2009-10: The Year In LeBron Mini-Controversies
2010-04-18One of my least favorite parts of running this blog is the fact I’m theoretically supposed to comment on all the mini-controversies that end up surrounding LeBron James. LeBron never engages in full-fledged bad behavior, but he has a knack for doing something that happens to rub people the wrong way. And people do like to talk about LeBron. I’m of the opinion that people wouldn’t get so bent out of shape about these things if LeBron had a ring; since he doesn’t, it opens up the “a real champion wouldn’t do X” line of criticism every time.
My opinion on these things when they come up is almost universally the same:
1. I would rather LeBron hadn’t done or said that.
2. I do not actually care.
I’ve never been able to access righteous anger at the behavior of professional athletes, provided it’s not illegal or extremely morally reprehensible in the context of normal human life, not morally reprehensible by the standards of sports morals. I’m not sure why this is, but I have a really tough time doing it.
But for the sake of the record, let’s round up all the mini-controversies that have surrounded LeBron this season. All of these are in roughly chronological, more or less off the top of my head, and will not be explored in-depth. And yes, these are tongue-in-cheek descriptions meant to poke fun at the hysteria that surrounded the events rather than the events themselves. Starting immediately after the end of the last season:
-LeBron is struck with Aphephobia shortly after losing the ECF
-LeBron: “I don’t have Aphephobia. I like winning a lot.”
-Check my perceived Hubri$
-DunkGate
-LeBron dances on the grave of sportsmanship by dancing
-Numerology with LeBron — History of the NBA before 1970 not a prerequisite
-New York something something
-New York isn’t a story! Something something
-If New York isn’t a story, why do we talk so much about New York not being a story? Something something
-LeBron loves either his area code or Satan very much (theory I didn’t see: LeBron lets his elbow fly on his jumper sometimes because he’s making a Masonic Pyramid.)
-Hey, why doesn’t LeBron get fouls called on him more often?: Port of Call New Orleans
-“If I really wanted to, I could turn into a Pegasus. But I feel like that would hamper my ability to get my teammates involved.”
-“I don’t think I need to risk injury, and resting could pay dividends in the later round. But mostly, I hate the proletariat.”
SPECIAL PREVIEW MINI-CONTROVERSY: LeBron hates America and loves making a Space Jam knock-off. Trust me. If the Cavs don’t win a title this season, that movie will trigger the hatepocalypse.
That’s all I could think of off the top of my head. I’m sure I forgot some. Please take this as a silly off-day post and get ready for game 2.
If I may steal the lexicon of Bill Walton: Lebron is the greatest marvel in the history of Western civilization. And props for Portishead post. Thanks Krolik.
@mike: He can’t be “reffed like a normal player” because he ISN’T a normal player. He isn’t any more difficult to officiate than any other superstar; those guys are ALL difficult to officiate for the same reason that they’re hard to defend: They can do so many different things, at so high a speed, that you simply can’t anticipate them all, whether you’re a defender or a referee. And as much as officials like to say that they don’t anticipate game action, you simply can’t call a game with an acceptable latency unless you do, to an extent, anticipate action.… Read more »
fine, but i do wonder how he would have turned out if he had had coaches that demanded he act like an adult and/or had even been reffed like a normal player.
my complaint
We get it……. Lebron is the best player ever to play, but the media coverage has turned into a homoerotic episode.
all lebron all the time…how many times can you be amazed by the exact same dunk, he blocks a shot from behind and espn has an all day orgasm…..I watch all the games, I love Lebrons game….but this is by far the most annoying coverage of a person since Marv Albert was announcing Jordans last season.
Ok I love LeBron as much as anyone from NE Ohio, however, DunkGate was kinda childish, I’ll let him slide on not shaking hands after the game since they never do it after any other game, although it would’ve been the classy thing to do, but dude was driving crazy fast!! All in all, he is head and shoulders above most pro athletes. Much love to LeBron and the Cavs!! This is the year!!
My buddy is always asking me why LeBron doesn’t always pull his elbow in – NOW I KNOW
Confiscated-dunk-tape-gate!
Does anyone remember the speeding controversy and how everyone thought they should admonish him for speeding on I-71?
personally what i hate is how the media, depending on their region, just like to spin the media how they feel that day.
example a:
“if the cavs win the championship, of course lebron would stay! he would be crazy not to!”
example b:
“if the cavs win the championship, lebron will have no regrets and will leave cleveland for sure!”
I agree, I prefer that Bron did/does not do most of these, but I really just don’t care either. He’s jsut one of those players that Kobe fans want to hate. I don’t care who the Cavs play for the ring. The playoffs are designed for the best teams to go to the finals so regardless if the Cavs have to face the Magic in the east or the Lakers for the finals, doesn’t really matter. If we meet Kobe and the Lakers in the finals, some people will point to Kobe’s injuries as the ‘only’ reason they won. Bottom… Read more »
This was hilarious, and I love the non-controversies that we have to make up so LeBron doesn’t seem perfect. Guess what, he basically is.
bulls-celtics-magic-lakers. can’t possibly get any better
I just want the Cavs to win, and since I truly believe in my heart that this team can beat anybody, I wouldn’t mind them facing anyone from the West. That being said, I would like for a large amount of people to tune in to all of the Cavs playoff games so the team gets the ratings and viewership it so rightfully deserves. If it takes facing big market teams to draw that audience, so be it. GO CAVS!
“On the other hand, I want the Cavs to not give the haters the argument of “But they didn’t have to play X to win it this year.” That goes for Orlando as well as LA.”
Bingo, I want to play and beat the best this year.
Wasn’t Lebron also responsible for the problems at Toyota or am I confusing him with someone else?
Phoenix. I always like to see Nash succeed. They didn’t help their chances last night, that’s for sure.
I’m torn on the West as well. On the one hand, I want the lakers to trip up and fail just to spite all of the Kobe-freaks. The earlier and more spectacular the fail, the better. This side of me doesn’t care who we go through, just the bling ‘n the ring for the king (and the entire NE Ohio region’s sanity). On the other hand, I want the Cavs to not give the haters the argument of “But they didn’t have to play X to win it this year.” That goes for Orlando as well as LA. This side… Read more »
When you lay them all out like that it becomes pretty clear how absurd they all are.
Anyway, who do people want to win in the western conference? I was rooting really hard for the thunder as my second favourite team during the regular season, but now they have the Lakers, I actually kind of want the cavs to play the lakers in the post season, so my heart is a little torn…
Your posts make me giggle, John Krolik.