LeBron James' dance performance against the Bulls last night was flat out embarrassing. The Cleveland Cavaliers are known to be a very loose team and have clearly exemplified that with their pre game skits. But this was just unacceptable. Throughout the Cavs' game deciding run in the second half James could be found on the sideline dancing. Not from his seat, he actually got up and started dancing for all to see.
Bulls' center Joakim Noah took exception to James' clown-like activities and let him know from the bench as James was at the free throw line. After the first free throw was taken James made his way to the Bulls' bench where Noah stood up as words fired back and forth.
"It's nothing against the Bulls and it's nothing against Joakim or none of those guys, it's nothing about showboating on a team. I've seen it happen all last year. I think he was more frustrated about the way he played as an individual. He didn't help his team win."
This is James' slick way of saying, "Noah sucked and should have kept his mouth shut".
This shows James' immaturity, especially considering Noah's comments: "When you're losing the way you're losing and guys are rubbing it in your face, dancing and all that, I have a lot of respect for LeBron. It's just a frustrating situation."
Noah could have and probably should have called James a moron for his antics but he refrained, he admitted that he was acting out of frustration and in his own way apologized. James seemingly refuses to acknowledge how out of line his actions were which shows that he's the most egotistical person on the planet, he even beats out Kanye West.
The NBA front office is always talking about the league's public image. Whenever a fight breaks out during a game heavy fines and suspensions are delivered as a penalty for setting a bad example.
This was just as bad as a fight if not worse.
Basketball is an emotional game, while fighting is certainly not condoned it is understandable. Dancing though, definitely isn't. Luckily for James, commissioner David Stern is in love with him and won't punish him. He is very lucky that I'm not the commissioner because if I was James would receive a 1,000,000 dollar fine as well as a 20 game suspension. Think about how many people idolize James, then think about how many of those people are kids under age 15. When he does this it sets a worse example than any fight could.
James is getting away with this because he's a superstar, but look at the other major superstars in the past few decades. Jordan, Bird, or Magic wouldn't be caught dead doing something as idiotic as this.
If James thinks he's a big enough star to justify his actions he's out of his mind. He's nowhere near the top tier of NBA greats nor do I think he ever will be. He's not even the best player in the league, maybe not even one of the best two. Kobe Bryant is definitely better and one could make a strong case for Dwyane Wade as well. When you really think about it, what has James done in his career to justify calling him King James? He has an MVP award, one scoring title, and a rookie of the year award. That's it. Is that enough to call someone an incredibly arrogant nickname? Absolutely not. Without a championship ring Prince James is more appropriate.
Until James wins at least three championships it is ridiculous to even mention him in the same breath as Bird, Magic, and Jordan. Whether or not James will win a championship is a mystery, but if he keeps up his absurd behavior Red Auerbach is going to haunt his dreams, that much is for sure.
