The national sporting press appears to be losing its affection for LeBron. Earlier this week, ESPN’s Bill Simmons wondered if the Cavs star is about to become the next Britney Spears — the celeb who flares early, then burns out just as swiftly. To hear Simmons tell it, LeBron is regressing, losing his drive, but has much too big of an ego to acknowledge it.
Of course, you won’t hear any of this in Cleveland’s sporting media, which didn’t even report on Butch Davis’ massive troubles until after the coach he was fired, and has always served as the Official King James Fan Club. But it appears more national reporters are jumping on Simmons’ thesis.
Today, in a column about the winners and losers at the NBA trade deadline, Yahoo! basketball writer Adrian Wojnarowski had this to say about Danny Ferry, who fell decidedly into the lose category:
Danny Ferry. The Cavaliers’ general manager tried desperately to give LeBron James a point guard, but his bids for Bibby and Kidd were futile. Ferry tried everything in the final 48 hours to get Bibby, but nothing worked. Around the league, he searched for a trade partner to get the Sacramento Kings the young players, picks and expiring contracts they wanted.
Suddenly, James is under fire this year for looking a little lethargic and a little less motivated, and his ego is too massive to ever agree with that truth. Count on this: When the Cavs flame out in the playoffs, James won’t be looking at himself but rather a front office that didn’t get him the help he needed.
This article appears in Feb 21-27, 2007.
The problem is Ferry, not Lebron. Ferry has been weak since he got in. The need for a point guard didn’t just come up, it’s been here for the last couple of years. Weak links like Jones, Snow, and even super slow and clumsy Z are hurting the Cavs. And let me not put a huge chunk of the blame where it belongs, that’s right Mike Brown. His substitutions are late, weak, and useless by the time he wakes up. Cleveland loves Lebron and they should. Most articles like this comes from those jealous of his fat pockets and of course, haters.
The problem is lackluster play from the whole team: blowing big leads, and getting buried too early with inadequate time to respond.
No more excuses; we’ve got LBJ, Hughes, Z and strong bench play at times.
Mike Brown needs to think!