Apart from just not liking a rival, there is no reason not to like LBJ

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Umm ...

1) he's a diva
2) he's protected by the league
3) he acts like he's fouled on literally every play

Thank u kind sir!

END THREAD!!!!!!!!!!!

[green_bballers13]

Umm ...

1) he's a diva
2) he's protected by the league
3) he acts like he's fouled on literally every play

How is that unique from other players?

Also:

1) He's the best player in the NBA
2) He's a great facilitator
3) He doesn't get in trouble, and seems like a good family man

[Kuberski33]

Umm ...

1) he's a diva
2) he's protected by the league
3) he acts like he's fouled on literally every play

How is that unique from other players?

Also:

1) He's the best player in the NBA
2) He's a great facilitator
3) He doesn't get in trouble, and seems like a good family man

Whining every single time a foul gets called on you is a pretty unique skill.  No one has done it quite to the extent that he has.  That said I don't hate him. He's a generational player and has become a leader on and off the court.  I can't fault the guy.  Put him on any team in the league - including Brooklyn and they automatically become a playoff team.  I'm not sure there's anyone else in the league you can say that about - maybe Durant but LeBron is better than him.

[blackbird]

I'll never understand people's insistence on false modesty. LeBron is very clearly the best player of his era, so that makes him arrogant if he points out what is plainly obvious?

[tonydelk]

Umm ...

1) he's a diva
2) he's protected by the league
3) he acts like he's fouled on literally every play

I really do get annoyed when a call does not go his way or his teams way and he storms towards the refs like he is going to beat someone down.  I mean he really looks like he is going to commit an act of violence he is so outraged.  Could you imagine KO doing that?  He'd get tossed and suspended 5 games for acting that way.

[tonydelk]

Umm ...

1) he's a diva
2) he's protected by the league
3) he acts like he's fouled on literally every play

How is that unique from other players?

Also:

1) He's the best player in the NBA
2) He's a great facilitator
3) He doesn't get in trouble, and seems like a good family man

This is why I don't hate him and respect him but I just can't like him.

[Mike Pemulis]

More likely than not he succeeds because he's 6'8", fast af, and smart. Not because he's a diva protected by the nba. It's the same dumb rhetoric that people use to complain about Tom Brady. Oh he cries, bla bla bla. No. He's awesome at winning things. That's why he wins.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Umm ...

1) he's a diva
2) he's protected by the league
3) he acts like he's fouled on literally every play

How is that unique from other players?

Also:

1) He's the best player in the NBA
2) He's a great facilitator
3) He doesn't get in trouble, and seems like a good family man

• Not every player is a diva.
• Most players aren't protected by the league.
• Not every player whines after every play on which a foul isn't called.

I agree that he's the best player in the NBA, a great facilitator, and stays out of trouble. Doesn't change the fact that he's the league's golden boy who gets unfair advantages.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Umm ...

1) he's a diva
2) he's protected by the league
3) he acts like he's fouled on literally every play

I really do get annoyed when a call does not go his way or his teams way and he storms towards the refs like he is going to beat someone down.  I mean he really looks like he is going to commit an act of violence he is so outraged.  Could you imagine KO doing that?  He'd get tossed and suspended 5 games for acting that way.

Gerald Green did it last night and got T'd up right away. LeBron does it several times a game and the refs just look away.

[csfansince60s]

Umm ...

1) he's a diva
2) he's protected by the league
3) he acts like he's fouled on literally every play

I really do get annoyed when a call does not go his way or his teams way and he storms towards the refs like he is going to beat someone down.  I mean he really looks like he is going to commit an act of violence he is so outraged.  Could you imagine KO doing that?  He'd get tossed and suspended 5 games for acting that way.

Gerald Green did it last night and got T'd up right away. LeBron does it several times a game and the refs just look away.

When you are the self proclaimed "Chosen One", the self proclaimed "King", (in best Teddy, KBG voice): "I can splash the pot 'vhenever' the _ _ _ _ I 'vant."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bF38rT7et0

[gift]

I root against Lebron every time he plays the Celtics. Other than that I've tended to root for him a part from 2011, 2013, and 2014 Finals. But even then that had more to do with my hatred for Dwayne Wade and Pat Riley.

I remember wanting Lebron to be the next great player like he was projected to be. There was a line of so many high school to pro disappointments and he was supposed to be the sure thing. I wanted to see that next great player. He has been that great player, which is part of was is so astonishing about his career. His hype was so great and he's managed to live up to it.

Sure, he can be obnoxious sometimes, as will anyone who is so heavily exposed culturally. But there are players still more obnoxious among his contemporaries (Chris Paul, Blake Griffin come to mind).

[Ilikesports17]

I think the more appropriate argument is:

"Apart from just hating a rival, there is no reason to hate LBJ"

I hate Lebron because he kicks out ass routinely.

If he didn't, I still wouldn't like him.

[celticsclay]

The guy is the best player in the world, has always conducted himself with class

You think the decision was class?   I think that answers to your bias, right there.  There is a lot not to like about him, I thinkL:

1) He is the biggest crybaby for calls I have ever seen.  This is despite getting more star calls, ignored travels than any other player

2)  He is a sore loser who thinks shaking hands are beneath him and he runs to the locker room to hide so that people can't see him after a loss.

3) He often throws his team mates and coaches under the buss.  He has even got some coaches fired just ask David Blatt, Paul Silas and Mike Brown.

Not to mention these qoutes.

"LeBron stays humble just by being LeBron."

Here is why he did not notify the Cavs he was leaving.

“The last day I wanted it to be about me.”

Now I have heard he is very generous person to be fair, and does a lot of good things for his community like visiting sick kids.   But he clearly thinks he is the center of the universe and humility is not a strong suit.   That is part of what makes him a great player but great players are not always the best human beings.

I hope he is never a Celtic.   I wonder root for the Cavs ever.   I quite watching once we are out.

James did tell the Cavs before the decision aired. It was right before but it was still before.  And the decision raised a couple million dollars for the Boys and Girls Club, something that is always just glossed over by those criticising him for it.  That was why he did it for charity.

Oh my goodnesss Moranis. He did the decision all for charity. Wow, I don't know how Lebron manages to go to the bathroom with people so far up there. Lebron himself wouldn't even say this with a straight face. Heck Windhorst would not even say this with a straight face.I realized your love affair with Lebron (as has most of the board a long time ago), but you are insulting your own intelligence and any respect that any poster could have for you with this kind of defense of him. It is nice he raised them the money, but to say that is "why he did it" is so beyond ludicrous I have to come back to this comment a few times throughout the day for a good chuckle.

[kozlodoev]

I like watching him play. But I still have a "Decision taste" in my mind.

Can easily root for him over GSW either way tho.

[celticsclay]

I kinda liked him his first Cavs run.

It ended there.

same... now the main things that make it a struggle are his interactions with refs and calls he gets. My friend watching the game with me when he ran into Gerald Green and lost the ball and gerald green was called for the foul said it felt like the NBA was being run by Vince Mcmahon. I can't say I disagreed. That kind of stuff makes it really hard to admire how good a player he is.

Then you have his supporters who are so infatuated you with him they will defend things that even Lebron won't defend himself and it makes the thing come full circle (see Moranis comments in this thread if you want an example of this). I also would have liked to see him play more of his career with less than 2 in their prime future hall of famers, but that is the direction the league is heading in and not just him.