NBA Playoffs Thread

wowza. just wowza.

there are ridiculous posts. and absurdly ridiculous posts.

you, my friend, have made an entry into the latter.

 

I was just thinking how much MJ and Kobe stuff was eventually forgiven...except by people who always had a dislike for MJ and (especially) Kobe. Of course, in the latter case, rape allegations don't help.

 

If I posted something blatantly false, show me. Otherwise, what's so ridiculous? Everything I posted is actually pretty obvious.

I'm never an apologist for an athlete when he does something morally or criminally wrong. Never fucking ever. Vick? Kobe? Leonard Little? Burn in hell for all I care.

That's a Bob Beamon-sized leap you're making. I've been the voice of reason for an SportsJournalists.com pariah (James), if only to counter the piling on that gets out of hand over a decision we knew was going to happen (NY? Miami? Chicago?) THREE YEARS AGO. And that's the extent of my "apologist" history on this board. Unless you want to count the fact I refuse to brand every athlete without a ring a fraud or loser --- especially in the middle of their careers.

 

what was mj 'overcoming' other people's impatience for him to win the title? i don't recall mj ever being thought of as a villian?

 

Shockey - u aint been paying attention and the fact that a blowhard buffoon like Francesca agrees with u is not helping your side of the argument much at all.

Roethlisberger was "never going to be forgiven" and he didn't even win a title and the slobberfest of him by about midseason was sickening

Ditto kobe bryant

Ditto Michael Vick

And if the Heat win 65 games and James is MVP and they win the NBA title next year, the only people bringing up "the decision" in a negative way are people like u who have an irrational hate the guy

 

i admitted i waat aghast to hear fancesa say the same thing. then i just RATIONALIZED, 'even a blind squirrel...'

as for the notion that 'all is instantly forgiven once you win,' some (not all) fans/general public love redemption stories when it comes to athletes breaking the law. they are not as quick to forgive/forget when they feel a star athlete is dissing them and/or flaunting the money they make, the life the lead, and make fans think that the FAN cares more about winning than they do.

i really don't envision lebron feeling the warm embraced of fans outside of miami for a long, long time. dissing/insulting john q. public is never a wise career move.

 

Not so much the character stuff, but the perception that he was a gunner who would never lead a team to a title because gunners don't do that.

Here's a quote from Larry Bird: "When he came into the league, I thought (Jordan) would be a great all-around player, but his game has completely changed. Right now, the only thing he does is shoot 30 times a game. I'd never want to play like that."

It's not so much an assault on his character, as it is his game. He shot too much. It wasn't quite the criticism Iverson would later receive/earn, but it was similar. Of course, all that went away soon enough and he never stopped scoring. He just improved other aspects of his game.

 

well, the way mj was 'forgiven' was by winning 1, then 2, then 3, then 4, then 5, then 6 titles. i dunno exactly when mj started to become considered perhaps the best ever. after the 4th? 5th? 6th?

james now begins his journey to reclaim the overall respect he seemed to have before 'the decision.' but to do so, he not only must win titles but he must also be much smarter about the things he does and says. it's NEVER smart to even appear as if you're taking a slap at joe blow.

 

I wish more people would wake up. LeBron James is LeBron James. He's not Michael Jordan. He's not Kobe Bryant. Stop trying to compare them. Their talents, temperment and drive are totally different.

 

Reminds me of that quote from William Hurt's character in "Broadcast News."

"I can't stand here feeing bad that I don't feel worse."

 

They certainly are totally different.

 

James put himself in a lose-lose situation. If the Heat had won, he'd been vilified. Now that they've lost, he's being vilified.