Buzz Bissinger (author, blog-hater) is not happy to learn that LeBron James is the most disliked athlete in the country.

Why is he hated more than Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was accused of sexual assault and is considered a stone-cold jerk by most players in the National Football League? Why is he hated more than recently resigned Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel, who under the cloak of being a good Christian did nothing about his players breaking rules as long as his team won? Why is he hated more than Chris Webber, who pleaded guilty to criminal contempt amid a payoff scandal at the University of Michigan and whose conduct was instrumental in the Wolverines forfeiting 112 basketball games in the 1990s? (Ironically Webber, doing commentary for NBA TV, joyfully nailed James during the finals.)

Yes, we all know that James left Cleveland without grace or class. Yes, we know that the Heat, in some ridiculous version of a Las Vegas floor show, had the big three of James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh greeting Miami fans in a raucous pep rally as if they had already won the championship before the season had even started.

Yes, millions of fans, including myself, were upset by the arrogance and self-centeredness with which James handled it all. On the other hand, James wanted to go to the place where he thought he had the best chance of winning. Where should he have gone? The Golden State Warriors? Why stay in Cleveland?

Read the rest of the piece at The Daily Beast.

In an attempt to put the final nail in the coffin that is the 2010-11 NBA season, it’s a good time to look back on the 2011 Playoffs and try to make sense of it all.

Let’s start with…

DIRK’S LEGACY

Easily the biggest winner of these Playoffs, Dirk has shrugged off charges that he was soft and/or a choker by leading the Mavs on one of the most epic postseason runs in recent history. Firing up the NBA StatsCube, we’ll find that Dirk averaged 47.5 points per 36 minutes in the clutch (game within five points with under five minutes to play). Not only did he score a ton, but he did it efficiently, shooting 54% from the field, 97% from the free throw line and 60% (!!) from long range. Even in Game 6, after a miserable 1-for-12 first half, Nowitzki had the mental toughness to go out and score 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the final 7:22. He’s never going to win as many championships as Larry Bird, but dynasties are a rarity these days (which favors Bird, historically speaking), so now the Bird/Nowtizki comparisons are legit.

CUBAN

Yes, he’s irritating. Most billionaires are. He made his fortune during the internet bubble and had enough sense to get out when the getting was good. He parlayed that into an NBA team, and is definitely a loudmouth outspoken, but in an age when team owners don’t always show a commitment to winning, Cuban has been more than willing to spend in his chase for a ring and in collecting all these aging All-Stars, he finally found a combination with enough grit, determination and defense to put his franchise player in a position to close the deal. Love him or hate him, he’s entertaining, and in a matchup with the Heat, he was most definitely the lesser of two evils. (And give him credit, when interviewed after the Game 6 win, he was quick to defer the spotlight. Classy move.)

KIDD, MARION

Jason Kidd didn’t do much stat-wise in the Finals, and seemed to turn the ball over a lot, but he hit a huge three towards the end of Game 5 and played tough defense on LeBron and Wade for the entire series. After leading the Nets to back-to-back Finals in the early ’00s, he finally got another chance at a ring, and played an important role, even at 38-years-old.

The Mavs got a similar contribution from Shawn Marion, who many left for dead after stints in Miami and Toronto. He helped score when Dirk was getting his rest and played inspired defense on LeBron and Wade at different points in the series. Dallas would not have won the title without The Matrix, especially once Caron Butler went down during the season.

THE JET

Other than Dirk, I can’t see a bigger winner (legacy-wise) in these Finals than Jason Terry. He jumped from also-ran status to clutch Finals performer — one who most definitely backed up his smack talk. He outplayed LeBron down the stretch and didn’t miss a free throw in the clutch in the entire Playoffs. When we look back on these Playoffs a decade from now, we’ll remember Dirk, the Jet, and the Heat’s disappointing performance.

THE BIG THREE

There’s plenty of time for LeBron to redefine his legacy, but this was not a good start. He was mediocre to bad in the fourth quarter for most of the series, and it sure doesn’t seem like this leopard is going to change his spots after tweeting that God decided that it just wasn’t his time to win a title. Um, okay. That doesn’t sound like a guy who is going to hone his post game (like MJ or Kobe) or spend all summer with a shooting coach to make his jumper more consistent.

As for Wade, he doesn’t get off scot-free after fumbling away a chance to tie Game 5 and dribbling the ball off his foot late in Game 6, but he already has a ring, so his legacy has a higher floor than LeBron. And it’s not like the guy didn’t produce — he averaged 27-7-5 and shot 55% from the field in the Finals.

