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Will a Championship End the LeBron Hate?
LeBron James and the Miami Heat lead the NBA Finals 2-1 over Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Through those three games James is averaging 30 points per game, 10 rebounds, four assists and almost two steals per game on 46% shooting. James has been great defensively and shut down Durant in the fourth quarter of game three. The demons that haunted James in last year’s finals against Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks seem to have been exercised. James persistence to get to the basket has also put Durant in foul trouble the past two games and Dwyane Wade seems to have found his stride again. However, despite James’ performance in clutch situations throughout the 2012 NBA playoffs, the haters continue to hate. This begs the question; will the LeBron haters continue their attack on the King if he finally wins a championship this season?
The LeBron haters have even found flaws in his performance throughout the first three games of these finals series. The loudest argument came after game two when he came in contact with Durant on his last second shot attempt. The LeBron haters blamed the referees for the Thunder loss instead of the Thunder’s seven missed free throws and bad interior defense. In the mind of a LeBron hater, when the Thunder won game one it was because of the stellar play. However, when the Heat won games two and three it because of the preferential treatment they received from the officials.
But the LeBron hate goes way beyond this finals series. For some reason adults have a hard time understanding why someone would leave Cleveland for Miami. The geographical factors are reason alone. James played his heart out for the Cleveland Cavaliers every night for seven seasons and even took them to the NBA finals while leading a team full of Tito Jacksons. The large mistake James made during his move to South Beach was having an hour-long ESPN special to make the announcement. Even though the event’s proceeds went to charity, it was an arrogant, self centered and self-serving move that disappointed NBA fans around the world. However, I have always wondered if New Yorkers would feel different about the special if James would have chosen to be a Knick, or if Cleveland fans would have felt different if he had announced he was staying with the Cavs.
It seems as if LeBron Haters might be as selfish as they accuse James of being. Unlike a lot of our favorite athletes and celebrities, James has kept his name of the tabloids and off of TMZ. James has been charitable, a seemingly model family man and has never thrown his teammates under the bus (I’m looking at you Kobe & Shaq). I could even understand LeBron hate if he was a ball hog or engaged in unsportsmanlike conduct, but neither has ever occurred. The most laughable product of LeBron hate is the way haters have painted the James vs. Durant battle as a battle between good and evil. Instead of what is really is, the two best players in the world fighting for the biggest prize in basketball.
Real NBA fans acknowledge the fact that this is a series featuring a great veteran NBA warrior who has suffered numerous playoff failures against an up and coming team with a great core on the biggest stage for the first time. My money is on the vet, but I am sure the LeBron Haters will have an excuse when he lifts the Larry O’Brien trophy (66 game season, refs, etc.).
Short-handed Knicks brace for Heat in New York
Amare Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert are sidelined. Jeremy Lin isn’t back yet.
The New York Knicks are short-handed, and Carmelo Anthony says he doesn’t know where the offense is going to come from in Game 3 of their first-round series against the Miami Heat.
“Nobody never said it was going to be easy,” Anthony says.
And if the Knicks are hoping to get an advantage from playing at home, well, they can probably forget that. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade thrive at Madison Square Garden and will be extra fired up to try and move the Heat within one victory of the second round.
Stoudemire is out for Game 3 after cutting his left hand while punching the case around a fire extinguisher following Miami’s Game 2 victory Monday. He hopes to return in Game 4.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Rose, Lin top NBA’s jersey sales
Move over, Kobe and LeBron: Only Derrick Rose could top Linsanity when it came to jersey sales over the past year.
The league’s reigning MVP has the top-selling jersey at the NBA Store and nbastore.com since April 2011, the NBA says Thursday. Knicks guard Jeremy Lin was No. 2, despite his merchandise not even being available until his stunning breakthrough in February.
Bryant was third and James fourth, unusually low spots for two of the NBA’s biggest superstars. Bryant had been No. 1 six times and James twice since 2001.
Carmelo Anthony rounded out the top five, helping the Knicks finish second in team merchandise sales. The Bulls were No. 1 for the first time since April 2001.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Volvo signs Lin to promote its cars worldwide
New York Knicks star Jeremy Lin has signed a two-year contract with automaker Volvo to promote the company’s cars around the world — especially in Asia.
