Barkley: "Atlanta is not going to make the playoffs"

[Thomas]

Think right now everyone not named Bud or maybe finally him as well see SG as Tim/Kyle and SF as Thabo/Prince. Hoping Prince really earns those minutes and is starter quality material for us pretty soon. He does really seem to have solid command of the game at this level. Don't even know what to say about Baze at the moment. 

[ATLSmith]

Season isn't over yet but the Hawks sure do look like a playoff team.

[hazer]

1 hour ago, ATLSmith said:

Season isn't over yet but the Hawks are sure do look like a playoff team.

Possibly 2nd in the East. Before the season I predicted 52 wins  and 3rd in the East. Chuck is a clown...

[LamarHampton]

19 hours ago, hazer said:

Possibly 2nd in the East. Before the season I predicted 52 wins  and 3rd in the East. Chuck is a clown...

Now, now... It's not nice to make fun of people with mental disabilities.

[Thomas]

Will say that Sir Charles is amazingly consistently a jerk but in this case about LeBrenda he is more than interesting and is absolutely accurate. And now LeBrenda spouts off about his comments. Shathead James has always gotten what he asked for no matter which team he played for. The Greats played through everything in front of them no matter what. 

Last week, Barkley said James was being "whiny" for publicly stating the Cavs need to bring in another playmaker."Inappropriate. Whiny. All of the above," Barkley said of James then. "The Cleveland Cavaliers, they have given him everything he wanted. They have the highest payroll in NBA history. He wanted J.R. Smith last summer, they paid him. He wanted [Iman] Shumpert last summer. They brought in Kyle Korver. He's (LeBron) the best player in the world. Does he want all of the good players? He don't want to compete? He is an amazing player. They're the defending champs."

He don't want to compete? But Charles its just so hard for me. Frack LeBron. 

 

[Guest]

[macdaddy]

Barkley talks a lot of shit and I gotta say I can't stand Lebron.   But most of what Lebron responded with was dead on.

Quote

"I'm not going to let him disrespect my legacy like that," James told ESPN. "I'm not the one who threw somebody through a window. I never spit on a kid. I never had unpaid debt in Las Vegas. I never said, 'I'm not a role model.' I never showed up to All-Star Weekend on Sunday because I was in Vegas all weekend partying.

"All I've done for my entire career is represent the NBA the right way. Fourteen years, never got in trouble. Respected the game. Print that."

But there again Barkley is smart enough not to care

Quote

"Some of the stuff he said about me is correct -- doesn't make the message I said about him incorrect," Barkley said. "Some of them are intimidated about LeBron [but] I'm not intimidated at all."

 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

Barkley talks a lot of shit and I gotta say I can't stand Lebron.   But most of what Lebron responded with was dead on.

But there again Barkley is smart enough not to care

 

The problem is Lebron going personal as opposed to addressing Barkley's actual comments.  Didn't matter if what he said was true/untrue.  Attacking the messenger, not the message.  A telltale sign that he had no real response.

Barkley's response was perfect IMHO.

[macdaddy]

3 minutes ago, kg01 said:

The problem is Lebron going personal as opposed to addressing Barkley's actual comments.  Didn't matter if what he said was true/untrue.  Attacking the messenger, not the message.  A telltale sign that he had no real response.

Barkley's response was perfect IMHO.

I agree but Barkley's comments were fairly personal saying the Lebron is whiny and doesn't want to compete.   

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

I agree but Barkley's comments were fairly personal saying the Lebron is whiny and doesn't want to compete.   

Eh, not really.  It's not like he called him a woman or something.  If he had gone the George Karl route and said something about his mom or his upbringing or whatever, then I could see it.  If he'd gone the Phil Jack route and attacked his "posse", then I could see it.

Barkley called him whiny.  Well, everybody called him whiny after the past week. Why go after Barkley?  Oh, because he's low hanging fruit from a personal history standpoint.

Barkley said STTE: "Does he want all the players?  Does he not want to compete?"  That's not some over-the-top personal insult like pointing out a guy's gambling history or pointing out the spitting incident.  Does Lebron know how profusely Barkely apologized or what he did for the girl and the family quietly afterwards?  He probably does but that wouldn't have supported his narrative.

Lebron is very calculating.

[HawkItus]

But no one is saying this about Steph Curry, KD etc. on Golden Showers?  No people love to hate on Lebron.   LBJ is right he has been a model citizen and a most of his flack comes  from not being a pushover and being an outspoken black man.  Even among the older black NBA players.

[Admin]

20 minutes ago, HawkItus said:

But no one is saying this about Steph Curry, KD etc. on Golden Showers?  No people love to hate on Lebron.   LBJ is right he has been a model citizen and a most of his flack comes  from not being a pushover and being an outspoken black man.  Even among the older black NBA players.

What does the color of his skin have to do with him getting flack? Does he get a pass for telling his boss how to do his job simply because he's Lebron? How many other players in the league could get away with the stuff he says? 

I can't stand Lebron the player because of the douchey things he's done. That whole "decision" thing was pretty much enough for me but the whole thing of leaving Cleveland, them landing all those #1 overall picks, then him coming back just screams collusion to me and there's no way in hell that he wasn't highly involved in that. 

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, HawkItus said:

But no one is saying this about Steph Curry, KD etc. on Golden Showers?  No people love to hate on Lebron.   LBJ is right he has been a model citizen and a most of his flack comes  from not being a pushover and being an outspoken black man.  Even among the older black NBA players.

What the ...?  The whole offseason was about how much of a punk-moov it was for the Worryers to team up.  At the half-season point, folks are probably tired of talking about it.

While I agree there's some flack caught by Lebron due to being a player in control of his destiny, etc., the reality is that he gets far more kudos for that.

