LeBron James!!!

Thoughts By: Coach Brown


First, let me congratulate LeBron James on his NBA MVP Award for this season! He is truly the premier player in the NBA, and he is in position to be the face of the league for many years to come.

Now, I do have something to say about LeBron not immediately congratulating the Orlando Magic after the Magic defeated them in the Eastern Conference Finals last week. As a Little League Baseball Coach and a former Collegiate Athlete, I am very big on Sportsmanship and LeBron definitely displayed poor sportsmanship following the game in which the Cleveland Cavaliers were eliminated from this years NBA Playoffs.

I believe LeBron was very distraught after being hyped up so much & himself anticipating playing against Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers. But that is no excuse for not shaking hands with the other team after the game and the series is over. Win or Lose, SPORTSMANSHIP is the one thing that can be consistent. We must all strive to conduct ourselves in the proper manner win or lose and that is exactly what we expect from arguably the NBA's best player.

Not only did LeBron not congratulate the Magic right after the game, but his comments stating that he does not believe in congratulating "someone" that just beat you up. Well, NBA Basketball is not a fight, it's a sport and LeBron should know better than to make that statement. That was his opportunity to admit that he was emotional about the loss and that he wished Orlando and Los Angeles the best in the NBA Finals and that would have been acceptable to almost everyone.

My challenge to all young players in any sports and the coaches and parents is this: "We all make mistakes and we all will lose at some point and time, but it is what we do in defeat and how we conduct ourselves after defeat that will define our character and integrity!"