Sorry I Don’t Want My Pro Player To Be A Gracious Loser!

Posted by Jeff Sack under NBA Analysis, NBA PLAYOFFS, SDC COMMENTARY

There are many in the sports media and quite a few NBA fans who are quite upset at Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star and Association MVP LeBron James at the way he handled himself after losing to the Orlando Magic Saturday to send the Magic to the Finals and the Cavaliers home for the season. Instead of attending the Post Game press conference, LBJ plopped a set of headphones on his head and after checking out okay for a pre-boarding security scan James had left the building.

I can empathize with every media member there. Every reporter’s Editor, Program Director and Sports Director wanted James’ words on the air or in print. I have been stiffed by other pro-players who would not do interviews after big games. MLB Players are the worst they will just hide in the shower room until the locker room is clear of any reporters.

Already the talk is starting about how LBJ should have been more of a gracious loser. Sorry, I have to say I totally disagree! If I am a fan of a player at the professional level who handles losing well; I’m not down with that. If my player loses a chance to go to the NBA Finals I don’t want him happy or docile! I want him angry, especially if he leads a team that was the odds on favorite going into this series and are eliminated in just six games.

If my player loses I do not expect a kind genteel soul who takes losing with a big smile and a hug for his opponent. I want him angry and bitter; I want that moment to resonate in his mind all summer so that it motivates him next fall. I want those emotions to fester within him so that he despises being a loser and never wants to experience that pain again!

Children should be taught good sportsmanship; it is a great life lesson. That is fantastic for T-ball and soccer games and I think it should be encouraged at that age. Shake your opponents hand and then gather in a circle and hold hands and sing We Are The World! I would be all for that throughout student athletics all the way up to a Division One College Program.

I do not, however, want to see it in the pros! A gracious loser is still a loser no matter how you cut it! You are paid to do a job; that job is to win games. Every year you don’t win a Title you have failed; it is really quite that simple. I can only speak for myself but I hate to fail; it does not make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It gets me angry that I was not good enough to get the job done. Perhaps if more people felt like that in the USA in 2009 we would not be in the dire straights we are now in as a Nation!

I am not saying to fight with your opponent after you lose, or to insult them or call them names. But I truly am bothered when an opponent hugs his rival after losing. Sorry, I don’t want to deal with my opponent after losing! There is no way in the world I want to hug them.

This hugging trend started in the eighties; it bothered me then and it still does today. You are asking an athlete that was trying to knock the stuffing out of his rival minutes before to be sweet and docile after they lose?

That to me just reinforces that it is okay to lose. It is not; that should be your prime objective during the season! Personal numbers should be secondary, your main goal is for your team to end the campaign at the top of the mountain. If you do not reach it I want my player seeing red!

So enough with this talk about how to lose gracefully! Play Clean and Play to Win and never think that losing is just fine and dandy! If I was LeBron James Saturday night I would have been just as angry and just as bitter. And I would not hug a soul!

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24 Responses to “Sorry I Don’t Want My Pro Player To Be A Gracious Loser!”

Greg on May 31st, 2009 5:20 pm

Jeff,

I fully respect your basketball opinion. Knowing you are from Cleveland I wanted to get your read on this situation. But, I have to disagree with you to some degree. I was all about it being Lebron’s yr. But he took a step backward in my book yesterday. A true man would have stood up there and faced the music. A true leader would have been there for his teammates at the press conference.

I know MLB is different but when Mitch Williams threw the fastball to Joe Carter in the 1993 World Series. He stood up after the game and took responsibility for his actions. I’m sure he wanted to pout and cry on the team bus. But he stood up and told Philadelphia much about his character. Now he is a beloved sportsradio host in Philly. Fans respect when their players respect them enough to face the music.

Lebron should have faced the music. He still has some growing to do. Kobe (though I’m not a Kobe fan) would have stood up and faced the music. Kobe has achieved what Michael had achieved. He modivates his team to win and he is a leader. He may not be the most popular player on his team but he isn’t afraid to lay into his players if it has to be done. When it comes down to true greatness and leadership you have to go 1) Michael 2) Kobe and 3) Lebron (a distant third at that).

