LeBron should know respect is not a one-way street


bluedog

bluedog

"Leader of Kings"
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — LeBron James knows how to shake hands. It shouldn't be that hard to remember when.

After losing a playoff series, for instance, no matter how much of a "competitor" you fancy yourself.

For one thing, you're done competing. For another, it doesn't require much effort, or sincerity. If sportsmanship isn't motivation enough, and whatever friendships you've forged on the other side aren't important enough, then how about just to show some respect?

Lord knows, James gets his share.

Let's be clear: For the most part, James has been a model citizen. He's polite, accessible, generous with his time and money, and plays hard every night. Now 24, he's handled the spotlight and the comparisons to Michael Jordan since his junior year of high school with poise, and without the benefit of even one year on a college campus, let alone with somebody like Dean Smith _ who mentored Jordan at North Carolina _ in his corner.

Even so, a little more maturity was in order Saturday night. In the seconds after the Magic eliminated his Cavaliers, James had the good sense on his rush toward the exit to stop and shake hands with all-time NBA great Oscar Robertson, who, coincidentally, was walking onto the floor to present the Eastern Conference trophy to Orlando.
0,4670,BKNJimLitke060109,00.html
 
The Old Lakers/Boston matchups.
Laker/Houston matchups.
Lakers/Seattle with Mr. Mean.
Boston with the X-Man.
Detroit Pistons Bad Boys.
Lakers/Portland matchups (Lakers called them a collective DUMB TEAM)
Bulls/New York
Bulls/Detroit

These teams would have rather spit on each other before they would shake each other's hand afterwards and their star's were shinning brighter than LaBron is so why is it a big deal now.

Soft arse whinny sports writers will find anything to bitch about.:lol:
 



I do think LeBron James should have shaken hands with D-Howard or any of the Magic players, but I am not going to call him a coward or less than a man because he did not do it.

James, unlike any current athlete in American team sport, is under the most pressure to win a championship. He is looked at as a savior for not only the Cavaliers, but for a city that has not won a championship four decades.

Every game that man has played since donning the uniform at 18 has been geared to leading the franchise to an NBA title. No other athlete has been asked to be great so young and so soon like James. Not only has James been great, but he has lived up to and exceeded the hypebole with flying colors.

Everyone is talking about LeBron disrespecting sportsmanship and the Magic by not making nice after the game. The question I ask is why.

Why is it required for teams or individuals to participate in postgame prayers, handshakes and hugs? What purpose does it serve? I mean, what if the athletes really don't mean "good luck in the next round?" Is that worse than actually not shaking hands?

Like James, I never understood why after a brutal game athletes, especially the losing team, have to forget what happened minutes before and pretend all is forgiven and everything is peaches and cream?

We as fans don't exhibit sportsmanship all the time when our favorite squad loses in the regular season or playoffs or championship round.

We immediately turn off the TV, throw something and don't speak to our friends or family or post on sports message boards for a day or two.

You all think Steelers-Cardinals fans exchanged hugs and handshakes after the Super Bowl. You think Yankees fans were gracious in defeat after the Rex Sox beat New York in the 2004 ALCS?

We routinely rip apart professional athletes for not being real, robotic-like in their actions and not like us.

But when a great athlete like James who relinquished every ounce of blood, sweat and tears from his 265-pound Greek god-like body for his team and championship starved city for six games in the Eastern Conference Finals we criticize him for actually being human for once.

For doing something we all have done on occassions in our youth and adulthood.

Cleveland has been tipping its hat to the other teams for 45 years after suffering devistating postseason losses.

The native son understands that more than any other player in the NBA playoffs.

So when James walked off the floor at the conclusion of Game 6 with his head down in defeat, he could not bear the notion of his hometown fans watching the best athlete the city has seen since Jim Brown accept failure yet again.
 
Why is it a big deal Kendrick.:lol:
It's called Political Correctness. :lol:

You must be NICE at all times.
This is why youth sport's is not sport's at all anymore.
Everybody get's a trophy wether your the best or need to be sitting in the stands.