Lastly, let the record show that Chris Bosh played his best ball of the Finals when the chips were down. In the last three games, he averaged 21-8 on 55% shooting, and even hit the winning jumper in Game 3 after a rough shooting night. Bosh was something of a punchline during the season, but he came up big against the Bulls (23-8, 60% shooting) and did some damage in the Finals.

Where does Miami go from here? While some are arguing that Pat Riley should trade LeBron for Dwight Howard, this is certainly not the last we’ve seen of this trio. They made it to the Finals in their first try, and did it with a substandard supporting cast. I expect changes to be made, but I’d be shocked if any of the stars are moved.

Basketball fans will be talking about this series for years, as we’ve never seen anything like it. Superstars have had bad performances in the past, but have we ever seen anything like the LeBron James vanishing act? Those of us who watched him in Cleveland came to understand over the years that he lacked judgement, and after Game 5 last year against Boston, we learned that he could quit under pressure. Yet none of us were prepared for what we saw against the Mavs.

There are plenty of reactions to the debacle, but it’s really not a controversial subject. Everyone saw the same thing – an elite athlete who wilted under the pressure.

Naturally, Bill Simmons had quite a bit to say about it all. He points out that LeBron wasn’t the same after Wade bitched him out late in Game 3 for not being aggressive enough. In his blow by blow summary of the second half, this moment sticks out:

6:42: Just wanted to commemorate this moment: Miami down three, gets a rebound and gets the ball to LeBron on the right side of the key, with J.J. Barea defending him one-on-one … and LeBron turns and throws a pass 20 feet backwards to Wade at midcourt. A few seconds later, Miami gives it back to LeBron, who reluctantly backs Barea down to the low post … and bowls him over. Offensive foul. All hail the King!

(Note that’s too important to be a footnote: If that sequence alone isn’t enough to inspire LeBron to lock himself in a gym all summer until he emerges with a spin move, a jump hook, and a Jordan-eseque fallaway, then he’s the biggest waste of talent in NBA history. You know at the car wash when they offer the “everything” package? That’s what God gave LeBron. He’s threatening to waste it. In a nutshell, this is what makes us so angry about him. It’s not The Decision, or his lack of self-awareness, or the fact that he’s a front-runner … it’s that he’s blowing the “everything” car-wash package. You see an athlete get handed the “everything” package maybe only five times in your life.)

This might go down as his most embarrassing moment. If LeBron James can’t punish J.J. Barea in the post, then he’s become a joke.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Wetzel from Yahoo! Sports sums up the mood in Cleveland very well after watching the LeBron James meltdown in the Finals:

Late Sunday night, a crowd of Clevelanders gathered here to watch their onetime hero turned all-time traitor, and with each disinterested LeBron offensive possession, each failed LeBron chase down of Jason Terry, each embarrassing LeBron crunch-time turnover, the prevailing emotion was simple.

Laughter.

They weren’t hating LeBron here. They were laughing at him.

LeBron started it, of course, laughing at Cleveland nearly a year ago when he took himself to a Boys and Girls Club in Connecticut of all places to announce on national television that he was taking his talents to South Beach. That South Beach has about a million nightclubs and technically no basketball arena said it all.

So on Sunday, Cleveland laughed right back.

All over Flannery’s and places like it across Ohio, they cracked oft-told jokes. (“I asked LeBron for a dollar, he gave me 75 cents back. He doesn’t have a fourth quarter.”) They showed pictures on their cell phones mocking LeBron as a quitter. Bartenders rang bells and shouted things like, “Last call for LeBron.”

He’s right. I watched it and I was laughing away throughout the fourth quarter. We saw LeBron’s limitations under pressure, but everyone else around the country bought into LeBron’s excuses. His teammates weren’t good enough. They didn’t rise to the occasion. He couldn’t win in Cleveland.

Well, he couldn’t win with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh either. And he wilted. His performance was an embarrassment.

If you want to understand how people felt in Cleveland, read the entire article.

And as Wetzel said at the end of his column, “LeBron James had the right to leave. And Cleveland has the right to laugh.”

