A time to teach… and a time to learn!

This past weekend, I had a chance to 

teach - and learn!

You know Eye On Sports readers; there is always a chance to teach, even when you don’t know it. For example, this past weekend, as I sat down watching the aftermath of Chicago Bulls’ point guard Derrick Rose’s season-ending ACL injury with my nine-year-old son Emmanuel, I got an excellent chance to teach.

After explaining what an ACL injury was and the length of time and rehabilitation it takes to get healthy again, my son (who know I don’t like the Miami Heat very much) says, ‘I wish that would happen to LeBron James”.

As I turned toward my son stunned, I immediately told him, “don’t say that” and then proceeded to explain why, as an athlete, you never wish an injury on an opponent.

Immediately thereafter, I asked my son if he understood, and he replied “yes, I do”. I then asked if he wanted to beat the ‘other team’ when they were at ‘their best’ and I got another “yes”, Finally, I asked my wonderful son if he wanted to see LeBron James injured or any other Miami Heat player and he responded with another “no”.

Last but not least, I also told my son that, while I am certainly not the world’ biggest LeBron James fan, I really, really admired, the still youthful, James and vehemently would to anyone that said otherwise, for the way he has carried himself off the court ever since he came into the NBA.

I explained how James had never been in any trouble with the law whatsoever, how he didn’t ‘hang at the clubs’ until the wee hours of the early mornings, frivolously throw away his vast earnings, or live some wild  and dangerous lifestyle, to which my surprised son shook his head in understanding and agreement.

Oh, and just so you know Eye On Sports fans, I also took the moment as an opportunity to be taught … that I need to be careful with how much I say I ‘dislike’ a certain team or player in the presence of a child, particularly when that individual has been a genuine role model in every facet of their non-athletic life.

Rose is right, NBA needs to protect him too!

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick 

Rose is an old school warrior!

I’m generally not one to support today’s mostly overpaid, whining, millionaire athletes, but I’ve got to give my man Derrick Rose some support when he says he sick and tired of being hammered when he drives to the basket these days.

First and foremost, Rose is an ‘old-school’ player that is a flat-out warrior and doesn’t complain very much at all no matter the situation. However, I also think Rose is so good that he often doesn’t get the calls he should – and that any true superstar has always gotten.

Maybe it’s because he’s so fast or maybe it’s because he’s so strong for a point guard, but whatever it is, I agree with Rose … he seems to take more than his fair share of hacks when he drives to the hole (while some other prima donnas get the benefit of the doubt seemingly everytime).

"I'm sick and tired of people trying to take cheap shots at me," Rose said. "I was mad, man. I'm a man, so situations like that, you have to say something."

The bottom line for me is the fact that the NBA needs to protect him just like they do every other MVP caliber superstar, especially those playing in South Beach!

Giving Bron-Bron a break!

Even LeBron James deserves
a break every now and then!

Okay Eye On Sports followers, I’m generally the first person to rip LeBron James for his often head-scratching behavior, both on the court and off, but I’ve got to take a stand this morning and back James for passing up a potentially game-winning shot to beat Utah with a last-second basket two Friday night’s back in favor of passing the ball to a wide open Udonis Haslem.

The fact of the matter people is that James made the correct play in passing up what surely would have been a very contested shot in order to give up the rock to a veteran teammate that is more than capable of knocking down the 16-footer he missed last night.

Say what you like about James and his late-game struggles to score the ball, but I can’t, in good conscious, rake James over the coals this morning for passing the ball to Haslem when he made the right decision.

Hell, if anyone should take the blame for Miami’s loss to the Jazz, it’s Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, who should have run an isolation play for James, who had been on fire before passing up the game’s final shot.

Lin learns lesson

Knicks point guard
Jeremy Lin has a very bright future.

You know, I suspected a lot of haters (like the idiotic Stephen A. Smith) would come out and ‘hate’ on New York Knicks young point guard Jeremy Lin after his 1-for-11, eight-point, eight-turnover performance against the Miami Heat last Thursday, but the fact of the matter is that Lin has already established himself as one of the best young floor leaders in the game today – and one that many teams now wish they had as their own floor leader.

Yes, Lin got embarrassed on several occasions, but nevertheless, he can clearly play the game and has as bright a future as any young point guard in the game today. Just think about it … how many teams have starting point guards that you’d replace with Lin.

What are your thoughts on Jeremy Lin? Vote on how many teams Lin could start for right now. Sound off in the comments section and have a great sports-filled day!

Blame it On LeBron!

LeBron James needs to keep his
mouth shut and just play basketball!

Jeez, Eye On Sports NBA lovers …. talk about a guy with a personality complex these days – and you must be talking about LeBron James!

The latest from the self-anointed ‘King James’ (how laughable is that) is that he’s not apologizing to Oklahoma Thunder center Kendrick Perkins for his Twitter post praising Los Angeles Clippers’ forward, Blake Griffin’s highlight reel dunk over the defensive-minded big man.

Not only that, but James, who is looking for love in all the wrong places these days, apparently thinks everyone’s out to blame the world’s problems on him.

"I'm an easy target; if someone wants to get a point across -- just throw LeBron's name in there," James said. "You could be watching cartoons with your kids and you don't like it, you say, 'Blame it on LeBron.' If you go to the grocery store and they don't have the milk that you like, you just say, 'It's LeBron's fault.' "

I'm thinking I'd like to see
Perkins (R) punch LeBron James' lights out!