It's why highschool coaches get demonized and fired for beating the crap out of sorry teams who have no business being on the schedule playing organized sports anyway. :lecture:
 
players said:
Why is it a big deal Kendrick.:lol:
It's called Political Correctness. :lol:

You must be NICE at all times.
This is why youth sport's is not sport's at all anymore.
Everybody get's a trophy wether your the best or need to be sitting in the stands.

It's why highschool coaches get demonized and fired for beating the crap out of sorry teams who have no business being on the schedule playing organized sports anyway. :lecture:
Click to expand...

What you're saying is true but professional basketball is not really true sports either, when star players get all the calls it's kinda has become an exhibition.
 
The practice of shaking hand after competition ain't new. It ain't PC. Lebron is just a brat that got pissed after an ass kicking. No other way to spin it. His prerogative. Boxers get knocked the **** out all the time and still congratulate the winner. Team players been doing it for years. Whiny losers walk off like that.
 
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=granderson/090602&sportCat=nba

There is ONE guy in the whole world who actually agrees with me. ONE guy.

By LZ Granderson

For the past couple of days I have listened to colleagues, analysts and fans get all over LeBron James for not shaking hands and speaking to the media following his Game 6 loss in Orlando.

He's been called a sore loser.

A bad leader.

Unsportsmanlike.

Well, call me a contrarian because I don't have a problem with the way LeBron handled the situation. In fact, I thought it was rather intelligent given the circumstances.

Dwight Howard and the Magic hardly looked disappointed that LeBron didn't stick around after the horn. Confetti was falling, fans were cheering and the Orlando players were celebrating. Sure, it would've been a nice Kodak moment to see the two superstars embrace afterward, but you know what, if it ain't real, it ain't real. A ritual of insincere gestures being sold as good sportsmanship is yet one more step in the march toward mediocrity -- like telling young players, "Good job," when actually they didn't do a very good job at all.

Taking a day to calm down and gather your thoughts, that's a sign of maturity.

And so I'm also glad that LeBron didn't apologize for walking off the way that he did, but rather gave us an honest look into what being competitive means to him. After a day to cool off, he said his piece. That to me is much better than ripping teammates he may have to play with or a coach he may have to play under next season.

As he said, he's a competitor and like him, I believe competition isn't always nice.

And nor should it be.
 
This is not a player who has been late for games and practices. It's not a player who has openly defied his coaches, or selfishly clashed with teammates. This is not a player who got out of shape after his wallet grew fat, not a player who has had legal trouble.

This also is not to put James on a church window next to your favorite saint. But consider the boorish conduct that so often rules in professional sports what James did on Saturday was more like venial sin.

Hasn't James been criticized in the past for being "too friendly" with some opponents, for not having "the killer instinct"?

Like passing the ball to an open Donyell Marshall for what would have been a Game 1 win in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons? How about In Game 1 of the Orlando series when James, instead of possibly running into an offensive foul, helped orchestrate an open look for Delonte West?

Although it was the right play, he got criticized for it. Then after Cleveland's Game 4 loss to the Magic, LeBron was criticized for taking too many shots even though he single handedly kept his team in the game.

Not to mention the media stir about LeBron wearing a Yankees hat to a Indians playoff game against New York. While LeBron said one of his favorite pro sports teams is the Yankees, fans still have not gotten over it. By the way, he likes the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bulls, too.

He just had a bad night in Game 6, period. Get over it.
 



northern tiger said:
First he curses out his mama on national tv. Now he shows poor sportsmanship. This dude is suspect.
Click to expand...

Don't forget about crab dribble, dribble. Anybody else comes into the league with that non-sense it would have been recognize for what it is...just plain ghetto.
 
players said:
Why is it a big deal Kendrick.:lol:
It's called Political Correctness. :lol:

You must be NICE at all times.
This is why youth sport's is not sport's at all anymore.
Everybody get's a trophy wether your the best or need to be sitting in the stands.

