Friday, June 10th, 2011 at 9:10 am  |  68 responses

Are the Mavs Affecting LeBron James Mentally?


As the NBA Finals have progressed, with Dallas gaining momentum, we’ve seen the Mavs talk quite a bit of trash to LeBron (particularly, Shawn Marion.) According to DeShawn Stevenson, James isn’t really out to make people pay for their words. From Yahoo! Sports: “These Dallas Mavericks go to great lengths to mess with him, hurling insults and insinuations with regularity that they never would’ve dared with different superstars. Why? Because they believe it messes with his mind. They believe the words will fester within him, keep him thinking when he ought to be reacting. Terry says James can’t guard him, and so far he’s been right. DeShawn Stevenson essentially called him a quitter in Game 4. Shawn Marion appeared to call him much worse on the floor, too. James won’t get mad, and James won’t get even and make people pay a price. When opposing players hear people insist they ought to be respectful of James out of fear of retribution – be careful they don’t stir him with words – they privately giggle. ‘Different guys are different,’ Stevenson [said]. ‘Kobe Bryant feeds off stuff like that. He looks for it every time. LeBron’s a different kind of person. Obviously he’s a freak of nature, able to do a lot of things, but everybody in this league is built different.’ Built differently. Translated: Where’s the killer within? Where’s the best player in basketball, the prodigious talent that left the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics crumpled messes back in the Eastern Conference? Where’s the cold-bloodedness? Where is this guy?”

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  • r2j

    I know who’s beating LeBron mentally, it’s himself.

  • Don

    WTF is a “looser”? Opposite of a “tighter”?

  • http://facebook.com/tronjohnson Chief

    how many useless triple doubles have we torn into Lebron for?
    Everyone cramping on the heat needs to know one thing mike miller needs to step up. He steps up and plays like the consummate professional he was supposed to be and this arguement is a moot point. Lebron, Wade and Bosh still don’t have a bench.

  • john

    lol at the dudes sayin miami doesnt have a bench. chalmers, haslem, and miller isnt a bench? what a bunch of dumbasses. lebron hasnt been aggressive in the 4th this series. plain and simple, stop making excuses for him

  • http://fivemag.de Speedy

    @David
    But he needed like 2-3 tries to get there because the Pistons stood in their way. So he actually lost the ECF and got blown by some media people for it.

  • backboard

    Sure, there is a lot of hate. Hate from people that probably havent passed their 18th birthday. Kids diss whoever is down……….. BUT: i have a real problem with ppl defending Lebron James. Again: in 5 game he has totaled 13 4th quarter points. 13 !!!!! I dont care if he posted a quadruple double. The fourth quarter is go-time. And when your co-star dwayne wade is hobbling around with a injured hip it is even more go-time. You can say Lebron is a playmaker for his squad and i agree he is doing a great job of getting ppl involved. BUT THIS HERE IS THE NBA FINALS. LEBRON HAS TO DO SOMETHING. He is the best player to currently play, so he has step up. I am watching him closely and most of the time he is playing point forward at the top of the key. Hardly ever driving to the hoop, rather passive. Apologists might say that Dallas is packing the lane. So why is it that D-Wade always finds a way to the hoop?

  • backboard

    And i am really really really dissapointed with Eboy!!! He is the first one to bash anyone loosing to his mighty squad, critizing the other team and players left and right. But here we go – Miami is down 2-3 and Eboy is nowhere to be seen. I am amazed at myself. I am amazed at the fact that i somehow believed that Clifford would show pride and sportsmanship. But i should know better…. the last couple of years should have taught me that Eboy is just like the team he is rooting for: Arrogant, obnoxious, classless and a sore looser.

  • backboard

    and just like speedy, i remember Khalid S. talking a lot of sh!t about Dallas and Dirk after the loss in 06. Well Khalid, küss meinen dicken weißen Hintern, du arroganter Kasperl!!!!

  • http://slamonline.com Acclaimed

    Who started this trend of saying lose and loser with two O’s? ITS ONE O! LOSER AND LOSING.

  • http://www.fiba.com Darksaber

    Well THAT remark by backboard (wilkommen zurück) was hilarious.
    Too bad Kha never shows up in comments anymore though.

