Lebron in the Celtics huddle

[MattG12]

I think LeBron is the favorite player in the NBA among all of the refs... but when they are forced to call a foul on him (once a month?), he cries for the rest of the game.

Things that are called on other players are not called on LeBron, he gets away with swearing at the refs (As we saw today), and yelling, and stomping around having temper tantrums.

I don't see enough Cleveland games to be sure you're right, but I'll assume you're being accurate.

However, the Celtics are loathed around the league (by players and presumably refs) for exactly the behavior you attribute to Lebron.

Apparently so is Chris Paul, if the Player X column on espn is to be believed.

Well... I am extremely biased, but from my perspective, the Celtics should be constantly complaining because they're constantly being screwed by the refs. LeBron complains if he gets called for traveling after he takes 8 steps.

[FallGuy]

I think LeBron is the favorite player in the NBA among all of the refs... but when they are forced to call a foul on him (once a month?), he cries for the rest of the game.

Things that are called on other players are not called on LeBron, he gets away with swearing at the refs (As we saw today), and yelling, and stomping around having temper tantrums.

I don't see enough Cleveland games to be sure you're right, but I'll assume you're being accurate.

However, the Celtics are loathed around the league (by players and presumably refs) for exactly the behavior you attribute to Lebron.

Apparently so is Chris Paul, if the Player X column on espn is to be believed.

Well... I am extremely biased, but from my perspective, the Celtics should be constantly complaining because they're constantly being screwed by the refs. LeBron complains if he gets called for traveling after he takes 8 steps.

That's the thing. EVERY team's fans think their team is being screwed.

A lot of people would tell you that KG gets away with multiple illegal screens every game.  They'd be right.

[twinbree]

how about a technical for that, Lebron nearly instigates a fight and nothing

oh wait, he already had a technical and he isn't allowed to be kicked out of a game...

I'm sorry, but a guy who plays as hard as he does to not have a personal foul is ridiculous, when he threw a temper tantrum that Sheed would be envious of he finally gets a tech...and I think the ref cowered wondering if he'd have a job next year after giving it

This. I'm sure he could have climbed into the stands and started an Artest-type brawl and not gotten a 2nd tech. Really someone so athletically gifted and bigger than probably half the PFs and Cs in the league should not be coddled by the refs. It's the Scals of the league that need the preferential treatment.

[get_banners]

i do lke what james said after the game:

James was asked where the bad blood all came from.

"It comes from a tough, seven-game series,'' James said, referring to the Celtics' outlasting the Cavs in the 2008 conference semifinals, with neither team losing at home. "It comes from them wanting to be really great, them winning a championship, us wanting to win a championship. It comes from us knowing that we have to go through them and them knowing that they have to go through us.

"[It comes from] the regular-season battles we have had between me and Paul. [It comes from] the competition and that's what's good about this game. I think the game has lost a little bit of that over the years, the talking, teams not liking each other. That's the same thing I figured out last year when I walked off the court in Orlando [after losing Game 6 and the conference finals to the Magic]. People were mad I didn't shake hands. Why should I be happy? I'm not happy. I'm disgusted that we lost. I move onto the next season. That's what this game has lost. It's lost what it had in the '80s and '90s, when teams just didn't like each other."

And that is where the Cavs and Celtics find themselves these days.

"I guess it comes from us beating them in Game 7," Rivers said, referencing the same series as James. "Both teams are talkers. Cleveland does a lot of stuff."

I usually like to hate on Lebron but the speech earns my respect.  That seems like an honest answer with an intelligent comparison.  It also shows me that no matter how much the Celtics players are on a funk, both teams get up and play with high intensity when playing against each other.

Yeah, I like how he echoes the days of aggressive rivalries from years past. More of that in today's NBA please.

Yea for once I can say that I actually agree with LBJ about the game years and years ago, where teams hated their opponents, which resulted in an epic game, every time because all they wanted to do was beat each other at the game of basketball. The passion has gone away because now its superstardom and money and media, rather than rivalry, REAL rivalry, AUTHENTIC rivalry. Even the Lakers/Celtics rivalry has gotten media hyped and died down because of money and media.

I love that LBJ sees that its missing, and im happy that he's trying to bring it back and put it into why he plays us so hard. And hates us so much.

of course, if we're really going back to the way the game was played in the 80's, lebron would have gotten laid out many times by now. he's insanely good, but man, he gets away with murder, and then whines about the 1-2 fouls he actually gets called on him every game. mchale would have rambis'd him real quick.

