Lebron is Down with the Media

I don’t know how many of you have been loyal readers since the early days, so let me recount my brief history of missing out on Cavs (in the Lebron James era) games.

His rookie year, my 2nd in the radio industry, I was still paying my dues as a traffic reporter/news writer… meaning, if you’re smart, you don’t ask for too many days off. So both visits from King James went unattended by yours truly.

His sophomore year in the league, I made my way into sports broadcasting at the Fan, and thus, was paying my dues yet again. His first trip here… I was working. By the time his 2nd visit came around, I was seeing this girl (the only girl I ever went out with who appreciated basketball). Without delving into my personal relations too much, I can tell you that after a few short weeks we were already into a routine. Nice dinner, drinks, and perhaps a walk… A movie and then drinks… yadda yadda yadda… nothing exciting. So I’m getting a little bored, and not only is valentine’s day creeping up, but so is her birthday… The last thing I want to do is be with a girl I don’t want to be with on V-Day and on her birthday. It’s just not fair.

Then she goes and buys us a pair of tickets to go see Lebron and the Cavs for about a month and half down the road. Can you believe it?! What do I do??

I’ll tell you what I do… I break up with her, because I can’t deal with the guilt of going through all those occasions, knowing that I was with her only to see a basketball game.

So that’s in the past… more recently, as in, earlier this season… The day the Cavs come to town, I’m scheduled to cover the game… but that night’s sportscaster calls in sick. Meaning: no game for Zack.

(an excerpt from my November 11th entry: “I wasn’t pleased (that’s an understatement – I wanted to break stuff)…”)

So last night’s game rolls around… everything goes swimmingly. The game was as entertaining as it gets, with Damon Jones nailing a buzzer-beating, game-winning 3-pointer.

Cavaliers 98, Raptors 97

I knew he was going to get the shot. I don’t know if you could see it on television, but that D-Jones smirk (makes me want to grind my teeth down to the gums) out of the timeout was convincing enough to me. Anyway, that aside… I spoke to Cavs’ coach Mike Brown after the game… my favorite quote:

“[Lebron James] is a tremendous flipping basketball player.”

By the time I was done asking coach my questions, I went into the Cleveland locker room, and saw Lebron’s scrum was already underway. I wedged my way in, got a few clips, but didn’t ask any questions as I saw Jones’ scrum was just forming. So I run over there, with the intention of coming back to LBJ.

A few D-Jones clips later…

“I was going to live with it, whether I was the goat or the hero. I’m glad that I was the hero tonight.”

Lebron was all by himself. Now was my chance. I walk over…

“Hey Lebron… is it cool if I ask you a couple quick questions?” I ask.
“I’m down with my media,” he says.
“Sweet. Ok, so…”
“Man, I’m down with my media.”
“Alright, so what did you-”
“I told you… I’m down with my media.”

At this point, I’m clueless. If he’s so down, why won’t he let me get my question in. Then it hits me…

“I’m DONE with my media.”

Gotcha.

My head instantly sinks – at least my shoes are nice and polished – and I walk back to the post-game show to share my story.

I felt as let down as the entire Raptors team, when Mike James missed his easy assignment on Jones. I’m told Mike took full credit for the loss.
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Before the game, a story from the upcoming sports illustrated had a players’ poll about NBA coaches. Apparently they asked just under half of the leagues players which coach they thought was a) the best, and b) the worst.

While a player can not vote for his own coach, Sam Mitchell came dead last. (I tried to find the link online, but could not. However, I did find one to Charlie V’s website – www.cv31.com)

One of the writers from the Star addressed the issue, to which Sam responded:

“It’s not a concern of mine. First of all, if you ask the few players that have played for me, I’m sure they’ll beg to differ. [Laughs] How do you respond to that?? As long as my players, the guys that play for me are playing for me, I feel confident that they don’t feel that way… that the people above me don’t feel that way. I know the polls, when I played, I probably took as much time looking at it as I do any other poll. And I’ll leave it at that.”

I talked to Derrick Martin for his response to the poll (he had no idea what it was all about), but offered these remarks:

“The measure of a coach’s mark on a team is how a team continues to play through tough times. That ought to speak volumes right there in itself. We compete, we’re in every game… We’ve let a few games slip away at the end, but that’s because we’re a young team with growing pains. Other than that, we come out and compete every night, and that’s the only thing a coach can ask for on a consistent basis.”

I have to say, that’s the first time I’ve ever spoken to Derrick, other than exchanging a brief greeting, and he’s a very intelligent, well-spoken guy.

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I’ll recap the previous few games (none of which I attended) in brief:

Before the Raps’ home loss to the Cavs, they also lost on the road…

Cavaliers 106, Raptors 99

Chris Bosh was a perfect 10/10 at the free-throw line, until missing his last 6 at the stripe (2 of which could have tied it with just a couple of minutes left). Bosh finished with 28 points. Mike James had a Raptor-high 31. Mo Pete, who had 13 points, held Lebron to just 5/17 shooting (17 points). Eric Snow had season-highs with 14 points and 11 assists.

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The Raptors finally put an end to their 6-game slide, and for the first time in 7 games, held on to a 4th quarter lead against Boston.

Raptors 111, Celtics 105

Mo Pete led the Raps (for the 2nd straight game) with 27 points… Bosh had 24, James had 20. Charlie V was solid with 18 points, 8 boards, 3 blocks and 3 steals, while Bonner was huge off the bench, connecting on 5/6 3-pointers for 15 points.

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In Jersey, the Raptors were up 5 with 3 minutes to go… the Nets forced overtime and sealed it. The Raps committed 4 turnovers in the final frame alone.

Nets 105, Raptors 100 (OT)

Richard Jefferson (30 points, 8 boards, 5 assists) gave Bosh fits on the defensive end (6/17 from the field for 23 points – Bosh was 11/14 from the charity stripe). Vince Carter had 31 points, while Jason Kidd had his 72nd career triple double (5th of the season) with 14 points, 13 boards and 15 assists. Mo Pete had 25 points for Toronto.

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The Raptors host the Nuggets tomorrow night, Indiana on Sunday then head to Philly for Tuesday. We’ll probably speak next after Wednesday’s (think it’s gonna be ugly?) game against the Pistons.