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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.).
Miami rapper Brianna Perry in the Hip Hop Basement
Knicks coach says Lin won’t return in this round
Interim coach Mike Woodson says Jeremy Lin will not play in the Knicks’ first-round series against Miami, even if they avoid elimination Wednesday.
The Knicks trail the Heat 3-1 and have lost guards Baron Davis and Iman Shumpert to knee injuries during the series. They hoped Lin would be able to return from his April 2 surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee, but Woodson says Tuesday that Lin is out.
“Speaking with medical and Jeremy, he will not play in this series,” Woodson said after practice.
The Knicks said Lin was expected to miss six weeks after the surgery, but he has been working out at practice. Woodson says Lin shot around Tuesday “but he’s just not physically ready to play.”
Veteran Mike Bibby will start Wednesday.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Baron Davis out a year with severe knee injury
Baron Davis has torn the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee, a potentially career-threatening injury for the Knicks’ 33-year-old point guard.
The Knicks said Davis was expected to be out a year after an MRI on Monday also revealed a partial tear of the patella tendon.
Davis was hurt Sunday in the Knicks’ 89-87 victory over Miami, crumbling to the court when his knee gave out as he dribbled upcourt on a fast break in the third quarter. Some players looked away as replays of the gruesome injury were shown on the overhead video board.
Davis has battled injuries in recent years and said he wasn’t sure if he would play again after a herniated disk in his back last year kept him out until February.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Bosh Will Play In Game 3
Bosh returns home to be with expectant wife
Heat forward Chris Bosh may miss Game 3 of Miami’s Eastern Conference first-round series in New York on Thursday after being summoned home because his wife was preparing to give birth.
The Heat were told late Wednesday that Bosh had to return home. Bosh left from New York on a private plane, and his wife, Adrienne, posted a photo on a social media account saying “hurry home.”
The Heat have not ruled Bosh out for Game 3. The team will hold a morning shootaround practice at Madison Square Garden.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Knicks will evaluate Lin further later this week
Jeremy Lin took part in another practice with the New York Knicks on Monday, and the team says it hopes to know more later this week about when the guard might be able to return to the lineup.
Lin participated in the team’s gameday shootaround before its playoff matchup with the Heat, the fourth straight day that Lin did some on-court work in Miami.
The guard who was the biggest story in the NBA after putting up big numbers in February had surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee four weeks ago.
Knicks coach Mike Woodson says the team will “have a better feel” about Lin’s recovery when it returns to New York for practices on Tuesday and Wednesday. Game 3 of the Knicks-Heat series is Thursday night.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Stoudemire hurt postgame, Heat beat NY, 104-94
Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire is apologizing “to the fans and my team” for an incident after New York’s 104-94 loss to Miami in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference first-round series on Monday night that left him with a cut on his left hand.
At least one of Stoudemire’s teammates says the cut is bad enough to keep him out of at least Game 3 of the series in New York on Thursday night.
Stoudemire posted a message on Twitter saying he is “so mad at myself” and that he is “not proud of my actions.”
The Knicks did not say exactly what happened, though a fire-extinguisher case near the locker room was damaged and drops of blood stained the carpet.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Dunk of the Night: Morris is everywhere!
Trayvon Martin’s Mother ‘Cannot Eat,’ While Lawyer Expresses Concerns Over Grand Jury
As state and federal authorities join the probe into the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, his mother, Sabrina Fulton, said that the investigation won’t matter unless the result is the arrest and prosecution of George Zimmerman, who police said confessed to shooting Martin.
“I think it’s progress that so much is being done and I think they are starting to open their eyes,” Fulton told Huffington Post BlackVoices this afternoon, in reference to the Justice Department and the FBI. “I truly believe they are going to arrest him.”
“Until they do, I cannot eat, I cannot sleep and I cannot relax. Not until he’s arrested,” she said.
Police said Zimmerman, 28, a self-appointed neighborhood watchman, shot and killed Martin Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla., an Orlando suburb where Martin’s father lives. Martin, a native of Miami, was visiting his father, returning from a nearby store when Zimmerman saw him and thought he looked suspicious. At some point, Zimmerman followed Martin, confronted him and then shot him in the chest, according the Sanford police…
Read more: Trayvon Martin’s Mother ‘Cannot Eat,’ While Lawyer Expresses Concerns Over Grand Jury.