It's why highschool coaches get demonized and fired for beating the crap out of sorry teams who have no business being on the schedule playing organized sports anyway. :lecture:
Click to expand...

And remember folks are looking at what this looks like to kids (whose PARENTS don't raise them:shame:) that a "star" player walks out like that and acts lke a sore loser.

That is what this is really about. Because it's funny that there was no outrage for K-Mart's behavior in the Mavs/Nuggests series where he acted like a stone cold fool. Yet the "savior" of Ohio gets ripped.

Because it's going to get worst since David Stern wants to have a few words with Lebron now. You don't think Stern is trying send a message to Mr. Howard and others.

As for everybody gets a trophy in youth sports. Well it's either do that or explain to the media how one of your players KILLED or ASSUALTED another player on the winning team. Or how you team the following day got together with guns and chased kids from the school they lost to in TRACK and chased them down the street, shot at them and broke store property. (This did happen in Dallas and managed to stay out of the media).
 
If you look at the NBA when it was REALLY competitive.. Those players acted just the way Lebron acted...
As a fan you could tell those guys gave their all and was TRULY pissed that they lost....

I know as a Hornet fan, I hate seeing a game where to it was obvious they arses ain't show up to play and now these mofos shaking the opponents hands..

Looking at it from that perspective I could kind of understand...
 
BREAKING NEWS....BREAKING NEWS!!! Lebron has surgery....to remove a mole from his mouth.

That explains why he choked.:lol:
 
kendrick said:
I do think LeBron James should have shaken hands with D-Howard or any of the Magic players, but I am not going to call him a coward or less than a man because he did not do it.

James, unlike any current athlete in American team sport, is under the most pressure to win a championship. He is looked at as a savior for not only the Cavaliers, but for a city that has not won a championship four decades.

Every game that man has played since donning the uniform at 18 has been geared to leading the franchise to an NBA title. No other athlete has been asked to be great so young and so soon like James. Not only has James been great, but he has lived up to and exceeded the hypebole with flying colors.

Everyone is talking about LeBron disrespecting sportsmanship and the Magic by not making nice after the game. The question I ask is why.

Why is it required for teams or individuals to participate in postgame prayers, handshakes and hugs? What purpose does it serve? I mean, what if the athletes really don't mean "good luck in the next round?" Is that worse than actually not shaking hands?

Like James, I never understood why after a brutal game athletes, especially the losing team, have to forget what happened minutes before and pretend all is forgiven and everything is peaches and cream?

We as fans don't exhibit sportsmanship all the time when our favorite squad loses in the regular season or playoffs or championship round.

We immediately turn off the TV, throw something and don't speak to our friends or family or post on sports message boards for a day or two.

You all think Steelers-Cardinals fans exchanged hugs and handshakes after the Super Bowl. You think Yankees fans were gracious in defeat after the Rex Sox beat New York in the 2004 ALCS?

We routinely rip apart professional athletes for not being real, robotic-like in their actions and not like us.

But when a great athlete like James who relinquished every ounce of blood, sweat and tears from his 265-pound Greek god-like body for his team and championship starved city for six games in the Eastern Conference Finals we criticize him for actually being human for once.

For doing something we all have done on occassions in our youth and adulthood.

Cleveland has been tipping its hat to the other teams for 45 years after suffering devistating postseason losses.

The native son understands that more than any other player in the NBA playoffs.

So when James walked off the floor at the conclusion of Game 6 with his head down in defeat, he could not bear the notion of his hometown fans watching the best athlete the city has seen since Jim Brown accept failure yet again.
Click to expand...
Whether I agree or disagree with what you're saying is immaterial, I think thats some good (and thought provoking) writing. :tup:
 
Man.:lmao:

There are some judgemental negro's in this world.
With all the disrespect shown to people on this board, some of ya'll need to stop with all this "Sportsmanship" crap.:lol:

So what.:shame:
He didn't shake a somebody's hand and now he's a monster, punk, child, etc.:lol:
I hope he sign's with an overseas team and give the judgemental hypocrit's in this sport's watching country what they want.
Him gone. :lol:
 
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