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One has it, the other doesn't
It all goes back to last Friday night.
The Washington Wizards were in Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers. I don’t know if you could classify this game as a “must-win”, but if there is such thing as a “must-win” in late February in the NBA, this was it. As of last Friday, the Cavaliers held down the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Washington had the fifth spot, meaning that if the playoffs started that night, the Wizards and the Cavaliers would meet. You always want to put it to a potential playoff opponent, just to send a message.
What’s more, following the Washington game, the Cavaliers faced back-to-back matchups with the Pistons, the first coming in a nationally televised Sunday afternoon tilt from the Palace at Auburn Hills. Detroit has a thing about losing. They hate it, and thus, almost never do. The possibility of back-to-back ass-whippings at the hands of Detroit was a very real one. All the more reason the Cavaliers had to have this game against the Wizards, last Friday night.
To the game, the game that started this little brouhaha…
It’s late in the first quarter. Thanks to their usual non-existent defense, the Cavaliers trail the Wizards 27-17. Antawn Jamison misses a hook shot; LeBron yanks down the rebound, and turns upcourt. Caron Butler flashes in LeBron’s way in the backcourt. Instead of picking up his dribble and passing off like 98 percent of the players in the Association, LeBron gives a spin move, goes right around Butler, leaving him standing there with his arms up, and accelerates on the break. Anybody who watches LeBron on a regular basis- or who doesn’t- knows at this point that he’s not giving it up. He’s going strong, homing in on the basket with relentless, reckless intent. And he does, slicing through Washington’s defense and kissing in a running right-hander, picking up the and-one along the way. Watching the game at my friend P-Phunk’s apartment (my cable got shut off early last week; stupid unpaid bill; stupid PPV smut purchases) I leap out of my chair, pumping my fist and exchanging high-fives with P-Phunk like those guys in the old “NBA is Fan-tastic” spots they used to run to the Pointer Sisters’ “I’m So Excited”. The spin move, the absolutely unstoppable drive to the hole… it was vintage LeBron.
Then he went back-iron on the free throw. That was vintage LeBron, too.
The rest of the game is a seesaw. The Cavaliers seize the lead in the second quarter, on the strength of a 30-13 run fueled by LeBron’s nine points, three dimes, and three boards during the stretch. Washington goes back on top after halftime, eventually building their lead to eight before the Cavaliers cut it back down to four entering the final period. Midway through the fourth Donyell Marshall’s three-pointer gives the lead back to Cleveland, 87-84. It’s 89-86 Cavaliers coming down toward the five-minute mark when the meltdown begins. Caron Butler picks LeBron’s pocket and feeds Jamison for a jumper that cuts the lead to one. Eric “I Shouldn’t Be in the League” Snow gets his pocket picked by Antonio Daniels, who takes it to the hole himself, giving the Wizards a 90-89 lead with 4:37 left.
The Cavaliers are behind now, but it’s more of the same. Newly acquired Ronald “Flip” Murray, who plays virtually the entire second half despite having gotten off a plane from Seattle hours earlier, commits an offensive foul, the third Cleveland turnover in less than a minute. Zydrunas Ilgauskas blocks a shot, Donyell Marshall grabs the rebound and promptly throws an outlet pass directly to Antawn Jamison. That’s four turnovers in four possessions, with no shot attempts all the while. Jamison makes them pay, knocking in a shot that extends the Washington run to 6-0 and gives the Wizards a 92-89 lead. Ilgauskas lays it in to end the cold spell and cut the lead to one, than the Cavaliers shrewdly leave Gilbert Arenas wide-open in transition. Arenas buries a three-pointer to make it 95-91 Wizards. With 2:45 to play, LeBron is fouled by Arenas, and goes to the line with a chance to cut the lead down to two.
Clang.
Clang.
The Cavaliers soldier on. Donyell Marshall is fouled making a layup and sinks the free throw, making it 95-94. Cleveland forces a stop and with 1:18 left, LeBron is fouled, this time stepping to the line with a chance to give his team the lead.
Clang.
Clang.
