Lebron Loses His Cool

This is another reason he has a lot of growing up to do. You never saw/see Magic, MJ or Kobe have temper-tantrums like this when they don't get a call go their way...

My Beef with King James

I haven't had a chance this past week to react to an incident that occured recently, but now that I have a few minutes, and I've actually had a chance to gather my thoughts on it, I figured now's as good a time as any to give you my opinion on it.

Everyone knows LeBron James is a great player. And, everyone knows he loves to have fun, especially on the court. But last Friday night against the Bulls, I think he went a little overboard.

Throughout the game that night, LeBron was seen dancing excessively on the sidelines and during the game, even while he was on the court. He was seen during one timeout making "funny" faces at the camera that just so happened to be right in his face. And as he put it later, he was just having fun.

Well, Bulls center Joakim Noah took exception to it. And frankly, so did I. Late in the game, while James was about to shoot a couple of free throws in front of the Bulls bench, Noah, sitting on the bench, started calling him out on it. After James made one of the free throws, he casually walked towards the Bulls bench to confront Noah, but before it got out of hand, it was broken up.

Still, even after the game, there was a lot of talk about it.

Now, we all know Noah had a knack for a doing a little excessive taunting back when he was at the University of Florida. And some might suggest he was being a bit hypocritical to call out James. But I think Noah was dead-on for calling him out in this case.

This is the NBA. It's a professional league where the players get paid. This is a different animal from the NCAA.

Some say that NBA players, no, check that, all professional athletes, are entertainers. While this might be true, the last thing that gives you the right to do is showboat, rub it in your opponents faces. It's one reason why I'm not a big NFL fan. Because the lack of maturity and respect from some players to their opponents disgusts me. (The end zone showboating after a score has gone far too overboard for my taste, and so has the showboating after making a great defensive play when they're trailing by three touchdowns late in a game.)

Back to LeBron James. As I said before, he's nothing short of a great player, a great athlete, a great talent. But one thing he does lack, in my opinion, is maturity. And I think it was that immaturity that led to the excessive dancing on the court.

By comparison, you never, ever saw Magic Johnson, Larry Bird or Michael Jordan dance around like that while on the court in the middle of a game. You never saw them disrespect their opponents. Heck, you don't even see Kobe do it, or even Dwayne Wade.

Why? Because they respected/respect the game and their opponents. And most importantly, they took/take the game seriously. They were/are passionate about it. Sure, they tried/try to have fun, but they did/do it without chastising their opponents.

They did/do it respectfully and with dignity.

Mission: Quest for 15 - COMPLETE!

Your Los Angeles Lakers are NBA Champions for the 15th time in franchise history after an impressive Game 5 victory over the Orlando Magic last night by a final score of 99-86. Kobe Bryant was named Finals MVP after securing his legacy with one of the great Finals performances we've seen since Michael Jordan. Kobe averaged 32 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists in the five games against Orlando, just the second player ever to accomplish that in an NBA Finals series.

For Kobe and Derek Fisher, this is their fourth title together as teammates, who joined the league at the same time in 1996. Kobe was part of the Vlade Divac trade on draft day in 1996 that sent Divac to the Charlotte Hornets for the rights to Kobe, who was drafted by the Hornets for the Lakers as part of the deal. Fisher was the Lakers first round draft pick later that night. The two struggled through three playoff seasons from 1997 to 1999, and finally won their first of three straight in 2000, against Indiana in six games, when Phil Jackson took over as head coach at the beginning of that season in 1999. The Lakers beat Philadelphia in five games in 2001, and swept New Jersey in 2002.

Jackson, with the win, becomes the winningest coach in NBA Finals history with his 10th title as a head coach, surpassing the late, great Red Auerbach, who won nine titles with Boston in the 50s and 60s. Jackson won six with the Bulls from 1991 to 1998, including three-peats twice, from 1991-1993, and 1996-1998, before coming to the Lakers in 1999. He has now won 10 of the last 19 NBA titles as a head coach, and is 10-2 overall in the NBA Finals, the two losses coming in 2004 against Detroit, and last season against Boston.

As for the game last night, the Lakers thoroughly frustrated Orlando after the Magic started off quickly and ran off to a nine point lead early. The Lakers battled back, weathered the storm, and then ran off a 16-0 run that would essentially seal the deal as the Magic never really challenged them again.

Not to be forgotten, are the performances of Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Trevor Ariza throughout the game, and the series. And of course, not mentioned yet and surely not forgotten, here in this space, were the two big three-pointers by Fisher in Game 4, the first sending the game into overtime, and the second helping ice the game in overtime that led to the all important 99-91 win.

In that game, the Lakers trailed at the half, after looking lost for 24 minutes. The Lakers battled through adversity, and early foul trouble, and came out of the locker room at halftime a much more aggressive team, led by Ariza's 13 third quarter points, and it carried over into Game 5. As aggressive as the Lakers were in the second half and overtime in Game 4, they did not shoot a single free throw after the third quarter. But it didn't matter.

The Magic made costly turnovers and missed numerous key free throws late Game 4, much like the Lakers did in Game 3, that enabled the Lakers to rally from five points down, and gave Fisher the opportunity to hit that game-tying three pointer with just under five seconds left in regulation.

In the decisive Game 5 win last night, the Lakers dominated many of the key components of the game, including the boards, offensively and defensively, and kept the Magic off balance much of the game, forcing them into key turnovers that led to key Laker points. As a result, the Magic played frustrated all night, and it was never more evident than in the play of Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu.

Congratulations to the Lakers on a remarkable season that saw them win 65 regular season games, third most in frachise history. Congratulations to the 15-time NBA Champion, Los Angeles Lakers!