Friday, May 14, 2010

Lebron showed us why he'll never be like Mike



First off, the Celtics victory over the Cavs was no fluke. They are a better team than the Cavs top to bottom and dominated the series in pretty much every phase. The media and fans are coming down on Lebron pretty hard and for good reason.  It's not so much that the Cavs lost the series, because like I said the Celtics are a better team when they are playing at their best. Rather, it's HOW they lost the series, or more specifically, what Lebron showed in defeat.

Lebron James is a truly remarkable player that eventually will win a championship or two. However, in my opinion he will never be Michael Jordan or Larry Bird or any of the truly great ones.  The reason for this is simple; he lacks a killer instinct. Every great player in every sport has had an insane drive to win everything. Larry Bird walked into the locker room before the 1986 Three Point shootout and asked who would be finishing second. Jordan would turn everything into competitions from board games to black jack. These guys hated to lose more than they loved to win. Lebron seems content with just making a lot of money.

Also, Lebron typifies the modern day coddled athlete. Larry Bird played injured half his career. He could barely bend down after games yet still played his heart out and sacrificed his body diving for loose balls. We all know MJ had the flu so bad he was practically throwing up on the sidelines during Game 5 of the 1997 Finals. Yet he still willed his team to victory. Lebron would've been at home getting a foot rub probably. All in all, players these days just aren't as tough, and Lebron is the poster child for it.