Monday, June 13th, 2011 at 9:05 am  |  189 responses

LeBron James Addresses His Haters


The media asked LeBron what he thought of the people who delighted in his Finals shortcomings, and an understandably frustrated James shot back with a not-so-elegant response: “Q. LeBron, obviously you’ve dealt with so much criticism for the last year that wasn’t at all to do with basketball. When you’re getting criticized for what’s happening on the court, does that bother you? LeBRON JAMES: No, that doesn’t bother me. I understand this is a huge stage, and you want to perform well for nobody else besides your teammates. That’s ultimately what it’s about for me. If I can play well for my teammates, help my teammates win basketball games, then I’m always satisfied with that. It hurts me, and I get on myself when I’m not able to play well and help my teammates win. Q. Does it bother you that so many people are happy to see you fail? LeBRON JAMES: Absolutely not. Because at the end of the day, all the people that was rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today. They have the same personal problems they had today. I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that. They can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy about not only myself, but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal, but they have to get back to the real world at some point.”

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  • seriousblack

    Saying you want to be rich and saying you would trade lives with a complete stranger are two completely different things. Not sure how an adult is unable to differentiate the two scenarios, but I digress…I think the point of the critisim from most is that Lebron is a lot less mature than he should be at this point. By his own admission, he played subpar for the series. The big stage seemed to get to him. In addition to that he allowed the media to bait him into making silly comments in a season where they were already intent on keeping him public enemy #1. Like a spoiled child, he pretty much lashed out at ordinary folks because they were rooting against him. He needs to get over himself. If he wins, the heat dies down. Put aside the antics and arrogance and just win.

  • http://yahoo ddub

    In the game of chess,Lebron is a pawn.ln life he thinks he is a king. Long live the pawn! Lepawn James. Yeah baby the heat got punked!!!

  • http://Philosophervision@blogspot.com The Philosopher

    ^”Saying you want to be rich and saying you would trade lives with a complete stranger…”
    But you digress, and you don’t know how adults can’t tell the difference.
    He said BOTH.
    And, I can’t see how an adult can’t see that.
    But, I digress.

  • spamslots

    Tom:

    “Sometimes you got it, sometimes you don’t,” LeBron said. “That was the case in this series.

    That is not owning up to his responsibility. He talks about failure in the abstract, like he wasn’t there. He talks about not needing to hang his head. He doesn’t talk about how he played scared and expended no effort to make an impact in the 4th q.

    Many people have talked about how, when he is losing, Lebron checks out mentally, as if he is distancing himself from the impending failure. People that were with the Olympic team he was on, people that were on his Cavs’ teams… When he’s winning, he gloats, and when not, he is just not there.

  • http://Philosophervision@blogspot.com The Philosopher

    ^I can sort of buy that…

  • Jackie Moon

    Why doesn’t anyone listen? It’s not hate. It’s recognizing that the stats you use are inadequate. If you admitted that Lebron is not as good as Kobe, we wouldn’t need all this debate. Lebron could have the best stats ever, it doesn’t cover up the fact that his mid-range game is lacking, he has barely a post game, and his three point shot is not reliable enough to make defenses pay over a playoff run.

  • http://Philosophervision@blogspot.com The Philosopher

    ^But, he’s still the best in the game.
    DESPITE.
    All he needs is a coach. He’s NEVER had a coach.
    He never needed one until now.
    THAT’S how good he is.

  • http://yahoo ddub

    Hey Harlem and others quit trying to drag Kobe into this mess,Kobe paid his price from the people,fans and media,now let Lepawn pay his price, Kobe never put down the common working person.Didnt drag six nba cities through the ringer when he knew he wasnt going to go play for them and never celebrated a title before he won one. not 1,Not2,Not3..!Hey Lepawn get 1 FIRST!