Gregg Doyel, CBSSports.com: It was a triple-double, if you’re into stats. But as LeBron James told us after Game 3, forget about the stats. Stats are for dummies. So let’s dig deeper than the 17 points, the 10 rebounds, the 10 assists, and let’s do what LeBron wants us to do. Let’s ask a better question. Hey, I have one: Anyone seen LeBron James? What happened to him? This James? The guy in these NBA Finals? Never seen him before. Never seen a LeBron James who refused to attack when someone like the shorter, slower, older Jason Kidd was guarding him. Never seen a LeBron who couldn’t make shots outside of 10 feet, or who wouldn’t get close enough to Jason Terry to stop him from shooting — and making — a 3-pointer with 33 seconds left on a night that Terry was locked in from long distance. This guy isn’t doing anything LeBron James did in the playoff series against Boston or Chicago, but the more I think about it, it’s him — the headband gives him away. He wears it at a tilt, but not because he’s sweating. Because he’s balding. The headband hides his receding hairline. And nothing can hide his receding game. The shrinkage continued in Game 5, shrinkage that started in Game 1 and Game 2, was mentioned after Game 3, and was acknowledged by most everyone else after Game 4. The shrinkage was so bad in Game 4 — James was so bad — that these 2011 NBA Finals stopped being about Miami and Dallas. Days ago the typical white noise generated by a championship series had been drowned out by the shrieking about LeBron.

Randy Galloway, Star-Telegram: It was another stretch run that seemed Hollywood scripted, which has become the norm in this series, and speaking of Hollywood, there was even bad acting by one of the NBA’s most noted actors, Dwyane Wade. His hip hurt. This is the same guy who blew off Dirk Nowitzki’s illness of Game 4 with “he’s a great player without all the dramatics.” What’s this? The drama queen of the league scoffing at someone else’s misfortune? Right back at ya, D-Wade. And where was your game when you were needed? With the Mavericks now up 3-2, the Heat will have to use home court, starting Sunday night in Miami, to rescue their egos and their reputations by winning twice.

Greg Stoda, Palm Beach Post: Before the game, the Heat insisted that it likes – wants? – the NBA Finals this way. It insisted that the challenge Dallas is providing makes more meaningful the emotional, psychological and physical tests Miami endured throughout the regular season and in earlier playoff rounds. Better, figured Wade, that adversity present itself. “That’s what we run on,” Wade said. “It wouldn’t feel right if it was (easy). “All the things we went through all year? If we had come out and won (4-0)? Really? All that for that? “This is what this team is used to. I always look forward to how we’re going to respond.” My guess is that there’s more rationalization than whole truth in those words, and the Heat is using whatever’s necessary to get through these worrisome nights. But it’s difficult to imagine Wade ever thinking that James would be at the root of Miami’s problems.

Up by three with 3:38 to play, the Heat were in position to steal Game 5, but the Mavs once again went on a late-game run, outscoring the Heat 15-3 over the final 18 possessions to take a 3-2 series lead.

Dirk Nowitzki led the way for the Mavs with 29 points and six boards, but the momentum swung on two big three pointers by Jason Kidd and Jason Terry; Terry hit his shot with 0:33 to play from about 26-feet with LeBron in his face. “The Jet” finished with 21 points, six assists and four rebounds. J.J. Barea (17 points, five assists) was terrific in the second half even though he eventually gave way to Terry, who closed the game.

All eyes were on LeBron James and while he registered a triple-double (17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists), he was awfully quiet in the fourth quarter (two points, 1-3 shooting), which will only increase the scrutiny that he’ll be under for the rest of the series. He did have four assists in the final quarter, but none were in the final six minutes. The Heat did a nice job of posting LeBron up in the first half, but didn’t go to it much in the final two quarters.

Dwyane Wade gutted out a hip injury for 23 points and eight assists, and the Heat really passed the ball well in the fourth quarter until the Mavs were able to tighten the screws. Chris Bosh had 19 points and 10 rebounds, but turned the ball over four times and missed two crucial free throws with less than four minutes to play.

The series moves back to Miami where the Heat face two elimination games to keep their title hopes alive. The momentum is with the Mavs, so their best chance to close out the series will be Game 6.

Over the last few days, much has been written about LeBron James and his late-game performances in Game 3 and in Game 4. People say he has been too passive, disinterested, or that he doesn’t have the mental makeup to succeed in big moments.

I think the issue is with his involvement in the offense. In Game 2, LeBron controlled the ball late and wasn’t able to generate good shots. The Mavs won. In Game 3, Miami gave the ball to Dwyane Wade and let him do his thing. The Heat won. So in Game 4, they did the same thing, only Dallas was ready for it and Wade wasn’t nearly as productive down the stretch. The Heat lost. Criticism rained down on LeBron for his 3-of-11 shooting and his eight points.

