With the Heat on the verge of an NBA Championship, LeBron haters have had to take a step back from what has become a modern-day NBA past time… hating LeBron James.
So far in this series, LeBron has proven that he is among the league’s best especially considering the amount of hype the LeBron vs. Durant matchup was getting leading into Game 1.
Instead of becoming almost non-existent and giving up like we’ve seen before in his Cleveland days, LeBron has upped his game contributing baskets, presence down low and the ability to take the pressure packed free-throws late in games.
But what about LeBron’s overall greatness?
When measuring an individual players greatness you certainly have to take whether or not they’ve won a championship into account. For instance would Karl Malone be seen in a different light if he’d won a championship? Or what about Charles Barkley? Each player was certainly very good throughout their career but can they truly be labeled as great? And of course there’s always exceptions to the rule when talking about a guy like Dan Marino.
At this point in time though LeBron still falls short of being considered great and one instance in this finals has proven that. In the waning minutes of Game 4, LeBron came up limping with what was described as cramping in his legs. As a result, LeBron was sitting on the bench while Mario Chalmers was on the floor finishing things out in his stead. As a result, LeBron James was ripped by athletes, especially out of the NHL via Twitter…
“Lebron James is embarrassing himself and the NBA or actually all athletes,” said Ryan Potulny, a forward with the Washington Capitals.
Dallas Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski tweeted: “What a gutsy performance by lebron #not.”
Scott Valentine of the Milwaukee Admirals (a feeder team for the Nashville Predators) was particularly scathing.
“Oh my god guys, Lebron has a cramp, everyone get on their feet, standing O for somehow staying in the game,” he wrote, before adding: “If Lebron somehow manages to pull off winning a ring after fighting through a thigh cramp.. it will be a story I tell my children’s children.”
Taylor Hall of the Edmonton Oilers, who required 30 stitches after being cut by a teammate’s skate earlier this year, said: “Wondering what these bball players would do if they got a skate in the face haha.”
In this case you really have to ask yourself, would Jordan be sitting on the bench in the final minutes of a close Finals game? Would Kobe be sitting on the bench? LeBron wanted his Jordan/Flu moment of being helped off the court and people simply weren’t buying it. A leg cramp isn’t something that should keep a player of his magnitude off the floor in a pivotal Game 4, period.
This is why LeBron had to surround himself with not just good talent but elite talent in Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Ref: Twitter, Big Pond Sport