  • Harlem_World

    ddub, you need to take a closer look at kobe’s past. He’s quit on his team in the playoffs (phoenix series a few years back), demanded trades, sulked and been probably the most arrogant player in the league in recent memory. And on top of that, there is colorado. He paid his price? Really? What about trying to do the dirty on his team mates (shaq) just because he got caught? Kobe isn’t anything to look up to. Not saying this kid Lebron is a role model either, but the kid is getting all kinds of unnecessary hate. I brought kobe into it for perspective.

  • seriousblack

    The “Philosopher”: Seriously, go re-read comments before you respond to me. It seemed you had a bit of difficulty understanding the flow of commentary between myself and snasty, so here’s a pointer: try starting at his 7:00pm comment. When you’ve fully understood the very simple point I made, then you can say something.

  • http://Philosophervision@blogspot.com The Philosopher

    Oh, okay. I’ll say something to you whenever I feel like saying something to you.
    Are you tough, or something?
    Why don’t you look at Teddy’s comment, then snasty’s comment @7:16p.m.
    6:06p.m. too.

  • Red

    That’s a first LOL. You blame the other team instead of admitting your team sucked. You’re an idiot.

  • http://www.slamonline.com melvin ely

    @philosopher: I’m just curious, have you ever seen Lebron play like he has a chip on his shoulder? I think that’s the one thing he lacks, with all he’s been entitled to in his career, he is unable to use anger as fuel like Kobe, MJ or even Dwyane do.

  • Jackie Moon

    No, Philosopher. As shown, he is NOT the best player over a playoffs BECAUSE of those reasons.

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

    @Melvin that’s probably the only reason he has so many haters right now. He has recently failed to shut them up

  • rich

    lebron needs a dominant go to move he doesnt really have one like all the other scorers do and thats why he struggles when things arent going his way, kobe has a fallaway and doubble jab step baseline, melo has a jab and jumper/ spin move, wade has a baseline spinoff in the post he can split pick and rolls, eurostep, bankshot. he needs to come up with something to get him going, he has no move that he can do two times in a row and score even when hes not shooting the ball well. this isnt an emotional killer instict thing he just has holes in his game, if u can tell me his go to move other than choke go ahead

  • T-Money

    2 weeks ago, Barkley said to Miami fans tthat were hating on him hat he was rich and successful while they worked at McDonalds so they need to relax. Which was cool. But now it’s LeBron, so it’s different, right? It’s funny to me that people feel like they can treat NBA players however they please but those NBA players should be forever humble and grateful. You want to sh-t on Bron AND for Bron to just take it? How does that work?

  • doyouwantmore

    Hey Lebron, you know what I have that you never will? – One year of college.

  • pk

    i just want to know how all this has shown arrogance. I mean we see kobe and other players acting and saying things like this etc. I mean its people blinding themselves because they just hate on a person whose easy to hate on, in this case lbj, but look at this mj back in the day was hated on too, told he couldn’t play d, pass the ball etc… the fact is once all is said and done lbj wins a ring or not he will go down as a legend just as other greats such as oscar robertson and the bunch. But I’m letting all the lbj haters know now that next year is going to be a scary season because first year to the finals?…next 10 years is going to a painful time for people getting a kick out this.

  • pk

    and btw mj was arrogant as a mofo, shooting free throws blind and betting on games, in which he bet on himself winning

  • Jay Reyes

    Don’t tell me his poop is better smelling than the rest of us?

  • yeayea

    lebron woulda been well liked if he was humble. How you gonna go to a different team just like that and proclaim that you will win all these championships..celebrating before the season started..claiming that nobody can guard you. as great as lebron is..he should know that basketball is at it best when played as a Team. celtics stopped u before and now the mavs has. It is okay to fail but not when everyone in this world notices that you quit! even your opponent called u out by checking out of the game before it even ended. just by that u should shot back by playing great and tearing the hearts out of your opponents. thats what you shouldve done and not say sometimes you have it, sometimes you dont..that is just weak. anybody call out MJ or Kobe like how terry or stevenson or marion has done then you know those two wouldve done their best to prove you wrong. atleast try to.

