After the Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson fired subtle jabs at LeBron James during last season’s NBA Finals, calling the NBA “a man’s league” and insinuating that James had his feelings hurt by Draymond Green, a stunned James sat at
After the Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson fired subtle jabs at LeBron James during last season’s NBA Finals, calling the NBA “a man’s league” and insinuating that James had his feelings hurt by Draymond Green, a stunned James sat at the podium prior to Game 5 in disbelief.
“Oh my goodness,” James said. “It’s so hard to take the high road. I’ve been doing it for 13 years. It’s so hard to continue to do it, and I’m going to do it again.”
Now in year 14, James appears to be done playing nice. James is firing back at his critics, most notably TNT analyst Charles Barkley.
James’ stormy week continued when he blistered Barkley to ESPN following Monday’s loss at the Dallas Mavericks.
“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.”
James’ “legacy” has been a point of conversation with general manager David Griffin at various points since his return to Cleveland. Perhaps he has taken some of those chats to heart.
James has been on a tear lately. He rekindled his feud Monday with New York Knicks President Phil Jackson over Jackson’s “posse” comments and last week he shot the Cavs with friendly fire over the structuring of the roster.
Help in that department, however, may be on the way. A league source confirmed the Cavs’ upcoming workout with a number of free agents. ESPN reported Mario Chalmers, Lance Stevenson and Kirk Hinrich are part of a free agent workout that might help determine who the Cavs will sign to fill their open roster spot. Chalmers wrote on his Twitter account Tuesday afternoon he was traveling to Cleveland.
James has history with both Chalmers and Stevenson. He was teammates with Chalmers in Miami — Chalmers was often the target of James’ lashings. Now he’s trying to return to the NBA after about a year away to rehab from a torn Achilles.
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