, they told Lebron it was a good idea and to do it, and Lebron was like "yeah, sure, whatever". Lebron's biggest mistake is hiring his friends as his agents and managers instead of professionals who know what they are doing.
is being a douche. He is a giant man-child that has always been protected and coddled by his friends and the Cleveland staff. A non-douchey person would say, "A one our special?!? That's ridiculous! No thanks." A non-douchey person would not have lied about "deciding that morning" in an attempt not to look as bad for dragging the whole thing out and screwing his former team. He needs to change his nickname to "the Douche".
I prefer to refer to him as "LeDouche"
regardless of who suggested it, it was collosal fail that put a major dent in his image. LBJ has no on but himself to blame for that debacle.
Yeah but he still had to agree to doing the special so that opens him to any and all criticisms regarding it.
I think I'm missing your point about LeBron being more like Shaq. How did Shaq care more about his celebrity then basketball? Shaq dominated in the post during the majority of his career and won a few rings. LeBron wishes he could be as successful in his NBA career as Shaq.
Shaq had a great career and for a small stretch 2001-2003 (LA's title runs) he was the most dominant player in the game.
But he came into the league going to be the next wilt, and he didn't dominate to that extent.
Simmons compares him to himself in college, he could have worked his ass off and gotten a 4.0, shaq decided to coast some and get a 3.6
If shaq battled his weight more effectively/stayed in shape he could have won just about every year, but he didn't he coasted through a lot of his career and enjoyed the ride.
Similarly, Lebron is enjoying the ride/fame/celebrity status. He doesn't have the rings yet.
Click on this link and tell me that Shaq hasn't been one of the absolute greatest players in history. The only thing you can dog him on is FT shooting - and even then he's been better than Wilt at that. He won four titles and reached the NBA Finals six times; how many more titles/Finals trips did you realistically expect?
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/onealsh01.html
No argument there.
But he could have been more. You're telling me he wouldn't have been even MORE dominant if he worked out a lot, stayed in better shape in the offseason and worked on his free throws?
(on a side note, if you havent, look at www.shaqnotes.com it's amazing)
he got pudgy
People always criticize Shaq (and big men in general) for being poor free throw shooters. But take a look at that pic you posted right there. His hands engulf the basketball. Its just too hard for men of his size to properly shoot the basketball. Its comparable to someone with normal sized hands shooting free throws an 16 inch softball. Quite difficult.
Yao Ming begs to differ. The best free throw shooters keep the same routine or close to it their entire career. Shaq was constantly changing his form and his routine throughout his career. It's well documented that he didn't have the best work ethic and you could see it in his FT%, hussle, lack of a shot outside 8 feet, and body fat.
Amazing player but had the natural talent to be the best player of all time but will have to settle as a top 10/15 player.
... you can say the same thing about anybody. Michael Jordan could have been better if he stuck around longer instead of retiring and trying to play baseball and all that other weird stuff. Almost nobody plays to 100% of their ability nor can you -- not knowing anything about Shaq -- suggest that he wasn't playing at that level.
Output is the only thing that matters in these types of discussions, and the dude has numbers on his side.
He's comparing him to Lebron James not Deshawn Stevenson, yes Shaq was great and so is Lebron. At this stage of his career he had the same dominating numbers and the same amount of championships. Both physical freaks of nature who seem to take the easy way out, like wanting to ride jet ski's all summer as opposed to getting the necessary foot surgery and training for the up coming seasons. James went to Miami to hang with friends, Shaq went to LA to appear in movies, seems like a very valid comparison. Will go down as top 10 players who had top 5 maybe top 1 or 2 talent. LBJ will get his championships and I can't begrudge that it would've taken a lot of hard work to be remembered as the greatest, now he can win his championships be remembered as a winner and not have to be up 6am every morning like Kobe doing wind sprints up hills.
He is one of the greatest players in history, but the fact that he isn't universally proclaimed to be the greatest center of all time is testament to his lack of work ethic. He was the most physically dominant presence ever to enter the NBA, but he rested on what he could do physically rather than taking himself to the next level.
He lacked the drive to develop a more rounded offensive game and to learn to shoot free throws, and this kept him from being completely unstoppable as opposed to his nearly unstoppable prime.
His lack of commitment to conditioning also cost him two or three more years of domination.
I think it's fair to say that if he hadn't spent the early part of his career making rap albums and movies and rather committed himself to basketball, he'd be easily the best big man in basketball history and would give some pause when declaring MJ the greatest ever.
Look, I never even liked the guy - I always rooted against him - but to say he underachieved is just silly. The man's scored over 28,000 points, grabbed nearly 13,000 rebounds and blocked nearly 2,700 shots. If he didn't have a sufficiently rounded offensive game, how'd he lead the league in field goal percentage ten times and average 24 a game over an 18-year career? In his prime, he had an excellent array of low post moves. His turnaround J and hook didn't make the highlights as much as his dunks, but they were very effective. The only legitimate knock you can make on him is that he didn't shoot free throws well - and still, he shot them slightly better than Wilt. I think Shaq can live with being called one of the all-greats but not the absolute greatest. You can't hold him to a more impossible standard.
The point is Lebron is like Shaq great physical gifts but not the same ambition or work ethic of a Jordan or Kobe to get everything out of his endowment that he could.
He is one of the greatest players in history, but the fact that he isn't universally proclaimed to be the greatest center of all time is testament to his lack of work ethic.
