But perhaps his sharpest words were reserved for Gilbert, the owner who lashed out at him shortly after James announced that he would be joining the Heat.
“I don’t think he ever cared about LeBron,” James is quoted as saying. “My mother always told me: ‘You will see the light of people when they hit adversity. You’ll get a good sense of their character.’ Me and my family have seen the character of that man.”
It's funny LeBron would choose those words, because they actually fit him to a tee. Sure, Gilbert never cared about him. That's why the Cavs made trade after trade, paid him millions of dollars, employed members of his entourage and basically tried whatever they could to keep him. LeBron's character was on display for all the world to see with The Decision and it wasn't a pretty sight. Talking about himself in the third person doesn't help either.
In the GQ article, James took exception to the “quitter” tag.
“Every night on the court I give my all, and if I’m not giving 100 percent, I criticize myself,” James said.
Weird, because he certainly didn't seem to be giving 100% in Games 5 and 6 of the Celtics series. He certainly wasn't owning up to it or being too self-critical either.
James said he wouldn’t change any part of “The Decision,” the made-for-TV event in Greenwich, Conn. where he announced his playing plans to an audience of about 10 million viewers. The hourlong show made $2.5 million for Boys & Girls Clubs. “When I found out I had an opportunity to do that for those kids, it was a no-brainer,” James said.
Says it all right there. Sure, the charitable donation was nice, but it seems he just can't see why people would dare to criticise the whole affair.
I think what it all comes down to is that LeBron is terrible at damage control and desperately needs better people around him, people with more PR savvy and less spineless yes-men. That's never going to happen though. I'm reminded of the whole "I don't shake hands, I'm a winner" nonsense, which was the most ridiculous rationale when a perfectly acceptable thing to say would've been something along the lines of "It wasn't the best decision I ever made but after the loss I was angry/upset, I just wanted to get out of there".
I do like LeBron, I like watching him play and he's unquestionably a phenomenal talent. But I don't like the way he's been conducting himself in recent years and the narcissism is reaching a level where it's really off-putting. Considering how Gilbert went after him it's only natural for him to want to respond and address those accusations (and believe me, I'm not trying to make Gilbert out to be an innocent party here), but once again he handled it poorly. He needs better advice on how to carry himself but it's never going to come or it's just going to be ignored.
