LeBron James had another unbelievable game Friday night, with nine assists in the first quarter.
Shaquille O'Neal had his way with the Indiana Pacers inside and dominated defensively — including a block of Roy Hibbert in the second half that was near humiliating.
Those were the main plotlines in the Cavs 94-73 win over Indiana on Friday.
The Cavs scored 36 points in the first quarter behind James' nine assists and never looked back. There were times they were sloppy — as 20 turnovers attest — and times they got a little lazy. But anytime the Pacers even threatened to make things a game, James or O'Neal would make a block or a steal or a play to seal the win.
The Cavs two superstars carried the team on a night when the Cavs started fast and then cruised through the rest of the game.
After the game, James was asked about the hullabaloo over a new Nike Ad that features him and Kobe Bryant in scaly body armor.
In the ad, Bryant is quoted saying: "I'll do whatever it takes to win games. I don't leave anything in the chamber."
It caused a mini-star coming on the heels of the suspensions of two Washington Wizards for taking guns into the locker room.
The NBA called the ad inappropriate, and Nike issued this statement: "The Nike print ad featuring Kobe Bryant was intended to illustrate his all out play and commitment on the basketball court. It is a commonly used reference for shooting the basketball and no offense was intended."
At issue is the Gilbert Arenas situation. Arenas and Jarvis Crittenton were suspended for the rest of the season earlier this week after both brought guns into the locker room.
Gun and war references are not uncommon in sports. Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said after the loss that his team didn't have enough bullets in the gun to beat the Cavs. The ad's theme is "Prepare for Combat."
The ads and the reaction all can get a bit silly, but given the Arenas situation, there is a heightened sensitivity to guns, and gun play.
James was asked about the ad.
His comments:
"I think one thing we have to understand is that Kobe did not reference a gun, at all. Slang gets caught up into just regular English. We say a lot of things as basketball players that make a reference into, I don't know, guns or violence, but it's really not guns or violence.
"Kobe said every night I go out, I'm going to give it my all. I'm leaving nothing on the court, I'm going to do everything I've got to do to win basketball games. I'm leaving nothing in the chamber.
"That has nothing to do with guns. Nothing.
"Me being a big Kobe Bryant fan, me being a big supporter of Nike, of course … that has nothing, zero, to do with guns. At all. At all. Zero.
"For somebody even to say that … that's a basketball term. You go on the basketball court, I'm leaving everything on the court, I'm leaving nothing in the chamber.
"That has zero to do about guns.
"To try to highlight Kobe and say that he was representing guns is totally ridiculous."
James' frustration is understandable in many ways. He did nothing wrong, and clearly some of these sensitivities can go a bit far. Nowhere in the ad is there a gun, and nowhere is there a direct reference to a gun.
But … this might be a situation where what matters most isn't what was said, but what people hear. We've all been there (especially we males). We say something we think is innocuous, but it comes across totally different to those listening. So we get in trouble not because of what was said, but because of what was heard.
More than a long time ago, four Miami Dolphins players — including Troy Vincent and Marco Coleman — posed as cowboys, holding rifles and labeling themselves "The Young Guns."
Their plan was to sell the posters — which were quite nice — and donate the proceeds to charity.
But at that time there were drug and gang wars in Miami, and a mini-furor ensued about players posing with guns.
The players all backed out of the plan, and the posters were never sold. Charity wound up losing.
Nobody doubted their intentions, and nobody doubted they meant no harm with their cowboy pose with the guns. It was what people saw and heard more than what they did that mattered. As one of the players back then said: "It's really hard for me to believe that photo caused anyone to be offended." His point of view was not wrong; others just viewed the poster differently.
It will be interesting to see what Nike does with this latest ad (it may do nothing). Earlier, the city of Cleveland turned down making the photo of James into the new downtown poster of James.
Clearly a lot of other phrases could have been (and could be) used. How Nike deals with the fallout of the words it chose will be interesting.
{ 2 comments }
I will boycott the Cavaliers until they remove that killer machete from the logo. And Daniel Gibson is no longer a three-point gunner. In deference to that that nude PR lady's e-mail, I demand that he simply be known as "a big stiff." And I want Pistol Pete removed from the Hall of Fame. And nobody can "shoot" shots any longer. In deference to that nude PR lady, they are merely "lobbing balls." Beavis and Butt-head promoted arson, so obviously Marv Albert can no longer say that LeBron is "ON FIRE!" In deference to that nude PR lady, LeBron is simply "HOT STUFF COMING THROUGH!" Andrei Kirilenko is no longer "AK-47." In deference to that nude PR lady, he will be simply known as "The guy with the cool wife that allows him to plow one wench outside the marriage a year without any ramifications."
Unless the NBA stops being a PR phony and suspends Rambo West for the season, why can't they just shut the heck up.
Nike should just put Gregg Popovich, Norv Turner and Dave Wannstedt into that body armor. Nobody would be able to tell the difference.
I THINK ITS TIME PEOPLE GROW UP AND STOP MAKEING SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING
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