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To me, the thing I didn't understand about LeBron was how he looked on the court. I try not to get into the whole "body-language" thing because I think it's pretty close to psychobabble, but I was expecting LeBron in both game 5 and game 6 to come out looking like Westbrook did in game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. It was obvious in that game that Russ did not want to lose. In a couple of years he might be good enough that he can actually impose that iron will of his on a game, it just wasn't enough that night. LeBron, though, is that good now but didn't look at all similar in these games. He wasn't hustling to every missed shot, wasn't immediately moving after dishing to a teammate, wasn't trying to out-rebound Tyson Chandler (which, by all accounts, should be easier for LeBron than Westbrook). Unsurprisingly, Wade was doing all those things and a lot of the other Heat were, too, but LeBron, I don't know, was just playing like it was a normal game, I guess. It's difficult to explain, but even if he was playing well statistically, something about his demeanor just fails to jibe with the situation.

@ Ben

Your points are fair on his passiveness and odd pass selection. Much might be due to the pressure, coaching and being on a new team. It does seem like he should have been more agressive, but Im not ready to critique that as much as some other have. Seems like people are reveling in this oppurtunity to slam taht which they HATE.

Stephenson should have been slammed for his stupid comments. Hes a professional, he should not get a free pass. His behavior was unprofessional and he should have been called out on it. instead, teh media was like, "Man, Lebron, how are going to respond to this criticism? Is it fair?" Which are fair points, but coming from a player and teh media allowing it, was a failure on the media's. It was bunk.

I disagree with your point on the origins of cockiness. Have you ever met a college football player? Even the back up qb? They are often intolerable. LeBron is one of teh greatest players in teh world. he has done thing no one in the past 20 years has done: 51 pts 11 rebounds, 9 assists. His arrogance is justified. If we went by the specious ring argument, Adam Morrison is God.

We should make a list of players who have the most rings who contributed little or none at all to their teams championship.

Here's David Thorpe's take on the Heat/Lebron. He says what I want to say only much better:

http://espn.go.com/blog/TrueHoop/post/_/id/30224/s...

done*

Thats because Kd would never do that to his town. 1 year of college would have down wonders for Lebron.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=dw-wetzel_cl...

@ Daniel Plainview
you can look at his pass first mentality two ways. one, unselfishness.. kind of. but on the flipside, the fact that the ball is in his hands as much as it is shows somewhat of a selfishness in that he doesn't do any of the OTHER things to help his team when the ball isn't in his hands(a la nick collison).

I think of it like this. Nobody likes playing with that guy that's ALWAYS trying to put himself in position to receive the ball and never helps anybody else out. The guy that never makes the sensical rotation or cut but instead stands out at the three point line waiting for the point guard to pass him the bal

Not to mention his completely pre-madona to life in general.

Just playing devil's advocate a little bit.

Daniel Plainview :I have to admit, theyre being awfully compassionate towards Dirk running off teh floor immediately after the buzzer went off (I didnt see it, going by Steins article,) I feel like if LeBron did that the knee jerk reaction, and follow up, would emphasize how it was disrespectful or unprofessional angle. We could argue all day about how emotional it is on everyone, but shouldnt Dirk, and adult man of 32 years, able to keep himself on teh floor? he had a shitty night shooting teh ball, by the way

Doesnt matter he was there when it counted the most

@ Daniel Plainview

I'm not really questioning the true factors behind the Dallas victory, just the way Lebron came off this entire series.

Stevenson was cocky and brash and very stupid; he could well have lit a spark in Lebron, and at the time of speaking I thought he was going to wake a sleeping giant. The reason why the media didn't harp on it is because 1) He's only a role player, not a superstar. If any other superstar had said something like that, they'd have come under a lot more scrutiny. And 2) Lebron proved him COMPLETELY right. If Lebron had demolished him the next game, there would be plenty of column space about Stevenson eating crow.

There comes a point where you have to separate selflessness frlom passiveness. Selflessness makes sense when you're drawing opposing players to you and hitting open teammates for easy buckets, etc. But Lebron was making weird passes, forcing the issue, playing passive all night. A lack of aggression was patently obviously in game 5 AND 6, and that's very telling, even apart from his supposed selflessness. Stats alone might suggest he had a good shooting game, but watching him it was clear that he wasn't exactly playing all out.

Arrogance and cockiness can be somewhat understood if someone is a champion (see: Kobe Bryant), but when you haven't won anything and still celebrate like Lebron and co. did, it's not surprising that they received the criticism they did.

I did not know know Pleiss was 21 and wasnt ready for the NBA. I was under the impression that he was this euro stash guy with all the teenage potential. Seems kind of old to be this raw.

according to his agent, Lucas Nogueira will be withdrawing from the draft unless given a last second first round promise from a team.

@ Ben

The bench won this game (44-20), and the series.