And that does it. Washington finishes the game on a 7-0 run and wins, 102-94. Detroit takes both ends of the back-to-back, along with what’s left of Cleveland’s manhood. Rasheed Wallace cracks Z’s dome wide open, giving him twelve stitches, and nobody on the Cavaliers retaliates. Cleveland’s losing streak extends to five before they beat the Bulls in Chicago last night on a Flip Murray three-pointer with 3.9 seconds left (after blowing a 25-point lead), and the second-half collapse is on, just as it was in 2003-04, just as it was last season. When last seen, this writer was in full-on Cleveland mode, wringing his hands, crying, “Woe is me”, and running for the hills.
Now, about the booing…
It came following the fourth of LeBron’s four straight missed free throws down the stretch on Friday night (actually, to be technical, he missed seven straight, and went 4-for-12 from the stripe in the second half, but it was the four in crunch time that loomed very large). It was nothing but a smattering, just a light peppering of vocalized displeasure from various points in the Quicken Loans Arena stands; but it was there, and you could hear it. So could LeBron.
I didn’t boo, from my place in the easy chair in P-Phunk’s living room. I didn’t say anything. I just sat there with my mouth hanging open, having temporarily lost the ability to speak. Mind you, I understood why people were booing. I just didn’t give it a second thought.
But the acceptable sporting media did. Newspapers and blogs around the country ran with the “LeBron Booed” story. The overall reaction was, to put it simply, monolithic. ESPN, especially, jumped on the story with characteristically unseemly eagerness (I’m pretty sure that everything remotely negative that happens to LeBron in Cleveland will be pounded by the Worldwide Leader, in its lust to lay the groundwork for the kid’s defection to a, ahem, “bigger market”). ESPN columnist Chris Broussard, a former writer for the Akron Beacon-Journal, wrote a piece that neatly encompassed the national take:
A Victim of Expectations
You don't boo LeBron James in Cleveland. Not when he can walk out the door in less than two years and destroy your historically pitiful little franchise in the process…
…Do you realize that no one outside of Ohio would blame him for leaving what many regard as Podunk for the bright lights of Chicago, or elsewhere, as a free agent?
…Still, you booed him. You of the 17 wins the season before he arrived, you of the seven straight seasons outside the playoffs, you whose most memorable moment -- "The Miracle of Richfield'' -- took place in 1976. In the first round!
Look, you're paying customers, and you can do what you want, but please take this advice from one who would love to see you enjoy a Bulls-like run: Make last Friday the last and only time you reserve such treatment for LeBron.
Otherwise, you may end up with plenty of chances to boo him in the future -- when he returns to the Q in a visitor's uniform.
That’s Broussard’s take: Don’t boo LeBron, Cleveland, or he’ll get mad and take off for greener, more appreciative pastures. Personally, I think Broussard is a tool for writing the column, exposing himself as a typical token red-state exile in a blue-state crowd, sheepishly explaining away the peccadillos of the misbegotten hillbillies back home to his new, uptown buddies. Whatever.
But a lot of Cleveland fans agreed with him. The local comment boards were lit up with hand wringing: Nooooooo! Don’t boooooo him! What are we dooooooing? We’re so stoooooopid! What if he leeeeeeaves us! What’ll we dooooooo?
This little tempest-in-a-teapot begs the question: should a superstar, a franchise player, be booed? The examples from detractors have already been cited: Michael Jordan was never booed in Chicago. Joe Montana was never booed in San Francisco.
In Jordan’s case, it’s not really a fair comparison. Despite being a first-team All-American, a guy who hit a game-winning shot in an NCAA Championship Game, and the third overall pick in the 1984 Draft, MJ was never burdened with the kind of expectations LeBron has faced. Also, by his third season in the league, MJ already had a playoff appearance under his belt; had, in fact, already scored 63 points in a playoff game. His reputation as a clutch performer was already secured.
Montana? To be honest, I’m not sure if he was ever booed or not. I do know that he was removed from a playoff game, a 1987 Divisional loss to Minnesota, for ineffectiveness. That game was at Candlestick, so he may have been booed; again, I’m not sure. But again, Montana’s situation differs from that of LeBron. As a third-round draft pick, Joe wasn’t really anointed anything coming into San Francisco, and in fact, didn’t replace Steve DeBerg as the 49ers starting quarterback until late in his second season. Also, Montana won a World Championship in his third season, which pretty much sealed his clutch-player rep for all time.
