Just a few months ago, LeBron James was the king of the world. He was awarded the NBA’s coveted MVP Award; his Cavalier team had the best record in the league, and was destined for a championship. NBA fans around the world were infatuated with the possibility of a Kobe vs. LeBron showdown in the NBA Finals and with a push by Nike’s advertisement team, this was LeBron’s year for the taking.
Everyone was ready to become a “witness.”
But all good things must come to an end, and for King James they came to an abrupt halt.
LeBron’s downward spiral began when his Cavs’ were embarrassed and outplayed by the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals, in which James walked off the court without shaking hands with his opponents. This act drew him a lot of criticism as a sore loser, and having bad sportsmanship. He also ducked the post game interviews, which kind of looked like he was running away from defeat.
LeBron’s image took a big hit in the eyes of many.
Then, last week’s story of LeBron being dunked on by college player, Jordan Crawford, at LeBron’s Skills Academy Camp, made things worse. The now legendary story claims that Crawford’s dunk on James was caught on tape, but feeling the embarrassment, LeBron told Nike reps to confiscate the video never to be seen by the public eye. Since then, the scandal has been comically called “Tape-Gate”.
I personally like LeBron James, but right now he looks like a big baby who can never be upstaged by anyone. Not shaking hands, for me, is understandable; but asking Nike to conceal tapes to avoid embarrassment is just too much. I know LeBron isn’t used to being on the receiving end of a dunk, but hey, it happens to everyone sooner or later.
So what do you think? Is LeBron James a sore loser?
