The Cleveland Cavaliers were on a 3-game losing streak where the wind went out of LeBron’s sails. What made this team hit the “doldrums”, and what brought the “trade winds” back to Cleveland? A win.
I can’t think of something more annoying than watching a guy who doesn’t really like playing his sport unless he’s winning. It would be one thing if he was “tired of losing”, but the Cavs are good.
LeBron is a malcontent. Yes, I said it. He’s a malcontent. He doesn’t like basketball–he likes winning.
Personally, I have no problem with this. Kobe loves winning and it got me a title last season. Magic loved winning. Kareem loved winning. Bill Russell loved winning. But…
The Problem
The problem I have is that someone like Kobe is having fun even when he’s losing–except in the playoffs. It’s the regular season. Everything’s fine. Why are you going to go from jovial-to-jackass in 2.7 seconds?
The Cavs lose a couple games and all that “screwing around” the Cavs do goes away. Why?
It’s all fake. The Cavs are fakes. They’re phonies. They aren’t in it for basketball…they think this is scripted entertainment. The next thing you know we’ll have Vince McMahon on the sidelines in blackface pretending to be Mike Brown.
The snapshots in warm-ups: fake. The “chalk-throw”: meaningless. LeBron isn’t getting pumped up–he’s getting ready to make money and be famous.
You know the shame of all that? His teammates bought in and now they’re phonies too!
WWJD–What Would Jordan Do?
Here’s what Jordan would do. He’d be consistent.
He was intense all the time. You rarely got a smile, and it was usually a “tongue-wag”. He was hard on his teammates all the time. They knew it and they responded to it.
LeBron has this team in a state of emotional flux. Up one day and down the next. Explain to me how they’ve won so many games. LeBron.
Explain to me why they’ve lost the games they’ve lost. LeBron. His attitude is weird. He needs to pick one persona just like Jordan did. If you’re going to be a “cut-up” then you have to be so all the time.
WWJD? He’d stay consistent. He’s still a jerk, but that doesn’t surprise us. LeBron keeps surprising us because we don’t know what he REALLY is. Very confusing…
The Solution
LeBron needs to be the lovable “killer”. He’s not making any waves by being “jerky”. Everyone can tell when he gets “off-character” and it only makes him look less-than-genuine.
LeBron has conjured an image of success when the only thing he’s every done was throw chalk in the air, get destroyed in the Finals, lose an East Finals he should’ve won, and win the MVP (which he deserved).
LeBron can be a MUCH nicer version of Shaq if he wants to be. He doesn’t say alot so he might not get into trouble with his mouth. He’s a big dude–6’8″ and 280. He can be the nice guy who throttles people.
He won’t be found asking D12 “how my ass taste?”. He won’t be caught making a fool of himself in “Kazaam 2: The Search For The Ring”. He’ll stay in shape and have surgery–if he needs it–when he needs it.
He can be the anti-Shaq. ANTI-Shaq!
His New Problem
This one’s easy. He plays with Shaq. Shaq is feeding this pathetic attitude. It happened to Kobe as well. The sense of entitlement. The sense of “I play by a different set of rules”. The sense of “I own this team not Dan Gilbert”.
LeBron has clearly been infected. I didn’t mind LeBron in the past. Actually, I was this close to liking him. I almost bought in–then Shaq happened.
Shaq is the real issue here. You can call me Shaq-hater, but the evidence is clear. LeBron had a weak moment and didn’t shake D12′s hand after the East finals. Now Shaq is allowing this to continue and feeding it at the same time.
This proves two things: 1) Shaq has learned nothing. 2) LeBron is VERY impressionable.
The Way To Bring About My Solution
Give Larry Brown $8 million a year and steal him from Charlotte. Let him crush LeBron, get rid of Shaq, and build LeBron back up.
That would be the best thing that could ever happen to a spoiled brat who’s had everything handed to him. Larry Brown.
Look at AI. He hated Larry Brown. Now he wishes he could get his time with Brown in Philly back. Yeah. AI knows he wasted it. LeBron’s gonna feel the same way in 10 years about Mike Brown.
I’m not saying Mike Brown is “the man”, but LeBron will regret his attitude when he’s old enough to understand how bad it sucks right now.
Who doesn’t want to see Larry Brown in Cleveland anyways? They’d be the story of all stories–barring a MAJOR tragedy–until Larry or LeBron left.
Come on. You know you want to see Larry Brown dump Charlotte while he can–midseason–and make LeBron into a real man. Not the phony he’s become.