LeBron clarifies post-Finals comments
After Game 6, LeBron had this to say about the people that were rooting against the Heat:
“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,” James said Sunday.
“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.”
To many, that sounded like LeBron was playing the “I’m richer/better than you” card, so at the end of the day, if you found any joy in the Heat’s struggles, you still have to go on with your day-to-day life while LeBron goes back to being a multi-millionaire. It was a clear shot at the “haters,” and it’s somewhat understandable that LeBron would want to lash out after all the criticism he has taken over the past couple of weeks.
On Tuesday, LeBron clarified his statements.
“Basically I was saying at the end of the day this season is over and — with all hatred — everyone else has to move on with their lives, good or bad. I do too,” James said.
“It wasn’t saying I’m superior or better than anyone else, any man or woman on this planet, I’m not. I would never ever look at myself bigger than anyone who watched our game. It may have come off wrong but that wasn’t my intent.”
Of course he thinks he’s better than the average American, but I’d suspect that, deep down, most professional athletes feel that way.
What LeBron needs to understand is that he brought most of this criticism on himself. Had he announced his decision to sign with the Heat in the same way Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh did, he wouldn’t have been under nearly as much scrutiny as he was this summer. We still hold “The Decision” against him because it was an ego trip that tore the heart out of the city of Cleveland on national television. He may have had good intentions, but those intentions don’t matter.
LeBron isn’t going to be able to move on until he accepts some responsibility for the hatred that is aimed his way. If he had come out and said that “The Decision” was a well-intentioned mistake and apologized to the city of Cleveland for the way he handled his announcement, it would go a long way in repairing his image.
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LeBron and his crew of flunkies are dumbshits for waiting three days to clarify his statement! Which one of those punks is responsible for his “image”? You’re doing it wrong!
I can see them sitting around on a couch playing Black Ops while the nerdy one is at a table reading all the op-eds. “Yo LeBron! This guy said you were a jerk for what you said!”
“But I dinnit mean it that way.”
“And this guy said you were a DB for what you said!”
“But I dinnit mean it that way.”
And so on, ad nauseum . . .
I don’t buy the clarification, I think he meant it as “I’m rich and my life is better than yours” and now he’s trying to walk that back because someone explained to him that it’s the little folk who buy things like tickets, shoes, and jerseys.
Having said that, his original statement didn’t even really bother me that much. Partly because he’s a 26 year old single kid who signed a Nike contract in high school and isn’t exactly in a position to know what the real world is actually like, and partly because he was probably right. I’m sure his life is easier than mine.
As you said though, he needs to understand that he’s not going to win anyone back to his side by pointing things like that out.
I agree. For both his image AND his overall game, he needs to acknowledge his own mistakes and shortcomings.
As a Cleveland fan, I really didn’t want him to win it his first year in Miami. Going forward I won’t root for him, but I don’t care as much. At least the world saw some of the flaws we saw up close in Cleveland.
I’m sure his retraction came in part from his handlers, but LeBron has to see how low he has sunk with his Finals performance. He will never live it down.
We’ll see if he has what it takes to overcome this and improve his game, his attitude and his big game jitters. Redemption is possible – just look at Dirk.