so what would you say about "poor LeBron" dissing the fans when he lost last season? just a HINT of sour grapes i'd have to say.lol he said the people who continued to criticize him would have to continue living their lives after the season was over. I'm sorry but if millions of people were bashing me everywhere I went, I wouldn't bend over and take it either. I'm sure if you made a boastful prediction and were then basically crapped on everywhere you walked down the street, that you wouldn't throw yourself on the side and allow people to continue to do it. But it's whatever. He threw a jab at them and then apologized. It's not something he should be crucified for. In this day and age, people have to walk on eggshells with everything that they say and everything that they do because a ton of parasites who really do have miserable lives and do nothing but hold on to every word that someone else says at the minor chance that they can spin it into a way of trashing a person they've never met so as to make themselves feel better will fire back just as harsh.
when he tells everybody essentially "i'm rich, and you fools have to go back to your regular lives" that's just a HINT of what's in this clown's make-up...
No DUIs, no criminal allegations, no incidents of not getting along with his teammtes, no incidents of being violent amongst his teammates, never quitting on his teammates to demand a trade, etc. Basically the only bad thing people can say about LeBron is he's arrogant.
disagree...
I will have to respectfully disagree with you on this, GH. In L.A. we throw our parties AFTER we win something, not before. It tends to set you up for failure doing it in the wrong order, wouldn't you say?The true Lakers fans maybe. You don't think they'd find enough fairweather fans to fill the stadium up?
But please continue to tell me about how sorry the Miami Heat are for doing the dastardly deed of clearing cap space to bring in free agents; please.O'Neal's agent, Leonard Armato, reportedly spent last night in Atlanta meeting with Jerry West, the Lakers' general manager. If O'Neal accepted the offer, Los Angeles would be forced to renounce the rights to the free agent forward Elden Campbell. That would give the Lakers enough salary cap room to sign O'Neal to the seven-year, $140 million deal.
The latest offer by the Lakers was probably their final one. They have already made several moves to create more salary cap room -- trading Vlade Divac to Charlotte, then trading Anthony Peeler and George Lynch to Vancouver. The Lakers wanted O'Neal to make a final decision quickly, giving them a chance to sign other free agents in case O'Neal decided to re-sign with Orlando.
Well I wouldn't exactly be there if that ever happened GO.......but I would criticize them as I criticized Lebron if they went on not etc. rant. I guess it was the sense of entitlement that just rubbed me the wrong way(amongst other things they said in that pep rally). Watching it live, I still remember saying who do these guys think they are? They haven't won anything together yet and they're talking about multiple titles.Kold I like you enough to be reasonable with you here. To be completely honest, I was on your side last year bashing LeBron James and I wanted him to not win last year but I did on account of what it meant for small market teams and their ability to keep their stars moving forward. He set a precedent that crushed the nature of the NBA for a lot of fans of teams who don't play in attractive destinations. You, as a Lakers fan, don't have that problem and never will. You've built almost all of your teams by bringing in free agents, trading for big time stars too. That's why I don't get where all the hate from Lakers fans comes from. I, in my honest opinion, see it as a way for Lakers fans to hold on to Kobe Bryant's legacy by bashing LeBron James'. I get it. But you should let Kobe's accomplishmetns speak for themselves.
either way HE'S the one that bought into it...or are we forgetting he put "the Chosen One" on himself? it isn't like anyone put a gun to his head and MADE him do it...Sports Illustrated called him the chosen one at the age of sixteen! And he then tattooed it on his body! For the live of Christ it's not as if he showed up and did it as a coach or something. He was a child.
as far as this part folks have a natural aversion to arrogance. i'd say that's NORMAL...I bet you love Kobe Bryant as a player and he's just as arrogant as any other player in the league.
oh ok, so basically holding the Cavs hostage until the last week of FA was ok. game 5 of the series vs. the Celtics in his last season with the Cavs would have me questioning that "not quitting" remark. sorry, but i'm seeing a guy who's hollow inside in SPITE of his God given talent. a waste imo...LeBron James played out his contract and left. What he did was no different than what plenty before him have done. He never quit on the Cavaliers. In fact, he brought them to spots where they will likely never get after him and never had been before him. LeBron James was very good to the Cavaliers.