But think about it — LeBron has been used to handling the ball on every possession for the last seven years. Suddenly, he’s spotting up on the wing watching Wade run a pick-and-roll with Chris Bosh and waiting for a pass that’s probably never going to come.

He’s not involved, and when he is involved, he’s running a version of Mike Brown’s drain-the-clock-and-force-a-bad-shot offense from his days in Cleveland. Or maybe Mike Brown is an offensive genius and LeBron refused to run his brilliant plays, who knows.

Regardless of the cause, here’s the solution: Go post, young man.

For years, I have been harping on LeBron for his lack of a post game. He’s a 6-8, strong-as-an-ox 250 lb small forward with terrific vision and passing skills and he refuses to go down to the block. Granted, he has posted up a little bit since arriving in Miami, but I haven’t seen it much (if at all) against the Mavs when he’s being guarded by the likes of Jason Kidd (6-4, 210 lbs) and Jason Terry (6-2, 180 lbs). LeBron’s unwillingness to post (or Spoelstra’s play-calling) is the reason the Mavs are able to get away with those matchups. So LeBron stands on the perimeter, covered by a guard who is used to covering people on the perimeter. How does this make sense?

As regular readers know, I played for (current Wisconsin coach) Bo Ryan while at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and his #1 offensive priority was to get the ball in the post. He preached that throwing the ball inside led to better quality shots and more free throws, leading to more efficient offense. And he was right. As the years went on, he became more willing to let knockdown three-point shooters do their thing, but the Heat don’t have many of those, so it’s not really relevant. (Why am I mentioning it? Because I was a knockdown three-point shooter who wasn’t allowed to do his thing. Grrr.)

Anyway, Spoelstra and LeBron could take a page from Bo’s book and run the offense through LeBron in the post. If he has a smaller guy on him, the Mavs would be forced to double-team or LeBron would be able to score at will (assuming he has any post moves, which is a big assumption). If the put Marion on him, he could setup in the mid-post, catch the ball and go.

But this strategy is predicated on the notion that LeBron and Co. have actually practiced this type of offense and it’s pretty clear that they haven’t, not enough to utilize it in the Finals, anyway.

The Heat may very well go on to win the Finals doing what they’re doing. If they do, I wouldn’t expect LeBron to suddenly become a serious post player. If they lose, perhaps he’ll be motivated enough to improve his game in the same way that Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant did mid-career. Both players realized that they needed a way to punish teams for covering them with smaller defenders, and both players became excellent shooters/scorers in the post. LeBron would be able to add the extra dimension of passing out of the post as teams cheat or double.

A few years ago, LeBron said that playing on the block was “boring.” There’s still time for this leopard to change his spots, but perhaps it would take another Finals loss to finally convince LeBron to take his talents to the post.

If you haven’t heard already, Bill Simmons and ESPN have launched a new website at Grantland.com. It will feature longer form articles from Simmons along with other writers, including notable scribes like Malcolm Gladwell.

There’s never a shortage of topics for someone as prolific as Simmons, but he must have been thrilled to kick off his new site immediately following the bizarre Game 4 performance by LeBron James. His first column is classic Simmons, as he analyzes the LeBron situation from every possible angle, starting with The Decision:

Fact: The Decision special drew a better rating than the 2008 Finals, became an iconic moment, turned Jim Gray into a punching bag, gave bloggers a month of free shots at ESPN and turned “Taking my talents to South Beach” into a jack-of-all-trades phrase that meant you were about to leave your job, take a dump or pleasure yourself.

I wonder how long he had that line in his pocket . . .

Anyways, he gives his overall assessment of LeBron James, and I agree with most of it:

a. I think he’s one of the greatest athletes who ever lived. I will never forget watching him in person with a full head of steam, blowing through opponents like a Pop Warner running back who’s 30 pounds heavier and three seconds faster than everyone else. I am glad he passed through my life. I will tell my grandkids that I saw him play.

b. From game to game, I think the ceiling for his performance surpasses any other basketball player ever except for Wilt and Jordan.

c. As a basketball junkie, I will never totally forgive him for spending his first eight years in the NBA without ever learning a single post-up move. That weapon would make him immortal. He doesn’t care. It’s maddening.

d. In pressure moments, he comes and goes … and when it goes, it’s gone. He starts throwing hot-potato passes, stops driving to the basket, shies away from open 3s, stands in the corner, hides as much as someone that gifted can hide on a basketball court. It started happening in Game 3, then fully manifested itself in Game 4′s stunning collapse, when he wouldn’t even consider beating DeShawn Stevenson off the dribble. Afterward, one of my closest basketball friends — someone who has been defending LeBron’s ceiling for years — finally threw up his hands and gave up. “It’s over,” he said. “Jordan never would have done THAT.” (Footnote: That’s the third time LeBron opened the door for someone to say that. The first: Game 5 of the Boston series. The second: choosing to play with Wade.)

