UPDATE: When asked about James, ESPN reports that Browns coach Eric Mangini said, “I think he should come on down.” Word.
NBA superstar LeBron James was asked about the 1-7 Cleveland Browns last night, and technically speaking, they’re his hometown team. But James wasn’t necessarily upset upset about Eric Mangini or the direction of the team. He just wishes that he could help.
“If I put all my time and commitment into it, if I dedicated myself to the game of football, I could be really good,” the Cavaliers superstar said before facing the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. “No matter what team I was on.” –NBC Sports.
Whatever. There’s nothing worse than That Guy who talks about how great he’d be “if I really put my mind to it,” even if that guy really was one of the best basketball players in the world. If James really wanted to help, he could buy a majority share of the team and then fire Eric Mangini. And after seeing the way that Mangini runs out some of his own players, he might be content to just take five steps in the lane and complaining about not getting calls. Ah, basketball…Also.
Dwyane Wade’s in the walk year of his deal with the Miami Heat, which is good news for us, because that gives us more hope of seeing more plays like this one, where Wade drives the lane against Cleveland and absolutely murders the Cavs’ Anderson Varejao. It’s a stunning display of ownage [vid's after the jump]; I think Wade called the Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo native “Toby” as he stepped over him. And then after the game Wade walked right into Varejao’s house and drank his milk straight from the carton. I hate it when people do that. –Skeets Don’t Lie. Read the rest of this entry »
If Cleveland’s entire economy is in fact based on LeBron James, then Ohio’s northeast region shouldn’t expect any major setbacks in 2010, according to his mother, Gloria. Unless, of course, you consider actually living in Cleveland to be a setback. Which you should.
The hoops star’s mother, Gloria, told Page Six it’s not happening. “He’s a hometown boy,” she said. LeBron grew up in Akron, Ohio, but his home now is Cleveland.
The Jameses were at the Monkey Bar for the book party Graydon Carter threw for “Shooting Stars” (Penguin Press), the story of LeBron’s team at St. Vincent-St. Mary HS and their coach, Dru Joyce II.via, via.
Monkey Bar? The Knicks are terrible, anyway. It’ll take more than LeBron to shape up that sorry organization. Sure, the Knicks don’t have the legacy of suckitude that Cleveland does, but it’s New York, where everything there is more awesome because people there say it is. They’re like Germany in the 1940s, but without the cool hats.
So there’s that show that nobody’s talking about, “Shaq Vs.”, where Shaq challenges other famous athletes in their respective sports. Yeah, supposedly Shaquille O’Neal stole that idea. Which is amazing. I guess this is why they call him the “Man of Steal.” Somebody took his clever pills this morning.
dd Gallagher alleges William Morris Endeavor Entertainment — the agency repping Todd — approached him to turn his book “Andy Roddick Beat Me with a Frying Pan” into a TV show sometime last year … then hijacked his idea and turned it into “Shaq Vs.”
Todd’s book was based on him competing against professional athletes who agreed to play with handicaps — such as Roddick using a frying pan instead of a tennis racket. via.
Shaq’s camp has not commented. One time I was in the park with this woman and she told me about her “dream date,” and when she broke up with me I asked out her best friend and then did everything on that dream date with her. And then she calls me later that night sobbing about how I could do that do her. I said the only thing she told me to say in a spot like that. “Sorry, Mom.” Oh, man. That one kills my psychiatrist every time.
This has made the rounds to some extent already, but this is one of the better (and more creative) athlete-produced videos. Cavaliers guard Delonte West reminds us why we never go to KFC anymore, but seriously, if you want to wait forever in a drive-thru (and who doesn’t?) Go to Hardee’s. Dear God, you could finish half of a Harry Potter book waiting on your Thickburger and fries there. But Delonte and his unidentified friend make good use of the time, dropping some tracks and laying down some beats. Did I say that correctly? I couldn’t be any whiter if I had “Fruit of the Loom” stitched into my back. via.
Shocking, shocking news coming out of the NBA this morning: LeBron James smoked pot in high school. I can’t believe someone aspiring to play basketball would partake in such business. The revelation was one of the more candid bits of info released to promote his new book, “Shooting Stars,” which is co-authored by a blogosphere’s favorite, one Harry Gerard “Buzz” Bissinger III.
In the book, scheduled for release in September, the NBA’s reigning MVP recounts the media circus that enveloped his final two years at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School following his SI cover appearance. James said he and close friends Dru Joyce, Sian Cotton, Romeo Travis and Willie McGee—nicknamed the Fab Five—became “rock stars” and took advantage of their celebrity.
“I was arrogant, dubbing myself “The Chosen One,” James said. “In hindsight, I should have kept quiet, but I also was what I was, a teenager where every reporter in the world seemed to be rushing toward me at once.”
James also revealed he and his teammates smoked marijuana one night after getting access to a hotel room in Akron.
The book deals almost exclusively with James’ last two years at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron. LeBron, at 16, was probably the greatest amateur basketball player on earth at that time, so I don’t have a problem with him being a prick to the occasional passerby. Everyone wants to believe that we’re all equal as human beings and that we should love each other, but that’s a ridiculously simplified mindset. Unless you’re high, and then, yeah man, we’re all in this together. Suddenly this post is making me hungry.