[tenn_smoothie]

Lebron still hasn't won a [dang] thing in this league ......... and i will consider him flawed until he does, especially with the team they have put around him this year combined with the decline of the Celtics and Lakers.

his decision to jack that 28' three-ball for the win instead of going to the basket with the ball might just be the real Lebron.

[twinbree]

I just saw the video and find the whole thing silly. I can't imagine TA could have said anything so hurtful that he of the dancing on the sidelines and trying to psych people out between FTs could take offense at. Besides TA walked away and he should have too. Needless drama IMO. I guess now that DeShawn Stevenson moved to the WC Lebron needs to start another useless feud with a much inferior player in the East to fill the void  

[guava_wrench]

I think LeBron is the favorite player in the NBA among all of the refs... but when they are forced to call a foul on him (once a month?), he cries for the rest of the game.

Things that are called on other players are not called on LeBron, he gets away with swearing at the refs (As we saw today), and yelling, and stomping around having temper tantrums.

I don't see enough Cleveland games to be sure you're right, but I'll assume you're being accurate.

However, the Celtics are loathed around the league (by players and presumably refs) for exactly the behavior you attribute to Lebron.

Apparently so is Chris Paul, if the Player X column on espn is to be believed.

Well... I am extremely biased, but from my perspective, the Celtics should be constantly complaining because they're constantly being screwed by the refs. LeBron complains if he gets called for traveling after he takes 8 steps.

That's the thing. EVERY team's fans think their team is being screwed.

A lot of people would tell you that KG gets away with multiple illegal screens every game.  They'd be right.

Sadly, you mention these things in vain.

[LB3533]

I just saw the video and find the whole thing silly. I can't imagine TA could have said anything so hurtful that he of the dancing on the sidelines and trying to psych people out between FTs could take offense at. Besides TA walked away and he should have too. Needless drama IMO. I guess now that DeShawn Stevenson moved to the WC Lebron needs to start another useless feud with a much inferior player in the East to fill the void 

It seemed to me that TA was doing the "choke" gesture with his hands on his own throat...inferring to LJ that James had been choking at he line all 4th quarter and would continue to choke at the line if he had drove instead of taking that transition 3 pointer.

If I was LJ I would be upset too that this "bench warmer" giving me the choke gesture.

[freshinthehouse]

That's the thing. EVERY team's fans think their team is being screwed.

A lot of people would tell you that KG gets away with multiple illegal screens every game.  They'd be right.

Thank you.  One of the things that drives me nuts about trying to talk basketball on message boards is all the whining about the refs.

Like you said, ask any NBA fan that doesn't have a rooting interest in the Celtics what teams get the most leeway from refs, and the C's would be high on the list.  Illegal picks from KG and Perk, KG getting away with murder on D, Pierce getting calls whenever he drives, etc.  

[cdif911]

better than Lebron in our huddle was Mo Williams walking through our cheerleaders while they did a routine, classic

[Bankshot]

Anyone know why Lebron was wearing a green headband while playing the Celtics?  I never saw him wear a green one, and one that doesn't match his uniform.  Was he trying to beat the Celtics while wearing Celtic green?

[Fafnir]

Anyone know why Lebron was wearing a green headband while playing the Celtics?  I never saw him wear a green one, and one that doesn't match his uniform.  Was he trying to beat the Celtics while wearing Celtic green?

It's green week, as in the enviroment, for the NBA. So everyone was wearing some green.

[kozlodoev]

I am a Celtics fan, but I also acknowledge that Lebron James is far and away the best player in the NBA. I guess I don't see the need to call him "the Queen," but different strokes for different folks.

I don't think this has anything to do with his playing abilities, more with the fact that he whines after every call, despite the fact that he's barely ever called for fouls.

[celticinorlando]

here is the thing with the cavs. they taunt (taking pictures....flexing...posing...throwing up hand signals....talking trash) but when you give it right back to them they think they have been wronged. EX. the orlando series last year. the cavs players were so confident they would pummel the magic that it was liked they were owed. then when they got beat...LBJ storms off the court like a baby.

nobody is questioning the fact james is great. but his sense of entitlement is incredible. if he misses a shot..he thinks he got fouled to miss. in his mind he never travels...and to go through a 45 minute span of playing time and get ZERO fouls called on him shows me the refs give him the benefit of the doubt most games. and what has he won?

[kozlodoev]

Speaking about entitlement, here's the latest:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AriSYpBOy2H.vmxNV6Wu8o68vLYF?slug=mc-lebronworlds040410