I disagree entirely with you assertion that he should go out and drop 40 just to prove a point, or the fact that he didnt is some kind of judgment against his ability. Stephenson should have been ripped apart by the media for his foolish, unprofessional behavior. Had Wade or LeBron acted like that tow world would have responded only with shouts of hatred. Last night LJ's shooting percentages were excellent and hes a pass first player. The latter point should be emphasized in juxtaposition to all the claims about his ego-mania. Kobe is a chucker and volume shooting alone will win his team some tight games. James selflessness is waaaaay underplayed in the media. Again, this later point, if people were more reason based than emotion based in their analysis of James, should temper peoples cried against LeBrons ego. KD's an anomaly and I think in a couple of years hes stardom is going to affect his behavior and treatemnt of other people. Trust me, 95% of teh players in teh league are just as arrongant and above teh average person as LeBron is. I say this with zero attachement or LJ's game or him as a person.

The interesting question will be to see how Lebron responds to the torrent of criticism that's going to come his way from all quarters.

Hate aside, his Finals performance was seriously pathetic for a two-time MVP and 'best' player in the league. He might be one of the most talented players in the league (although how much of that is dependent on his athleticism is arguable), but there's always been a question mark over his mental fortitude, and this Finals just proved all the haters right.

Especially with the way that Stevenson was ripping Lebron before the crucial games; you'd figure that Jordan or even Kobe would have heard that, and gone out the next day to drop 40 just to prove a point. Instead Lebron took a backseat completely. Hard to understand that from any superstar.

@ Bryson

CP3 is no doubt a much smarter, efficent PG than Russel is, however, we have not seen Russells ceiling yet. He may never be the player CP is, however, I feel he will come close. Also, we have not come close to seeing Hardens celing. In 2-3 years, by themselves, the will not be far behind CP in over all value. That trade would be foolish. In 2-3 years, and even up trade for either Harden or RW for Cp might be more rational, both? Flatly stupid

@ Daniel Plainview

And I say this hating the heat, indifferent entire to tehir team.

I have to admit, theyre being awfully compassionate towards Dirk running off teh floor immediately after the buzzer went off (I didnt see it, going by Steins article,) I feel like if LeBron did that the knee jerk reaction, and follow up, would emphasize how it was disrespectful or unprofessional angle. We could argue all day about how emotional it is on everyone, but shouldnt Dirk, and adult man of 32 years, able to keep himself on teh floor? he had a shitty night shooting teh ball, by the way

I kind of wonder what the coverage would've looked like if LeBron wasn't in these Finals. The incredible run Dallas put together is constantly at odds with the LeBron narrative in media coverage. For example, constantly referring to this as 'the closest Finals series ever' while continuously eviscerating James for not playing up to standards. It's pretty impressive that this Mav's team didn't need 7 games in any of their playoff series and, somehow, I don't think enough has been said about JJ Barea. I can't remember the number of times he drove into the lane and I thought "Not a chance he makes this" only for it to bounce softly off the glass and in. That man is magic.

First and 10 alone has 3 segments dedicated to Lebron. The first half of their show was dedicated to him

@ James Church

Ive never rooted for James, despite loving his game. I did not care for how he pranced about a stage last July in Miami like he was one of the Beatles. I was not a fan the Decision (which makes me common), but I do not hate him. Never have. Somehow, I avoided the mob impulse to hop on the Hate wagon. The Decision, if you look at how many people watched it, was as much as a demand by the people as it was his own doing. If KD, who is far and away my favorite player who has ever played the game, attempted his own Decision, I doubt 200,000 people would have watched. No player in the league, save Kobe, could have brought that many people to the screen. I remember getting out of work and racing to the bar to watch James decision, this, despite not rooting for him at all. People cared. It was BIG NEWS. The media is much responsible for the Monster James is often perceived as being.

If he hasnt done it already, and if James keeps getting negative press, I guarantee you Durant is going to twitter or facebook, "You all need to get of LeBrons back..." something along these lines. I concur, umm, in anticipation of his sentiments.

@ SergeIblocka

Be very weary of anything Wilbon says, whether it is by a Mandate from the Chicago Mayor (OR the Prsident Obama himself, fellow Chicagoan) or just his servile relationship with Rose, he does anything he can to bring down otehr stars in effort to elevate Rose's status. Yes he did speak of Durant, but I admit, it is almost illegal to critique KDs, not so much because his game is beyond critique, but because of his regal character. Wilbon is wrong that other players arent tring to improve their game. LJ may suffer from never feeling the need to improve his game, but perhaps this is the biggest reminder that he's still got room to evolve. However, it wasnt LJ that lost thos gae, it was teh bench: 44-20.

In Wilbon I distrust

LeBron just doesn't do the work, it's not like he doesn't know his weaknesses. Dude knows the game and the X's and O's of it. Just hasn't gotten up to fix it in a dramatic way yet. He's still brilliant. Just has to learn to perform at the very end on the Finals stage. Funny how quickly everyone has turned on him after he was so good through the Eastern Conference.

