Thursday, June 16th, 2011 at 9:00 am  |  107 responses

Amar’e Stoudemire: LeBron Needs to Connect Better With Public


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

Even prior to LeBron James’ bitter and bone-headed comments following the Miami Heat’s elimination from the NBA Finals, people were already rooting against him for a slew of reasons, most of which had nothing to do with the game of basketball.

James tried to clarify what he meant, but the PR damage had already been done.

Amar’e Stoudemire, a beloved figure in New York and across the NBA, has some advice for LBJ about dealing with the general public.

According to STAT, LeBron needs to work on connecting better with the common individual, the way Michael Jordan (supposedly) did during his day.

From the NY Times:

“I think you have to conduct yourself in way that people can relate to you,” said Stoudemire. “The more they can relate to you, the more they will appreciate you.”

Stoudemire, a fan favorite in New York, was clearly bothered by James’s remarks. “Everybody has their own way of commenting on things, but I would have commented differently,” Stoudemire said. “One thing about Michael Jordan was that no matter how great he was and how much of a platform he stood on, he still related to all the hard workers out there in the world. I think LeBron is still young,” Stoudemire added, “and there is still time for him to reconnect with the public.”

This is all well and good, but the fact remains that LeBron and MJ inhabit completely different worlds and realities.

Michael Jordan was a perfectly packaged star whose faults — being a prick to teammates, a gambler, a womanizer, etc. — were largely ignored and hidden by the media (which was terrified to lose access.) LeBron James, obviously, isn’t afforded any of that shelter by today’s media culture.

LeBron can work on being a nicer, more “connected” and tactful guy in front of the public, but only one thing is likely to get him back in people’s good graces: winning.

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  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    Robb dude please… It’s LeBron job to ignore us and the media and focus on him. It’s not our job to make him great. It’s not our problem to fix for Bron. It’s his. Once he wins. Ev’rbody shuts thee F up. It’s up to him not us…

  • robb

    ^^^^ LakeShow
    I just think the media and basketball fans have become too aggressive towards the guy, we can criticize a player, we can dislike him, but wanting him to fail at all costs and over scrutinizing him like this is just too much. That’s cowardice, thousands (if not millions) of people against one guy is just wrong. Not everybody can be like Kobe who feeds from that, I mean that’s why I’m a Kobe fan (among other things) the guy’s mentality is just bullet proof, and the more you attack him and the more you hate him the stronger he gets, but Lebron is not like him, and we should understand that, venting frustrations on someone who’s mentally so weak is wrong I believe,

  • neaorin

    nbk, I guess everyone will hear whatever they hear, but when someone says “those people have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life they had before today”, he’s not saying that because he thinks those people live great and fulfilling lives. Basically what I’m hearing is “your life is so sad that you need to root against me to fail in order to get your kicks, but don’t worry, you’ll have to go back to living yours any day now”. All sports fans have players they root against, for various reasons, and they also have real lives, happy or not, with big problems or small, and they still follow their teams and share in their joy or pain. If we didn’t care about anything but our personal lives we wouldn’t watch sports at all.

    I understand he was upset that they lost, and he was pissed off at the reporter’s useless question, but there were so many more ways he could’ve said “haters gonna hate” and be done with it.

  • T-Money

    all ball – my strategy would be simple: be boring and bland. being honest or entertaining is vastly overrated when you’re already established as a star. go the derek jeter, roger federer, peyton manning route: offer banalities, stick to the game and the game only, duck every sensitive topic and smile a lot. writers will complain that you’re not interesting but companies will give you tons of money and you won’t get caught up in ANY controversies.

  • T-Money

    neaorin: that’s what you want to hear. those people will have the same life they had today could also mean that miami winning or losing has no impact on your daily life so you should take a chill pill.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    fair enough neaorin

  • neaorin

    Well if what happens in the NBA has no impact on our daily lives (and it doesn’t), then why do we watch it? Why does the NBA still exist? How does pro sports survive? I mean, you are a fan too, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. Why whenever your team wins something you feel absolutely elated, but when they lose you feel sad? Aren’t you also happy whenever your rivals / players you don’t like get their asses kicked in a game?

