OT-Lebron refuses to shake hands..

[Dave Lap]

after the game with Orlando.



James left without saying a word and his explanation a day later was more awkward still.

"It's hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them. I mean, I'm a winner. That's not being a poor sport or anything like that," he told reporters back at the team's facility Sunday in Cleveland. "Somebody beat you up, you're not going to congratulate them on beating you up.

"I'm a competitor," he added. "That's what I do. It don't make sense to me to go up and shake somebody's hand."




I like Lebron but this is unfortunate. Everyone is a competitor on the court. When the game is over he needs to stop "being a competitor" and show some simple respect.

[sailorsam]

still a kid.


guess somebody forgot to tell the Magic that it's his year...

[camdenyard]

My guess it, he finally realized that C-choke really is cursed and that as long as he's in that sports wasteland he's never going to win anything.

[RAVENOUS52]

Being that he's from Akron and plays in Cleveland and supports the Yankees, his boorish behavior is just par for the course.

It has really lowered my formerly high opinion of him.

All that "King James" shit must have really gone to his head.:grbac:

[Losac]

"It's hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them. I mean, I'm a winner. That's not being a poor sport or anything like that," he told reporters back at the team's facility Sunday in Cleveland. "Somebody beat you up, you're not going to congratulate them on beating you up.

Uh LeBron, that's actually the definition of a poor sport.

Him sitting at an Indians/Yankees playoff game in Cleveland wearing a Yankee cap was all I needed to know about him.

[RavensDomination]

To me, if you want to be the leader of the team, then be the damn leader, in the good times and the bad. It's like when Ray Lewis would pull that shit it used to piss me off. After a big loss he was no where to be found. LeBron pulled the same stuff. If they had won the game would he have skated out? No he would have basked in the glory of the victory. You have to do both, you can't just show up when times are great. President Obama can't disappear when he does something bad and then instantly show up when things are going well, it's part of being a leader.

[CoverD]

Lebron really needs to grow up. If he wants to be recognized as one of the best ever at the end of his career, he needs to cut the bullshit and suck it up.

[RAVENOUS52]

That was the one and only thing I never liked about Ray Lewis.

Dammit, I don't care how great you are-- If you can't treat a game like a game instead of a life and death situation after it's over and be gracious in victory as well as defeat, you probably shouldn't be playing.

LeBron needs to learn that and fast.

Just as Ray Lewis and Charles Barkley before had to.

[srobert96]

still a kid.


guess somebody forgot to tell the Magic that it's his year...


I don't think the "kid" excuse applies to Lebron anymore. He has been an professional NBA basketball player for 6 years now. That was a valid excuse for a season or two but no longer.

His excuse was worse than the actual transgression. I am a competitor. I am a winner.

I can't remember Jordan having to tell people that he was a winner or a competitor. He should have said that he was frustrated and upset by the loss and that he regretted the incident.

[Everything_Ravens]

This is not that serious !!!!!
Everything the media covers isn’t always news worthy all though it often times makes headlines.
Players leave the court all the time without shaking it up b4 hand! This isn’t little league where after the game there’s a mandatory congratulations line!!
This is a non issue, and it was a bitch move by Howard for answering the question the way he did, fueling the fire.

[RAVENOUS52]

This is not that serious !!!!!
Everything the media covers isn’t always news worthy all though it often times makes headlines.
Players leave the court all the time without shaking it up b4 hand! This isn’t little league where after the game there’s a mandatory congratulations line!!
This is a non issue, and it was a bitch move by Howard for answering the question the way he did, fueling the fire.

I actually felt Howard did a good job of deflecting the the stupid shit Lebron did by saying he understands that he was upset at the time.

The only bitch in all of this is "King" James the spoiled fucking brat that he is.

Learn to lose with grace, asshole.:grbac:

You play in Cleveland-- you should be used to it by now.

[Dave Lap]

The only bitch in all of this is "King" James the spoiled fucking brat that he is.

Learn to lose with grace, asshole.:grbac:

You play in Cleveland-- you should be used to it by now.

LOL.

To the former poster who talked about congratulating teams after the game being a little league thing: It's a core value of all competition and sportsmanship. That's exactly why it should be done at all levels of sports.

[psuasskicker]

I literally couldn't care less about this...

Magic could be had for +610 prior to the start of this series. That is to say they were only 14% to win this series. And they took it in six games.

If I were LBJ and I just saw my sorry-ass excuse for a coach get exposed and my sorry-ass excuse for a supporting cast come up small and lose as a super-duper-heavy fav while I hung 40+ per game, I'd probably be pissed off and leave right away as well.

- C -

[4G63]

That was quite "douchey" by "Prince" James....

[SHORTTRACK]

especially considering all of the "celebrations" that the Cavs did on the bench during games this year

[Dave Lap]

especially considering all of the "celebrations" that the Cavs did on the bench during games this year

Really.