The flack he's getting, on this particular issue, is the fact that they have the highest payroll in the history of the league ... and he's complaining about them not doing enough?!?  Mind you, the current roster exists largely (probably should say 'solely') at his behest.

If I were Griffin/Gilbert, I'd be pissed too.  I'm like, "Dude, the only reason we paid Thompson so much is because you gave him leverage.  If it were up to us, we would've re-signed him at a much lower number and had room to add championship pieces!  But no, you had to pad the stats so you get more for your agency.  You can't be mad now."

That said, Eddie Johnson made an excellent point in support of James. He said the luxury tax shouldn't be an issue.  The Cavs make so much off James that he can't get a piece of directly, they should be eager to pay the luxury tax.  In effect, that's a way for James to eat into the money they make that doesn't go to BRI or w/e.

That makes total sense to me.  So I have no issue with him complaining about them whining about the tax.  I have an issue with him saying they're not doing enough.  That fails to acknowlede the fact that (a) they can't make teams trade with them, especially since they've exhausted their valuable pieces and (b) they've exhausted their valuable pieces at James' direction.  You can't have it both ways, LJ.

[Guest]

Just now, Dolfan23 said:

What does the color of his skin have to do with him getting flack? Does he get a pass for telling his boss how to do his job simply because he's Lebron? How many other players in the league could get away with the stuff he says? 

Although I disagree that this is what's happening to James in this particular instance, the  phenomenon @HawkItus identifies is actually very real.  There's a lot of people who root for James to get his comeuppance due to not wanting to see him, as a black man, succeed against the "establishment".  They want to see him put in his place.  It's kinda like a new type of racism.

Being the progressive gentleman that you are, you probably don't think that way.  Unfortunately, there are millions that do.

[Admin]

3 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Although I disagree that this is what's happening to James in this particular instance, the  phenomenon @HawkItus identifies is actually very real.  There's a lot of people who root for James to get his comeuppance due to not wanting to see him, as a black man, succeed against the "establishment".  They want to see him put in his place.  It's kinda like a new type of racism.

Being the progressive gentleman that you are, you probably don't think that way.  Unfortunately, there are millions that do.

Really? I must be sheltered because I have never, ever, known a person in the last 20 years root against a player in the NBA simply because he's black. I mean come on this is the NBA. How many "racists" are there actually watching the NBA? I could understand if this was golf or tennis but NBA basketball? I don't buy that as a valid excuse as to why people hate on Lebron. They hate on Lebron because he's Lebron. Same reason I hate Al Horford now. Not because he's black or because I want to see him fail, but because I don't believe women should be allowed to play in the NBA! 

[Guest]

Calling out ownership and management as 'not wanting to spend money' was the wrong move particularly since they have the highest payroll.  They didn't resign Dirty Delly so that's part of it.  Gilbert may be rich but he is also a business man - paying a reapeater luxury is harsh.

Ironiccally, didn't LeBron leave Miami for much the same reason - Pat Riley letting bench guys like Mike Miller leave?

Same old same old.

It might be time for a Miami trip.

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Dolfan23 said:

Really? I must be sheltered because I have never, ever, known a person in the last 20 years root against a player in the NBA simply because he's black. I mean come on this is the NBA. How many "racists" are there actually watching the NBA? I could understand if this was golf or tennis but NBA basketball? I don't buy that as a valid excuse as to why people hate on Lebron. They hate on Lebron because he's Lebron. Same reason I hate Al Horford now. Not because he's black or because I want to see him fail, but because I don't believe women should be allowed to play in the NBA! 

You highly underestimate the power of human stupidity.  Seeing Lebron the player exert control over 'the man' rustles a lot of folks' jimmies.

@JayBirdHawk the counter to what you suggest is that we don't know what promises were made to James by Gilbert to get him to return.  It's quite likely that he sold James on returning by agreeing to "do whatever it takes" and is now reneging.

Considering James signed a 3-year deal as opposed to his customary 2+1 (1-year) deal, he's now feeling the pressure of not being able to threaten to walk away. lol

[Guest]

Just now, kg01 said:

You highly underestimate the power of human stupidity.  Seeing Lebron the player exert control over 'the man' rustles a lot of folks' jimmies.

@JayBirdHawk the counter to what you suggest is that we don't know what promises were made to James by Gilbert to get him to return.  It's quite likely that he sold James on returning by agreeing to "do whatever it takes" and is now reneging.

Considering James signed a 3-year deal as opposed to his customary 2+1 (1-year) deal, he's now feeling the pressure of not being able to threaten to walk away. lol

There was a report that James wanted to know if Gilbert was willing to spend .  He's spending but everyone has a limit.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

There was a report that James wanted to know if Gilbert was willing to spend .  He's spending but everyone has a limit.

"You got that right, sister.  Them Lebron boys was cuttin' into my meth money." - Dan Gilbert

[macdaddy]

25 minutes ago, Dolfan23 said:

Really? I must be sheltered because I have never, ever, known a person in the last 20 years root against a player in the NBA simply because he's black. I mean come on this is the NBA. How many "racists" are there actually watching the NBA? I could understand if this was golf or tennis but NBA basketball? I don't buy that as a valid excuse as to why people hate on Lebron. They hate on Lebron because he's Lebron. Same reason I hate Al Horford now. Not because he's black or because I want to see him fail, but because I don't believe women should be allowed to play in the NBA! 

I think there are a ton of racists watching the NBA.   Not kkk members or anything but sports fans with prejudices.   Is not that they root against black players in the game, but as kg said they want players to act a certain way off the court if they are black.    I mean black people performing as entertainers and athletes for white audiences has a long and sometimes ugly history in this country.   Things are better now but some of the attitudes about it aren't 100% gone.