My character remarks about LBJ have absolutely nothing to do with race. Since you love LBJ so much, explain how you can justify him saying "I don't travel", and "I don't flop" when there are tons of footages show he does both, a lot. Is he delusional? Or is he a liar? He is one of those and by me calling him either one does not make me a racist. It's a sign of his character regardless of his color which I have never ever brought up because it doesn't matter to me 1 bit.
Or maybe he really is neither because he is "allowed" by the NBA to do both, so in his mind it's perfectly legal.
Sorry, I disagree. Again I don't know if you are personally racist and that's why I am not accusing you of it. I am just warning you that making remarks that sound a lot like remarks that are made by racists doesn't come off in the best light to me... As far as your accusations:
I have never heard Lebron say that he never travels or never flops. I mean he has had traveling called on him so if he has said "I never travel" then I can assume he is making the remark tongue in cheek and I don't think you should take it so seriously. As far as your two complaints:
1) Traveling.
NBA players travel. You can go to youtube and watch compilations of all players (not just LBJ) doing ridiculous uncalled travels. Unfortunately when everything is on video you can often uncover a lot of travels that are not called. In general travels are not called because at game-speed traveling is really hard to notice especially when it does not provide the player with a competitive advantage. You have to understand that the NBA employs human referees because IMO they intend the rules to be enforced not just to the letter of the law but also to the spirit of the law. So when I player on the perimeter shuffles his pivot foot which provides almost zero advantage you won't see it called. Maybe cause it is hard to see for referees and maybe because they enforce the "spirit of the law" which is to call travel vigilantly only when an advantage is gained. i have no problem with this. If any player has the ball on a 1-0 fast break and takes a few extra steps to do a spectacular dunk the fans get to see the dunk and the travel is not called... Sure, maybe a travel occurred. And if it was called players vigilantly players might do less spectacular dunks - but that's about it and it's a tradeoff that is worth it.
When I player travels down the lane or travels out of a triple threat the NBA actually enforces it across the board. Again, it's hard to disentangle why because the fact that it provides a competitive advantage (eg. you take your 2-3 steps and euro-step your way right to a big man but THEN take another step to avoid him as well) makes it look glaringly obvious! This is universal - all players have it called on them when it provides an advantage and it's not called when it doesn't.
2) Flopping. Again, part of the game whether we like it or not. Referees don't make calls based on letter of the law - if someone slaps your arm as you pick up your dribble and makes slight contact that has zero effect on you it will often not be called. Sure it is a foul - but it's not seen nor called. Unfortunately, to alert the referee of the call you need some gamesmanship - sometimes you need to fall down to get a charge called, you need to hit the deck to make it clear. All good players do this as it is in their interest to alert the referee of the contact. This occurs in all sports - and most athletes who understand this don't have a problem with it. Personally, I don't have a problem with it whether it is basketball players falling down when anticipating contact or soccer players falling to get a penalty called. Personally, I don't find it tasteful when soccer players hold their knee and scream to fake an injury after a slide tackle - but I do not fault them for falling. IMO that level of gamesmanship is a bit much - but it is what it is.
As far as Lebron making the comments you claim he makes.... Do you know players that admit to traveling or flopping? Does Ginobili after a spurs win credit it to his awesome flopping or James Harden brag about all the travels he got away with? This would be terrible gamesmanship. Admit after a game that you purposefully flop or travel and you WILL get less calls and you WILL help your team less. This is gamesmanship and part of the game.
I think it's quite a stretch to judge someone on their gamesmanship and make a character attack. IMO Draymond Greene crossed far more lines than Lebron during these playoffs. His two kicks to Steven Adams crotch and his strike on LBJs crotch seemed pretty bush-league to me - but then again it's hard to be sure of intent and even if Green had poor intentions - I still would never attack his character for how he plays an extremely emotional game. I don't know him personally but everything I have heard is he is a very high character guy off the floor who sometimes get's caught up in rather than feeds off the emotions.
You have said Lebron has no character, doesn't love the game, is extremely lazy (all racist codewords) because of how you observe his basketball playing between the lines of a highly emotional game. LBJ gets very few calls because of his size and strength if he doesn't fall down - you are asking him to give away a competitive advantage that others enjoy because you think he has low character which is quite ridiculous. In fact the biggest no call at the end of the game and the hardest foul both involved Lebron. Lebron was clearly fouled on a layup attempt toward the end of the game where he did not flop or receive a call... He was also shoved in the chest by Green (I think a bit rough but not flagrant) on his dunk attempt...
Having a problem with Lebrons character but zero problem with Draymond Green is NOT consistent. It is the type of argument a racist or biased fan makes - it's not logical and you can't pretend it is. Note that I don't have a problem with DG's character - I reserve character judgements for how someone behaves off the floor when they are not playing an emotionally charged game...
So, to close the book on LBJ - no he isn't delusional or a liar. He is a basketball player. Gamesmanship is involved in the sport. You are not required to tell the truth about your strategy or about whether or not you traveled on a play - to do so would be to give away a competitive advantage. If Bill Belichick made a promise that his team wouldn't pass hardly at all and then ran a bunch of play action pass plays to trick the opponent - would he be a liar or a good coach using gamesmanship to win?
Really, the NBA is so tightly policed these days that you really can't make much character judgment from what goes on on the floor. You won't last long if you completely cross the line from gamesmanship to poor sportsmanship (eg actually hit a player or taunt without letting up)...
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Just to add something about character. You do realize that by the account of 99.99999% of people you are choosing to cheer for the white person who has done something that is 10000X worse of a character move than any in game play of LBJ. By your own admission you claim that you think Steve Kerr was paid off to purposefully lose the game. THIS is a sign of bad character. FAR worse than anything the players.do. A coach who fixes games against his own team is actually committing fraud. Yet you continue to cheer for the warriors despite your belief that Steve Kerr is in on a scam to fix games... You claim you believe this... If you do, it doesn't make sense that you hold LBJ in more contempt than Kerr and continue to cheer for his team... So, I ask you - are you delusional or are you lying?
