Bad sports, good sports: Lebron James continues to prove his critics right

Posted on January 17th, 2011 by Alan Spoll

There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. We expect confidence in our sports figures, don’t we? I think it is a necessary component to a successful athlete. Arrogance? Well, it is certainly not a rarity among the superstars, but I am not sure it is necessary. I could be wrong, though. Maybe a certain amount of arrogance is needed to differentiate the truly great from the simply good. The amount of control players have over that arrogance has a lot to do with how we as fans feel about them.

I am not sure I have ever seen an athlete move as quickly from the role of hero to that of villain as Lebron James did this past year. Although I wouldn’t say I was a huge fan of his at any point, I respected his amazing abilities as a basketball player and generally felt pretty positively about him. Until “The Decision,” of course. That was the incredibly short-sighted and toweringly self-aggrandizing television special during which James announced that he would be leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to sign with the Miami Heat. The fans of the Cavaliers have been quite bitter about James’ departure, and have let him know it at every opportunity. From what I have seen, Lebron has not gone out of his way to insult the Cavs fans after that initial punch-in-the-face. My assumption was that he did actually have some respect for them, after the years of support they had given him. After the Heat’s win over the Cavs on Wednesday, though, I guess he just hadn’t had the opportunity to give them another good smack until then. He didn’t pass up the chance. Not satisfied with the absolute demolition his team served up to Cleveland that night, 112-57, James took to Twitter to dole out another beating, tweeting “Crazy. Karma is a b****.. Gets you every time. Its not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything!”

Apparently, the Cavs fans had it coming. I am no expert on Karma, but I am pretty sure that Mr. James is a bit confused when blaming the result on both Karma and God. I am not sure those things go together, at least not the God that James is likely referencing. Regardless of the religious confusion, the suggestion that Cleveland fans had it coming for their treatment of James is so incredibly arrogant that it boggles the mind. He didn’t just sign elsewhere and leave Cleveland. He rubbed it in their collective face so brazenly that were he a president, his approval rating nationwide would have dive-bombed. Does he really feel that the fans of Cleveland are unjustified in feeling hurt? I find his attitude revolting. If Karma were real, James would have suffered a season-ending injury when walking off the set of his ridiculous “Decision.”

Congratulations, Lebron. You have given all of the people who decided to hate you last year reason to feel good about their decision.

Bad sports, continued:

2) Former NASCAR champion Tony Stewart was arrested in Australia on Saturday after an altercation at a track where he had just raced. Sounds like Stewart, a notorious hothead, hit the track owner in the face with a helmet during an argument about the track conditions.

3) Bad weather and bad basketball teams conspired to limit the crowd at an NBA game to about 1000 people this week. Monday night’s game between Charlotte and Memphis had so few people in the stands that court banter could be clearly heard on the broadcast. The winter storm that hit Charlotte on Monday was the main culprit, although some credit can be given to the bad basketball being played by both teams this season.

4) Former Jacksonville Jaguar Ernest Wilford was arrested after creating some kind of disturbance at a bar in Jacksonville Thursday night. Tasers and stun guns were used.

5) Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis continues to earn his reputation as a nut job. Seems he was fining recently fired head coach Tom Cable throughout the season for undisclosed reasons, docking him $20,000 at a time from six different paychecks. I am amazed that this guy still manages to get anyone to come work for him.

6) A fan of the University of North Carolina basketball team had an unfortunate experience when he attended the Tarheels game at the University of Virginia last week. He bought a ticket from a scalper that turned out to be right behind the Virginia bench, but when he arrived at his seat, he was escorted to a seat much higher up in the stands. It seems that the Cavaliers officials didn’t want someone right behind the bench who was wearing North Carolina colors. That doesn’t seem right to me.

Bad Sports, Good Sports appears every Monday.

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Alan Spoll

Alan Spoll is a software quality assurance director from the suburbs of Philadelphia where he lives with his wonderful wife and children. He has spent his entire life as a passionate fan of the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Penn State. Recent Phillies success aside, you will understand his natural negativity. Follow me on Twitter - @DocAlan02