STLG, you are telling us two of your favorite atheletes are two of the most "me first" in all of sports. I'm not sure what qualities in LeBron and Chad Johnson you admire, but both have shown themselves to be more about creating a "brand" that they want to market than being part of a team. You seem like an intelligent person, why would you fall for their PR and marketing schtick?

 

Two of my favorite athletes are two of the biggest entertainers in their respective sports.

You must not have watched any of Lebron's last 7 years in the NBA. He is one of the best ever at getting his team involved. As far as moving to the Heat, the way he did it (The Decision show) was not very classy, but how can you fault anyone for trying put themself in a place more conducive to reaching their goal(s)? Lebron saw an opportunity to improve his career, play with one of his best friends, and reach his goal of winning a championship(s) and he took it. Absolutely nothing wrong with what he did.

I won't argue about CJ, because he is definitely all for himself. He's fun to watch, and he's hilarious to listen to.

What's wrong with liking entertainers?

I like Chris Andersen because he probably plays harder and hustles more than any player in the NBA. He's not an elite player, but he's great to watch. Is that better?

Sorry if I sound defensive, but I'm sure you've read through most/all of the thread. I've been in here leaving my thoughts on the post season just like everyone else, but because I think the Heat will win, and because I'm a Lebron fan, I've been catching a lot of flack.

 

^Maybe you have played team sports, maybe you haven't. Based on who you say are your favorite atheletes, I'm guessing you have not.

As a person who played basketball in college and a little bit beyond college, I can tell you that playing with a selfish, stat-hound, egomaniac, quitter like LeBron would suck. As far as I'm concerned he can take his handlers, posse, PR team and the rest of" team LeBron" that follows him everywhere and shove it all you know where.

Nothing personal, but I have zero respect for people who idolize selfish people.

Go Mavericks!!!!

 

I've played team sports, and I know all about selfish players.

Being a fan does not mean I idolize him. Where did you people learn english?

How is Lebron selfish? He was 12th in assists per game during the regular season and guess what? The 11 players ahead of him are all point guards. Yea, Lebron is really selfish.


I don't know what's happened to TS. The majority of you used to be intelligent enough to do some research before you made idiotic statements like "Lebron is selfish."

 

Is he selfish because he moved to a better team so that he could be more successful? Oh please.

 

I like the Kings.

I like Lebron.

The Heat are better than the Mavs and they're going to prove it.

The Bulls choked.

The Thunder choked.

Simple

 

^STLG, ever feel like the whole world is against you? How is it that you are always right and everyone else is either wrong or too stupid to see things as clearly as you do?

LeBron may average lots of assists, but there is no denying that he is selfish. The two have nothing to do with each other. LeBron is a selfish egomaniac that thinks he is bigger than the game, and more important than any of his team mates. He is more concerned with his "global brand" than anything else.

You have stated time and time again that you are a "Huge LeBron fan." You are the idiot for falling for his fake "I'm a good guy so buy my______(whatever he is endorsing)." schtick. Like I said before, you seem like an intelligent person, why do you fall for a PR and marketing creation?

 

Being selfish and having a lot of assists actually have quite a bit to do with each other. You can't have assists without sharing the ball. Simplified, isn't selfish the same thing as not sharing?

I'm not sure what you're talking about as far as Lebron endorsements. The only thing I can think of as far as an endorsement or commercial or anything is that Nike commercial that came out right after The Decision. I'm a fan of what Lebron does on the court. What he does off the court, what he sells, who he associates with, and whatever else are of little concern to me unless he rapes someone (Kobe) or breaks some other law.

I'm not saying that I'm right and everyone is wrong. Everyone is against me because I like Lebron and you all don't.

Can you give me a single example supporting your statement that Lebron is an egomaniac? Or is it a case of you think he is and I think he's not? In that case, neither of us is wrong. You are entitled to your opinion, and I'm entitled to mine. I, however, have statistics to back up my opinion.

 

LeBron James Blows by A-Rod in Egomania Battle: Scott Soshnick - Businessweek

LeBronfest makes us face ugly truth about James' unmatched ego - CBSSports.com

State of LeBron: Live at 9, from his ego - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

Quotes from LeBron:

"A LeBron James team is never desperate." - LeBron James, referring to himself in the third person

"You know, softball is the other sport I do besides basketball."

"I don’t want to be Kobe, I want to be LeBron.”
Maybe he's not a *complete* scumbag...

“A lot of players know how to play the game, but they really don’t know how to play the game, if you know what I mean. They can put the ball in the hoop, but I see things before they even happen. You know how a guy can make his team so much better? That’s one thing I learned from watching Jordan.”
Humility.

"Sometimes the coaches tell me to be selfish, but my game won’t let me be selfish.”
That's like going to a job interview and answering the "what is your greatest weakness" question with "my greatest weakness is that I don't have a weakness."

"I'm under a super microscope. I’ve got my friends to keep me cool. As long as you’ve got friends, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Say goodbye to your friends and say hello to your bloated, sycophantic entourage. Maybe you should talk to MC Hammer about this one...

“I’m like a superhero. Call me Basketball Man.”
Even more humility.

"I love sharing the ball with my teammates. I see a lot of things before my teammates see them."
If LeBron's teammates don't see "a lot of things," how do they get into position and avoid getting hit in the back of the head by LeBron's passes?

"I just do what I got to do and go out and be myself, on and off the court, and take care of my obligations. That's generally your own destiny—knowing what you have to take care of."

