What NBA fans wouldn’t give to see some physical style basketball that was alive and well in the 80’s and early 90’s. The game is so soft now, sometimes it feels more entertainment than sports, but to be real other things factor into that. Corporate America for one wouldn’t be to keen on spending billions of dollars on advertising with the NBA if the league was still a rough and tumble kind of place. However since the game has changed, when hard fouls do occur they are put under a microscope even more and talked about until you just want to throw up. After Lebron caught a solid forearm/elbow to the throat in game 2 against the Bobcats and it took the league to review it after the game to label it a flagrant foul, Bron was visibly upset with what he deems a lack of protection for him and his teammates when it comes to hard fouls. I don’t really personally agree with him as my view is the game is meant to be somewhat physical and hard fouls happen, but I do at least get his point. He had some interesting comments on the topic. Hit the jump.
@IamJoeSports
“I take a lot of hard fouls, I understand that,” James said. “Guys try to stop me from getting three-point plays. But we all know what the difference is between a basketball foul and a non-basketball foul. My foul didn’t even get checked,” James said. “And it was a crucial point in the game, with 50 seconds left.”
“Obviously, the game is different,” James said. “If it was the 80s, then I’d come up swinging, but it’s not the 80s. I mean too much to my team, and I can’t do that. Me being out of the game, it hurts us more than it hurts the other team. I’ve got to keep my composure.”
He has become convinced that retaliation will backfire.
“We can’t,” James said. “Every time we hit back, we get suspended or we get fined. We’ve tried that tactic, and it doesn’t (work) for us.”
“I don’t want to get too involved in it, because I already know it’s going to be a headline tomorrow: ‘LeBron is crying for fouls,'” James said. “And that’s not me. I don’t want that. I don’t want that at all. We’re here to win a Game 3. I’m going to be aggressive, continue to do what I need to do to help my team win. It’s not about me wanting fouls, or me wanting to be pampered. I don’t really care about that, man.”
For what it’s worth, the Bobcats have played the Heat very tough in their first two games. I am expecting a big night from Lebron tonight though, especially with all the talk surrounding game two.
Trust me Bron, alot of us wish the game was still like the 80’s where you could foul someone hard, and sometimes even throw a punch and not get ejected and the game just went on how it was supposed to be.