    Yes, like Bill Simmons says, there is a difference between “real hate” and “sports hate”, but you can “sports hate” someone and root for them and their team to fail WHILE also living your own life just fine. And there are plenty of reasons to “sports hate” LeBron, some of which are of his own doing.

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    I also believe it’s wrong Robb and i do not do it because of that. I’ve never torn dude down, just comment on things he needs to develope the same way i would with anybody else. Tyreke Evans needs a post game and to make smarter decisions on the court. Stephen Curry needs to be more confident and agressive. Kobe needs to take smarter shots. D-Wae needs to focus more on defense throughout 48 mins. The list goes on, but we don’t need to act like we have to be careful of these BBall stars ego’s and feelings. They are men. Is it so much different on the other end of the spectrum for someone like Scottie to say he is better than MJ. I mean dude gets unnecessary praise as much as critisism. I mean one day he hears he’s better than MJ from one of MJ’s team mates and then the next he hears he’ll never win… You win some you lose some. Just keep winning and watch the STFU happen.

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    Smart thoughts there T-Money. You seriously should be on his PR team. Just tell him ‘NO’ every once in a while for me.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    T-Money’s comment about Barkley was perfect. The hypocrisy that he shows whenever he discusses LeBron or the Heat is funny.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/ 1982

    I didn’t know Stat was beloved around the league? I thought he had been knocked quite consistently for a lack of D and being injury prone? But either way, he’s got a point. Though, Lebron can still fix his image with 6 or 7 or 8 or 9 rings.

  • http://360special.blogspot.com/ dev0

    … because Amar’e is such a PR wiz…

  • http://360special.blogspot.com/ dev0

    still though, he’s right. LeBron is totally alienated from his audience

  • Elliot

    MANS NEED TO STOP HATING ON LEBRON…DAMN

    http://blogs.forbes.com/sportsmoney/2011/06/16/the-demonization-of-lebron-james/

    read that and you will finally see what media has done to all you once lebron lovers.
    i mean heck people wern’t hating on jordan at this time in his career and he hadden’t won a single ring.

    And another thing…please get of the fricking bandwagon Amar’e

  • robb

    Lebron is surrounded by incompetent people, most of them are his friends. When you do business get professionals, when you wanna party then you can call your friends.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    This LeBron hate is just getting ridiculous now. Who gives a sh!t? He hasn’t broken any laws. Why don’t we stick to what’s actually on the basketball court?

  • hirardu

    Poor dude. Those problems surely messes his mind right now. Man up lebron!

  • seriousblack

    Lebron haters and Lebron apologists are equally annoying. However, neither is more annoying than Kobe fans who can’t wait to bring his name up in comparison. Lebron’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but Kobe stans delight in him being villified while the guy they worship is, was, and forever will be a bigger d-bag and sh#ttier person than Lebron.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    @ Lakeshow: Well he’s a lot more athletic and versatile than Kyle Kucher. Not sure what his ceiling is, but i have a feeling he’ll surprise people.

  • the seed

    i m the seed. i am an idiot. BOOKIT

  • T-Money

    robb: stop being an idiot and just reciting lines from jason whitlock. his group of “incompetent people” have secured 34 mil in endorsement money from him last year, 1st in NBA. he’s a minority owner of one of the most successful football club ever, he secured a partnership with audemars piguet, an ultra-selective watchmaker, he’s got deals with nike, coke, mcdonalds. i think he’s doing okay on the business side. and the party side, for that matter. that’s really the most annoying thing when cats talk about lebron’s life. the facts are never there and it’s just some group-thinking.

  • robb

    @T-Money you don’t need geniuses to get Lebron good deals, great business opportunities or millions from sponsorships because he’s a great product, whenever you have a such a marketable athlete you don’t need revolutionary strategies, or a super talented team of experts, good products sell themselves, and any person who has the slightest idea about marketing can understand that. If you think they are competent just take a look at where Lebron is standing right now. His PR team are obviously an incompetent bunch, we wouldn’t be arguing about it if they weren’t. Who’s Jason Whitlock by the way?

