LeBron James Is Acting Like a Baby, Nike Like Goons
source: http://jay-mariotti.fanhouse.com/2009/07/10/lebron-acting-like-baby-nike-like-goons/5#comments
-
-
- KSirys
- added this
If LeBron James dares to venture online and see himself scorched by the masses, he might as well do some instructive Web-surfing, too. I suggest he call up a dubious Michael Jordan clip on YouTube, where a certain John Rogers, CEO of Ariel Investments, beats him in a one-on-one game at his "Flight School" basketball camp. What's funny is how Jordan opens with trash-talk -- "Don't be mad at me. I'm just too good for you," -- only to be schooled on three driving, twisting layups.
And how did the Greatest Player Ever respond to this professional embarrassment, which he knew was being taped? Oh, by hugging and congratulating Rogers, then willingly absorbing verbal abuse from comedian Damon Wayans while the other campers howled.
Consider it Exhibit A of how LeBron should have responded when he was dunked on in a pickup game at his own camp -- a two-handed hammer by Xavier sophomore Jordan Crawford over a leaping, late-arriving James. It
was a perfect opportunity for LeBron to humanize himself and have fun with the "indignity,'' just as MJ had at his camp. He could have congratulated Crawford, taken him over to the two videographers who had captured the dunk and done, say, a makeshift interview that could have been part of a creative Nike promotional campaign. Think of the eventual possibilities: a Jordan Crawford shoe for the LeBron brand marketed and downpriced for Everyman, with James and Crawford starring in a clever Nike commercial.
Instead, James acted like a baby, much as he did when he sulked off the court and didn't shake hands with Orlando players after he and the Cleveland Cavaliers were ousted in the Eastern Conference finals. Just having seen several college and high-school players run around the court deliriously, stunned that LeBron had been posterized by a collegian, James summoned a Nike executive named Lynn Merritt. A short time later, Merritt approached the videographers and confiscated the tapes. This reminds me of what happened to American journalists at the Beijing Olympics last summer, when Chinese authorities threatened to shut down our Internet access -- and maybe banish us to a concentration camp? -- if we were overly critical of the government.
But that was a Communist country. This is America.
And how did the Greatest Player Ever respond to this professional embarrassment, which he knew was being taped? Oh, by hugging and congratulating Rogers, then willingly absorbing verbal abuse from comedian Damon Wayans while the other campers howled.
Consider it Exhibit A of how LeBron should have responded when he was dunked on in a pickup game at his own camp -- a two-handed hammer by Xavier sophomore Jordan Crawford over a leaping, late-arriving James. It
was a perfect opportunity for LeBron to humanize himself and have fun with the "indignity,'' just as MJ had at his camp. He could have congratulated Crawford, taken him over to the two videographers who had captured the dunk and done, say, a makeshift interview that could have been part of a creative Nike promotional campaign. Think of the eventual possibilities: a Jordan Crawford shoe for the LeBron brand marketed and downpriced for Everyman, with James and Crawford starring in a clever Nike commercial.
Instead, James acted like a baby, much as he did when he sulked off the court and didn't shake hands with Orlando players after he and the Cleveland Cavaliers were ousted in the Eastern Conference finals. Just having seen several college and high-school players run around the court deliriously, stunned that LeBron had been posterized by a collegian, James summoned a Nike executive named Lynn Merritt. A short time later, Merritt approached the videographers and confiscated the tapes. This reminds me of what happened to American journalists at the Beijing Olympics last summer, when Chinese authorities threatened to shut down our Internet access -- and maybe banish us to a concentration camp? -- if we were overly critical of the government.
But that was a Communist country. This is America.
-
-
KSirys
-
he needs to win something before being call "king" he's not that great to begin with and now is showing his true colors!! he's a joke!!
- 2 years ago
-
KSirys
