SAVE IT!

I know we’re all taught as Knick fans to worship at the feet of King LeBron and made to think that nothing and no one is better than the young Anchor from Akron (corny but really at this point you can call him Boobie and his rep wouldn’t take a hit), but let’s call a spade a spade.

When Lebron walked off the court without shaking hands with his good buddy Carmello after losing a tough game in which the winning shot was made while Lebron was defending him, I’m sure Lebron apologists pointed to his fierce competitive nature as reason enough to bypass any sportsmanship responsibilities athletes of his stature may have.

Let’s face it, I don’t care if Delonte West didn’t shake Carmello’s hand, didn’t care where Big Z was or care THAT much about JJ Hickson’s feelings on not being traded at the deadline like many predicted he would for Amar’e Stoudemire.

But everyone cares about Lebron. From New York to Zimbabwe, he’s being watched and monitored and studied. Forget fishbowl existence, he’s an animal in a zoo. His life has been that way since he was in the seventh grade so none of this coverage over even the minute details of his life should be surprising.

So it shouldn’t surprise him that he’s getting negative feedback over it. He’s, if not the best, in the very limited spaced discussion with the best, he’s also the most hyped athlete ever. Take that sentence for what it is.

As the most hyped up athlete our media has ever had the pleasure of prematurely crowning, we want to see him live up to everything we envision of him. To break Bill Russell’s record for championships, to score 100 points in a game, and to average a triple double every year. All those records are still in play for Bron, and I suppose that its all a waiting game.

But here’s the thing: how are we supposed to expect Lebron to be this really great teammate, model citizen, and channel all his rage for 48 minutes and sometimes more and ask him to switch it off? We’re asking too much from a human being.

I’m not poo pooing his status. I’m not even going to pretend like I know what its like to be Lebron. But that’s just childish what he did to Melo last night.

In the words of Denny Green, “if you wanna crown then crown his ass!”. But hold him to equally high standards. This isn’t even that difficult.

The benefit of being a Michael Jordan, or Peyton Manning is that they don’t play by normal rules. They are supposed to come through in clutch situations, and when they don’t, there’s always someone else there to take the fall.

That wasn’t Peyton’s fault on that interception at the Super Bowl, it was Reggie Wayne’s because he seemed hesitant coming out of his break.

That’s not Lebron’s fault that his team didn’t win or that he slipped coming out of his break, his teammates didn’t support him enough and besides, the ref blew that foul call.

Its interesting how we approach the elite in the game on simple issues like sportsmanship. The flip side is when athletes cheat on their wives like Tiger Woods and golfers he routinely beat come out of the woodwork and ask for apologies for the “gentlemanly” game of golf.

Let me repeat, I don’t agree with Tiger’s decision to apologize on his own terms today, but only because I don’t know why he needs to apologize to anyone BUT his wife. He did this to her, not anyone sitting in that room.

But the standards should be the same. We as a public shouldn’t let athletes on an elite level get away with childish behavior when we expect everyone on the team to be acting a certain way. If this happened in reverse and Carmello walked off the court, he would be labeled a thug and maybe worse.

Why’s that you ask? Well there’s precedent for this: think MJ and Isiah. The long running fued took a turn for the worse when Isiah famously staged the walk out when the Bulls finally beat the Pistons and Isiah, who many consider to be the greatest PG ever, was shunned leading to his exclusion from the 92 Dream Team. One was a bigger star than the other. Its as simple as that. Jordan had star power over Zeke.

We have built up Lebron in our minds as this warrior and champion. We can’t imagine him not winning a title or breaking records. What we should do is let the man win first before we give him his just due.

Until then, let’s call it like we see it. If he’s a sore loser, that’s what he is. Save me your excuses.