The good news is that he is young and he has time to grow. Kobe wasn’t always that player it took him time to grow into that role. Lebron will hopefully grow from this….but next time I hope he has the “bleep” to stand up to the music when things don’t go his way…
t on May 31st, 2009 5:29 pm

i could not have said it any better!!!!!
Jeff Sack on May 31st, 2009 5:46 pm

Greg,
And I respect your opinion as well but we are on total different sides of this issue! You have two choices in life; you want to win or do you want to be a nice guy loser. Leo Durocher said it perfectly over 40 years ago “Nice Guys Finish Last.” You can call Superman up in a month and apologize, and they will be Boyz again! The way that the Cleveland Cavaliers flamed out he should have been angry! Angry at himself, at his teammates, at Mike Brown for Not Doing Their Job. None of the Hall of Fame great coaches tolerated losing Red Auerbach, Paul Brown, Vince Lombardi, John Wooden. The NBA is not a tea party! There are too many hugs in the Assocaition for my taste. I HATE LOSING, and I want MY players to feel the same way. Play Clean Play Fair But Play To Win! LBJ allowed that moment to be seared into his memory he wanted to feel the pain. I admire him for that! A Good Loser is Still A Loser!
Greg on May 31st, 2009 6:23 pm

ahhh…..agree to disagree my man my brotha!!

But you dodged one fact in your rebuttal that I mentioned. Michael and Kobe would have faced the music… LBJ did not.

As for your coaches point… I agree. Coaches can do that. They are the puppetmasters…. The puppetmaster can not tolerate losing but the PUPPETS should have the decency to SPEAK after a loss.

But I’ll give Lebron a pass here. It just disappoints me.

I really thought he was at the level of Kobe. But after yesterday I realized he isn’t there. His skill is but his mind isn’t. He needed to elevate his players and he just couldn’t. One could argue that he is missing a player a wingman and that point is a a concern but I do think they had enough pieces to get it done.

I hope he gets there…to the NBA championship. But if he does go to NY…he will have sold his soul and never win a championship… He may become his nemosis Charles Barkley who also never won a championship. I hope that isn’t the case bc for the sake of Cleveland I hope he stays and ends there 45 yr drought!
Jeff Sack on May 31st, 2009 7:20 pm

Did Not mean to dodge it Greg, just forgot to address it! You know that I covered the Cavaliers, the Indians and the Browns for 11 seasons as a radio reporter. And yes if I was there last night most likely I would have been steamed at LBJ just like all the Media was last night. However Discretion is the Better Part Of Valor! Better to walk away then to say something in the heat of passion and regret it later. Go on Sports Center after the Finals and apologize. He can call every player on the Orlando Magic in two weeks after the Finals and congratulate them and aplogize. I bet that is exactly what he does! I think people just wanted to see the spectacle of him blowing up on camera. Guess what? He did not give into the moment! Abraham Lincoln said “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool then to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt!” As for Kobe and MJ, lets remember Kobe has made three trips to the mountain top already and MJ six. It’s a lot easier to accept losing once your belly has been filled!
Greg on May 31st, 2009 8:02 pm

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool then to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt!”

Like the quote…. I hear ya on MJ and Kobe…. And one could argue that Kobe did have the great #2 in Shaq and now Gasol and MJ had the great #2 in Pippen…. I thought Mo Williams would be the #2 for LBJ but he didn’t live up to the hype…

Alas, time to move on and pull for Superman! bc I don’t know if I can stomach another Kobe victory smile!
Greg on May 31st, 2009 9:33 pm

Man Jeff… Did you just call Lebron personally to get his comments b4 you wrote your article…. I smell a conspiracy… Here is Lebron’s quote from today:

“It’s hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them,” he said. “I’m a winner. It’s not being a poor sport or anything like that. If somebody beats you up, you’re not going to congratulate them. That doesn’t make sense to me. I’m a competitor. That’s what I do. It doesn’t make sense for me to go over and shake somebody’s hand.”

