Another reason to really dislike James

Read bleacher reports,  James snub of Bill Russell and his response

The saddest part in all of this is he is essentially a microcosm of the new generation of basketball, both fans and athletes alike, and many don't know anything about the legends who paved the way for the stars of today.

But James, considering the fact that he is attempting to carve out his own place in basketball history, should know better. Just because he never watched Russell play doesn't mean he should just omit that part of basketball history. It's quite disturbing, really.




KJ

James said the league should retire #23, in honor of MJ, and then he goes to Miami and wears #6.

I think that sums his myopia up pretty well.


bob


.

So, what are you saying He wants to be like Bill not Mike?

He is an ego driven man who really does not want to believe their were others before HIM who paved the way. I was beginning to mellow in my opinion of him. Now I am positive that he cares only about himself and his stats, and I will to return to my former opinion
Of him. I cannot stand him!

Not nice, I know but I refrained from using the word HATE, which was used quite a bit during the last Miami game

Rosalie

Rosalie,

I can fully agree with that.

I don't really like him, never have, but I've been trying to take the more amicable approach towards him these days. Then this came out. So any progress he was making, he erased it in one swoop.

Durant on the other hand seems a lot more humble yet just as competitive. He's really high on my list of players I respect.




KJ

I really think the attention Durant is getting is driving James crazy. He is even jealous of Melo. He wants it all in his court, period.

Kevin Durant is a much more likable person. A face of the NBA. ESPN can crown James king all they want, I tried, he's gone, I will root for anyone against him now. He just doesn't get it.

bobheckler wrote:James said the league should retire #23, in honor of MJ, and then he goes to Miami and wears #6.

I think that sums his myopia up pretty well.


bob


.

Bob,

Have you ever researched why LeBron choose to no longer wear #6?
See below.

LeBron James has announced he'll give up his uniform number after the season, as a way of honoring Michael Jordan. His Airness, of course, wore #23 for most of his career... except for a brief stint as #45 when he returned from his stint as a minor-league baseball player.
"I just think what Michael Jordan has done for the game has to be recognized some way soon," James told reporters. "There would be no LeBron James, no Kobe Bryant, no Dwyane Wade if there wasn't Michael Jordan first."

http://basketball.about.com/od/nbaplayers/a/lebron-james-jordan-23.htm

LeBron does recognize what others have done before him.
Other than how he mangled "The Decision", I think LeBron has done a great job as a face of the NBA.
He is part of the new hip hop mentality of the NBA, and some people don't like that.
LeBron deflects attention to his teammates, he has a great time on and off the court and his has never been in a controversy about his dedication to his girlfriend/wife and children.

I can see why people don't like Kobe. He's not very easy to like, even if you are on his team.
Kobe is cold, focused to a fault and plays selfishly at times.
LeBron is none of those.

And there would be not Jordan without those before him.

Bron is a ego driven jerk in my book nothing more

research..........big deal.

6 should have been retired by the league long ago.

beat

tjmakz wrote:

bobheckler wrote:James said the league should retire #23, in honor of MJ, and then he goes to Miami and wears #6.

I think that sums his myopia up pretty well.


bob


.

Bob,

Have you ever researched why LeBron choose to no longer wear #6?
See below.

LeBron James has announced he'll give up his uniform number after the season, as a way of honoring Michael Jordan. His Airness, of course, wore #23 for most of his career... except for a brief stint as #45 when he returned from his stint as a minor-league baseball player.
"I just think what Michael Jordan has done for the game has to be recognized some way soon," James told reporters. "There would be no LeBron James, no Kobe Bryant, no Dwyane Wade if there wasn't Michael Jordan first."

http://basketball.about.com/od/nbaplayers/a/lebron-james-jordan-23.htm

LeBron does recognize what others have done before him.
Other than how he mangled "The Decision", I think LeBron has done a great job as a face of the NBA.
He is part of the new hip hop mentality of the NBA, and some people don't like that.
LeBron deflects attention to his teammates, he has a great time on and off the court and his has never been in a controversy about his dedication to his girlfriend/wife and children.

I can see why people don't like Kobe. He's not very easy to like, even if you are on his team.
Kobe is cold, focused to a fault and plays selfishly at times.
LeBron is none of those.

So MJ should be "honored" and Russell should not?



KJ

k_j_88 wrote:

tjmakz wrote:

bobheckler wrote:James said the league should retire #23, in honor of MJ, and then he goes to Miami and wears #6.

I think that sums his myopia up pretty well.


bob


.

Bob,

Have you ever researched why LeBron choose to no longer wear #6?
See below.

