Come to think of it, yes. Yes I would like a hug.
LeBron James is on the cover of the new issue of GQ, and it goes without saying that GQ is comprised of effete pseudo-men in skinny jeans, but they still manage to put together a pretty interesting read (and they have good taste in sports blogs). The cover story may come off as too fawning for some, but I suppose that’s the result of driving to Cleveland to play basketball with a 24-year-old multi-millionaire who is probably the best player in the world at his sport.
I recommend reading the whole article, but here are some choice quotes from the pick-up game the five GQ staffers played with Bron. Plenty of trash talk and high-resolution scans below.
After a stretch of truly embarrassing ugliness, the points start piling up on our side. Turns out LeBron James is a very good passer and sees things on the court that the rest of us don’t see. He threads some very pretty passes to Adam and me, and we manage to hit the layups, and soon we’re up 12–2. “They don’t play no D,” he says. “They don’t play no D. New York Knicks.” [...]
If only they put the kind of effort into their signs that they dedicate to their facial hair
There’s still talk of LeBron James leaving for New York via free agency in 2010, but in the meantime, King James is busy kicking ass in Cleveland, where last night he led the Cavs to a 118-82 thrashing of his future team. James scored 21 points in less than three quarters of play, and no Cleveland starter played more than 28 minutes as the team improved to 15-3 and maintained its perfect record at home (10-0).
The Knicks, depleted by injuries and distracted by the Stephon Marbury three-ring circus and traveling minstrel faire, could only flail helplessly as the Cavs built a 26-point lead by halftime. They also turned the ball over a season-high 26 times. But hey! Only 146 more regular season games until LeBron’s on the team!
Elsewhere in the NBA: Celtics and Lakers continue their annoying dominance: Rondo’s first career triple-double leads C’s past Pacers; Kobe kills 76ers in Philly… Blazers drop Wizards in DC, win sixth straight thanks to Brandon Roy’s late surge. Greg Oden added 13 points and ten rebounds in 31 minutes… Shaq and Steve Nash both sat out against the Hornets, and Chris Paul (24 points, 15 dimes) did his thing. Guess who won.