As for LeBron…
First of all, just in case you don’t know, let me clue you in on something: LeBron James is not clutch. He is a physically gifted player, has a ton of tools, a universe worth of potential, and seems to be an alright kid off the court (some girl I worked with at the post office a couple years ago who knew him in high school told me she thought he was a dick, and he may be, but that’s really not a concern of mine). But he’s not clutch. That’s not disrespect. It’s just the truth. He isn’t Kobe Bryant, who wants to decimate, to annihilate; who wants to pull your heart out, show it to you, throw it to the hardwood and smush it out like a cigarette butt. LeBron has none of that in him- none. It’s apparent in his mannerisms, in his actions, in his game. A clutch superstar doesn’t pass up a wide-open look and kick it to Sasha Pavlovic with the clock running out in a one-point game, as LeBron did recently at Denver. That’s not a sign of unselfishness, although LeBron is, indeed, an unselfish player. A clutch superstar takes it upon himself to win the game. LeBron doesn’t do that. Again, it’s not disrespect. It’s just the truth
Second, as I mentioned earlier, LeBron came into the Association as the designated savior of the Cavaliers and, by extension, all of Cleveland sports. This was the man who everyone looked to as the one who would finally bring a World Championship to the Lakefront. And at the beginning, this wasn’t seen as a mere possibility; this was accepted as fact, before the fact. It was assumed that LeBron would win a championship. It was seen as simply a matter of time.
With LeBron there was no skepticism. Cleveland fans threw away all their apprehensions. They forgot the decades of shattered dreams and became born-again innocents. They embraced the kid with the heedless fervor of a girl who’s been burned time and again but is sure that this time, she’s found Mr. Right. And when Mr. Right shows unmistakable signs of being the same old philandering cad who never calls, well… that just magnifies the bitterness from the fallout. Is this LeBron's fault? No. But it is what it is.
Not to mention his 2004 draft-mates, Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony, have both taken their teams to the playoffs in each of their first two seasons- something LeBron has failed to do.
You start with a base of eternal frustration, pour in otherworldly expectations, sprinkle in some of the same old same old, and what do you get? You get LeBron James, booed at home. The national media may be disengeniously shocked and appalled, but I’m not.
Now, this is how it's done
Would I boo LeBron? Well, I never say never. I haven’t… yet. He’s a local kid, he’s gifted and clocks 47 minutes a night, and he’s made pro basketball relevant in this town, after years of being a backwater. Plus every night he does something that makes you say, “Did he just do that? Did I see what I just saw?” He’s generally an absolute gas to watch. So I do my best to not give LBJ any raspberrys, even when, with a game on the line, he fails to execute a simple task performed with ease by 260-pound, chain-smoking non-athletes in YMCAs across America.
But again, I understand the booing. And no, I don’t think even a superstar should be immune from it. LeBron isn’t God. He isn’t infallible. He’s a 21-year old kid who, for all his talents, is prone to missing big shots and vanishing in critical situations. Should we give him the Tim Couch treatment? Of course not. But there’s nothing sinful about letting LBJ hear about it a little when he goes all Chris Dudley at the free throw line at the most inopportune times.
And no, he won’t blow town because the fans hurt his fucking feelings. Jesus Christ. That’s a pathetic, second-rate, typical Cleveland mentality. Besides, I don’t think he’ll leave, period. He’ll stay. He’ll be our Kevin Garnett. He’ll wow us for a decade, cement himself as the face of the franchise, and never win anything. LeBron James will be the master of not quite good enough. And around here, not quite good enough is as good as it gets. Peace!
Very good article. I agree completely. I love Lebron's game, but with the game on the line I would rather have the ball in the hands of Dwayne Wade or even Carmelo.
Nate
Not surprised
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Posted: 3/3/2006 9:26:23 AM
As anyone who lives in Cleveland can attest to; this incident was nothing shocking. We are, in fact, the town that cheered when Couch got hurt and pulled from a game, threw bottles at our own team, and started a riot becaues we got too drunk on nickle beer. And that's what I love about us. We'll be your best friend, but if you fuck with us we won't hurt you, no we'll simply dig deep down and find a way to fuck you over in a way previously thought impossible.