LeBron James has announced he'll give up his uniform number after the season, as a way of honoring Michael Jordan. His Airness, of course, wore #23 for most of his career... except for a brief stint as #45 when he returned from his stint as a minor-league baseball player.
"I just think what Michael Jordan has done for the game has to be recognized some way soon," James told reporters. "There would be no LeBron James, no Kobe Bryant, no Dwyane Wade if there wasn't Michael Jordan first."

http://basketball.about.com/od/nbaplayers/a/lebron-james-jordan-23.htm

LeBron does recognize what others have done before him.
Other than how he mangled "The Decision", I think LeBron has done a great job as a face of the NBA.
He is part of the new hip hop mentality of the NBA, and some people don't like that.
LeBron deflects attention to his teammates, he has a great time on and off the court and his has never been in a controversy about his dedication to his girlfriend/wife and children.

I can see why people don't like Kobe. He's not very easy to like, even if you are on his team.
Kobe is cold, focused to a fault and plays selfishly at times.
LeBron is none of those.

So MJ should be "honored" and Russell should not?



KJ

Who is saying Russell shouldn't be honored?
MJ was LeBron's favorite player growing up.
How is he slighting Russell?
LeBron wasn't going to wear or not wear #6 because of Russell.
It was his Olympic number.

I don't think LeBron needs to honor Russell, Cousy, Mikan, Kareem, Magic, Bird, etc every time he opens his mouth.

He had one favorite player, Jordan.
He wanted to honor him by no longer wearing his number.
If he wore 6, 14, 32, or 33, that's not a slight against a player that played years before him.

tjmakz wrote:I don't think LeBron needs to honor Russell, Cousy, Mikan, Kareem, Magic, Bird, etc every time he opens his mouth.

He had one favorite player, Jordan.
He wanted to honor him by no longer wearing his number.
If he wore 6, 14, 32, or 33, that's not a slight against a player that played years before him.

What BobH was saying is right. I can understand retiring 23, but they should retire 6 out of respect for Russell. That's the whole point.




KJ

k_j_88 wrote:

tjmakz wrote:I don't think LeBron needs to honor Russell, Cousy, Mikan, Kareem, Magic, Bird, etc every time he opens his mouth.

He had one favorite player, Jordan.
He wanted to honor him by no longer wearing his number.
If he wore 6, 14, 32, or 33, that's not a slight against a player that played years before him.

What BobH was saying is right. I can understand retiring 23, but they should retire 6 out of respect for Russell. That's the whole point.




KJ

You are missing the whole point.
23 is not retired.
LeBron chose to no longer wear it.
No number is retired by the NBA.

Russell has been honored by having the NBA Finals MVP Award named after him.

tjmakz wrote:

k_j_88 wrote:

tjmakz wrote:I don't think LeBron needs to honor Russell, Cousy, Mikan, Kareem, Magic, Bird, etc every time he opens his mouth.

He had one favorite player, Jordan.
He wanted to honor him by no longer wearing his number.
If he wore 6, 14, 32, or 33, that's not a slight against a player that played years before him.

What BobH was saying is right. I can understand retiring 23, but they should retire 6 out of respect for Russell. That's the whole point.




KJ

You are missing the whole point.
23 is not retired.
LeBron chose to no longer wear it.
No number is retired by the NBA.

Russell has been honored by having the NBA Finals MVP Award named after him.

I'm well aware that 23 is not officially "retired." But I do know that players don't really wear it, either. 6 should receive the same respect and treatment. That's the whole point. Regardless of what anyone thinks of LeBron comes secondary to that. "No one should wear 23" okay, fair enough to me, but you put on 6? Come on.

I think you're the one that's missing it, actually. No one should be wearing it, period.



KJ

If LeBron said he would stop wearing 23, because Jordan was his favorite player - that would have been admirable.  But that is NOT what he said.

He said he would stop wearing the number 23 - because Jordan changed the game....which he may or may not have done.  But to try and pass yourself off as some kind of student of the game and THEN select #6 as your new number - shows a level of stupidity that only someone as self absorbed as Lebron could come up with.

I dont think he intentionally set out to slight Bill Russell - he is just an ignoramus who didnt even bother to take notice



Bill himself set LeBron in his place on Saturday - when he told him " ‘Hey, thank you for leaving me off your Mount Rushmore. I’m glad you did. Basketball is a team game. It’s not for individual honors. I won back-to-back state championships in high school, back-to-back NCAA championships in college, I won an NBA championship my first year in the league, an NBA championship my last year, and nine in between. And that, Mr. James, is etched in stone.’”

k_j_88 wrote:

tjmakz wrote:

k_j_88 wrote:

tjmakz wrote:I don't think LeBron needs to honor Russell, Cousy, Mikan, Kareem, Magic, Bird, etc every time he opens his mouth.