The guy came into the league as an absolute freak of nature. His physical skill set was incredible. Nobody had ever been as big, strong and quick. I remember watching him play as a rookie and to see him get off the ground to block a shot was awe inspiring. All that being said, I will always contend that he did the bare minimum to achieve what he did. Could he have been worse? Sure, but at the same time you can't deny that there's something wrong with achieving your best defensive stats as a Rookie.
He had some decent back to the basket moves, but Patrick Ewing or Hakeem Olajowan, he was not. Yes, he shot a high percentage, but you can't deny he had an incredibly high number of dunks per game, you don't miss those.
If he's satisfied with his career, good for him. As someone who could see instantly what he could have become, I will remain disappointed.
What does "underachieved" mean? It means that someone one here (whoever said he underachieved) thinks that he was capable of more than 28,000 points, 13,000 rebounds and blocking 2700 shots. It means that regardless whether he is top 5 in all statistical categories someone feels he could have achieved MORE had he put in more work, hence, "underachieved".
You say he had a rounded offensive game....are you joking? I have to question your understanding of the words you are using in your post. Rounded implies he could do various things on offense. If Shaq was anywhere outside 8 feet from the basket he was hopeless. He couldn't take a jump shot, free throw, three point shot etc etc etc. As most Ceners in the league, he did not have a well rounded game.
What you are saying is he was one of the best in the game, and you are right about that. What others are saying is if he had given more effort he could have been better, probabaly the best to ever play the game. They are right also. Lets not try and make Shaq something he isn't. He stuck with what he was good at and he did it very well. But he could have been better had he given more effort.
Does any of this matter to him? Maybe, maybe not. I don't know him so I can't ask. If it was me though, and I knew I could have been the best had I pushed myself more, I can say that it would plague me forever.
I didn't realize when Shaq entered the nba he was already proficient at jump hooks with both hands, spin moves, fade away jumpers, etc. It's kind of funny how people bag on Shaq. Sure he could have applied himself more, especially with conditioning but from the time he entered the league through the time he was one of the most dominant players in the league winning 3 straight NBA titles and Finals MVP awards, his arsenal of offensive moves improved dramaticly - and that only comes through practice.
is among the best C ever to play in the game of basketball. No center has stretches in their career where they have been virtually dominant. He won numerous of rings.
I may get negged or criticized for it but I do think Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon is the best C ever to play the game of basketball. I cannot say that Russel, Kareem or Wilt is better since I have never seen them played on tv or in person. Hakeem was the most skilled, athletic C who can make anybody silly with his variety of moves including his patented move, The Dreamshake. He was the only center who is in the top 10 in the all-time steals list. No C were in the top 20 in that category. Hakeem was the all-time leader in blocked shot for the career. On top of it, he is a career 75% FT shooter which is impressive for a guy in his size. He was the only player who was named the MVP, DPOY, and Finals MVP in the same season. Not even Michael Jordan can do it. He played against the toughest competition with Ewing, Robinson, Barkley, etc. On top of it, he's the nicest guy that you would met which makes him one of the more likeable player in the league.
You do realize that blocked shots didn't become a stat until after both Russell and Wilt had retired?
Yeah, Shaq was one of the greatest players of all time. It makes no sense to call him an underachiever.
The article did not contain anything substantive from a reporting standpoint. It also had absolutely nothing to do with Los Angeles. It served only to make people dislike Lebron James by using colorful language to describe a party in which Lebron did not necessarily look like the most upstanding guy, but did nothing particularly egregious either. ESPN does not have a hitjob like this on its website and taking it down was the proper decision.
The article did not contain anything substantive from a reporting standpoint.
Fair enough, but ESPN puts hit jobs on those who don't talk, like JoePa.
If Lebron didn't have enough common sense to say no, the decision is still on him.
These are amusing:
Also, here's why it was pulled:
ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz tells us why the LeBron Vegas story was pulled: "The story should have never been published. The draft was inadvertently put on the server before going through the usual editorial process. We are in the midst of looking into the matter.” (via here)
is people like you keep defending these ignorant assholes. Lebron James knows exactly what he is doing, he cares more about $$$, himself, and a brand name then he does about basketball. If he wanted to win he would have gone to the Bulls. He is a GIANT PUSSY just like MJ said, he needs others to help him, he cant be the man and never will be. I for one hope he never wins a championship.
MJ was pretty great at being a douche/childish (See: Isiah Dream Team, Hall of Fame induction, Space Jam, Hitler mustache...)
Regardless of who called who, who started what and when - LeBron and ESPN are partners-in-douchiness.
I can't believe it, but I like the guy even less now.
Sounds like he acts like he's 10 years old. Jumping up hitting signs, the faking jump shots and lay-ups part is bad. Btw, what's up with the Kardasians theme song "I'm in Miami" being played everywhere. That song may be worse that teach my how to dougie.
I can't get enough of Teach Me How To Dougie. I'm In Miami is waaaaaay worse than Teach Me How To Dougie.
It's part of the the movement in America to listen to "music" in which people "sing" the same for lines over and over and worry more about their swag than their music meaning something.
Teach my how to dougie reminds me of do the stanky leg. I think it's kind-of a copy. But. what isn't a copy these days.
ESPN will not be running the story any more in any form because the author did not let lebron know he was planning to write a story about the experience
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2010/07/lebron-james-espncom-removed-story/1
So this was a good idea of James "off the record" and how he really is, not knowing there was media around