Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 10:30 am  |  100 responses

LeBron on Shaking Hands in NBA: Not Done

According to James, no matter what your eyes may lead you to believe on a nightly basis, shaking hands in the League following the game simply doesn’t happen. Nope: “When the reporter reminded James that most players usually shake hands at the end of a playoff series, James bristled again. ‘No you don’t, no you don’t,’ he responded. After a few more seconds of back and forth, James continued to try to explain his position. ‘Teamwork has nothing to do with shaking hands,’ James said. ‘I’m not a poor sport at all. You can ask anyone that knows me, I’m not a poor sport at all. Who brought up the rule that shaking hands, that’s what you’re supposed to do? No one shakes hands at the end of series all the time. No one does that. No one does that at all.”‘

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  • http://lastknickstanding.blogspot.com Bryan

    Right.

  • Ken

    I was willing to forgive him doing it in the heat of the moment. But not neing able to man up and own up to it later… it’s like when Bush was unable to think of a single mistake he’d made as President. It just makes LBJ look like he’s out of touch with reality. I love his game on the court, but I really wish he was a bit more humble.

  • Clockwork

    Man please, can’t he just admit he was wrong?

  • AlbertBarr

    No one should shake his hand ever again after competition.

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    I should start by acknowledging that I have a strong bias in favor of Bron. With that said, he did apologize for blowing off the media and noted that if he had gone to the press conf (like D-Wade), there wouldn’t have been a story. Shaking hands after a game is not institutionalized in pro basketball like it is in hockey for example. It’s a thing that players often do after the end of games but it’s still informal and they rarely – if not never – shake everybody’s hands. I don’t think it’s a big deal and I haven’t heard a single player on Orlando say that he was outraged or felt disrespected by it.

  • carter

    Hey i fully understand him. When i played soccor I never shook hands after a game. Win, lose or draw i walked away from the opposition. I’d spent the last 90 mins tryin to hammer them, why would i wanna shake hands. LBJ is right.

  • http://www.facebook.com mat smith

    who gives a shizzle? he was peed off he lost, so what.

  • Prodi

    Z, Dwight Howard said he felt disrespected by Bron in an interview during the Finals

  • http://lastknickstanding.blogspot.com Bryan

    Lebron sure is an assh*le.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    HE SAID nobody does this “all the time.”
    How can he be wrong if he and DWade both did not do this, and back in the day, none of the top players did this.
    Actually read the man’s words.

  • Prodi

    posted twice…awesome

  • CSP8

    I don’t see the big deal. Why do people NEED to shake hands after a game? Watch baseball, the winning team shakes each others hands while the losing team walks off. Thats not being a bad sport its called going home.

  • http://djsklfl.com Jukai

    I should start by acknowledging that I have a strong bias in favor of Bron.
    I should end it by saying Lebron is a huge f*cking prick and I’m beginning to see why people hate him.

  • http://lastknickstanding.blogspot.com Bryan

    It doesn’t really have anything to do with this story, I just think he’s an assh*le.

  • Joe

    There’s no official law or rule that says you have to say “thank you”, either.

  • jay

    wrong I say.

  • http://lastknickstanding.blogspot.com Bryan

    On the other hand, just because something isn’t required of you doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. Part of good character is doing the right OR respectable thing without being asked or forced. At the end of every game? I get that no need for a million handshakes a season but a hard fought playoff series? I believe the victor deserves some respect and congrats but that’s just me. And as far as it not being required in the nba , ok but I played varisty ball from 7th grade on and we always shook hands whether we got run out of the gym or vice versa.

  • AlbertBarr

    It is a sign of respect. LeBron is the man but he is arrogant to the max. Just shake their hands and have some integrity man. I’d put money on D-Howard NEVER forgetting to show respect to his opponent…too wholesome. ANd I agree with Ken at 10:35…why not just say “yeah, I should have just shaken Dwights hand or something but I was in the heat of the moment and I made a bad judgement call, not a huge deal, but I could have acknowledged their accomplishment.” Dont turn into a complete d!ck LeBron, please. We like you too much.

  • AlbertBarr

    Cosign Bryan @ 11:04…and Jukai

  • http://www.slamonline.com Myles Brown

    ……

  • CSP8

    Let’s ask Jeter and A-Rod why they don’t shake David Ortiz hand after a win or loss regular season or playoff series? Sure they respect him but there’s no need to run over and give a phony handshake after the game when you’re upset.

  • http://lastknickstanding.blogspot.com Bryan

    Yeah because the cavs magic rivalry is on that level. Good comparison. They must hate each other more than the lakers and celtics of the 80′s.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Sesa-Opas/738856357 Sesa

    I don’t know what y’all “handshake is not important” bandwagon is thinkin’. It’s called respect, sportmanship. LeBron just love doing handshake when he’s winning, when losing… not so much. I think that’s why his momma can’t teach him about sportsmanship, He also disrespect his mom

  • CASHVILLE

    Me and my friends throw Playstations out of windows when we lose to each other in Madden, let alone shake hands. I’ll give you a pound all day when I’ve won but you can kiss my a** if I lose. It’s nothing personal and we’re friends again in a couple of hours. It’s kind of awkard anyway to shake someone’s hand after defeat. It’s like people saying sorry when they don’t mean it. Call it selfish, childish or competitive nature. It’s not a big deal!

