I'm just now able to reflect at all upon the events of Game 1 yesterday. There have been several occasions over the last decade or so that I have been asked why I don't care about the World Cup or any other soccer. I have always said, I just can't tolerate elite athletes writhing around on the ground as if they have been shot with a sniper rifle in order to give their team an advantage by any means necessary. Yet, this is what we were all subjected to by Lebron James yesterday. After that pick by Chandler, not only does he clearly make himself go wobbly legs consciously in order to sell the foul, this guy actually gets up holding his neck as if he is some obese middle-aged woman who has just been in a fender bender and sees a potential payday. I'm surprised he didn't whip out his cell phone and call his lawyer to get legal proceedings underway immediately.
We are now all living through the effects of an NBA whose best player is one of the greatest sports examples of all-time of someone who just mentally cannot handle being a superstar. We are watching Lebron James, arguably the most talented basketball player since Michael Jordan, trying to survive in his own post-championship series choke hell. This is a guy who had the worst mental breakdown any of us have ever seen in last year's championship series and now he has convinced himself that anything is okay if it means winning this year, including histrionics that even Heat fans must be embarrassed by deep down when they see them reviewed after the fact. I'm a huge Giants' fan and even I was embarrassed when replays showed our defensive guys clearly flopping to slow that Rams' drive earlier in the season on Monday night. But geez, at least we didn't have guys pulling that nonsense in the playoffs.
On a day when 2 players suffered injuries that may very well jeopardize their careers (Rose and Shump), the guy who most sold his agony was none other than the NBA's very own special little prince, Lebron James, because that is what he has decided to become in his own twisted world of redemption. Is he still a great player? Of course. But is this the kind of player any of us would want to be cheering for right now? I sure hope not. That's all I got, just needed to get that off my chest. Go Knicks!
We are now all living through the effects of an NBA whose best player is one of the greatest sports examples of all-time of someone who just mentally cannot handle being a superstar. We are watching Lebron James, arguably the most talented basketball player since Michael Jordan, trying to survive in his own post-championship series choke hell. This is a guy who had the worst mental breakdown any of us have ever seen in last year's championship series and now he has convinced himself that anything is okay if it means winning this year, including histrionics that even Heat fans must be embarrassed by deep down when they see them reviewed after the fact. I'm a huge Giants' fan and even I was embarrassed when replays showed our defensive guys clearly flopping to slow that Rams' drive earlier in the season on Monday night. But geez, at least we didn't have guys pulling that nonsense in the playoffs.
On a day when 2 players suffered injuries that may very well jeopardize their careers (Rose and Shump), the guy who most sold his agony was none other than the NBA's very own special little prince, Lebron James, because that is what he has decided to become in his own twisted world of redemption. Is he still a great player? Of course. But is this the kind of player any of us would want to be cheering for right now? I sure hope not. That's all I got, just needed to get that off my chest. Go Knicks!