  • http://fivemag.de Speedy

    Even if Dallas wins it all. What i hope for Dirk it will not take away from LeBrons talent. He is a great young!! player that will develop and grow mentally as he gets older.
    His mental game is his only weakness right now.
    What I find interesting is that MJ got bashed by the media for being a one-dimensional-scorer type of player when he lost to Detroit twice in the ECF and LeBron gets bashed because he is a team first player without that killer scorer gen.
    They are all not perfect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • http://fivemag.de Speedy

    Sorry @ Don & Acclaimed sometimes I’m making mistakes when I talk in a foreign language.
    Don’t hate. I’m human. ;-)

  • michael

    i feel sorry for spolstra, role players and bench of miami, they catch all the heat from miami fans when miami lose, but when miami wins its because of the big 3

  • BostonBaller

    Everyone is entitled to have an off series and so far LBJ is NOT having a terrible series. He has enough talent to effect the game in other ways than score. with that said, he is in need of at least 1 monster game or he will get crushed by media and fans even if they win the chip. People put players on mount olympus for 2 reasons, to worship and to whip. I’m not a Heat fan (Go Celtics!) but I’m not going to hate them or hold it against them that they bought the best talent that money could buy. Dirk was not soft then and he is not soft now. He is however much better now.

  • BostonBaller

    Yes CHI was 6/6 in chips and yes they got beaten before that by Detroit but those Detroit teams were young and strong. The bulls bench was better than The Heats bench is now but The Heats starters are better as a team. You have 3 guys with the Heat that were THE MAN on their team last year and The Bulls only had 1 guy who was THE MAN or could be the man on any other team. Scottie proved that when he went from team to team and was NOT the man on those teams. (I still love some Scottie though)

  • http://fivemag.de Speedy

    @BostonNaller
    Scottie would have been the man on any other team if he would have been traded in his prime.
    I once read an article, when scottie had beef with the general manager of the Bulls, in which it was said that the heat wanted to trade nearly there whole starting five for Scottie. So his value was pretty high at this time.
    When he finally went to another team in 98, after his 6th chip, he was 33 years old and not the same in my opinion.

  • http://fivemag.de Speedy

    Sorry BostonBaller

  • Nik

    LeBron James is still the best player in the NBA. He will be until he retires. He is a 2 – time league MVP, and has taken two of his teams all the way to the NBA finals. This shows that he is a one of the best players on both a personal level and on a team level. And these are just some of his many accomplishments. It is so sad to see how the media is wrongly portraying him (just a cash grab), and even sadder to see basketball fans buying into the media’s lies. The media is laughing all the way to the bank when the naive public reads, watches, and spreads their gossip and slander about LeBron. Many NBA players have left teams as free agents before, and many will do it again. James is no different than them. If you don’t like how it was aired on tv, blame LeBron’s management and blame Jim Gray, the host, as they were the ones who planned the whole ‘Decision’ event. but don’t blame LeBron for agreeing to donate millions if dollars to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America through participating in the ‘Decision’. And don’t blame him fir announcing where he was going to play in 2010 on national television – you watched it, didn’t you?!?! So obviously you wanted to know too! Most athletes would have done the same thing, however most athletes aren’t sought after the way LeBron was last
    year. Heck, every team was waiting to get him on their teams since he first stepped on an NBA court. LeBron is not this disrespectful person that people are making him out to be. The media built him up and are partly responsible for turning him into a super idol, now they want to capitalize on him again by tearing him down??? Don’t believe them! Members of the media just want to get famous themselves! LeBron has answered all the media’s questions with integrity, even when the questions were more like opinionated jabs and didnt deserve an answer. If you want to see an example of disrespect, look at DeShawn Stevenson saying LBJ is “overrated”. I’ve never ever heard LeBron say that about anyone! Or Shawn Marion trash-talking James on the court. LeBron is a clean player and doesn’t do that either. If trash talking is what you want to see, fine. But then don’t point the “disrespect” finger at the only person in this situation who IS the one being disrespected. I hope the people expressing their hatred of LeBron is only a very small proportion of our society. Because these “haters” and their attitudes are not the kind of world I want my children growing up in. I was taught
    decency when I was growing up, which wasn’t that long ago. It seems like people speaking out against LeBron fail to
    see that even though he has super-natural talent, he is still a human. Try and put yourself in his shoes. He is more than one of the best basketball players of all time. He is also a father, son, spouse, friend, and mentor. He has never been in trouble for anything. He had committed no crimes. Deciding to go and work somewhere else, and telling everyone who wants to know your answer all at one time is not a crime. He didn’t go to the team you wanted, so get over it. But for goodness sake, grow up and quit trashing someone for no good reason. He may not be perfect, but nor are you. Not one person on this earth is. Stop being a follower, clear your head, gain a kittle maturity and decency, and think for yourself.

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