Good article, a true representation of what we Clevelanders put ourselves through!
T-Bone
Lebron
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Posted: 3/3/2006 10:10:06 AM
is not clutch at all. I am Boston fan and was at that double OT game in which the Cav's ended up puliing it out. However if Pierce hadn't fouled out in double OT (on a bullshit call, I might add), the C's would have definitely taken Lebron and the Cleveland hopeful's down. There barely beat the C's with a second string Boston team on the court lead by a old and shitty Kandi man.
Pat
CLEVELAND SPORTS
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Posted: 3/3/2006 10:30:25 AM
Enjoying the props Midwest sports teams get on this site, even if it is Cleveland. And though you have to eat the fact that the Steelers won the Super Bowl, the Penguins suck even harder than the Cavs this year.
jim
excellent
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Posted: 3/3/2006 10:54:31 AM
goddamn but I love TPP sports coverage. I mean it. I think I leave a comment like this after every article, too. oh well. I'm glad Cleveland exists. It makes me think that there's worse sports landscapes to be in than my own DC. Not that I'm saying DC teams ain't garbage, mind you. They are. But they could be worse.
Brian
Best
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Posted: 3/3/2006 11:26:17 AM
article I've read of your's Jesse. Nail on the head accurate.
Working on any Tribe pieces lately?
Mack
Glad I don't live in Cleveland
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Posted: 3/3/2006 11:39:14 AM
“I’ve been proving my haters wrong my entire career.” Or something close to this…one of the dumbest athlete quotes of all time. And a recent nugget from LeBron. It proves that this kid may be one of the ones that just doesn’t quite get it. He’s faced minimal (zero) criticism for most of his career. He’s been lauded constantly. He made $100 million before stepping on the court for the first time.
Up until the booing incident, where were these doubters? The SF at Washington Prep who thought he could cover James? The guy has been handed the keys to the kingdom, and the media will do whatever it takes to ensure they are right. The guy is gifted. A fabulous player. But sometimes, it’s better to learn from mistakes or setbacks. It’s fine to boo the guy. Fans are expected to pay enormous sums to attend a game. This gives them the right to disagree with the propaganda from time to time, if warranted.
Tom A
Superstars
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Posted: 3/3/2006 12:33:08 PM
The media tells us which players are too be glorified, and there is simply no way to offer even the slightest bit of criticism, no matter how legitimate (exhibit A - Brett Favre).
LeBron deserved to be booed - you just can't go 0 fer 4 from The Stripe in the last couple minutes of a close game; he knows it, and I don't think he has a problem with it (being gently booed as a result).
I like to think that I am not so fickle, and I do not boo players who perform at a high level and give a good, solid (or better) effort game after game. But some fans are more what-have-you-done-for-me-lately, and they ain't gonna get any part of that $25-150 back for their ticket (plus incidentals). So they can and the media and players shouldn't have a problem with it.
If LeBron James is going to leave a team because he was booed only in rare and extreme circumstances (and deservedly), then he's so shallow and self-centered and clueless that you REALLY don't want him around (even though you might think you do and even though the media is going to tell you that you do). I don't for one minute think that this "incident" will factor two-beans' worth into his decision to stay or go (at most, it would be a lame-ass excuse/rationalization to run for more money, ala Vince Carter and the ridiculous, "I am doing this for my family" BS that gets farted at us way too often). LeBron is bigger than that; this is media hype and media creating its own reality as it wants.
The reference to KG is interesting. Like LeBron, he is not clutch. It's a little different in Garnett's case, because his problem is not a lack of killer instinct, it's a lack of a particular skill. KG is not offensively creative. The T-Wolves refuse to recogonize this, and they always give him the ball for the last, crucial shot. And he fails, becuase he is not a one-on-one player (he's like Shawn Marion - good at most everything, but not great at any one thing, and someone who gets his points in the offensive flow, as opposed to creating shots for himself or others). Like LeBron, he is a GREAT player, and KG gives maximum effort every game. Like LeBron and Cleveland, we are lucky and glad to have KG in MN. So I don't boo KG, even though he is going to miss that 22 footer as the buzzer sounds, after fake jab-stepping a half-dozen times and not creating any space from the defender(s), most every time. I try to look at the entirety of his work, as opposed to the singular (yet frustratingly repetive) moment, and remind myself that Garnett is a phenomenal player and very fun to watch (like LeBron).