Yeah LeBron, my kids are starving and it’s your fault. My car is acting up and it’s your fault. I’ve got a head cold, my back hurts and my wife is nagging me (again) and it’s all your fault LeBron!

Seriously?

Who makes this kind of stuff up?

I hate to say it, because I think he’s mostly a law-abiding, fine young man off the court, but LeBron James has all the mental toughness of a three-year-old toddler!

Lookin’ For Love in All the Wrong Places!

LeBron James is looking for love,
but Blake Griffin say get that outta' here!

I was looking for love in all the wrong places
Looking for love in too many faces
Searching your eyes, looking for traces
Of what.. I'm dreaming of...
Hopin' to find a friend and a lover
God bless the day I discover
Another heart, lookin' for love

 - Waylon Jennings

Okay, I’ve read into LeBron James’ Twitter post just after Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin posterized Oklahoma Thunder City center Kendrick Perkins and here’s what I believe.

James is still clearly looking for love these days NBA fans. He’s looking for the love he lost on a global scale when he dissed the Cleveland Cavaliers on national TV, without so much as a warning, in order to take ‘his talents to South Beach’.

With a fictional dunk of the
year title on his mind, clearly
LeBron James is still immature.

"Dunk of the Year! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!!! Wow! I guess I'm No. 2 now. Move over #6," James tweeted, clearly making a reference to his own highlight reel dunk over Chicago Bulls point guard John Lucas III the day before.

With comments like “Wow! I guess I'm No. 2 now. Move over #6," James will never, ever endear himself to any hoops fan outside of his beloved South Beach.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again … LeBron James ruined his legacy not by leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers, but by how he did it.

Then, to add to his misfortune, James checked out mentally like never before in quitting against Boston in his final playoff appearance for the Cavaliers – before doing so in even more stunning fashion in last season’s NBA Finals collapse against Dallas.

Oh yeah roundball lovers, LeBron James is looking for love – but unfortunately, James is looking for love in all the wrong places!

Derrick Rose For Two!

Unlike many of today’s me-first, cry-baby NBA ‘superstars’ that whine about every and anything under the sun, the Chicago Bulls have a genuine superstar ‘leader’ in lightning-fast point guard Derrick Rose and I’m going on record to predict that Chicago wins at least two titles during his time as the floor leader of the Bulls. That’s right, you heard it here first, D-Rose and the Bulls for at least two NBA championships before he hangs it up. 

LeBron’s Not Clutch – Duh!

Okay Eye on Sports NBA fans, with Wednesday night’s disturbing 95-89 overtime loss to Chris Paul and the Clippers, hoops fans and pundits across the globe got to see firsthand why LeBron James will never, ever reach the same status of superstars like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan – or – Kobe Bryant for that matter.

James has shown a massive inability to make plays – or show up – in the fourth quarters of close games – and now, it’s painfully clear that he just doesn’t have the mental makeup to be a real team leader when things are really tight in a close ballgame.

In back-to-back overtime games this week, James took no fourth-quarter shots against the Warriors on Tuesday – before coming back with a pitiful 0-for-3 effort against the Clippers on Wednesday that looks even worse considering he also went just 1-for-3 in overtime – while missing four free throws in the final quarter and OT.

To make matters even worse, James sounded like his pride and belief in himself had suffered further damage following the loss.

"My teammates trusted me, especially down the stretch, and I was able to get fouled and at least give us a chance to win the game," James said.

Of course, maybe James should have been thinking about the two free throws he missed in the game’s final 17 seconds – ouch!

Heat Focused, Still Front-Runners?

The focused Miami Heat may be 3-0 at the time of this writing, but they’ve also looked like they still have trouble keeping a league, leading me to believe they could very well, still be the front-running bunch of pansies they were last season.

Dumb Ass Alert!

Okay NBA fans, we all know LeBron James is a dumb ass of the highest degree and that the widely-respected Dwyane joined him in ‘acting a fool’ on more than one occasion as well last season.

Now, add Chris Bosh to the trio of idiotic Miami Heat ballers. Bosh had a major ‘dumb ass’ moment on Friday when he told a group of reporters that seeing the Dallas Mavericks raise the championship banner they won last season is “going to suck.”

"I'm not going to like it, but things happen and I think things happen for a reason, Bosh added.

Maybe it’s me NBA followers, but as an old-school kind of guy, I’m thinking that maybe Bosh should be thinking about actually learning from last season’s experience, rather than complaining about seeing the victors hoist their well-deserved championship banner.

In addition to being a little cry-baby that cried on national television following last season’s Game 6 NBA Finals loss, Bosh is also a hater that likes to live in the past and doesn’t have enough heart to return to his hometown of Dallas after losing to the Mavs in the finals, choosing instead to spend his offseason in the relative quiet surroundings of South Beach.

"I didn't want to hear all the fans," Bosh said in jest (yeah, right). "But it's funny because there wasn't a lot of Mavericks fans when I was a kid. But now all of a sudden, everybody's a Mavericks fan."

Maybe it’s me, but I’m thinking Chris Bosh is, not only a ‘dumb ass’ like James and Wade, but also a little b**ch that needs to go see the Wizard and get a heart!