Or how about when Dwhine and Bron were mocking Dirk right in front of a camera? Yeah, they aren't arrogant at all. Say what you will about Kobe but he would never have done what LeBron has done over the past few years.That's already been covered: "As it stands, I've seen LeBron become a better teammate, person and make legitimate efforts to rehability his image this season. All the things people criticize him for personally are from a year or two years ago."
What the hell are you talking about?
I don't see how fans filling up a stadium means anything, I mean if Lil Wayne can fill up a stadium anything can.
Yeah Michael Jordan punched his teammates, called Kwame Brown a homosexual slur and then cheated on his wife multiple times. That LeBron James sure is an egotistical jerk.
never denied that he was ALSO arrogant. same with Michael Jordan. needless to say BOTH carried it in a different manor, though...
What the hell are you talking about?You said the Lakers would fill up the stadium if we had our own celebration. I'm saying people will attend anything, the point was that LeBron, Dwhine and Bosh not only went through with it but claimed to have a team that was far and away better than any other in the league. Right after you have one of the biggest offseasons for a franchise, ever, it's kind of a big deal and shows what they really thought of themselves. If they had won the championship last season you think the Heat would have tried to act humble this year? No, the only reason they quieted down was because they looked retarded last year.
That's why I don't get where all the hate from Lakers fans comes from. I, in my honest opinion, see it as a way for Lakers fans to hold on to Kobe Bryant's legacy by bashing LeBron James'. I get it. But you should let Kobe's accomplishmetns speak for themselves.For me, the whole Lebron/Kobe thing is straightforward. Lebron is just better athletically due to obvious reasons and there's no questioning that. The only problems I have is anyone that says Lebron career is greater than Kobe's thus far which is something I disagree with, due to the fact that it's not true and also due to the fact Kobe's has just had more years to accomplish more things or in other words have more rings. The thing I've been saying since the last year he was in Cleveland to people was let's let him win something first before we start debating this Lebron/Kobe thing. I also never liked how SOME simply dishes blame to anyone other than Lebron when he loses. Now in Cleveland, I gave him a pass there as he never really had the teams up until that last year. I thought he deserved blame for going AWOL in that game 5 against Boston, that swung the series imo. I also thought he deserved his fair shair of blame for going AWOL in the Finals last year. Now to the last point, the 4th quarter/walk off shot. I never criticized Lebron for "making the right play" in those situations, the only problem I ever had was him hot potatoing the ball down the stretch in these situations at times, particulary last year in the Finals.
As it stands, I've seen LeBron become a better teammate, person and make legitimate efforts to rehability his image this season. All the things people criticize him for personally are from a year or two years ago. Kobe Bryant, a player I like, is just as smug and arrogant (if not more) than LeBron and that's swept under the rug for the way that LeBron conducts his business? You want to talk about a sense of entitlement. Kobe Bryant and the Lakers are some of the biggest offenders.I respected him for saying if he could do everything over, he would've done it completely different. It's just that I can't find myself doing a 180 and rooting for the guy just because he took those things back. As for Kobe, he's said he's an arrogant blankety blank and stands by that to this day so I understand why people hate him, but as a person he's gotten far more mature than that young guy with the fro. Also, as a fan I haven't seen too many guys in history that's as dedicated to keeping their body in shape, playing through injuries, and doing anything it takes to win as much as he has(although he's had his downfalls as well). Although, I never got the feeling that Kobe had a sense of public entitlement early on in his career, like if they just roll out the basketball we are guaranteed to win type of entitlement.
Yeah Michael Jordan punched his teammates, called Kwame Brown a homosexual slur and then cheated on his wife multiple times. That LeBron James sure is an egotistical jerk.1 & 2: Who hasn't done that?
By the way, let the Lakers get Deron Williams and Dwight Howard this year and watch how quickly all of you run to the Staples Center to party your butts off and listen to them play to the crowd. I'd do the same if the Hornets ever did it.The Lakers usually don't make announcements that way and the announcements are for the press, without the public. The Lakers have signed 6 future Hall of Fame players before the start of the season, Kareem, Chamberlain, Shaq, Gary Payton & Karl Malone and resigned Gail Goodrich, who played for them earlier. I don't know what the fanfare was for Kareem, which was before cable TV and all press, so I doubt there was dancing in the streets. And the Dodgers werer the top dogs in town at the time. Chamberlain arrived on a team with Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, so they weren't having a party when they already had those guys. Gail Goodrich returned a couple years later.
