Saturday's loss to the Orlando Magic was a very bitter pill for the Cleveland Cavaliers to swallow and especially for league MVP LeBron James...when a team is the top seed and expected to make at least the NBA Finals, James has every right to be disappointed, pissed, angry, etc...But James must also learn how to accept defeat in a better way...when the clock finally hit zero on Saturday, I noticed that James immediately walked off the court without congratulating or acknowledging the Orlando Magic...James played on this year's gold medal winning Olympic team with Orlando's Dwight Howard...even a simple nod to Howard would have been acceptable...
If my memory serves me well, I believe James did the same thing after losing Game 7 to Boston in last year's Conference Semi-finals...he walked off the court without acknowledging the Celtics...
One of the best traditions takes place in the NHL when a series is over...both teams line-up at center ice and shake each others hands...it is one of the most stirring moments in sports...even if the series was brutal with many fights, both teams acknowledge each other when the battle is over...
On Saturday, James walked to the tunnel, showered, dressed, and went on the team bus without addressing the media...he was out-of-line with this poor display of sportsmanship and disrespect to the media...
James wants to be the face of the NBA, but with that position, he has to take the good with the bad...a few weeks back, James was more than willing to talk with the media after receiving the league MVP or after he made the winning shot in Game Two...
I could understand James' reaction if the Cavs lost because of a controversial call that cost them the game...but the fact remains, Orlando was the better team than the Cavs in this series and flat-out dominated them in Game Six...
James needs to take a lesson from former Philadelphia Phillies closer Mitch Williams...after giving up a World Series winning homer to Toronto's Joe Carter, Williams stood next to his locker and answered every single question the media had...
I also remember the professionalism of former Los Angeles Laker Magic Johnson...after losing the NBA Finals to the Detroit Pistons then a few years later to the Chicago Bulls, Magic entered the victorious visitors locker room and congratulated his opponents...Magic wanted to win just as bad as anyone else, but when the battle was over, he had the wisdom to do the right thing...
James played hard and fought like a true warrior in this series...he was not to blame for the Cavs demise...he is a good person and an elite player...but he needs to handle defeat a little better...no one likes to lose, but when it does happen, a true professional knows how to handle it...
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