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Yesterday it was announced that the NBA fined Lebron James $25,000 for his post-game snub of the media after losing to the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals. This comes after almost a whole week of controversy and speculation about his actions.
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Lebron has been the poster boy of the NBA for some time now and it has gotten obvious and irritating to other teams and fans of other teams. Those stupid puppet commercials with Lebron and Kobe irritated Dwight Howard and the Magic enough that Dwight actually mentioned it as something that he used to get himself motivated. Even with Lebron out of the playoffs, the commercials continue. The NBA did not get its marquee match up of Kobe versus Lebron because a little thing called fair competition got in the way of that.
Here on ESPN's "1st and 10" Skip Bayless really rips into Lebron.
So when Lebron got ousted he made a mistake: he turned his back on the media that would have undoubtedly kissed up to him, even in defeat. After all, Lebron could do no wrong, in their eyes. That’s why his snub of the media and forgoing of the post-game handshakes with the opposition was so surprising to everyone.
But not everyone has a problem with Lebron’s actions. He was obviously upset and shouldn’t he be allowed to be frustrated? Not when you are the face of the league. And not when it seems you are being disrespectful to the other team. The post-game media snub is understandable, but to not show some respect for your opponents and shake their hands or at least face them after the game is inexcusable. Now I know that basketball is the only professional sport where congratulating your opponents after they beat you in the playoffs is expected but it still is commonplace enough that it raises a red flag when someone does not do it. The last time I know of that a team and star player just stormed off the court after a playoff loss was when Isaiah Thomas and the Pistons did it after they first lost to Jordan. Any Knicks fan can tell you about Mr. Thomas’s character defects today.
Speaking of Jordan, Lebron has the poster boy spotlight that Jordan did, but you know Jordan would have never done anything like this. That is why it is hard to accept Lebron’s excuse that he did not want to congratulate the team that just beat him because he’s "a winner". Jordan was more of a winner than Lebron is and probably ever will be but when he was getting bounced out of the playoffs in the 80s he did not disrespect the opposition and the game by running off the court after losing.
David Stern was hesitant to fine Lebron because he loves Lebron; he’s one of his biggest draws. But when members of the backstabbed media pointed out that lesser players had been fined for skipping post-game media, Stern gave in and fined him $25,000 after he made sure all the alleged quotes and actions really happened. $25,000 is chump change for Lebron, but it sends a message. The snub of the media is largely irrelevant; I feel the fine is really for the tarnishing of his image that was mostly done by not respecting his opponents. The media thing really does not matter, even if it is technically what they say he is being fined for.
Lebron is obviously a great player whose game is still improving. He made a mistake and it is a reasonable one. However, he shouldn’t get preferential treatment and although he dragged his feet, Stern did the right thing in fining Lebron. This won’t permanently tarnish his image; it hasn’t even tarnished it at all in some people’s eyes. All I know is I hope Lebron gets really upset by this so he leaves Cleveland and comes to my Nets…imagine a Lebron James and Vince Carter one-two punch!
