Once again, the never-ending noise machine that surrounds LeBron James has whirred to life, spouting out one pompous comment after another in the wake of James’ body betraying him in the unforgiving heat and humidity that permeated San Antonio’s AT&T Center after the air conditioning failed Thursday night during Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
As James twice tried to play through cramps — first walking to the bench and asking out of the game, the second time having to be carried off the floor after his legs shut down — the comments came flooding in about how mentally and physically weak the game’s best player is.
“How did everybody else on the court do it? Same conditions for everyone.”
“Soccer players do it for 90 minutes without subs.”
“Professional athletes should be hydrated and able to play. Football players run in this heat for hours.”
It’s clear that winning a couple of championships and firmly planting himself among the top 10 players in the history of the sport has done nothing to diminish the nonsense that’s surrounded James since he made the ill-fated choice to announce he would be signing with the Heat in a made-for-TV special called “The Decision.”
Ever since that day in early July 2010, a large segment of the population has hated everything about James and turns gleeful when he succumbs to an opponent or an injury.
But you just had to look at James’ face as he sat on the bench to see how desperately he wanted to be on the floor as the Spurs outclassed the Heat during the final few minutes of Game 1 en route to a 110-95 victory amid the sweltering 90-degree temperatures inside the arena.
The Spurs finished the game on a 16-3 run after James drove to the hoop to cut the Heat’s deficit to 94-92 with 4:09 remaining before limping back to the locker room and getting fluids.
For critics who think James wasn’t tough enough to be out there, here’s a thought: What good would it do him to sit on the bench? After spending the past eight months working every day to reach the NBA Finals, with the opening game of the series hanging in the balance, the last place James wanted to be was crouching on the sideline, watching San Antonio go up 1-0 in this best-of-seven series.
“Sitting on the sideline, you know, if I’m not in foul trouble, is not good for us, and not good for me,” James said.
That’s the only true statement to come out of this. The Heat have no chance of beating the Spurs if they don’t have James operating at full capacity. People who care about good basketball must hope both teams are as close to fully healthy as possible for what should be a terrific rematch between the two best teams in the league.
But even that feels like it won’t save us from the incessant noise that will unnecessarily surround this series over the next three days, as the world’s greatest player will have to hear about how he should’ve kept his body from failing him.
Why Flip chose Flip
In the latest dose of offseason intrigue for the Timberwolves, team president Flip Saunders announced this week he’s going to return to the bench next season to replace Rick Adelman.
Saunders was the coach of the team the last time it reached the playoffs in 2004, when Kevin Garnett was the star and the Wolves reached the Western Conference Finals. He has been rumored to be a candidate to replace Adelman, who announced his retirement after the season.
The two big questions facing Saunders now are whether this appointment will change Kevin Love’s likely exit from Minneapolis and how long he’ll be staying in the job. It still seems more likely that Love will leave the franchise at some point in the next year. The most advantageous time would be in a draft night trade later this month, but it remains to be seen if the Timberwolves are ready to make such a dramatic move.
Saunders’ long-term status will be an intriguing thing to follow. Reports throughout the search process said Saunders tried to persuade Tom Izzo and Fred Hoiberg, among others, to replace Adelman, only to be rebuffed.
The lack of clarity surrounding the franchise — specifically around Love’s future — makes the job unattractive to potential candidates, which is why Saunders coming down to the bench, even for a short time, makes some sense. It’s unclear how long Saunders is willing to stay there, though, and what will happen when he chooses to reopen the search for a coach.