Posted on 06/19/2015 7:09:36 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
I have a question for LeBron James that I really hope he'll field someday.
A question that can be asked a variety of ways:
What kind of coach do you want?
Who out there is a coach for whom you'd actually like to play?
Who could the Cleveland Cavaliers hire that would earn your backing?
I don't have the answers to any of those queries.
I know this much, though: James is too brilliant as a basketball player, too truly great, to behave the way he did toward David Blatt during the NBA Finals.
We literally saw "Peak LeBron" and the corresponding "LeBron Nadir" over those six gripping games with the Golden State Warriors. He had staffers from the 67-win Warriors almost quaking at night in fear of havoc he was wreaking, such was his genius in controlling tempo and carrying a skeleton of a roster to a 2-1 lead that actually made you think the Cavs could win it all with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and his beloved Anderson Varejao all sidelined.
And we likewise saw LeBron emasculate Blatt in ways that are simply unbecoming of a player of James' legend-in-the-making stature.
I saw it from close range in my role as reporter through the Finals for ESPN Radio. James essentially called timeouts and made substitutions. He openly barked at Blatt after decisions he didn't like. He huddled frequently with Lue, often looking at anyone other than Blatt.
There was James, in one instance I witnessed from right behind the bench, shaking his head vociferously in protest after one play Blatt drew up in the third quarter of Game 5, amounting to the loudest nonverbal scolding you could imagine -- which forced Blatt, in front of his whole team, to wipe the board clean and draw up something else.
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...
I see ESPN still has not gotten over LeBron using Sports Illustrated to announce his Cleveland return instead of them.
...just axe him.
RE: There is no basketball coach worthy of coaching the greatest player in the history of the universe.
Then I would suggest the greatest player in the history of the universe coach himself ( Bill Russel was a player/coach ). I’d like to see how far Cleveland goes with that.
Just ask Tiger.............
“Keep your words sweet; you may have to eat them”.
Smallest playbook ever:
* Pass LeBron the Ball.
RE: * Pass LeBron the Ball.
That didn’t work for his last two teams.
Something worked. LeBron won two titles with the Heat.
LeBron actually is one of the best passers in the game, now compare with Kobe, who never met a shot he didn’t like.
Now you understand what made Phil Jackson so great, he had a unique ability to manage the egos of superstars and still keep the team together, it’s a skill few coaches have.
Phil Jackson might have hit the nadir of his basketball career with his present team — the New York Knicks ( ironically, the team he started with and the team that won him his first NBA title as a player ).
The Clippers and Lakers would probably be interested.
Just sayin'.....
Great post
Game 6 of the finals. It’s been pretty widely accepted that Blatt does very little coaching. Except try to call timeouts he doesn’t have, and send in a last second play that has LeBron inbound not shoot which then got overruled by the players.
Not really. Golden State focused their defense on him and he still put up those numbers. It’s like Michael Jordan putting up 63 against the 1986 Celtics. He had a bad team around him and basically beat the entire Celtics team.
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