Spin it all you want… Lebron sulked…
Jeff Sack on May 31st, 2009 9:43 pm

No Brother No Calls Today! But I covered him his first three years in the Assocaition. He is the ULTIMATE Competitor. As I wrote in the piece, if I lose I do not want anything to do with my competitor. I am not about to hug him! That Mindset will someday lead him to being The Best That Ever Played the Game!
Greg on May 31st, 2009 9:47 pm

omg…. i feel vomit coming up my throat…. The Best Player that ever played the game? Can we say MJ?

I bet that if MJ played Lebron one on one today he beat him! Just like how MJ always beat Bird in the old Electronic Arts Jordan vs Bird
Jeff Sack on May 31st, 2009 10:32 pm

Do You remember Michael’s time with the Wizards? And He won how many rings in D.C. and made the Playoffs how many times??? After Jordan won his sixth ring I finally said he was the greatest of all time (although as a purely Offensive player your Guy the Doctor was beyond compare.) He is 24 years old Greg! Look at him! He is already starting to look like Karl Malone in his guns. I know you know this: An NBA player does not Peak until between 29-32 years old! Just imagine what he will be like at that point! He is nowhere near that yet, but if he stays focused and healthy tell me is that out of the question that he will surpass Jordan?
Everett Rupert on June 1st, 2009 7:02 am

Jeff, you’re wrong! Everyone knows that from little kids T-Ball to pro basketball that a sign of good sportsmanship is not only to react gleafully when one wins, which is the easy trip, but to acknowledge that they were defeated by a superor opponent, which teaches people how to be graceful in adversity. It seems that may of the Cleveland fans and the media had come to think that they deserved the NBA finals spot just because LeBronn invented basketball; surely there wasn’t even a league before him (Elgin Baylor, Larry Bird, Dave Bing? Who were they?). I’ve heard all the talk about how down-trodden Cleveland is because they haven’t won a championship since 1964. Grow up! How many teams are there that haven’t even mounted a challenge, or have a team? The sun will rise tomorrow,people wil still go to work, and al over the world people will win and lose games of all sorts and shake hands at the end, everywhere except in the realm of”King James.” What’s with the “King James” thing anyway?

Check out http://www.booksbyeverett, the site for poets.
lin on June 1st, 2009 9:14 am

YO JEFF,, I UNDERSTAND YOUR PAIN IM AN EAGLES FAN!!
R Calvanico on June 1st, 2009 9:56 am

Were Larry Bird and Magic “okay with losing”?

It’s okay for kids to show sportsmanship, but not pros? Who d yo think kids look to for their cues?

Man, how did you get this job? You’re an embarrassment.
Wayne Johnson on June 1st, 2009 12:25 pm

It’s not cool when an 8 year-old loses, takes his ball and goes home — so it’s REALLY not cool when a ‘grown man’ does the same thing. When my son lost in his little league playoff game — that went into several OTs, the tears came down. We still made them line up and shake hands with their opponent. Does that mean my son still wasn’t hurt and bitter? Nope, it means he acknowledged who the better team was that day. Even though LeBron went out like a little ‘b’, I’ll give him a pass because he’s only 24 — just an overgrown youngin’ in my opinion. He looks mature, talks mature, and has mature talent but he’s obviously not there just yet. I’m sure he’ll grow from this one though.
Jeff Sack on June 1st, 2009 4:23 pm

Sir,
No Larry Bird did not tolerate losing. He hated it, and most likely would have done something similar to what James did. The first time i ever remember a player hugging an opponent after a loss was Kevin McHale hugged Isiah Thomas in 1988 hen the Pistons knocked the Celtics out of the East Finals. The camera panned to Bird he looked like he wanted to strangle McHale. In my opinion if a child is “gettting cues” from a pro-player than that child’s parents are not doing their job correctly. Athletes are not Role Models, Parents, Teachers, maybe Religious and Civic Leaders, those are role models in my eyes Sir. As for how I got my job; I created the site! Tough to get fired if you are the Boss! Perhaps you could start one of your own! Send me the web address when you do, Okay?
Riebeil Durley-Petty on June 2nd, 2009 3:35 am