"You can't let nobody run your train."
I could make some horrible joke about Kobe here. Oh wait, I just did.

"I hope I can help guys coming out of high school, if they need advice. I know the ins and outs of everything."
Step 1: get yourself hyped as the second coming of Jesus. Step 2: make millions of dollars from Nike before playing in a single game. Step 3: Act like a condescending prick.

“Ask me to play. I'll play.
Ask me to shoot. I'll shoot.
Ask me to pass. I'll pass.
Ask me to steal, block out, sacrifice, lead, dominate.
ANYTHING.
But it's not what you ask of me.
It's what I ask of myself.”
He's like a superhero - Basketball Man.

“I don't need too much. Glamour and all that stuff don't excite me. I am just glad I have the game of basketball in my life.”



“I'm the next O.J.,”
I don't even know what the hell this is supposed to mean. Either he's planning on racking up monster stats on a shitty team that never wins anything (hmmm...), brutally murdering a couple people, or becoming a shameless Uncle Tom sellout that plays golf with fat old white guys all day long.

“I am just happy to be part of the Nike family.”

"Everywhere I've been, I've been the best player. I love being a leader, and I love being the best. I just want to get better. It's not about being cocky or selfish or anything like that. It's just how I am." (USA Today, Nov. 21, 2005)

"Once you become a professional athlete or once you do anything well, then you're automatically a role model ... I have no problem being a role model. I love it. I have kids looking up to me and hopefully I inspire these kids to do good things." (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Dec. 10, 2005)

"I've always been a leader. I've always kind of been the tallest person on the team when I was younger but always kind of the smartest. I was ahead of my time. I wasn't always the oldest, I kind of was the youngest on the team, but, I kind of knew what to do at times."
This shit is profound.

"I hear that word pressure all the time. There is a lot of pressure put on me, but I don’t put a lot of pressure on myself. I feel if I play my game, it will take care of itself."

"In the next 15 or 20 years, I hope I'll be the richest man in the world. That's one of my goals. I want to be a billionaire. I want to get to a position where generation on generation don't have to worry about nothing. I don't want family members from my kids to my son's kids to never have to worry. And I can't do that now just playing basketball." (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Dec. 10, 2005)
“I don't need too much. Glamour and all that stuff don't excite me. I am just glad I have the game of basketball in my life.” LIES. Plus, this quote pretty much proves how outrageously bloated LeBron's ego has become. Richest man in the world? Really?

"It's hard to win in the league, because every team is good, they got players on their team. A lot harder than high school. It's competitive, and that's what I most love about it."

"Sometimes in the past when I played something might make me lose focus, or I would go home after a game where I thought I could have played better and I would let it hang over my head for a long time when it shouldn't. But now, being a parent, I go home and see my son and I forget about any mistake I ever made or the reason I'm upset. I get home and my son is smiling or he comes running to me. It has just made me grow as an individual and grow as a man." (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Dec. 10, 2005)
...into a big crybaby? I wonder if his kid makes that same pathetic whining, crying, pouting face LeBron does when he doesn't get everything he wants...

"It looks positive at this point. I haven't talked with Mr. Colangelo, but we should be making this announcement within a week or so."

-LeBron in an interview prior to be notified if he had made the US National Team roster or not.

The next couple of quotes perfectly demonstrate what kind of hypocrite LeBron is. He accepts his image of a humble, respectful newcomer to the league, is praised in accordance with this image, but then goes and says the same kind of disrespectful and nasty crap that other "unsportsman-like" players get publicly bashed for.

After the final game in the Wizards/Cavaliers playoff series, from a Michael Wilbon article in the Washington Post:

"The 31-foot shot was such a stunner, LeBron James said it 'felt like the Titanic ...like the ship was almost sunk,' even though the game was tied. 'He shot it from the ESPN booth, from where Hubie Brown and those guys were sitting. It was an unbelievable shot.'

What he actually said to/about Gilbert Arenas during the game:

"After the first miss, James walked to the foul line, put his hand on Arenas's shoulder and said, 'If you miss both of those free throws, the game is over.'

James walked back to the bench, and hundreds of people sitting nearby saw him wave his hand in front of his throat and say to his teammates that Arenas was a '[bleeping] wimp.'"
Holy crap. All I can think about is what a class act that LeBron James is. A role model, for sure. WTF?! He feigns respect for another player in front of the camera, only to say some vicious and obnoxious shit about him in front of his home crowd. PS: to all Washington fans at that game - not only did you allow LeBron to do that ridiculous talcum-powder clap thing without booing him out of the place, you allowed him to do the throat-slash gesture and call Gilbert a "bleeping wimp." Good work.

Plus, isn't touching a player at the foul line a technical foul? Isn't doing the throat slash gesture a technical foul? Guess not when LeBron does it. LeBron is mean as hell:

 

^Yes, some of those make him look like an asshole, but a a lot of them stick out to me as not really fitting in your theme of making Lebron look like an egomaniac.

These three in particular.

“I don't need too much. Glamour and all that stuff don't excite me. I am just glad I have the game of basketball in my life.”


“It's hard to win in the league, because every team is good, they got players on their team. A lot harder than high school. It's competitive, and that's what I most love about it."




“Ask me to play. I'll play.
Ask me to shoot. I'll shoot.
Ask me to pass. I'll pass.
Ask me to steal, block out, sacrifice, lead, dominate.
ANYTHING.
But it's not what you ask of me.
It's what I ask of myself.”


What's wrong with any of those?