Good to see ya back Shortrack. Like the Rodney avatar....

[Rochardrik]

I literally couldn't care less about this...

Magic could be had for +610 prior to the start of this series. That is to say they were only 14% to win this series. And they took it in six games.

If I were LBJ and I just saw my sorry-ass excuse for a coach get exposed and my sorry-ass excuse for a supporting cast come up small and lose as a super-duper-heavy fav while I hung 40+ per game, I'd probably be pissed off and leave right away as well.

- C -
I pretty much concur with this take.... It WAS sophmoric, though..... BUT..... I'd have to say that I expected more of worse out of him.... if you get my meaning.. I mean, has there EVER been this much hype surrounding a player? From High School right on through? . I would say that up until this incident, he had handled a huge load of adulation and adoration and praise-heaping without ,seemingly, letting it turn him into an a-hole like Kobe. But, it was kinda disappointing. But, as some have said, it may have been an epiphany moment... as in.. It ain't gonna happen here...and that realization may have been a bit overwhelming...
Meh, I'm over it.

[psuasskicker]

I pretty much concur with this take.... It WAS sophmoric, though..... BUT..... I'd have to say that I expected more of worse out of him.... if you get my meaning.. I mean, has there EVER been this much hype surrounding a player? From High School right on through? . I would say that up until this incident, he had handled a huge load of adulation and adoration and praise-heaping without ,seemingly, letting it turn him into an a-hole like Kobe. But, it was kinda disappointing. But, as some have said, it may have been an epiphany moment... as in.. It ain't gonna happen here...and that realization may have been a bit overwhelming...
Meh, I'm over it.

Exactly. I basically think it's ridiculous to hold someone to such a ridiculously high standard. To think that you're a guy who's being touted as the face of the sport, possibly better than the greatest player of all time (and let's face it, he's getting a LOT of Jordan comparisons), and you're a huge favorite in a big playoff series and you play off your ass and your team lets you down and you wind up losing...

Come on. There are maybe ... MAYBE ... five people on the face of this planet that can understand what that guy felt for the hour after the game was in the books. Jordan, Gretsky, Tiger ... I don't even know who else, but I also don't know how many of them played big and had their team come up small as a monster favorite.

To expect a guy's not gonna be upset at that and react emotionally to it, and that he'll just line up and shake like everyone else, ......

Douchey? Yeah, sure, whatever. But it was heat of the moment, and it was a truly suck-ass moment. Who the hell cares?

If anyone here can tell me that you haven't reacted emotionally to every extreme that's happened in your life, then maybe you've got the right to criticize. Till then, people that live in glass houses, ya know?

- C -

[Losac]

Exactly. I basically think it's ridiculous to hold someone to such a ridiculously high standard. To think that you're a guy who's being touted as the face of the sport, possibly better than the greatest player of all time (and let's face it, he's getting a LOT of Jordan comparisons), and you're a huge favorite in a big playoff series and you play off your ass and your team lets you down and you wind up losing...

Come on. There are maybe ... MAYBE ... five people on the face of this planet that can understand what that guy felt for the hour after the game was in the books. Jordan, Gretsky, Tiger ... I don't even know who else, but I also don't know how many of them played big and had their team come up small as a monster favorite.

To expect a guy's not gonna be upset at that and react emotionally to it, and that he'll just line up and shake like everyone else, ......

Douchey? Yeah, sure, whatever. But it was heat of the moment, and it was a truly suck-ass moment. Who the hell cares?

If anyone here can tell me that you haven't reacted emotionally to every extreme that's happened in your life, then maybe you've got the right to criticize. Till then, people that live in glass houses, ya know?

- C -

People probably would have given him a pass if he had said that when asked about it after the fact. He could have said something like "yeah, I apologize. I was emotional and didn't mean to appear to be a poor sport" instead of his douchey "I'm a winner and can't congratulate someone who just beat me up" excuse.

Funny, his quote where he says he's not being a poor sport then explains what he was thinking - what he described is the exact definition of a poor sport.

[purplepoe]

Eh, I can understand the leaving the court part as being an emotional thing.

But to duck the media and leave that burden to your teammates is lame.

And his explanation on Sunday was laughable.

PP

[psuasskicker]

Not saying it wasn't a lame excuse. I agree with him to the extent that I know he'd have been trashed if he'd have been all happy-go-lucky "Ahh ha, congrats you guy, you're going to the finals, great for you!" But for the actual act? Meh, I just don't care.

Part of it, too, is admittedly I couldn't care less about the NBA. I think James' presser stupidity makes him maybe the #45 biggest whiny bitch-ass baby in the NBA right now. Maybe.

- C -

[Paintballguy]

I like Lebron, but that is a dick move. I understand it sucks that you lost, but there is a thing called sportsmanship. You don't have to like the other team. Just man up, shake hands and go home.