One Comment Mailbag

While waiting for my laundry to get done so I'll have clothes to wear to the rec today, I might as well answer Maggs' question about LeBron not shaking hands. Here is is:

Maggie said...

I know this is a late question, but what are your thoughts on Lebron not shaking hands or doing post-game interviews after game 6? Bill Simmons thinks is awesome or something. Kevin Collier thinks its kind of wussy. I think its pretty understandable but probably not the best choice.

It's funny that just now he got fined and LeBron apologized, but let's address what happened before that happened.

Is not shaking hands or leaving your team to address the media what you want to teach your kids to do? Nah. But what you also don't want to do is let your children learn literally anything about sportsmanship or playing basketball from watching the NBA, so whatever. Point being, even if this may not be the "right" thing to do, I am nothing but encouraged by it.

Here is the situation: LeBron is better, has worked harder, has PLAYED better, and wants to win so much more than anyone on the team that just beat him (especially Dwight Howard who, as we saw and will continue to see against the Lakers, is not skilled or tough), he honestly might have punched Rafer Alston in the face if he was forced to shake hands. Also, he asked for roster changes at the podium last year out of frustration which is extremely out of character for him and something he might want to avoid this time (another year where his team just wasn't good enough).

But it really comes down to this: LeBron does not respect the Magic. And why should he? As we saw them look completely unbeatable in the Eastern Conference Finals shooting ungodly numbers from three, we will see the exact opposite in the Finals. Dwight Howard is a huge young man who has absolutely no finesse, skill, leadership, post-moves...nothing. He was bigger and faster than our big men and he got every call and they beat us. LeBron worked all summer to lead team USA to a Gold Medal, then worked all season to squeeze 66 wins out of a team whose talent was only middle of the pack, then averaged almost 40 points a game, over 8 assists and rebounds on over 50% shooting of a series, and lost to a team that got hot and the refs decided to respect for a series. Are you shaking hands in that situation? Hell no! I'll shake hands if somebody was better than me, but nobody bested LeBron in that series, and he lost.

Maybe it wasn't the right thing to do, but who cares? How about an NBA player being hurt after losing? Don't we want these guys to want to win so bad that there is real bitterness and pain after a loss like that? If they don't, I don't even know what I'm watching. We criticize guys for not giving their all, but when somebody does and it hurts them so bad to lose that they can't speak to the media afterwards, we fine them.

And for Kevin Collier: First, he would probably do that if he was pissed. This is a guy who threw a beer cup at someones face who was heckling his karaoke. And second, wussy is shooting threes instead of playing the game. Wussy is complaining to the refs that a guy half your weight is fouling you because he's touching you with an open hand when you're standing still. Wussy is riding a hot streak to beat a great team and then completely choking against a better team.

And by the way, Dwight Howard said in an interview that he was offended by LeBron James not shaking hands after the game. What's worse, not shaking hands or being offended by someone not shaking hands? I know my answer.