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    Assh-le? Prick? Really? I didn’t see anyone in here calling Wade a prick when he didn’t shake hands with ATL. Maybe that’s just me. Bryan, (and I’m sure you’re gonna have fun with this) could you list me the assh-le moves he has made?

  • CSP8

    Bryan look at any baseball playoff series and if anyone shakes hands (other than a member of their own team) rivalry or not. I just threw those names out there because they’re the stars of that league.

  • Comets

    When I was reading this I remember the video of him and ducan hugging and laughing after the finals series when they competed and ducan was prasing him …. He is bitter it was ok to shake ducan hand cause he knew he was going to lose but he was embarrassed to lose to the magic….

  • http://lastknickstanding.blogspot.com Bryan

    That’s a video game cashville this is real life. I’m as competitive as it gets I played basketball against my best friends and would step over their broken body and score before I checked if they were ok, but at the end of the game you show due respect its how it goes.

  • http://lastknickstanding.blogspot.com Bryan

    Make a list of his actions that make him an assh*le? Really? Ok…… 1: he carries himself through life with the attitude of an assh*le. Short list huh?

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com/ TADOne

    To be fair, Shia (Bryan) thinks being called an assh*le is a term of endearment.

  • izzo

    LeBron to Samuel L Jackson:”Nope, there are no snakes on this plane.[pause]You tell ME where those dead bodies with the snake bites came from”

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    Cop out, Bryan, give me facts. What has he done? If you just don’t like him, that’s fine too. I won’t debate opinions, it’s pointless.

  • Los

    you can’t compare baseball to basketball. In basketball there are 5 players from each team on the court at the end of the game so interaction between the teams is common. in baseball there would only be a maximum of 5 (with the basesloaded)players from the team hitting and 9 from the team playing defense. one the the last out is made, the offensive players walk of the field. only the winning team stays on. and i’ve played organized basketball since I was 10, and after every game you shake hands/give dap. we do it in my media league now and most times we blow the team out by at least 20. except when we play NBA, Y&R, or ESPN. i think they are juicing

  • http://yahoo.com Logues

    bron needs to get over himself, and i never really did like him that much, and now i have a good reason not to like him.

  • http://lastknickstanding.blogspot.com Bryan

    Cop out is your default response to something you disagree with.

  • http://lastknickstanding.blogspot.com Bryan

    Aside from the FACT that calling someone an assh*le is completely subjective therefore rendering it an opinion no matter what. The only factual assh*le that can be proven is the one between your cheeks. Suck on those facts chief.

  • Ken

    Again, it’s not the fact that he didn’t shake hands after the loss to Orlando. That was in the heat of the moment. But the fact that way after the fact he can’t admit that it was poor sportsmanship, to me that shows he is a poor loser. That’s the part that makes me lose respect for him.

  • CASHVILLE

    @Bryan. I guess my crew has anger management issues because balls get thrown and kicked (pause) and wrestling sometimes ensues after friendly Sunday evenings of b ball. I’ll admit it does get out of hand sometimes and people have to be told to chill. If you scored over my broken body it’s no way I could shake your hand. LOL

  • myles brown

    As much as I’d love to play this game, its probably best that I stay away.

  • http://slamonline.com 360vue

    Good extract SLAM. His speech oozes guilt, evident his consistent repition of his viewpoints and mantras, normally repitition is used to elucidate your speech but his syntax indicates he is really trying to justify it too himself rather than the interviewer. Its a fact that youre a poor sport if you don’t shake hands, I mean its a good thing if your annoyed you lost, or worse than annoyed, but give kudos where kudos is due and respect the better team/player on that day. He is a bad sport, he won 60+ games last season and he became a lil biwitch when playoffs didnt turn out the same (when do they ever?!)

    Who brought up the rule that you shake hands Queenie? A gentleman; a concept that goes way over your gargantuan ego and past your peasized brain

  • riggs

    its called sportsmanship you effin moron.

  • larrylegend

    bryan cavs-magic rivalary is not even close to lakers-celtics, trust me.

  • CDef28

    Dear LeBron,
    You are not Tiger Woods. You are not bigger than the game itself. You will never be. Get over it.

  • http:///www.realcavsfans.com Anton

    LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of all time.

  • http://lastknickstanding.blogspot.com Bryan

    Larrylegend :read the whole comment and the comment that I was responding to.

  • Washtub

    That guy should fire his PR manager

  • Clipp Show 714

    I think its funny how the media helps some of you turn on Lebron over this. Can someone please show me the rulebook that says you have to shake hands w/ someone who just kicked your ass?

  • http://djsklfl.com Jukai

    Myles: I was waiting for your respone all day. Way to ruin it for me, man.

  • tavoris

    his ego is getting to be a little too much. Sportsmanship isn’t required, but it is a pretty good damn idea. I guess he never learned the old adage “Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat”

  • Tommy Patron

    Read the words…”No one does that. No one does that at all.” AT ALL. He is rambling. If he talked about this long enough he would use all of his above words in every possible permutation.

    @CASHVILLE-Your comments echo LeBron perfectly…..immaturity revealing itself. LeBron seems mature in many respects, but not all.

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