duncan228
04-04-2009, 11:48 PM
Oddball LeBron: How it still works (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Oddball_LeBron_How_it_still_works.html)
Buck Harvey
CLEVELAND — They jump out on shooters. And when they strain to get their hands up, and the shot still goes in, they have a name for that.
Oddball sandwich.
So they will be watching film, sometimes even in the playoffs, and one of LeBron James' teammates will suffer an oddball sandwich. Then LeBron will smack his lips loudly and laugh.
“With lettuce and tomato,” he will chortle.
That's one contrast to how he runs his team compared to how Tim Duncan runs his.
Ask Drew Gooden.
He knows other contrasts.
For the record, Gooden wasn't asked. He is not the one who revealed the existence of any sandwich, nor is he the source of what follows.
That should be clear. Because there was a time when Gooden was the source.
When Gooden played with LeBron, they got along well enough. Gooden helped LeBron, and he had one game in the 2007 run to the Finals that was not unlike Friday night in Indianapolis when he scored 17 points.
Then, in a playoff game against the Wizards, he made six consecutive shots. Gooden smiled and wiggled his fingers in front of his face.
“Let it rain!” he yelled.
The weather, instead, called for trade winds. The next season Gooden would be dealt for Ben Wallace.
Sometime after that, according to the Washington Post, Gooden passed along what LeBron had been saying about others. Specifically, Gooden told a good friend, Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson, that LeBron didn't think much of him.
What followed was sometimes childish and sometimes funny. Stevenson announced LeBron was “overrated,” and LeBron responded with pop-culture smack.
LeBron said talking about Stevenson was “almost like Jay-Z saying something bad about Soulja Boy.”
Stevenson reacted as only he could. He got tickets for Soulja Boy to sit courtside.
LeBron responded by playing a song at a party he hosted; Jay-Z had mixed a tape that ripped on Stevenson.
All of this occurred during the playoffs.
Even Stevenson thought the rivalry had gone too far, and there are signs it's still going on. Gooden and LeBron crossed paths earlier this season, and they made sure to look the other way.
LeBron and Larry Hughes also clashed, and one former teammate said it was about silly things, such as who was invited to which party. Perhaps not coincidentally, Hughes was traded in the same deal that included Gooden.
If those who don't get along with LeBron are traded, then that's another contrast. Duncan has seen many of his best friends dealt, from Malik Rose to Antonio Daniels.
Again, that's the essence of Duncan's locker room. No one laughs during film sessions, and parties aren't turf wars. The playoffs, especially, are a time to be professional.
The Spurs operate in a different world, as Roger Mason Jr. knows. He played for the Wizards last season.
So when asked this season if Soulja Boy might be part of the Spurs' playoffs, he laughed. “That's the last thing you'll see down here.”
But if some immaturity is part of LeBron, so is success. The Cavaliers are coming off a couple of losses, including one to the Wizards, but they have also carved out the league's best record.
It's not that LeBron wants to be worshipped. The one who talked about LeBron for this story likes him.
LeBron just wants his guys. He wants players who buy into his energy and how he wants to act. He wants players who follow his direction, and, to him, the extraneous stuff does matter.
So he will play around during the pregame today, and he might glare at Gooden.
But if LeBron wins?
How oddball is it?
Buck Harvey
CLEVELAND — They jump out on shooters. And when they strain to get their hands up, and the shot still goes in, they have a name for that.
Oddball sandwich.
So they will be watching film, sometimes even in the playoffs, and one of LeBron James' teammates will suffer an oddball sandwich. Then LeBron will smack his lips loudly and laugh.
“With lettuce and tomato,” he will chortle.
That's one contrast to how he runs his team compared to how Tim Duncan runs his.
Ask Drew Gooden.
He knows other contrasts.
For the record, Gooden wasn't asked. He is not the one who revealed the existence of any sandwich, nor is he the source of what follows.
That should be clear. Because there was a time when Gooden was the source.
When Gooden played with LeBron, they got along well enough. Gooden helped LeBron, and he had one game in the 2007 run to the Finals that was not unlike Friday night in Indianapolis when he scored 17 points.
Then, in a playoff game against the Wizards, he made six consecutive shots. Gooden smiled and wiggled his fingers in front of his face.
“Let it rain!” he yelled.
The weather, instead, called for trade winds. The next season Gooden would be dealt for Ben Wallace.
Sometime after that, according to the Washington Post, Gooden passed along what LeBron had been saying about others. Specifically, Gooden told a good friend, Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson, that LeBron didn't think much of him.
What followed was sometimes childish and sometimes funny. Stevenson announced LeBron was “overrated,” and LeBron responded with pop-culture smack.
LeBron said talking about Stevenson was “almost like Jay-Z saying something bad about Soulja Boy.”
Stevenson reacted as only he could. He got tickets for Soulja Boy to sit courtside.
LeBron responded by playing a song at a party he hosted; Jay-Z had mixed a tape that ripped on Stevenson.
All of this occurred during the playoffs.
Even Stevenson thought the rivalry had gone too far, and there are signs it's still going on. Gooden and LeBron crossed paths earlier this season, and they made sure to look the other way.
LeBron and Larry Hughes also clashed, and one former teammate said it was about silly things, such as who was invited to which party. Perhaps not coincidentally, Hughes was traded in the same deal that included Gooden.
If those who don't get along with LeBron are traded, then that's another contrast. Duncan has seen many of his best friends dealt, from Malik Rose to Antonio Daniels.
Again, that's the essence of Duncan's locker room. No one laughs during film sessions, and parties aren't turf wars. The playoffs, especially, are a time to be professional.
The Spurs operate in a different world, as Roger Mason Jr. knows. He played for the Wizards last season.
So when asked this season if Soulja Boy might be part of the Spurs' playoffs, he laughed. “That's the last thing you'll see down here.”
But if some immaturity is part of LeBron, so is success. The Cavaliers are coming off a couple of losses, including one to the Wizards, but they have also carved out the league's best record.
It's not that LeBron wants to be worshipped. The one who talked about LeBron for this story likes him.
LeBron just wants his guys. He wants players who buy into his energy and how he wants to act. He wants players who follow his direction, and, to him, the extraneous stuff does matter.
So he will play around during the pregame today, and he might glare at Gooden.
But if LeBron wins?
How oddball is it?