I feel like rather than taking a shot at people after the game, he was saying they need to get over him and get on with their lives rather than get caught up in his losing. Which is fair.

Lebron's game has improved but for him to have no real post game 8 years in is a crime.

The Mavs were able to switch Marion onto Wade for stretches b/c they knew Lebron wouldn't punish Kidd(or Stevenson) on the block like he should.

I think if Kenny and Charles had that same conversation this summer, Chuck might have a different response. He's turned on Lebron(and Wade). Kenny said that last summer after the Lakers-Thunder series.

Welbon was being truthful though. As much as i don't care about Rose the guy hasdone well to improve himself. KD's defense as improved so much as well. I don't remember one game unless it was Carmelo or Lebron guys who always get theirs that destroyed KD. Rudy Gay one time, and Grant Hill but other than that i haven't seen someone completely dominate KD on the other end. Actually i think KD outperformed both Lebron and Melo the last time he played against either. But to say Lebron hasn't improved his game is a stretch. There was a point where u couldn't have him shoot outside of 15 feet. A point where the dude would pass the ball to the refs by accident. The thing is though as much as people would think im crazy, Lebron can't be the number one guy. This just goes to show you can have as much star power as you want but that doesn't always win you championships. Dirk is the only top 25 player on his team but yet he just took them to an NBA Championship.

People still think Lebron is better then KD cause of stats and the way he plays. They ignore that Lebron has been in the league i believe 4 more years then KD has. Lebrons role on his teams are much different from KD. KD doesn't need to get 28-10-6 every night for us to win. I think thats where management comes into play. I also think it has to show though, KD is going to be the best player in the league soon. I know he had a few bad moments here in the playoffs but so has Lebron, Dirk, Wade, Kobe, Melo, Pierce, Garnette, Howard, Johnson, and so on.

Kenny said it best, "In 3 years Kevin Durant will be the best player in the league." Barkley responded with i belive "He would have to kill Lebron" Will i don't know because Lebron is at his peak right now and KD is a step behind him and still has alot i mean ALOT of room to improve.

Its been i think two years since Kenny said that,

Those who think clutch is overrated? Dirk defines it

Did anyone else catch Mark Jackson at the end of the game basically suggesting that the Heat team should be blown up? I'll be surprised if he makes it through a whole season with Golden State.

Rose is riding KD's coat tails. Seems like every compliment thrown KD's way the last part of the season and the playoffs, has to be shared with Rose, as though Rose is on KD's level.

Wilbon (I know most see him as a joke) slammed Lebron hard today by saying he doesn't see that type of introspection in Lebron's game and most the NBA culture today, i.e., players who take it on themselves to analyze their game, strategically work on their weaknesses, and systematically get better each year. The only two player he said does that today are D-Rose and Kevin Durant. The demise of Lebron may just do wonders for Kevin Durant

That was a pretty fun way to end the season. I think probably 90% of America had united behind Dallas (especially after that low rent fake cough bit Wade and James pulled) so it was cool to see them actually go do it.

Now, as for next season, Go OKC!
[and no labor stoppage please]

We never gave up like the Heat appeared to do at the end

The Thunder still were this close to going up in the series 3-2. So frustrating, but we'll be back

Not bad to see other teams getting best the way we lost. I think kidd retires ...... And they pay for felton.

The hampion win us again.

Get beat by only the best. Great performance by the Mavs.

2nd year in a row we've been eliminated in the playoffs by the champs.

@ Thunderstruck
my bad. missed that part of the article. so glad miami didn't win. now, if we can just win the next 9 titles, lebron will never get a chance to win one and i can rest happily assured that my future children won't grow up idolizing a diva.

dallas wins, no miami title

That would almost rival the idiocy of the Pau Gasol trade.

Oooo neverm ind...I remember we already denied those rumors, sorry guys.

"Heard that chris broussard said that in the off-seasn okc will be seeking a wesbrook harden deal for cp3. dont know how true it is but it stemmed from the westbrook blow up from brooks and they figure cp3 cn get durant the ball in the spots he wants. This post was submitted by lancebrou68."

It was on the Hornets 24/7 blog.

Ok, look at this bullshit I found....

@ Jimbo Slice
The link says a scout from OKC was there.

Interesting that no Thunder staff were present at Eurocamp day one. Sounds like Lucas Nogueira put up a stinker though according to the dx review:

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/2011-adidas-Eu...

worst interviewee in awhile. All this guy did was ramble and talk about counterfactuals

I realized Lebron James is most overrated. Use to think he should be compared to MJ and Kobe. But no he cant handle pressure, he lacks killer instincts, should have been developed a post game. KD has a better postgame and he lacks the physical strength. Look what he did to Wade. Circus now.