    AND WHO GIVES A DAMN HOW ARROGANT MJ WAS!! HE KEPT YALL WATCHIN THE GAME AND HAD YALL OOOOOOHHHS AND AHHHHHS WITH HIS PLAY. HE WALKS HIS TALK..LEBRON SIMPLY TALKS HIS DREAM.

  • yeayea

    IF HE SO GOOD WHY NEED A COACH?
    SPO IS CAPABLE IF BEING A GOOD COACH..DONT BLAME HIM..HE HELP BRING ALL THOSE TALENTS TO THE FINALS..ITS JUST THE MAVS COACH DID A BETTER JOB OF USING HIS TEAM TO BEAT 3 DUDES. BLAME THE PLAYERS WHO CHOKED. IF HE DIDNT CHOKE SOMEONE HERE WOULDNT EVEN MENTION LECHOKE NEEDING A COACH.

  • yeayea

    if he is so good then why would he need a coach..dont blame spo for this..he did a good job for bring all these talented egos to the finals. mavs coach just knew how to use his TEAM to beat 3 dudes who wanted the ring gift wrapped. id blame the players for lechoking in the finals. if they didnt le(choke) then nobody would even mention spo. he got em there didnt he, after all the trials. players who call himself a king,the chosen one and celebrating before even stepping on the court needa know for themselves how to react to the game. all nba coaches already has instructed their team to how to beat it a team..its just executing..they relied on each other. they were all think the same thing..wades gonna save us..lebrons gonna win this for us..bosh gonna hit the game winner..bosh stepped up this finals for all the expectation everyone had in him.

  • Jackie Moon

    T-Money – other players – like Kobe – seem to be able to take it. They say “love me or hate me” but never “I get to live a better life than you”, because losing makes their lives miserable. Unlike Lebron. Who loves winning, but doesn’t hate to lose.

  • Yesse

    This LeBron hate is getting even funnier than the hating on Justin Bieber. LeBron’s comments sound a bit badass.

  • jordan

    ok im gonna put this out hear for the lebron haterz ok so he left the clevlend big whoop there just mad becuz there team sucks without him its pretty pathetic when u have to depend on 1 guy to win ok also i would switch teams to if my team completly sucked without me and mami heat has wade and bosh so ya retards common sense stop hateing on one one of the best basketball players ever so cry about it. also ok they lost the championship o kno so bad least they made it to the finals wheres the all mighty lakers celtics bulls o ya hows that or wheres clevlend o thats right they need a GOOD PLAYERS DRRRRRRRR i can’t stand people as for the mavricks good job u finally won 1 to bad u won’t when back to back i can def say that. all they do is shoot 3 pointers all day and when ur always wide open the ya ur gona bang shots if mami had there heads out of there butts they would have crushed dallas but to his comment about people have to live there lives the same hes right he rich why ur sitting at home paying bills being poor hes living it up so the jokes on u bums not him well theres that the truth thank you

  • Tom

    im confused what is lebron supposed to say, “i mentally checked out, i dont have what it takes to win a ring” would that make yall happy? This is all wishful thinking but if I was a top athlete and kept losing on the big stages I would most likely say something similar to what Lebron said when getting antagonized after the biggest loss of my career…he basically said f u all haters you still wish you were me…i mean seriously why don’t yall see the full post game conference and tell me how you would answer the questions they asked him, and on a side note…why is it okay for mark cuban to say that lebron gets a lot of undue criticism but not apologize for the way that he himself was the number one lebron critic when the decision was made for him to go to Miami, all the haters will never see this double standard..

  • backboard

    Ya know, Lebron could have just said “Listen, i went a little overboard with my proclamation of multiple championships last summer. We have to gel as a unit and me, personally, have to improve a lot in my own game. Ill go back to work this summer and come back stronger than ever. I deserve the criticism because I let my team down and I want to make sure this never happens again.” He could have said just that and i am pretty sure that half of the haters would dissapear.