  • http://sl.com Krishan

    Wait. You people actually watched the presser, and you’re still denying the “I’m better than you” context? He said it. IT WAS PLAIN AS DAY. He was emotional and heartbroken and bitter and everything, I accept that, what was said might have been brought out by the situation, and he might not have meant it, but HE SAID THOSE THINGS. Stop denying it.

  • T-Money

    robb: you’re changing your argument, you argued that he doesn’t have business savvy folks around him. he does, they get him good deals. the best deals, actually. pr was not the topic. being a minority owner of a prestigious team while still active IS revolutionary. getting paid in shares instead of cash IS revolutionary. opening up a high-end boutique IS revolutionary. maverick carter and lebron get advice from guys like phil knight and warren buffet. admit it, you were just talking out of your a–.

  • MikeC.

    @Krishan – I completely agree with you. When you watch the press conference, and don’t just read the text, it is very obvious what Lebron meant. The reporter (and I use that term loosely because it was such a loaded question to ask “hey Lebron, you just lost in the Finals which validates all the bad things everyone said about you, so how does it make you feel?”) set him up to fail. The question was a set-up, but the reaction was exactly what the ‘reporter’ was looking for. The trap was set, and Lebron walked right into it. Lebron, in his infinite wisdom that has been crafted by his crack team of marketing and PR experts that coincidentally went to high school with him (imagine that, a basketball prodigy meets up with marketing masters while they all went to the same high school in Akron! What are the odds?), decided to inform the public that everyone must now go back to living their lives while he goes on to live his. Lucky Lebron, he goes off to live his life that is made possible by idiots like us who keep shoveling our pathetic little dollars into the machine that makes his lifestyle exist.

  • AQWORD

    He does have a familly to fall back on while he works on his game for next season , & thats all he needs now before he starts taring a new one next season. Plain & simple. Yall think way too much. I bet yall are real whack ballas too. :-)

  • http://slamonline.com Tae

    Tha other day i asked Lebron for $1.00. He gave me 75 cents and walked away…I said “hey Lebron, I said a dollar, where’s tha rest of it”? He said “Im sorry, I dont have tha 4th quarter”

  • http://www.slamonline.com Amare Excuses

    And Amare you guys need to play better against the celtics. because you guys got swept hahah. 0-4 againts an old celtic team what a disgrace you are

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    @Tae – If your going to take someone elses joke, at least get it right.

  • http://hoopistani.blogspot.com hoopistani

    Despite Jordan’s negative points, Amar’e is right in saying how he connected to hard-working people. MJ wanted to do whatever it took to win, including being the hardest working person out there. He was the most gifted player in the league and at the same time the most competitive/hard-working. That made the common fan believe that they can be brilliant with hard-work and a will to win.
    LBJ is theoretically the most gifted in today’s NBA, but that’s all he has – gift. Since the common man doesn’t have his gifts, we find it hard to connect with him, and of course, his knuckleheaded statements don’t make it any easier.

  • neaorin

    If you want an example of people mixing real life and sports in ways they shouldn’t, take a luck at those Canucks fans who rioted a couple of nights ago. Lots of people rooted against LeBron but I doubt we’d have seen any rioting if the Heat had won.

  • Gaz

    Gaz: BETCATS is gay

  • IAMORANGE4EVER

    Long Live The “King”

  • http://slamonline.com Tae

    @Dacre, u know i had to tweak it a lil bit. But that ish was funny when i first saw it! Lol

  • vtrobot

    Shout out to nbk, Boston Baller, and T-Money. “those people have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life they had before today” means that no one’s life got better because LBJ lost. Ease up everybody. Dude JUST lost the NBA Finals.

  • David

    Amare needs to connect better on defensive end and maybe he can taste the finals & wont get swept in 1st round of playoffs

  • chuck cosby

    so for a black man to humble him self and kiss more Anglo butt, is the answer to hostile and bias Anglo Americans loving a rich black athlete? Then what about the fact that both the Heat and Lakers games were fixed…what is the answer to that.

  • dza

    amare should’ve said, “that’s what you get for not coming to NY!”

