Some highlights of LeBron James' season-ending session with the media at the team's practice facility:
On why he didn't speak after the game: "I didn't have much to say. Congratulations to the Orlando Magic. They played an unbelievable series and they deserved it."
Last year in Boston: "What happened in Boston I got better from. I carried that momentum into the Olympics and this season. I'm going to carry this same 'bad bing' I call it and try to get better this offseason and try to bring something better.
The series: "The series was very interesting. It could have been easily 4-2 Cavs or 4-0 Orlando. The series was so crazy. I think both teams played well enough to win."
Take away from season to lose in East Finals: "It's not a disappointing season. You set a goal and you don't achieve that goal, it hurts. Of course it does. We got to work a little bit harder. I'll make sure that I maintain focus like I have the last few years and bring it next year."
Feel good about what Cavs are doing: "I'm great. I'm great. I feel great about the situation going on. You want to continue to get better, that's all you can ask. We got better this season and I feel this team will be better next season. I think we went forward from the Boston series to this year. Hopefully we can go forward one more time next year."
Will you sign contract extension when offered: "I don't know. I haven't thought about it just yet. I'll just take some time off from basketball and not think about contracts. Just relax with my family and figure it out once it comes along."
Whether losing affects his thinking on being with Cavs long-term: "It doesn't. I've always expressed the simple fact that I love playing here. The fans are great, have always been great, since I was an 18-year-old kid. Losing this series will not change the way I approach the game here in Cleveland."
Offseason: "I'm not too much concerned about myself. I'm not too much concerned about our team that comes back because they know how close (we were) and how important it is next year not to take a step backward."
What does team need: "I don't want to sound like a GM and say what we need."
Did Cavs prepare for Boston and get surprised by Orlando: "Orlando was just a team we haven't been able to play well against. Of all the teams in Eastern Conference, Orlando was probably our worst matchup. … Orlando had cost us the most problems out of any Eastern Conference team. We never geared toward Boston. We geared toward whoever we were going to play. Just Orlando was a very good team and a very bad matchup for us."
Communicate with Dwight Howard since you didn't shake hands: "I sent him an e-mail last night congratulating him. One thing about me you have to understand … It's hard for me to congratulate someone after you lose to them. I'm a winner. It's not being a poor sport or anything like that. But somebody beats you up, you're not going to congratulate them on beating you up. That (doesn't) make sense. It (doesn't) make sense to me. I'm a competitor and that's what I do. It (doesn't) make sense to go over and shake somebody's hand."
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Pat, I earlier posted a link. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4220161&categoryid=2378529 He said a whole lot without saying a darn thing. The best politicians do. Except that he did say he's really not much of a sportsman. That much I heard between his nonsense. Apparently, the words "loser" and "class" are a contradiction in terms in the LeBron dictionary. It's a relief the Redeem Team didn't lose, or there would have been an international incident after he dissed the entire country of Angola.
alan t
you are an idiot – your post is senseless is every way
if you want to read into what lebron said you can easily indict mike brown with this statement:
"It could have been easily 4-2 Cavs or 4-0 Orlando."
4-2 cavs. if not for 2 poorly designed and defended inbounds plays.
Uhh … LambBone. His excuse for not shaking hands really, really reeks.
So, since he purports to be a role model, if even one kid sees what he did that night, and now hears what he now says, and now that kid thinks it's OK to childishly sulk and storm away from your opponent after losing in battle without even acknowledging your opponent at the time the battle has ended, then that's one kid too much.
What James did stinks. And don't even get me started about Williams, who did the same thing.
And you're part of the problem, LambBone. Because everybody in town coddles that guy. The media, the fans, whoever. Whatever he does is apologized for and excused.
But terje, the exact same thing can be said about that lousy inbounds play defense that Van Gundy set. That's why Vecsey put my e-mail in the paper, because it was almost Wilkens-esq. Only Wilkens' inbounds defense against Jordan was even far more retarded than Van Gundy's.
Lay off Brown, man. For anybody to be able to get through an entire season and two playoff series covering up the heinous individual defensive inadequacies of some pretty run-of-the-mill role players, that's pretty impressive. And not only did he cover them up, he made them look darn good.
OK, his offense still sucks after four years, he should be running a lot more with a stallion on his team. But the Z-Factor, as I've been saying since the day Ferry re-upped that guy four years ago, simply prevents it from ever happening. And sticking Joe Smith on the squad as his backup didn't exactly present a Jesse Owens or Carl Lewis opportunity, either.
no, you can't say the very same thing about van gundy's inbounds play. at the very least van gundy had a capable perimeter defender on lebron. mike brown chose to cover a deadly 3 pt shooter with interior stiffs.
you can keep making excuses for brown all you want. the truth is….ferry and brown are in it together. they both share the blame. ferry for getting players in his mold of his own athletic ability and brown for sticking to a losing plan. players are expected to make in game adjustments. coaches should have the same responsibility. you claim brown tried everything but hack-a-dwight. but that's not true at all. he had a big on the bench with the physical ability to foul howard. he just refused to play darnell jackson. he also didn't try putting lebron on a shooter for the entire game. there were a lot of things brown could have tried. he was dead set on losing the series the same way he won 66 games. the problem is that the regular season is pretty meaningless in the nba. the playoffs require a different, more active coaching style. something brown can't do.
and about lebron not shaking hands. i could care less. these are grown men making big money. i wouldn't shake the hand of the guy who took my next playoff check away either.
terje, I'm not saying Brown is the Coach of the Century, but I don't know how he can be blamed for the lack of skills in his personnel. I mean, really, are you that desperate to blame Brown that you are bringing up the name of DARNELL JACKSON? In two years, Jackson will be bagging groceries at my neighborhood Kroger. Either that, or mowing David Wesley's lawn.
And with respect to your last paragraph, my concern is the example James sets for others who aren't in his Kingly shoes. He and his people can't have it both ways. It's totally classless. I highly doubt they are going to edit that into his forthcoming documentary portraying the man, the myth, the legend. If he's going to act like a spoiled petulant child at the end of a man's game, then tell his people that the guy probably shouldn't be dancing like an imbecile in State Farm commercials.
i think darnell jackson could handle getting to howard quick enough to lay a foul on him. that's all anyone else covering him was expected to do.
i don't blame brown for the roster. but his management was piss poor in the series. when there were 2 winnable games in the series that coach brown's poor decisions helped turn into a loss.
i'm not sure a league where most of the players resemble prison inmates is the place anyone should be looking for examples of sportsmanship or life in general. lebron's a kid. i was urinating in old faithful at his age.
You were urinating in Old Faithful at the age of 24? Wow. Although, I guess I shouldn't talk. If memory serves, my brother and I once took a pee outside on a wooden fence during a bar mitzvah when I was about 38.
Also, and I didn't want to mention it since it was so patently obvious, but since an out-of-town columnist already pointed it out, now I will: What incredible chutzpah this guy has, that Yankees hat he was wearing while meeting the media. He is milking this New York thing for all that it's worth, and he will continue to milk it for the next 13 months. An out-of-control raging ego that would make Mussolini look humble.