by Paul Jordan
I realize I am not going to win a lot of fans in the BBN by saying this, but you have to give props to Orlando Magic GM Otis Smith and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert for calling out “King LeBron James for his move to the Miami Heat last night. Granted, I know that LeBron James has a very serious bromance wiwth Kentucky coach John Calipari and that for some reason, Wildcat fans are to hold him in a revered position because he shows up at Rupp Arena and hangs out with Cal.
It’s good for UK, I guess, and I guess it is good for UK recruiting for Calipari to be seen with the NBA’s most recognizable personality …. note I did not say the best player … and yes, it does send that subliminal message that “Calipari = NBA” to impressionable 17 and 18 year old recruits. But LeBron never sank a basket for my beloved Wildcats in an SEC game and as far as I know, he has not been seen wearing UK gear, unlike UK’s other celebrity groupie Drake.
Like I said, I appreciate Cal’s friendship with LeBron, but that is pretty much all the fawning I will do over “the King”. My distaste for the King really hit an upwards trend after last year when he was eliminated by my Magic and then he proceeded to throw a temper tantrum and exorcised any remnant of sportsmanship from his aura. And then, this whole season, you could tell that LeBron could not wait to leave Cleveland, despite his lies and feigned loyalty to the team that made him a very rich man and one of the world’s most recognizable figures.
It was one thing with LeBron going to Miami. It’s a free country. And apparently LeBrom, D-Wade, and Bosh made a promise during the last Olympics that they were all going to play together. This came after an evening of doing each other’s hair and nails and then making sincere promises to all marry each other if they are still single at age 30. Like “OMG fer sure, we’re totally gonna do this, right?“.
That’s fine. Have a “three amigos” press conference and announce it all at once. I could respect that. But instead, LeBron had his cronies call ESPN and pitch an hour long special and then pry Jim Gray from his stalking Pete Rose duties to host the love fest. But to have to go through such a purely narcissistic “waiting period” for LeBron to milk the drama and keep all the attention on him as he “pondered” his decision. Somewhere Kyrie Irving was taking notes, hoping to use the same drama tactics to break the Dookies hearts when he bolts to the NBA next year.
Orlando’s main main, Stan Van Gundy, or simply SVG as he is known in O-town was the first to call LeBron out on it. SVG scoffed at the whole “special” saying it only took 15 seconds for LeBron to make his decision and then said the other fifty nine minutes and 45 seconds would be used to promote LeBron — as if that was needed. Then today, SVG’s boss, Otis Smith poured fuel on the Magic/Heat rivalry, calling out LeBron and making the following statement:
"“Unless they got three balls, you still guard them the same. They’ll figure it out I’m sure. Somebody’s going to end up with seven shots. Are they going to be OK with that? Somebody’s got to be Robin. Are they OK with that? Those are the things they have to work out.”"
During the course of his tirade, Otis had one of the best lines on the situation. When asked if James shift to Miami shifted the power in the NBA, Otis sly asked if Kobe had retired. Ouch.
Of course, Cavalier owner Dan Gilbert takes the cake in the LeBron bashing with his classic letter to the fans of the Cavs. Now that sole letter could have been seen as just sour grapes, but when two of the top executives in the Eastern Conference stand up and bash LeBron, you can see they are fed up with and tired of his constant self promotion. I have decided I like my sports executives to be fiery and not put up with the stunts of pampered, selfish millionaires.
Yes, we know that LeBron is a talent, but the fact is that he will never lead his team to a NBA Title. He will find that Miami is D-Wade’s town and everyone will see LeBron as the one who had to hop on Wade’s coattails to get a real chance at winning a NBA ring.
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