The Wrong in LeBron

I want to start off by saying that this NBA season is going to the best since Jordan left the Bulls (the second time). It has all the necessary pieces; superstars, rivalries, young and upcoming talent, big name players in big time markets. Last season was a perfect set up to this year with Boston living up to their pre-season hype and Kobe, the leagues most popular international player, lead his team to the finals. Now with one of the best draft classes being inserted to the league, the sky’s the limit for the 08-09 NBA season. However, I do have one fight to pick. Two nights ago I was watching the Bulls play the Cavs and the game was going good, a little sloppy, but good. Then I see Lebron James come down on someone’s foot at the end of the first quarter and limp halfway down the court and then come out of the game for about 10 minutes. He comes back in the game and is fine. If this were a first time occurrence I would let it slide but Lebron has continuously shown signs of vaginitis before. I remember countless times where he overreacts to a minute injury and sends Cleveland fans into a frenzy. Watching Lebron is like watching a punter after he gets hit by a guy trying to block a punt. (side note: the next time Troy Aikman says, “give that guy an Emmy for that acting job” when a punter fakes like he got hit I’m going to turn off my TV). Anyways, the thing about Lebron is that he has all the talent in the world, but if he has any reason not to play in a game or go out for 10 minutes in a game he will take it. Remember when Jordan had the flu and could barely run and still dropped 30 something points against the Jazz in the finals? Yea everyone does. Jordan, Bird, and Magic would play through anything… well almost anything in Magic’s case. I would bet my life that Lebron will never have his Willis Reed moment. But, Lebron isn’t the only one to fault. What about Paul Pierce getting carried off the floor and coming back in that game 7 minutes later? I can’t even get mad about that, that’s just embarrassing for Paul’s sake. No matter who it is this generation of players need to brake the stereotype of being a “whossy” generation if it wants to gain the respect of more demographics and it needs to start with superstars. Whether you love him or hate him, one player that comes to mind is Kobe Bryant. You might ask didn’t he have a broken finger or a sprained wrist last year? You probably don’t remember because he didn’t make a big deal about it, he knew his team had a legitimate shot at winning a title and he played through the pain and ended up winning an MVP along the way. Even if players like Lebron and Pierce don’t toughen up, the NBA is still on the rise with some of the best talent the league has seen in years. I just hope that these guys figure it out and have their Willis Reed moment so they can shut up their critics like me.