He had one favorite player, Jordan.
He wanted to honor him by no longer wearing his number.
If he wore 6, 14, 32, or 33, that's not a slight against a player that played years before him.

What BobH was saying is right. I can understand retiring 23, but they should retire 6 out of respect for Russell. That's the whole point.




KJ

You are missing the whole point.
23 is not retired.
LeBron chose to no longer wear it.
No number is retired by the NBA.

Russell has been honored by having the NBA Finals MVP Award named after him.

I'm well aware that 23 is not officially "retired." But I do know that players don't really wear it, either. 6 should receive the same respect and treatment. That's the whole point. Regardless of what anyone thinks of LeBron comes secondary to that. "No one should wear 23" okay, fair enough to me, but you put on 6? Come on.

I think you're the one that's missing it, actually. No one should be wearing it, period.



KJ

So, do you think just Jordan and Russell's numbers should be retired?
What about Kareem and Wilt? Bird and Magic?
This is LeBron's personal opinion because Jordan was his favorite player and probably because he thinks Jordan was the greatest player ever to play the game. Many, many people feel that way.

Last season 6 players wore 23 and 13 players wore 6.
They range from Lebron, Kevin Martin, DeAndre Jordan and Josh Smith, all the way down to players that sit on the bench and are barely in the league.
As an FYI, there are way more players wearing #6 now. In the 93-94 season, 4 people wore it, last year 13 wore #6.

mrkleen09 wrote:If LeBron said he would stop wearing 23, because Jordan was his favorite player - that would have been admirable.  But that is NOT what he said.

He said he would stop wearing the number 23 - because Jordan changed the game....which he may or may not have done.  But to try and pass yourself off as some kind of student of the game and THEN select #6 as your new number - shows a level of stupidity that only someone as self absorbed as Lebron could come up with.

I dont think he intentionally set out to slight Bill Russell - he is just an ignoramus who didnt even bother to take notice

LeBron didn't say Jordan should be recognized for how he changed the game.
He said it is because of what he did for the game.
I am sure he knows that Russell has received his own special recognition from the league via naming the Finals MVP Award after him.

I can speak only for myself. But I generally try just to ignore him as an unimportant species. Being ignored is the worse thing that could ever happen to someone like him.

Sam

tjmakz wrote:He said it is because of what he did for the game.

since you know Lebron so well....tell us what Jordan did for the game?

mrkleen09 wrote:

tjmakz wrote:He said it is because of what he did for the game.

since you know Lebron so well....tell us what Jordan did for the game?

No, I don't know LeBron at all. Things are easy to find out by doing a little research.
The far majority of basketball fans view Michael Jordan as the greatest player in NBA history.
LeBron wanted to honor Jordan by not wearing his number anymore.

tjmakz wrote:

mrkleen09 wrote:

tjmakz wrote:He said it is because of what he did for the game.

since you know Lebron so well....tell us what Jordan did for the game?

No, I don't know LeBron at all. Things are easy to find out by doing a little research.
The far majority of basketball fans view Michael Jordan as the greatest player in NBA history.
LeBron wanted to honor Jordan by not wearing his number anymore.

So what exactly did Jordan DO for the game?

As for the "far majority" of basketball fans...I think you mean fans with short memories and no interest in doing any research or learning their history.

What did MJ do? Well, I think he motivated a lot of young kids to  want to play basketball, and I think his star power brought in more viewers, which inevitably spread to make the NBA more globalized. But I wouldn't say he made the game itself better, if that makes sense. It also brought on this culture of favoritism for some players over others because of perceived talent.

Anyway TJ, the problem here is Lebron's case of cognitive dissonance. He wants to honor Jordan's greatness by not wearing his number yet he switches to the number of a player that was even greater and did more for basketball in instilling what it means to possess a winning tradition and setting the benchmark for how success in the game is judged.




KJ

tj is always right, don't you know that?

Fans with short memories? To many fans Michael Jordan is ancient history.

In 10 years Lebron James will be ancient history.

k_j_88 wrote:What did MJ do? Well, I think he motivated a lot of young kids to  want to play basketball, and I think his star power brought in more viewers, which inevitably spread to make the NBA more globalized. But I wouldn't say he made the game itself better, if that makes sense. It also brought on this culture of favoritism for some players over others because of perceived talent.

Anyway TJ, the problem here is Lebron's case of cognitive dissonance. He wants to honor Jordan's greatness by not wearing his number yet he switches to the number of a player that was even greater and did more for basketball in instilling what it means to possess a winning tradition and setting the benchmark for how success in the game is judged.




KJ

This is LeBron's choice.
Why should some Celtics fans dictate what number he should or should not wear?
Why can't we let people be who they want to be and stop judging?
It is your opinion that Russell was greater than Jordan. That is not a recognized opinion from most non-Celtics basketball fans.