Make Use of the Gifts...

I want to follow up my cohort's analysis of Lebron James through an on-court lens, and then finally put this guy to rest until he causes more drama and trauma next season. Lebron is not mature and not aggressive, but more importantly he is not smart enough. He is anything but a student of the game. Lebron James has been gifted with the greatest body and purest athleticism that the sport of basketball has ever seen, but he is just not a winner. He's not a winner because he isn't smart enough to be a winner. When a player's smarts is judged you look at 3 things: how he works, how he reacts on court, and how he learns from failure.

Lebron James entered the NBA as a stud simply because of his physical gifts. Look around at your classmates.... none of them look like Lebron James did as a high school senior. Lebron is massive, and he does not work effectively because if he did he would have a go-to move or at least something that he can score with over the likes of the 6'0" (very generous) J.J. Barea. After his 8 point performance in the NBA finals when a reporter asked him if he was going to put in extra work in the gym after games like Kobe does to get his shot right, Lebron answered with one word - no.

Secondly, Lebron does not react well on court. As noted in the previous post, he found himself in the middle of a scuffle that resulted in technical fouls and could have resulted in suspension from an NBA final's game. Yes Lebron James risked being suspended from a FINALS game. You can't win if you don't play kid (but I guess Miami can't win if he does play either). Lebron argues calls that don't go his way no matter how blatant they are, and he hides on court if his man takes him out of the game (Shawn Marion still haunts his dreams). Lebron isn't smart enough to make changes mid game.

He's not a smart enough player to make changes over night either. The guy has never recognized a failure or mistake in his life. And if he did, who knows if he would learn from them. Rather than recognizing what he did wrong and why his star-studded team lost, Lebron basically said they did just fine and that the media can f*** off.

Why did Dirk win his second time around? He works on his game like a madman in the off-season, he reacts and changes his game when defenders stop him, and he learned from his mistakes and the overall failure of losing the '06 finals. The same can be seen with Peyton Manning, and especially the man that Lebron James will never be: Michael Jordan. MJ worked harder than anyone else, and was the smartest man on the court at all times. He worked effectively, reacted perfectly, and learned something every play.

Lebron should take notes because that's how you get to be the greatest player ever. You don't take what God gives you, wait around, tattoo "Gifted Child" on your chest, and get handed a championship. In his ridiculously pampered life one thing will not be gifted to him and that is a ring.