I’m rockin with Jeff on this one. When you put on a preposterously superhuman herculean virtuso series long performance like Bron did and your teammates, and in particular MoWill, who I got mad love and respect for because he had a sensational year but completly disappeared at the zenith of playoff heat you’d be incredibly vexed too. I’m not justifying or absolving Bron of blame cause I believe he should have tossed out congratulatory pounds of acknowledgement to the Magic, especially since he is the face of the league and as a standard bearer of the NBA and ya crew you should do it, but I completely understand why he didn’t and dipped in silence. The King invested a expended a tremendous amount of energy and went ridiculously hard, truly leaving everything he had on the floor. Bron epitomized a 1 man band in this series. I haven’t seen an individual have to carry a squad in this fashion since Jordan avergaed 45.2 pts against Cleveland (sorry cavs fans for bringing back bad memories I’m from St.Louis aka Da Lou and rep Rock City all day) before Pippen and Horace Grant emergence as good players elevated them to title status. MoWill popped off audaciously at the yap and got his dome capped and was a relative non factor as well as Big Z who got eaten by Dwight Howard like a box of mike and ikes. Bron was exhausted and once the realization a season that looked destined for a championship coronation was dashed to bits rage, frustration and crestfallenness sunk in. Bron ain’t the first player walk it out without administering hugs and hand slugs to the opposition. Kobe hasn’t done it everytime, Jordan stormed off the court without acknowleding the Bad Boys following a crushing loss in the 90′ East Finals and he didn’t talk to the media either because he was so disgusted Pip and his tmates nutted up like spineless, terrified hopops in a 93-74 clocking. Next time Bron’s in a similar position he needs to learn from this mistake, accept the obligation of facing the media and dapping the winners and continuing to be the classy, upstanding young man’s he’s proven to be and not let his ravenous competitiveness to blur his judgment. He’s an insanely popular role model with a huge platform so Bron has to be cognizant of the scrutiny he receives and influnce he has on young buks. But people, and the media in particular needs to stop acting like son committed some type of callous capitol offense. As a journalist the rush to flame and demonize players for minor mishaps really ticks me off. It ain’t like he obviously quit on his team like Kobe did in the 2006 West Finals vs the Suns when they trailed 18 at the half,and as a protest of his displeasure with hit teammates he only took 3 second half shots after dropping 18 points in the first half. That was one of the most unpardonably deplorable displays of lack of consideration and leadership I’ve ever seen. That was a sheer unmitigated sissified poptart move. People have such short memories ha. Let the deflation and fury of that rage burn and reverberate within ya mind, body and spirit King and restore ya empire with a title next year after management makes a move to ge a legit 20 point a night scorer, athletic bigs and fortifies the squad with more cats like who get down for their crown like Delonte West
gibbit on June 2nd, 2009 6:32 pm

You’re trying too hard to excuse LeBron, he acted like a 5 year old not a man.

You got beat by a better team (you can’t fluke a best of 7 series) … man up and admit it.

He’s not Michael Jordan yet, I wish ESPN would stop treating him like he is

Good on you for being such a staunch Cleveland fan though, even if your loyalty is misplaced on this one
Jeff Sack on June 2nd, 2009 6:41 pm

Gibbit;
If you look my friend right at the game story underneath this one here is what I said about the Series: “In the end the better team won, no matter the regular season record or the first two rounds of the Post Season. The Magic dominated this series from the jump and displayed the mental toughness that the Cavaliers suddenly found lacking.”

I agree the better team won! But that is not the issue here. The issue is did he do the right thing and not give into the anger and kept from saying something stupid? Or was he just being a bad loser??
Greg on June 3rd, 2009 12:22 am

Ok… The mike and ike quote rocked…

btw I don’t count the JOrdan Wizard years. Just like I don’t count Rocky 5 in the great Rocky series (best sports movie series in history)… Everyone makes mistakes. Stallone fixed his with Rocky Six…Let’s hope Lebron fixes his going forward in 2010.

As for the atheletes being looked up to by kids. I wholeheardtly AGREE w. Jeff on this one. Sports atheletes SHOULD NEVER be role models.

