Gerald Wallace: LBJ 'Doesn't Have The Attitude Or Fight Of Michael Jordan Or Kobe Bryant'

http://greenstreet.weei.com/sports/boston/basketball/celtics/2014/07/10/gerald-wallace-lebron-james-doesnt-have-the-attitude-or-the-fight-of-michael-jordan-kobe-bryant/



GERALD WALLACE: LEBRON JAMES ‘DOESN’T HAVE THE ATTITUDE OR THE FIGHT’ OF MICHAEL JORDAN, KOBE BRYANT
07.10.14 at 10:46 am ET
By Ben Rohrbach



As we learned this past Celtics season, Gerald Wallace never pulls punches. This time, he’s giving his own teammates a break from constantly calling out their effort and making the game’s best player his speed bag.

In a conversation with myfoxal.com during his annual basketball camp at Childersburg (Ala.) High, Wallace criticized LeBron James for both his handling of free agency off the court and his lack of a killer instinct on it.

“I don’t really pay attention to the offseason acquisitions or what’s going on just because of [the drama],” he said. “I think they put more attention into it than what’s needed. Their decision is no different than some of the other guys going through the same thing. It’s just their names happen to be LeBron, Carmelo [Anthony], Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, some of the superstars that are mostly seen on TV. I think that’s what makes a big deal out of it.”

Wallace’s love for Michael Jordan is no secret. A longtime Jordan Brand representative, Wallace idolized the Bulls legend and played five of his seven seasons in Charlotte under Jordan’s ownership, including one as an All-Star.

“I grew up in the ’90s,” added Wallace, whose camp T-shirt featured the Jumpman logo. “I grew up in the Jordan era. I’m a Jordan baby, and to me he will always be the greatest player that I’ve ever seen play. I had an opportunity to play against him at the end of his career, which wasn’t the same, but I’ve even played against him in practice and had an opportunity to talk to him. Watching him on TV growing up, he’s the greatest player I’ve ever seen.”

No argument there. However, Wallace’s commendation of Jordan also included a condemnation of James.

“Jordan never had an off night,” Wallace told myfoxal.com. “He found many ways to contribute to the team, and I’d say Kobe [Bryant] is pretty much the same. You can put LeBron in that category. I think what separates LeBron from Kobe and Michael Jordan right now is that he doesn’t have the attitude or the fight that those guys had. For me, he’s not willing to take over a game, demand a game or put the game all on his shoulders. I would like to see him get to that one day, but right now I don’t think he has that, and that’s what Michael Jordan and even Kobe has.”


Whether James wears a Heat or Cavaliers uniform, Wallace could ultimately find himself tasked with defending the four-time NBA MVP a few times this season, and those words may come back to haunt him. The 31-year-old almost certainly will be wearing Celtics green again this winter, even if he wished he weren’t a year ago.

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was for me,” Wallace said of Boston. “Being where I’m at in my career, I think once I got there I was kind of against starting over and rebuilding a team, but being there, being a veteran, being able to help some of the young guys mature and develop themselves in the league and just given the experience that I was able to give to those guys turned out to be pretty much a good year for me. So, I was excited about it. I think I had a great time this year. I’m looking forward to going back and improving. We had [Rajon] Rondo for midway of the season, so I’m looking forward to being with him for a full season. So, it’ll be interesting this upcoming year.”

You can say that again.



bob
MY NOTE:  Well, we know who's going to get posterized a bunch of times this season.  LOL.



.

I think that Lebron has done a great deal to brush off the earlier condemnations of his game. I still think that he is a bit egocentric and relies more heavily on physical ability than pure skill.

We've seen him take over games, but we've also seen him shy away from it, too.


KJ

BobH,
Thanks for the article.
" GERALD WALLACE: LEBRON JAMES ‘DOESN’T HAVE THE ATTITUDE OR THE FIGHT’ OF MICHAEL JORDAN, KOBE BRYANT " - no shit, Sherlock
Sorry, but it's the first thing I said after reading the title.

AK

It's been illuminating to see LeBron respond to the loss to the Spurs by doubling down on his individual greatness as a player as the way forward, as if the answer to beating the Spurs' team game is him to expend more effort and and dominate even more.

His post-finals comments where he said everyone should be satisfied with Miami winning two of the four finals (or something to that effect) show me that Gerald Wallace is right. I thought when LeBron shed his inability to get past Boston with an otherworldly performance in game 6, in Boston, in the 2012 Eastern Conference finals, when he got past his reputation for disappearing in the fourth quarter in big games, when he showed the ability to dominate for stretches but be part of a team, I thought he had learned the lesson of what it takes to be a champion on the highest level. But based on what I've seen in this year's finals and the attitude coming from him and his camp in the postseason, I think he's taken a big step back.

It's not the fact that he lost the finals; it's the way he reacted during those beatdowns and the way he's reacted after them. Some of this stuff is coming from those around him rather than directly from him, but it seems to be indicative of what's going on inside the collective head of him and his camp.

Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant were absolutely distraught when they lost and weren't willing to settle for anything less than doing what it took to earn another title. I'm not getting that same message from LeBron.

Of any of the great players mentioned in this thread, has any relied upon his athleticism the way Lebron does? I don't think so, and I'm wondering if these past finals have him wondering just how far his athleticism will carry him in the future. I believe that, aside from the athleticism (and that's a huge ASIDE), he's perhaps an above-average player. The physical attrition of playing that kind of game has to take a toll at some point. (I've not been shy about letting it be known I'm concerned about the same factor in the case of Avery Bradley—not that I'm, in any way, comparing Bradley with James in any way.)

Sam