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Frontpage of the ESPN website.
Really, ESPN? Lebron James is such a basketball messiah that you would give Dwayne Wade the same distinction of Boobie Gibson? Granted, Wade has been no hero against the Pacers, but are you really going to call him one of Lebron’s “overmatched teammates”? Let us not forget that it was Wade who put the Heat on his back in 2006 and ripped the championship ring from Dirk Nowitzki’s finger. How did Lebron fair against that same opponent six years later?
Focusing back on last night’s old fashioned ass-whuppin’ handed down by the Pacers, it cannot be stressed enough that the Heat’s true messiah last night was Mario Chalmers (25 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 0 turnovers) and, in fact, it was Lebron who was an “overmatched teammate”. Although he finished with 22 points, Lebron was dreadful in the second half, scoring just 6 points on 3-9 shooting.
More to the point, however, Lebron James once again exhibited his timid, “I don’t want the ball” nature, which he has inexplicably adopted since losing to the Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals. Not once in the second half did James attempt a shot in the paint, instead settling for six jumpers from more than 17 feet away from the hoop, of which he made one. By the end of the third quarter, the Pacer’s had stretched their lead to 14 points, holding the Heat to just 12 points in the quarter. What did Lebron do to open the fourth quarter? If you said, “Take charge and light up the Pacers”, you clearly haven’t been watching NBA basketball in the last five years. It wasn’t until the 8 minute mark that Lebron attempted his first shot of the quarter.
That’s right, a 6’9” behemoth of a man could not exact his will upon a far-less talented group of players. Does this sound familiar? Even if you got a D in “NBA history 101”, one name should immediately come to mind: Wilt Chamberlain.
To this day there has never been an athlete that was so physically beyond his competition, able to do anything he desired on the court effortlessly (e.g., 100 points in a game, leading the league in assists, routinely grabbing 30+ rebounds a night). Yet, like Lebron James, Wilt did not have the mental psychology to handle pressure situations. Come playoff time, Chamberlain would routinely back down from the competition, and be dominated by lesser physical specimens (e.g., an aging, worn-down, player-coach Bill Russell in 1968).
Lebron James is so often compared to Michael Jordan, but his statistics, physical capabilities and, to his detriment, psychology align him more with Wilt Chamberlain. Unfortunately for the Heat, I’m not the only one who has made this connection. During last night’s game Danny Granger grabbed Lebron’s jersey on a fast break, halting the play with the obvious foul. Out of frustration Lebron thew an unpenalized, and obvious cheap shot, elbow in the direction of Granger. Granger promptly ran up to James, who shrank away slightly from the conflict, and began having words inches from the messiah’s face. Referees quickly pulled Granger away, but his goal had been accomplished. Much like in Game 2, or any one of those other pressure-filled situations he has participated in since 2007, James went to the free throw line and missed.
This messiah is no savior.
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