LeBron-M.J. comparisons lose steam when it comes to losing
Hate Mail: Nailed me to a tea
Best thing about LeBron James? He's so damn good at basketball that he must be compared to Michael Jordan.
Worst thing about LeBron James? Same thing. He must be compared to Michael Jordan.
The comparison won't always find James lacking. He doesn't score quite like Jordan did, but he rebounds and passes better. Runs faster. Jumps higher.
Today, though, the comparison hurts James. Because today, in the wake of the Cavaliers' 104-86 loss in Game 2 to Boston, the following must be said:
Michael Jordan never would have let that happen to his team.
It wasn't just a loss. It wasn't just a loss at home. And it wasn't just a loss at home to an aging team whose glory days are behind it. It was all of those things, and then some. It was a pathetic, listless showing on the court -- a blowout loss that cost the Cavaliers their home-court advantage -- and then it was a pathetic, listless showing in the locker room afterward.
Jordan wouldn't have allowed it. I don't mean the loss. Losses happen, and Jordan played in more than 175 career playoff games. He didn't win all of them. Didn't win all of them at home. Didn't even win all of them at home against underdogs. The worst loss of Jordan's playoff career was a home blowout loss to Cleveland, of all teams, in Game 2 of the 1992 Eastern Conference finals. The Bulls lost that day by 26 points -- but they lost over Michael Jordan's dead body, so to speak.
Jordan had the flu, hadn't been able to practice, walked into the locker room looking like death on a 6-foot-6 stick, then did what he could against Cleveland. He played 35 minutes, took 22 shots, attacked as much as his body would allow -- he grabbed eight offensive rebounds, 11 total -- but he just didn't have it. He scored only 20 points, and none of his teammates had his back. After the game Jordan was so disgusted that he left a written statement for the media. He didn't want to talk to anybody. When the locker room doors opened, Jordan was gone.
Cleveland had won that game in 1992, but Cleveland was in trouble. Sure enough, two days later when the series shifted to Cleveland, Jordan got even. He scored 17 points in the first quarter, smack-talking poor Craig Ehlo every step of the way, and finished with 36 points, nine assists and six rebounds. The Bulls won 105-96, reclaiming their home-court advantage. They won that series in six games, then won the NBA Finals against Portland in six games.
Jordan lost, but Jordan got pissed. And you see the result.
The other night, LeBron lost. And LeBron got ... passive. No telling what the result will be Friday night in Game 3, but Cavs coach Mike Brown seems worried. As well he should be. Brown, no mere flunky for King James, erupted in his postgame press conference. Some tape of it is here. Brown was livid, and then LeBron walked onto the same podium and was logical.
"When you look at it, at the end of the day, it's a series tied 1-1," James said. "Two really good teams, and we're looking forward to Game 3."
 |
That's it? That's all? No embarrassment after this loss? No humiliation?
"I wouldn't go that far," he said. "Those are pretty harsh words. No one said it was going to be easy. The postseason isn't easy. That's why I'm up here talking the way I'm talking. I know how the playoffs are."
That's a lot of been-there, done-that attitude from a player who hasn't done anything yet. And you know what I'm talking about. Look, I'm just about as big a LeBron fan as there is. It's common, now that he has won two straight MVP trophies, to call him the best player in the world. It wasn't common three years ago, but I was saying it back then, a full year before he won his first MVP. I believe the money quote in the story is right here: "LeBron James is the best player in basketball." Those were my words in 2007, and they're my words today. He's the best player in basketball -- but to be recognized as one of the greatest of all-time, he must win an NBA championship. Much as I hate them, those are the rules. Win a title, or you're marginalized. You're Dan Marino-ed.
This season, for the first time since he entered the league seven years ago, LeBron has the team to win a title. The Lakers should win it, but Cleveland finally has a chance. Shaquille O'Neal is a shadow of his former self but he has enough left to make things difficult for the bigger frontcourts of the Magic and Lakers. Antawn Jamison isn't an ideal Robin -- he's better suited to be a championship team's No. 3 player -- but he's a scarier second-fiddle than Mo Williams will ever be. And LeBron is so good as Batman that Jamison will do as Robin.
Point being, this is the year for LeBron James to get a ring in Cleveland. This is his best chance and maybe even his last chance, should he act on his pending free-agent flirtation with bigger markets.
But another night or two like Game 2, and it won't happen. Not when the Cavaliers were lackadaisical and worse, caught on camera cutting up and giggling even as the Celtics were leading by 15, then 20, then 25. Even James was indifferent for three quarters, channeling his inner Kobe Bryant, letting the game come to him in a way that clearly wasn't working. By the time James remembered he was the best player in the world and asserted himself in the fourth quarter, it was too late. Game over.
And when it was over, James wasn't furious. He was philosophical. He wasn't down on himself and he wasn't down on his teammates, not even Mo Williams, who had four points in 35 minutes and then walked around the locker room with a smile on his face, wondering pleasantly how come so many members of the media wanted to talk to him. Williams was free to act so absurdly blasé after such an ugly loss because nobody in the room, least of all LeBron James, was going to tell him otherwise. This is why teammates love him, of course. James doesn't carry himself with the cruelty of Jordan, who expected so much of his teammates that he belittled them when they let him down. After a loss, Jordan wasn't a whole lot of fun to be around.
That's one reason Jordan suffered so few losses. He never tolerated it.
James sure seemed tolerant after Game 2. Let's see how that carries over to Game 3.