But what escapes the media is that this does not mean that he is flawless and that it is blashphemy to point out his limitations, or that to do so would provide a basis (semi-legitimate or otherwise) to bolt town for more money/exposure.
Same thing with LeBron, really.
Anyway, waaaay too much from me (as usual), but your article raises a lot of good points and thoughts (also as usual), Jesse.
FUCKING RELAX
CLEVELAND'S A JOKE
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Posted: 3/3/2006 1:10:15 PM
I AM NOT FROM CLEVELAND...OR OHIO. HOWEVER A AM A HUGE SPORTS FAN, AND AN EVEN BIGGER LEBRON FAN. HE IS 21 YEARS OLD! CUT HIM SOME FUCKING SLACK. YOU SAY A CLUTCH PLAYER WOULD "NOT PASS TO SASHA PAVLOVIC...." I SUPPOSE THAT PASS TO AN OPEN FLIP MURRAY RATHER THAN A FORCED SHOT OVER 2 OR 3 PLAYERS WAS THE WRONG PLAY TO MAKE. HOW'D THAT TURN OUT? HOW ABOUT MENTIONING THE FACT THAT HIS "HELP" LARRY HUGHES HAS BEEN HURT THE ENTIRE SEASON. EVEN JORDAN HAD "HELP." LEBRON'S NEW "HELP" IS RONALD MURRAY, WHO WAS RIDING THE PINE IN SEATTLE FOR MOST OF THE SEASON. WHAT LEBRON DOES ON THE COURT IS OUTSTANDING, ESPECIALLY WITH THE CRAP-ASS PLAYERS HE HAS TO PLAY WITH. LOOK AT KOBE, SAME SITUATION, EXCEPT WITH BETTER "HELP" I.E. LAMAR ODOM. HOWEVER THE LAKERS HAVE A WORSE RECORD. JESSE, HOW BOUT SOME PATIENCE? LEBRON IS TAKING THAT SHITTY LITTLE TEAM FROM YOUR SHITTY LITTLE CITY TO THE PLAYOFFS. GIVE THE GUY A BREAK.
Mack
Fucking Relax missed the point...and the CAPS LOCK key
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Posted: 3/3/2006 1:44:05 PM
I'm not a Bryant apologist. I hate the guy, but I'd argue that Ilguaskas is more of an impact player than Lamar Odom is (ever has been). I'd take Gooden over Cook, too.
It's guys like Mr. Relax that enables athletes to think they are infallible. We all agree James is an incredible player. Some of us, however, realize he isn't perfect...regardless of his age. We may not be the ones booing, but we at least don't consider it a travesty when it happens. I think with the $millions James makes, and the near-unanimous adulation he receives, he should be able to cope with it just fine.
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The rest of the game is a seesaw. The Cavaliers seize the lead in the second quarter, on the strength of a 30-13 run fueled by LeBron’s nine points, three dimes, and three boards during the stretch. Washington goes back on top after halftime, eventually building their lead to eight before the Cavaliers cut it back down to four entering the final period. Midway through the fourth Donyell Marshall’s three-pointer gives the lead back to Cleveland, 87-84. It’s 89-86 Cavaliers coming down toward the five-minute mark when the meltdown begins. Caron Butler picks LeBron’s pocket and feeds Jamison for a jumper that cuts the lead to one. Eric “I Shouldn’t Be in the League” Snow gets his pocket picked by Antonio Daniels, who takes it to the hole himself, giving the Wizards a 90-89 lead with 4:37 left.
Montana? To be honest, I’m not sure if he was ever booed or not. I do know that he was removed from a playoff game, a 1987 Divisional loss to Minnesota, for ineffectiveness. That game was at Candlestick, so he may have been booed; again, I’m not sure. But again, Montana’s situation differs from that of LeBron. As a third-round draft pick, Joe wasn’t really anointed anything coming into San Francisco, and in fact, didn’t replace Steve DeBerg as the 49ers starting quarterback until late in his second season. Also, Montana won a World Championship in his third season, which pretty much sealed his clutch-player rep for all time.
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