G
Jeff Sack on June 4th, 2009 10:29 pm

The Mike & Ike Quote did Rock! Greg take away the Wizard years from Jordan and then take away the post Achilles surgery and back problems from Bird. That means you count the years 79-80/80-86. That means he wins 3 titles and 3 back-to-back NBA-MVPS in a 7 year career. And then he is the greatest of all time! You play the years they count on your career. Was Rocky five the one with John Wayne’s nephew the boxer with HIV or the last one with the guy from Heroes?
Dave on June 5th, 2009 11:05 am

It is not okay for pro athletes who make millions of endorsement dollars from the young and old alike to decide they can act like a pompous spoiled brat because they got beat. If they want to act like that then please do not make any products and market them to our youth …

Kids emulate their sports hero’s in the backyards and on playgrounds across the world and while Mom and Dad are (or should be) the ultimate role models, Mom and Dad don’t make jumpshots and slam dunks on national TV, and Mom and Dad are not plastered all over TV in commercials geared toward the youth (you don’t really think those puppet commercials are for the adults do you?). Some kids do not even have a Dad or a Mom or maybe even either to look up to … and believe you me those kids, the ones who need it the most … they do look up to the most popular sports figures because for some they believe and wrongly so … that sports is the only hope.

And while I am up here on the stump … any pro athlete who works in his or her community in any capacity around kids or helping those less fortunate souls among us … well that is the epitome of being a role model. They should not be given a free pass when choose to not ascribe to the decency of being the role model they have otherwise portrayed themselves as.

As well when those wonderful efforts of truly being a role model within their community are used by their pro associations to extol their own virtues in Public Service Announcements such as the “NBA Cares” which is used to toot their own horn but also as a means to spread their brand using the “feel good for good deeds psyche” approach to marketing.

Look I have nothing against LBJ dissing the media … most of the questions from the pundits are mundane at best … however I did find it refreshing that the commissioner decided he could not let it slide thereby creating a “LeBron Rule” that every athlete could then use to ditch the media. But dissing his fellow competitors was just flat out a punk move.

Seems to be a dead subject now but hopefully LBJ will learn from this and not let it deter him from the great things he can achieve. I will leave you with this …

A mans character is not defined by how humble he is in victory but how gracious he is in defeat. Woody Hayes may have thought the opposite however Woody Hayes was proven to be an abuser and a maniac … I mean come on tackling an opposing player who put a beat down on your team … can you take anything that kind of a person says as being valid???

Peace to all …
Jeff Sack on June 5th, 2009 7:34 pm

Dave,
Very eloquently put, and you make some valid points! The only thing that I would dis,agree with is your putting LBJ and Woody Hayes in the same context. Dave we are talking two opposite ends of the spectrum. One is a 24 year old young man really making his first public gaffe. The other was an old man who had gotten so consumed with winning, the “game” and his ego that he committed an insane act. Though I realize that in many people’s minds LeBron did not cover himself in glory by refusing to congratulate the Orlando players at the time (He did however fire off an e-mail to Howard that night after the game and congratulated Orlando the next day when he talked to the Cleveland Media.) Dave I think you would agree not shaking hands and a coach attacking a player on the opposing team during a drive down the field are not in the same area code! Thanks for taking the time to write and your thoughtful comments!
Larry Bird Would Have Shaken D-Howard’s Hand Either » Slam Dunk Central on November 2nd, 2009 9:18 pm

[...] well aware that I took a lot of heat early this summer for defending LBJ. I wrote a column entitled Sorry I Don’t Want My Pro Player To Be A Gracious Loser! and received a month filled with hate mail. I was told that “The Chosen One” was a bad [...]
Larry Bird Would Not Have Shaken D-Howard’s Hand Either | Slam Dunking on November 2nd, 2009 9:26 pm

[...] well aware that I took a lot of heat early this summer for defending LBJ. I wrote a column entitled Sorry I Don’t Want My Pro Player To Be A Gracious Loser! and received a month filled with hate mail. I was told that “The Chosen One” was a bad [...]