LeBron fails leadership 101
LeBron James ducked out on the media after losing Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. I know, I know. Everyone cheers anyone who sticks it to the whiny media. Of course, LeBron didn’t ultimately decline to talk to the media. He declined to talk to his fans, of which there are several scattered across the country.
This is a big deal on a variety of fronts. It shows a misstep in leadership. That’s part of the job for leaders of franchises — LeBron certainly qualifies. You speak after victory and defeat. Maybe you don’t have much to say, maybe you’re angry, maybe you just don’t feel like it. But you don’t walk out and leave the hordes to surround Andersen Varejao and Joe Smith.
Being the team lead spokesman goes with the territory of international superstar. LeBron has done a superb job of that throughout his career, and I’m sure it gets old. So does rush-hour traffic. Sometimes life sucks.
Talking after games is LeBron’s job. It’s Kobe’s job. It’s Kevin Garnett’s job. It will be Kevin Durant’s job when the Thunder gets around to playing meaningful games. LeBron’s disappearing act after Game 6 was an immature act no doubt grown out of frustration.
Of course, he probably did his Cavalier teammates a favor, though he didn’t plan it that way and they may not realize it. Leaving the rest of the Cavs to deal with the media meant this: Cleveland players answered questions about LeBron, instead of LeBron answering questions about Cleveland players and whether they are good enough to win a title and keep him around beyond 2010.
LeBron James has been a fine leader and that didn’t change with a screwup after Game 6. But surely he knows his status and the requirements that go with it.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
I agree he did not HAVE to shake hands, but a TRUE competitor (and not a whiny self absorbed one) does at the end of the series. It says alot about a persons character and possible one of the reasons the team did not win the series.
Where does it say that talking to the media is part of an NBA player’s job? Moreover, in some instances it may be more appropriate for a player to refuse to talk to the media as opposed to talking and saying something stupid or offensive.
[...] So those are two of the things I learned today on Twitter. But I learned much more. NewsOK, for example, has posted eight things today — everything from breaking news about Miley Cyrus to Berry Tramel’s latest blog post. [...]
A lot has been made about him not shaking hands or talking to the media. I didn’t have a problem with him not shaking hands. He is a competitor and when you lose a game like that it can very frustrating. I did have a problem with him not talking to the media. Besides the fact that I stayed up waiting for the press conference, talking to the media is part of his job. If he is going to be a leader in the NBA and their best player then he needs to learn to lose graciously and talk about it.