great article by Pluto

[The George]

Source | Akron-Beacon Journal

Posted on Tue, Feb. 07, 2006


Terry Pluto | James opts to dunk critic's slam

By Terry Pluto

Do you remember who won the NBA slam-dunk contest a year ago?

The answer is Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks.

How about two years ago?

Good old Fred Jones from the Indiana Pacers.

So, does it matter that LeBron James is skipping and jumping right past the 2006 contest later this month at the All-Star Game in Houston?

I'm glad that he's telling them to stuff it.

The NBA should dunk the dunk contest because it's a joke. It celebrates the worst, most selfish part of the game.

That's why it's astonishing that veteran sportswriter Tom Friend of ESPN The Magazine ripped James for not taking part this year.

``He can't have a Nike mini-series, then opt for the skills competition. He's only 21.

He needs to pay his dues like the rest of 'em. It's his duty to dunk,'' Friend wrote. ``He can't be afraid to risk it all. MJ risked it all against Dominique; Doctor J risked it all against David Thompson.''

Does anyone remember who won any of those dunk contests?

I believe that Julius Erving beat Thompson in the first dunkfest in the old American Basketball Association, but so what?

I don't know if Dominique Wilkins outdunked Michael Jordan, and I don't care. There was nothing to risk for Jordan. He was the better player, period. Dunking contests had nothing to do with it.

Yes, Jordan did win two dunking contests. But so did Harold Miner.

What does that prove?

Friend mocked James for saying, ``I'm not a dunk competition kind of guy.''

I've known James since he was 15. He's not a dunk competition kind of guy, thank goodness.
He's closer at heart to Larry Bird and Magic Johnson than a player who defines himself by his slams.

It's fun to watch James dunk, but not nearly as enjoyable as some of his passes, his determined drives, his sheer will to win.

James is not the perfect player.

James also is only 21. Some fans and critics don't want to hear that.

They want to compare him with Jordan in his late 20s, instead of realizing that Jordan was sitting in a classroom and averaging 20 points at North Carolina at the same age James is today.

Want to know what is a far greater concern than James not dunking for show? It's that he's already doing too much.

He entered Monday's game against the Milwaukee Bucks averaging nearly 42 minutes a game.

Only Philadelphia 76ers star Allen Iverson is seeing more time on the court.

But Iverson recently missed four games with a sprained ankle.

In the middle of his third season, James has missed only four games as a pro -- none this season.

James is averaging 31 points, 6.8 rebounds, 6.4 assists and shooting 49 percent. He goes to the foul line about 10 times per game. Yes, he's physically strong at 6-foot-8, 242 pounds. But he still takes a physical beating as he's the focal point of every defense that the Cavaliers face.

He plays every night. He plays hurt. He usually plays and acts with maturity far beyond his 21 years.

He realizes that the dunk contest is an utter waste of time and that energy is a sign of growth, not cowardice as the ESPN story implied. You can be sure the NBA, Nike and all of James' other corporate connections want him to dunk.

You also should know that coaches are relieved when their players pass on the dunk contests, because it does wear out a player's legs.
Suppose James entered the dunk contest and lost? Would that change your opinion of him?
Didn't think so.

James also was criticized by the ESPN story for being ``all about his image... being the squeaky clean antithesis of Carmelo (Anthony). Visiting elementary schools. Why mess with that?''

What's the problem?

Aren't there enough jerks in sports? The fact that James wants to do things for the community is a self-serving sin? Are we so cynical that even when a guy does something right, it's considered wrong because he might receive some good public relations from it?

James has been in the public eye since his sophomore year at St. Vincent-St. Mary. As a junior, he became a national figure on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He's one of the few hyped high school rookies truly worthy of the attention he received in his early years with the Cavaliers.

It's like some critics have to attack him on sideshows like the dunk contest, because there are no major issues with James. This falls into the recent discussion about how James hasn't won a game with a last-second shot.

For the record, he has had four tries in three years, not exactly a big sample.

Sure, he's careful what he says. Yes, he wants to be politically and corporately correct.

That's also part of his personality, as he has been respectful to coaches and authority figures going back to high school.

James is not a saint. He's not the greatest player to step on the court. His defense is sporadic. He can become frustrated and force some bad shots. He should have taken the last-second shot a few weeks ago on the West Coast instead of passing off to Sasha Pavlovic.

But let's look at the big picture with James, and it sure looks bright.



this is the perfect response to that bull $hit article written by Friend at espn

 

[gizman]

Awesome article. I was thinking about writing a response to Tom Friend because his article made me so mad. Now I may just send him this one.

 

[ootbttnlagitnbasf]

nike likes it that Lebron is in the allstar game but that is about it. we'd be better off if he took the three days and rested. lots of nba players don't want to spend their free time doing allstar game stuff. Lebron would probably not even show up in houston if it was not required by the nba contract with the players. the very fact that such a stipulation had to be inserted into the contract during the most recent negotiations shows just how lowly the players look at all of this. if the players thought that Lebron should be in the slam dunk then you know that the pressure would be there to make him do it. the players don't care. why should we?

people should stop comparing Lebron to michael jordan. jordan didn't win a title until he was a grown adult and he had scotty pipen and john paxton on his side. Lebron will have his first title long before jordan did. this is a fact.

and lebron played in the olympics when he was only 19. jordan had to have a dream team of nba stars to play in the olympics in 1992 when he was an established nba star. Lebron goes there when he is a young kid and gets shafted when larry brown (another north carolina guy like jordan) refuses to look a gift horse in the mouth and doesn't play Lebron enough. like brown knows how to win those international games. look at how much better the piston team has been since he left. and also look how much worse off the knicks have been since he arrived. he clearly cannot coach young players like fry and robinson and james. and with those kind of coaches in the allstar game, Lebron is better of watching from the sidelines instead of being kept on the bench like in the olympics.

 

[hughes1988]

lebron james owns everytihng thing in the NBA baby, hes the king daddy of it all, hes bigger then shaq, its all about lebron james in the NBA... if lebron wants to duck he will, he does not he wont and know one can tell him what to do, he also joined the skills thing which he will win hands down, nash will come colse but not close enough...