The only part of the above I disagree with is the following: “In pressure moments, he comes and goes … and when it goes, it’s gone.” This implies that he only has epic meltdowns, but this just isn’t true. Everyone will remember Game 5 last year against Boston and Game 4 against the Mavs, but there have been countless time where LeBron has had serious lapses of judgement in critical moments. It usually involves getting careless and tossing up a senseless three at times when the team desperately needs a bucket without even trying to get into the offense, let alone setting up for a post-up move or other high-percentage shot. As a Cavs fan I saw this repeatedly, to the point where it became hard to root for the guy. Go back and watch the Cavs-Orlando series from 2009. People remember LeBron’s big three to win Game 2, but that was negated by numerous brain farts throughout the series.

I have no idea what LeBron will do tonight. As Simmons points out, he’s capable of having a legendary game, but he’s also capable of wilting under pressure. Anything is possible, and that’s why most fans can’t wait to watch . . .

Jason Whitlock heaps praise on on Rick Carlisle for his coaching in Game 4:

He did crazy (stuff). He inserted J.J. Barea into the starting lineup. Barea has been a nightmare in the Finals. He can’t finish at the rim. He can’t knock down open perimeter shots. He left his game in the Western Conference playoffs.

Carlisle went with Barea to change his rotation and rest Shawn Marion. With Barea in the lineup, DeShawn Stevenson would come off the bench and defend Wade or LeBron James.

Carlisle also tied Peja Stojakovic to the bench. Peja left his shot in Los Angeles. The few minutes Carlisle would have wasted on Peja, he gave to Brian Cardinal. Well, at least “The Custodian” didn’t turn the ball over and escort a Heat offensive player to the rim.

The Barea and Cardinal moves didn’t really pan out. That’s fine. Down 2-1 and with Dirk sick, a coach has to try something.

And Carlisle did find minutes for Stevenson. In Dallas’ two victories, Stevenson has played a combined 48 minutes. In Dallas’ two losses, Stevenson has played 29 minutes. Stevenson played 26 minutes Tuesday. He knocked down three 3-pointers. He played solid defense on James and Wade.

Where Carlisle really made his mark Tuesday was in the fourth quarter, when he mixed in some zone defense. The Heat scored only 14 points in the final 12 minutes. The zone slowed Wade’s penetration, and it masked Nowitzki’s exhaustion.

Carlisle coached a masterpiece.

Carlisle definitely deserves some credit as Dallas came up big last night. But this is a crafty, veteran team that never gives up, and that, along with LeBron’s Houdini act, had just as much to do with the outcome.

It was funny listening to the pregame show. With the way Mike Wilbon and Jon Barry were talking, you’d think that the Mavs were blown out of Game 2 and were facing elimination. Now, a few hours later, the series is tied and the Mavs will have a chance to take a 3-2 lead at home on Thursday. That would put the Heat the position of having to win both Game 6 and Game 7, which is no easy feat, even at home.

The Mavs have showed resilience throughout the Playoffs, and on a night when their shots weren’t falling, they really turned up the defense in the fourth quarter. Miami scored just five points in the final seven minutes. Dirk Nowitzki, who was battling a fever, struggled to 21 points on 6-of-19 shooting, but Jason Terry, Shawn Marion and Tyson Chandler picked up the slack, combining for 46 points in the win.

Get ready for LeBron “shrinkage” overload, as the Heat forward went just 3-for-11 from the field for eight points. He also had eight rebounds and seven assists, but that will largely go unnoticed given the criticism he has taken for his lack of assertiveness in the clutch. The Heat are letting Dwyane Wade handle the ball down the stretch and despite his 32 points on the night, he wasn’t effective in the final seven minutes. For his part, Chris Bosh was very solid with 24 points and six rebounds.

The X-factor tonight was Chandler. He nine offensive rebounds (16 total), including three in the final 3:16 to give the Mavs extra possessions, which allowed Dallas to drain the clock further when they finally got the lead.