  • http://Philosophervision@blogspot.com The Philosopher

    @Melvin Ely:
    Sorry for taking so long to respond.
    I’ll be honest;
    I haven’t seen The King with a chip on his shoulder since the famous Detroit series. Also, it has been quite evident that The King not only has already peaked in my opinion, but he has clearly lost a step. He’s lost an edge. He is CURRENTLY on the decline, and he has been since 2008. He has not worked on his game, it seems.
    BUT… with all of his flaws within his game, he is still the best on the market. He is truly remarkable.
    Now, if he were to ever get a coach who is a self – made winner, AND commands respect from EVERYONE in that locker room, then he still has time to become one of the top 5 – 10 players of all time. Right now, I think he’s a top 25. But that’s just my opinion.
    The King needs a coach the same way Kobe needed one. The same way Michael needed one.
    The fact that he went this long being the very best in the world without a Hall of Fame coach, or even a real coach (Silas… no.) is a testament to how truly great of a basketball player The King truly is.
    But no, right now The King has no chip on his shoulder, in my opinion.

  • Mark Nypaver

    Miami’s has not won a ring; yet they act like they’re
    royalty…. KING?? NOT!! or not yet. It’s just their 1st
    year together and they’re still learning on what to do
    & what not to do. The refs help them a lot but did you
    see how surprised they were when the refs swallowed
    their whistle?? After all ROYALTY has their perks! NOT FAIR??? LIVE WITH IT, use your talents stop whining (LEBRON, WADE), flopping (LEBRON), AND CRYING (LEBRON & BOSH). I know you didn’t sign up for this, but what goes around comes around…..
    THE GREATER MAN UPSTAIRS HAS SPOKEN.. SO ACT WITH SOME CLASS, YOU’RE A BAD INFLUENCE ON A CLASS GUY LIKE WADE. MADE HIM SINK TO YOUR LEVEL..”cough cough cough”.. what goes around comes around..”cough cough cough”
    you classless bunch of whiners… (per the great Charles Barkley).. SO MAN UP make THE GREATER MAN UPSTAIRS PROUD OF YOU and not ASHAMED OF YOU GUYS!

  • Truthteller

    Everybody talking about too much hate for one guy? Kobe has been going through this whole career and I don’t remember you guys defending him! And Kobe still shows up! So everybody should just chill and let Lebron take it like a man the same way Kobe has all these years!

  • Nik

    AS I READ THROUGH ALL THESE COMMENTS I SEE LEBRON’S POINT PROVEN EXACTLY. Everyone needs to get a life that doesn’t hang off of what LeBron does wrong or doesn’t do right, and just let him be the exceptional talent and nice guy that he is. The media and their blind followers attack everything this guy does and says, and takes things completely out of context. He’s damned if he does,, and damned if he doesn’t, so what choice does he have, really? It’s so true what he said this time… just look at all the comments here. Everyone is waking up to their problem of hating him. I don’t hate, it only makes a person bitter.I am excited for next season already, so LeBron can keep being the king of basketball.

  • giogolo

    Well said Philo.

  • giogolo

    CO-SIGN BIGTIME @ BACKBOARD jun 14 10:59 AM

  • Jhared

    nobody cares wat any of u guys think. everyone says i think this and i think that. It doesnt matter who u are. You are a hater wasting breath smh.

  • world peace

    Here this guy, and his team, made it to the finals of the NBA Championship and he is still be hated, and you wonder why he is, as you say “bitter”. All of you haters should just say, “thanks” for the show and move on. And by the way, It’s over.

    If this society cared more about education, employment, civil rights, incarceration, as much as you cared about the comments or lifestyle of Labron James, maybe we could make a difference in the lives of the many. Now, wake up in the morning and think about that!!!!!!

  • http://www.whitneyspears.com Whitney Spears

    more drama!

  • http://slamonline.com Alton

    Truth is no one even thought they would have even ,made it this far. No matter what he would have said there would have been a issue because people are looking for it. At the end of the day he did not win but most of the people who find issue with what he said means it must be true to you on some level. Because if it don’t apply let it fly I saw nothing wrog with what he said. He stated how he feels end of story and you state how you feel the onlt thing is his money makes people look at him in another way…if you had that type of money and fame you would be un the same light.

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