LeBron James...NBA MVP & Poor Sport!!!

[Sandmannd]

I agree with you three on that. Did you ever see Jordan pout and not recognize his opponants? He lost plenty of playoffs before they started winning.

[Sandmannd]

How about Magic or Bird? The list could keep going.

[Gary Crichton]

What a complete lack of respect he showed there. Who the heck does he think he is. Since it is all about him, put him out there 1 on 5. Let him get beat up a while. It may change his tude, after he picks himself off the floor a few times.

Oh well a least we know he has NO CLASS at all.

[SkunkedAgain]

I play a lot of sports. Sometimes I like my opponents and sometimes I don't but I always congratulate them, as a show of respect for beating me. The only time that I won't do that is if my opponent did something to lose my respect. Beating me doesn't lessen my respect for them.

Being classy and pretending that everyone is a winner are two different things. If you can't tell the difference...well, there it is.

[PierBridge]

I must say I DO understand the total over-reaction on this issue ...

You guys crack me up.

So a 24 year old who has been nothing but a class act and an absolute dream for the NBA makes a split second mistake in the heat of the moment and now he's a POS forever.

Must be nice being perfect your whole lives.

The media sure does play you guys like a fiddle...LOL

[Cooter]

Didn't say he was a POS forever, but he certainly could have made a public apology by now.

[Sandmannd]

Didn't say he was a POS forever, but he certainly could have made a public apology by now.

Agreed. It's a big deal because of who he is. Not saying just he should be held accountable for that. I believe they all should learn to show respect.

[fishin58]

It prolly is being blown out of proportion on here as well as every where else in the media. The fact that he is getting away with it and that people are accepting this as "aw shucks" that is the problem. Kids will pickup on this, and there lies the the problem, because we let THE KING slide on it.

[fishersofmen]

What does the media have to do with it. The guy did what he did period. But to me it isn't that big of a deal. Speaking of Larry Bird, when he was coaching Indiana I remeber him saying players in the NBA are way to friendly with eachother now days and he couldn't stand it.

[Sandmannd]

I agree with them being to friendly. There is a difference between Randy Moss and Warren Sapp laughing and chatting between every play or Basketball players slappin each other on the butt at the free through (Being way to friendly) and have the common courtesy of shaking your opponents hand after a game. That's just called respect.

[fishersofmen]

Yea I guess so, if a boxer can get knocked out and when he comes around wipes the blood off his face and shakes his opponents hand that kind of speaks volumes about putting your dignity and pride aside........

[Nate McVey]

Quote:

You guys crack me up.

So a 24 year old who has been nothing but a class act and an absolute dream for the NBA makes a split second mistake in the heat of the moment and now he's a POS forever.

Must be nice being perfect your whole lives.

The media sure does play you guys like a fiddle...LOL

Holy [PoorWordUsage], Hell must have just froze over, Pierbridge and I agree on something.......

[fishin58]

Yea I guess so, if a boxer can get knocked out and when he comes around wipes the blood off his face and shakes his opponents hand that kind of speaks volumes about putting your dignity and pride aside........

exactly fishersofmen, now that takes some manhood and them boxers/mma even hug lots of times.

[B. Amish]

and then they get into a brawl at every other press conference while cussing and swearing the whole time. yep, real sportsmanship.

[fishersofmen]

The majority of the time when that happens it is an act to hype up the event. Most people aren't fooled by it but apparently some are........

[B. Amish]

oh my gosh, it's an act, well then it's excusable...

[Gary Crichton]

For all the people who think it was OK what he did, your are DEAD WRONG. If this catches on it will become the same thing that happens in the stupid sport of World soccer and then we shall have more fights and injuries, and violence to the fans and players. All because of a game, a sporting event, not a world war. I would not like to see that happen to sports in this country. It is already embarrasing to see that happen in foreign countries. IMO

[Jim Uran]

For it just being a sporting event it sure is spilling into a catfight in here. Can you imagine(let's forget about the millions of dollars for a bit)battling all season, living up to the hype, doing everything you do to get to the playoffs and than losing in a tough battling playoff series you were expected to win? I'm sure it's hard for any of us to relate to, but I can overlook a missed act of sportsmanship for pete's sake.

[Getanet]

Maybe it's because I don't have kids, so I'm not trying to teach anyone about sportsmanship, but I really don't see why this has gotten so much scrutiny. 5 days later and people are still talking about it.

With all the exposure LBJ gets, he probably just wanted to get off the court and away from the cameras as soon as possible. I actually think it took less guts to skip the press conference. Then again, with all the scrutiny he gets and how angry he probably was, one misquote would have set the media and message boards on fire.

[ozzie]

that is another good point.....why talk when the emotions of everything might get ya and ya might say something you regret.....instead stay silent and talk when the emotions are taken out of the equation.......I still don't think his actions were that big of a deal but whatever......

[fishin58]

Apathy, from the movie Seven

"We see a deadly sin on every street corner, in every home, and we tolerate it. We tolerate it because it's common, it's trivial. We tolerate it morning, noon, and night."

Not to the extreme of a sin, but you know what I mean, if we accept it now, it is a slippery slope.

[ozzie]

it is not a slippery slope if it is only an occasional slight.....if he is not shaking hands after every game then it might be a problem but if this is the rare occasion that he was to emotionaly involved to suck up his pride and admitt defeat than it is what it is NO BIG DEAL!!!! Maybe he was going to shed a tear after the loss and didn't want that image posted on the front page of newspapers across the country......it was and still is no big deal IMO

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

I have to agree with Gary and Sand on this one! King James is now the new biggest tool in the shed in my book but I am old school baby, just like Sand and probably Gary. We were taught and we taught our kids and my kids are now teaching my grand kids that you ALWAYS shake hands at the end of a sporting contest. You look your opponenet square in the eye, head held high, win or lose and you say GOOD GAME! If you have lost you can also say Good Luck in the finals, next round, whatever but you keep your pride and cool regardless of the outcome. When I was a coach I would dress down a young punk in a heartbeat if he did not line up and shake hands, with class. You let your opponenet know that he may have won the game but he did not break your spirit. You will live to fight another day and you may win or you may lose but your competitive spirit is what drives everybody to succeed. MJ would never duck a handshake and he got beat like a drum by the Pistons in his first few years and I GUARANTEE he was thinking as he shook the hand of Bill Lambeer, Isaih, Rodman, etc. "I am gonna get better and stick it up your rears next year" But he never would say anything other than GOOD GAME! Class, it's not just something you go to as a child in school. Old School Baby!

[Gary Crichton]

Thanks Windy, I am old school. You did exactly as you said. head high and show some class. I coahed Baseball for 10 years with kids 6-16. I did have a couple of games where my troublemakers wanted to start something up with a player on the other team. Pulled him back with me and guided him through the line at the end of the game, making sure no trouble. The other coach did the same, with his player.

[ozzie]

I would like to watch some of the older games and actually watch the finish of the games and c who and who didn't stick around to shake hands.....I bet alot of guys use to go straight to the locker room after games and avoid shaking hands........I remember some shaking hands but it seems I always remember seeing guys walk straight off the court to the locker room with a camera shoved in their face but I don't remember them shaking hands........