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Our world has many more important things
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal columnist
Published on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008
It has gotten old, all of this off-the-court stuff about music and comments and gestures.
It has obscured another marvelous series by LeBron James, a player his coach rightly and properly said will be the best ever by the time he's finished, a player who is decidedly not overrated.
This first-round playoff series between the Cavaliers and Washington Wizards has included one $25,000 fine, one guy kicked out of a game, four flagrant fouls, six technical fouls, one courtside appearance by a hip-hop artist and another new hip-hop song critical of one of the players. Oh, let's not forget a shot to the mouth that was not called as a foul and a few other knockdowns.
There has been ridicule, back-and-forth junk, a throat-slash gesture and petty silliness.
Much, much more has come from the Wizards, but the Cavs aren't innocent.
It's too much — especially when the best basketball in the world is being played by the best basketball players in the world.
It's time to end it, and the best way to end the nonsense is to end the series.
The Cavs have that chance at 6 tonight at Quicken Loans Arena.
They might not get a better chance.
The Cavs have won three of the series' first four games. There will be a sellout. The home crowd no doubt will be vocal and demonstrative to the Wizards, who have roughed up James on the court and tried to make fun of him off it. DeShawn Stevenson will have to do what James did in D.C., and that's ignore the boos and catcalls and bad words that will be sent his way.
James did it, but James is James.
To paraphrase former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, we've watched LeBron James, we've seen LeBron James. DeShawn Stevenson is no LeBron James.
Tuesday, the Cavs tried to downplay the off-court junk.
They didn't discuss Brendan Haywood — a pretty likeable guy — poking fun at James for claiming the Wizards are trying to hurt him. (Yes, James talked about himself in the third person when he made the claim.)
The Cavs didn't discuss the $25,000 fine the NBA levied on Stevenson for his throat-slash gesture in Game 3.
They didn't get into much of anything.
James merely said that it always has been the Wizards' style to talk a lot.
''That's not our M.O.,'' he said.
Would a win tonight shut up the Wizards?
''No,'' he said.
Same thing he said Sunday when he was asked if the Wizards could get back into the series.
No.
''We just have to go out and continue doing what we've been doing,'' James said, ''and that's play the game the right way and win another game.''
Some might say that saying the Cavs need to play the game the right way is a backhanded shot at Washington because the Wizards, by implication, are not playing the right way. But the Wizards have done something foolish in three of the four games in the series.
They lost all three — and won the one game when they concentrated on basketball. Think it's a coincidence?
All the Wizards have proven is that they can hit James, but they can't knock him out, or knock him off his game.
James is averaging 29.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game. He won the first game with two huge shots late, guided his team to a blowout in Game 2 and set up the game-winning shot in Game 4.
He has been knocked down, hit in the mouth, hit in the head and shoved when he was in the air.
He has not been deterred.
Ben Wallace shrugged off the physical play, saying he has been through much worse. Joe Smith called the series the most physical he's taken part in.
Whatever it is, it all has gotten to be too much. When there's more talk about songs and clubs and a guy resorts to a throat-slash move on the court and then swings at another guy's head, it has gone beyond basketball and gone too far.
It was fun for a while to talk about the back-and-forth
chatter. Fun to talk about, fun to write about. Now it has gone on long enough.
On Tuesday, two kids were shot and killed at a school in northeast Washington. Tornadoes destroyed homes in Virginia. Bombs went off in Iraq.
That's real, not the garbage that has been tossed about in this series.
Think about it: Guys making millions are whining about being disrespected while taking and giving cheap shots during a basketball game.
Something wrong with that picture?
It's time for it to end.
The Cavs can do themselves and the rest of the world a large favor tonight.
Win the game, end the series, send the Wizards back home.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/mcmanamon/
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