LeBron James should’ve shaken hands with Dwight Howard and Orlando Magic

May 31 09

Breaking NBA news mixed with analysis …

Their News: "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." (Associated Press via ESPN)

Our Very Quick Analysis: I didn’t like it then. And I don’t like it now.

Years ago, the Detroit Pistons stormed off the court after getting swept by the upstart Chicago Bulls in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals. No handshake. No courtesy congratulations. Nothing. Only the classy Joe Dumars acknowledged his opponent.

Those Pistons, led by Isiah Thomas, were nasty. They deserve respect because they banged, bullied, and defended their way to back-to-back Titles during the league’s glory days. Yet, when it was time to act like a champion and respect the Bulls, they fell short.

James’ intentions weren’t malicious like Zeke’s crew, but he still behaved badly. Sure, he was upset. And sure, the result had to sting. Everyone can appreciate that. But being a professional means sucking up the loss and acting like, well, a professional.

Following game six, James absolutely should’ve found Dwight Howard and given him a half-hug. Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkolgu, and all the other Magic players also deserved a handshake, pat on the shoulder, or something. Frankly, sending an email the next day doesn’t cut it.

In Sunday’s post-season address, James justified his actions by essentially saying as a winner he can’t immediately congratulate somebody who beats him. I disagree. Real champions, even though they all hate losing, acknowledge defeat appropriately and learn from it.

For once, James, who has done almost everything right since entering the NBA as a high-profile teenager, is in the wrong.

Was James wrong? Should he have recognized Howard and the Magic after the game? Get at us in the comment box below and return to HoopsVibe The Blog for more NBA tidbits. Photo courtesy of StickWare.

30 Comments: LeBron James should’ve shaken hands with Dwight Howard and (...)

Posted by
ethan
on 06.4.2009

i dont understand these lebron haters this man is the second best player ever to step on the floor and he loses one of the biggest games of his nba career and he has too mich passion to thank his usa team mate and good friend for kicking his a-------out of wot everyone thort to be a dream championship series where lebron wood become immortal no doubt. the man was averaging freakish numbers imagine wot he wood of done to kobes boys. and people are disrespecting a true champion of this game both on and off the court. i agree lebron may of done the wrong thing but it wasnt out of disrespect to his opponentsit was out of his competitve drive. give the best of all time respect he is the one hoo has been hated for being too good why hate him for losing .

Posted by
Real Rashad McCants
on 06.3.2009

Superman will save the day like he dethrow the king!!! .

Posted by
jmw
on 06.3.2009

If next year Cavs will win, I hope no one congratulate him. LBJ sucks .

Posted by
Kierra Pearson
on 06.3.2009

i understand lebron should have given the Magic a handshake out of respect but when ur in the heat of the moment it doesnt occur to you rite then and there and i agree wit mike lebron has been sensational since he frist got to the NBA and now that he made one little mistake everybody’s jumping all over him.It’s not like he didnt say congratulations he sent them an email later that day and when things are going so rite for you and your team and your number 1 in the east and then all of the sudden your stripped away by the number 3 seed thats gotta hurt and for all those thinking he’s lucky he’s not....HE"S GIFTED (the next michael jordan) and as far as im concerned he did the rite thing i’d be mad to if somebody beat my a-------and then im getting yelled at by ppl cause i didnt shake there hand.he’s human ppl he can only do so much...leave him alone! .

Posted by

on 06.3.2009

and the UNSPORTSMANSHIP AWARD goes to........LBJ .

Posted by
Tedy
on 06.2.2009

I agree with Mike, I’m in a way like Lebron because I’m a competitor as well and after losing that game in a year where evrything was going right for the Cavaliers hurts, and since you sacrificed so much to get to your goal, coming up short just hurts. If you guys were competitors I think you’d understand my point. And it’s not like Lebron didnt give the Magic congrats, he sent dwight an email after the game... .

Posted by
Mike Senga
on 06.2.2009

I’m not saying LBJ was right to walk of the court. But the strange is that everyone is waiting for him to fail. You get the impression that if the man just walks abit to the left it’s on the news, I mean the MVP of the league hits a 3point game winner and people say lucky bas**** and things like that. For all you out there waiting for lebron to fail, congrats, he’s a human being. .

Posted by
socrates_greece
on 06.2.2009

i agree with kaster troy.he’s not a real sportsman.he doesnt has the sport spirit.all he knows is win,win,win.nothing less.that makes him selfish.but if he wants to be the king of cleveland he’s got to admit the loses and congratulate the man and the team which beat him.the real captain is the man who handles the team on bad situations and he didn’t manage good in that part..sorry for my english .

Posted by
Steve
on 06.2.2009

If he’s willing to shake an opponents hand after he beats them, then he should be man enough to shake it when he loses. Childish, sulking like a baby isn’t sportsmanlike. Magic and Larry did it out of respect, NO MATTER WHO WON. .

Posted by
people these days
on 06.1.2009

what doesn’t get out of portion now in days in sports seriously this and the article about d rose above it........everone blows ever little thing out of porption seriously if yall have time to give a F about these things and write these up you must have no life bc its not serious one lil bit......its not in his contract if u lose shake hands so just bc yall asume he should or its the right thing maybe he is thinking different and he explain that in his explation where honestly he didn’t even have to give one .

Posted by
melo boy
on 06.1.2009

stupid prick. to a fellow athlete, thats equal to a spit in the face .

Posted by
Kaster troy
on 06.1.2009

well, as we all know, james is not a real sportsman. That’s not an attitude of a winner. Winner’s accept defeat and learn from it. But with LJ, it’s all about basketball and also business. Watch! 101% next year he’ll be in new york. .

Posted by

on 06.1.2009

the comment below, if you actually watched the eastern conferance finals you would know HE IS A GOOD SPORTSMAN ! ! ! stupiid ! ! ! .

Posted by

on 06.1.2009

I think he should have given the team a hand shake...I thought that was always the courtesy of basketball & even from elementary school basketball...at the end of the game both teams usually shake hands...that shows good sportsmanship...so he has no excuse...because he’s learned this from an early age....poor sportsmanship on lebrons behave... .

Posted by
aj quinn
on 06.1.2009

I understand lj being upset but this is the time you show how mature you are by congradulating your opponent when jordan kept get beat up by the piston he still shook their hands so thats no excuse your playing a mans game so start acing like it .

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Daily take on NBA Oly Sandor is an NBA analyst and sports journalist based out of Vancouver, Canada.After years of the free-lance game, Oly Sandor is bringing his unique brand of NBA analysis exclusively to (...) More

LeBron James should’ve shaken hands with Dwight Howard and Orlando Magic

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