I have to say — and I realize I’m distinctly in the minority here – the Portland-Cleveland game Thursday night reinforced in my mind why I’m not a huge LeBron James fan. I wouldn’t give my MVP vote to him, either.

James had his triple double and for most people, that’s enough analysis of his game. But the guy was 10 for 22 from the field and 6 for 11 from the line. He ran from ANY shot outside of about 10 feet. He was a minus-1 for the game, too. In other words, the Cavs were outscored by a point while he was on the floor.

I’m a grumpy old guy — yeah, we know that by now. I can’t stand the way he goofs around on the court during introductions and handles all his other pregame schtick, from the posing teammates while holding the invisible camera to the dancing around while shooting layups. But that’s not really important. What really bothered me was I thought last night he didn’t take the game or the Blazers seriously until the fourth quarter, when admittedly, he really turned it on. His two jump hooks in the lane at the end of overtime were incredible.

He’s a great player and a stat monster – nobody would argue that. But I am partial to shooters, guys who can cut your heart out with a tough jumper from distance with the game on the line. With LeBron, you beg him to shoot threes. You leave him wide open. You encourage the 20-foot jumper, too. I just don’t think he’s spent the time in the gym that Kobe Bryant has, honing his game.

I think he’s a little too busy being LeBron James. The guy seems more like a corporation than a basketball player sometimes. I think he sees himself as an entertainer first and a player second, which in today’s world is probably just fine. But it doesn’t feel right to me. 

Sure, he doesn’t have to settle for long jumpers – he can get to the rim just about any time he wants. OK, that’s fine. But does he work as hard on his game as some of the other greats do? Or is he just relying on freakish skills he was born with?

 Oh, that probably doesn’t matter. I guess he’s just not my type of player.

Tweet This Post