  • AQWORD

    Everybody has a gift you dumba$$ !!

  • George

    @the author of this story.
    You are mentally ill,get some help,before its too late!!!!

  • George

    To all of you who posted negative comments about Lebron James,you really need to seek mental help!!!! To hate someone because of where & how he plays “BASKETBALL”, Now that is really “SICK”!!!

  • JANICE

    PLEASE GIVE ME A BREAK AMARE’ STOUDEMIRE SHOULD WORRY ABOUT WINING SOME GAMES..HE COULD NOT MAKE IT OUT THE 1 ROUND WITH CELTICS…SO GET TO THE FINALS AMARE’ STOUDEMIRE..BEFORE YOU START TELLING SOMEONE WHAT TO DO…

  • JANICE

    I THINK THAT A LOT OF THE PEOPLE THAT COMMENTS BAD THINGS ABOUT LEBRON..AFTER SO LONG NEEDS TO CONTACT A MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL…BECAUSE THIS HAS GOTTON OUT OF HAND…YOU ACT LIKE SCHOOL BULLIES INSTEAD GROWN MEN AND WOMAN..HE HAS NOT DONE ANYTHING TO ANY ONE..BUT YOU ARE READY HANG HIM HIGH…PLEASE GOT OWN WITH YOUR LIFE’S BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY…LEBRON WILL KEEP MAKING HIS MILLION’S AND YOU WILL KEEP BLOWING HOT AIR..

  • bigglouu

    What da hell has Stoudemire done

  • Joey

    What many people also forget about Michael Jordan, is that he was not annointed the “King” at the start of his career.

    Heck, he wasn’t even drafted first.

    He had to work to become great, just like he had to in college, and that mattered.

    Everyone anointed LeBron great from day one, and he’s acted that way, and has acted like he should be handed the championship.

    In the end…. actions speak louder than words.

  • Joey

    Hey Janice, (aka LeBron’s Mom)

    You need to teach your boy manners, and teach him how to grow up, and maybe he’ll win a championship and people will stop criticizing him.

    And stop yelling. We can hear you… even up in the nose bleed seats…. crakhore.

  • Joey

    I hear LeBron choked because he heard that Wade was banging his girlfriend behind his back, cuz she wanted to see what it was like to get it from a real winner! LOL!

  • sherri

    WOW! I’m a Cav’s fan and a Knick’s fan, and I could have never imagined that “karma” would take hold of LeBron like this. I was never mad at him, or hating on Lebron ( just thought he should get a PR person, instead of Pookie & Junebug from the block)but he is actually hated by the whole country…I feel sorry for my homey, he’s still an Ohioan!

  • http://aolblackvoices Craig

    Prior to the 2010-2011 NBA season I was indifferent to Lebron…didn’t like him..didn’t dislike him. Thought he was a great player but with him playing in Cleveland, I never really followed him. However with all the hate going at him because he exercised his right to dictate where he wanted to play I have become a fan. Now after 8 months of hate thrown at him he finally responds (the exact way I would have, but his language was cleaner than mine would have) and you say his remarks were bitter and boneheaded. So he is just supposed to be another turn the other cheek, stay in his place BOY. Please!! I applaud him for what he said. After what he has had to put up with, especially from you media types, I say its about time he told all ya’ll to go to hell. And now Amare wants him to kiss fans ass so he can relate to the working man. This from a man making $20 million. Oh yeah, Amare really relates to the common man. That statement proves that Amare is just another brother who has sold his integrity and guts for money. He wants to be liked by the white public and wants to be seen as non-threatening so he can make some endorsement $. What happened to the Ali’s, Jim Browns, Abdul Jabbar’s of the world. They weren’t like by many but they had integrity, pride, and held their head high. William C. Rhoden’s book $40 million slaves is about athletes like Amare, Jordan, Kobe, and Tiger. They are poster children for that topic.

  • Sylk

    LBJ has been a winner his whole life and the haters have been hating long before the finals. After all the rings he’ll end up getting the haters will still hate and try and use every excuse to justify being an LBJ hater.

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