The Chinese-owned company said in statement Tuesday that Lin, a guard who shot to stardom this season, will participate in Volvo’s worldwide corporate and marketing activities as a brand ambassador.
China is a major market for the NBA. Earlier this month, the Miami Heat’s Lebron James agreed to promote Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins ice cream in Asia.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Nightly Notable: King James Dominates
Miami Heat forward LeBron James had every facet of his game on display last night against the Portland Trailblazers. James dominated on offense with 38 points 6 assists and 0 turnovers. James also shined on defense with 10 rebounds, 3 steals and one spectacular chase down block on Trailblazers guard Raymond Felton.
James seems to be the front-runner for MVP this season and has his team in first place on the Eastern Conference. However, James is not showing us anything new. The real test for James and the Heat will come during the playoffs and if James implodes in crunch time as he is known to do, these highlights will be forgotten real fast.
Parade for champion Mavs sets out early Thursday – AP
Thousands of fans have begun lining up for a party 31 years in the making — the celebration of the Dallas Mavericks’ first NBA championship.
The fun begins at 10 a.m. Thursday with a parade through downtown, but hours earlier fans began staking out their favorite spots. Streets along the parade route were being closed two hours before the event, as organizers urged fans to avoid traffic delays and use public transportation.
More than 250,000 people were expected to cheer on a fleet of three floats, 10 convertibles and a dozen trucks featuring star player Dirk Nowitzki, club owner Mark Cuban and everyone from team founder Don Carter to Nowitzki’s guru, Holger Geschwindner.
The guest of honor, of course, would be the Larry O’Brien Trophy, the shiny gold statue given to the NBA’s top team.
The parade route was to end at the team’s arena, followed by a bash inside for 10,000 season-ticket holders.
The Mavs won the title by beating LeBron James and the Miami Heat on Sunday.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
LeBron James says he is ‘not superior to anyone’ – AP
LeBron James ended his first Miami Heat season with a clarification.
James says comments he made after the Heat lost Game 6 of the NBA finals to the Dallas Mavericks may have been misunderstood, and that when it comes to the overwhelming criticism of himself and his team, “not only myself, but everyone has to move on with their lives.”
James raised eyebrows with the way he responded to a question about people being happy to see the Heat lose, saying then that those critics “have to get back to the real world.”
After the team held its exit meetings Tuesday, James was saying that he’s “not superior to anyone” and that he knows his comments could have been interpreted differently.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Glimpse into the 2011 NBA playoffs
Victor Baldizon/NBAE/Getty Images
This season’s version of the NBA playoffs have already featured the elimination of the western conference’s top seeded San Antonio Spurs, a 46 point game from the Orlando Magic’s All-Start center Dwight Howard and a 40-foot three-point bank shot from the Atlanta Hawks sixth man scoring machine Jamal Crawford that helped eliminate Howard’s Magic. The Boston Celtics swept the injury depleted New York Knicks while Kevin Durant lead the Oklahoma City Thunder over the New York Knicks, I mean Denver Nuggets. The championship contending Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls and defending champion Los Angeles Lakers also advanced to the second round.
At the beginning of the season I predicted the south beach marriage of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh would lead the Miami Heat to a championship this season. That prediction was looking pretty bad when the Heat started the season 9-8 and lost their first three match-ups against the defending eastern conference champions, the Boston Celtics. However, the Heat won their last regular season game against Celtics pretty convincingly and now lead the squad from Bean town 2-0 in their eastern semifinal best of 7 series.
The Heat have looked super human and the Celtics have looked their age. While Miami moves up, down and over the court at will, the Celtics have looked…..old. Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are all fighting injuries while Rajon Rondo has looked disinterested on defense the past two games.
The Heat will capture this series in 5 games and will defeat the Chicago Bulls in the eastern conference finals. As long as Carlos Boozer continues to play poorly, the Bulls will have no chance to reach the NBA finals.
Gloria James Arrested: LeBrons Mother Booked At Miami Beach Hotel
Gloria James, LeBron James’ mother, was arrestedThursday morning at a Miami hotel after she reportedly got into scuffle with a valet…
Gloria James Arrested: LeBrons Mother Booked At Miami Beach Hotel.
