You know when you hate watch something just for the fuckin thrill of finding out how it will end? That’s what this Grizzlies-Lakers series has been for me.
Hating the Lakers? I feel I don’t even have to explain this one. They get every whistle, their fans are the absolute worst, yada yada yada. Any person with an IQ above 50 could figure out why that franchise is so easy to root against.
Hating the Grizzlies?* This is a new hot trend that I 100% ride with*. If Paris Hilton was an NBA fan, (not saying she’s not, I’m just choosing to be lowkey/highkey sexist by assuming she’s not. Also if Paris reads this blog…Sup?), she’d say, “Hating the Grizzlies is so hot right now.” We don’t have to go over those reasons either. Loot Sports has covered it ad nauseum here and here.
So in this hate watch, the question then becomes – Where should my rooting interest lie?
The obvious answer would be cannibalism. Not literally of course, although that would add an extra layer on this series that NO ONE saw coming. I’m talking about both teams playing so much basketball that either of them would be so tired in a second round series against the Kings or Warriors that neither of them would have a shot in hell of winning that respective matchup. Give me 7 triple overtime games and I’ll be a happy boy. Figurative cannibalism. See? I always bring things full circle.
The second obvious answer would be the Lakers. I mean not only are they the Lakers, but they have LeBitch on their team. Ya I went there. You didn’t think I was going to get through this without taking at least one shot at the Queen, did you? Boom, that’s two now, just for good measure.
Howeva!
(I still can’t believe they don’t have the Stephen A. Smith “Howeva” Gif readily available on Giphy)
LeBron is finally acting like the adult in the room for the first time in his career. It’s not that he’s not still crying every other play. C’mon, it’s LeBron, of course he is. It’s that he’s actually doing an awesome job of putting a bunch of frontrunners* in their place.
The reason the Ja Morant Denver strip club incident was so fun to make fun of wasn’t solely because it was such an idiotic move. It was fun to make fun of because Ja and his team* are frontrunning hoes that talk way too much shit for a team that’s accomplished exactly zero things in their short tenure as one of the better teams in the NBA. “I’m fine in the West” feels like it’s trending towards being the most delusional quote from an NBA superstar we’ve ever seen. Combine that with the fact that the biggest shit talker on the entire team is a dude who’s probably the worst player in their starting 5, and it becomes painfully obvious why the Grizzlies have become such an easy team to hate.*
So why has LeBron momentarily gained my respect?
LeBum (Boom, roasted a third time) is not only being a good leader for his team in the media, which has been rare in his career, he’s backing it up on the court.
LeBron did this before the game which I actually thought was kind of awesome:
Talk your shit LeBron, fuck ya.
In case you missed it, Dillon Brooks essentially called LeBron a geriatric fuck after their only win of the series thus far.
So it looked like LeBron was confronting him face to face about this after Brooks took the coward route and talked his shit in the locker-room after a win.
But then LeBron backed it up during the game.
Of course LeBron once again couldn’t make it an entire game without pretending he got shot with a literal gun after Brooks gave him a little sac tap.
But he honestly made up for his bitchiness with this quote after the game:
I just respect how he’s handled this whole frontrunning Grizzlies* situation. When I said LeBron was being a leader with his quotes to the media, this is what I mean.
Per ESPN:
“I’ve been doing this too long. I’ve made enough statements,” James said when asked if he was trying to make a point with his play. “No. We had an opportunity to come home and play well on our home floor, and we did that. No statement was made. We just wanted to play well and got a win. And we want to try to do that in Game 4, as well.
“But I don’t need to make statements.”
“This is not my first rodeo,” James said. “I’ve had this throughout my career with certain individuals. It’s easy. It’s literally easy if you want to …”
Responding to the Brooks “old” comments:
“At the end of the day, I think my résumé and what I’ve done for this league speaks for itself,” James said. “I don’t really get caught up in any comments like that. Like I continue to say, at the end of the day, my focus is to my teammates and us trying to figure out a way how we can beat the Memphis Grizzlies, not how I can try to beat an individual on their team.
“If anybody knows me, they should know that’s what I’ve always been about. That’s all that matters.”
Honestly LeBron, respect. This sounds like something our Lord and Savior Nikola Jokic would say. LeBron wasn’t lying for absolutely no reason…
(LeBron pretending to read the Godfather for like 3 years straight will always be hilarious to me.)
He wasn’t making fun of Dirk Nowitzki for being sick in the Finals before proceeding to lose that series in embarassing fashion.
LeBron was being real. And I think that’s the first time in my life I can admit that.
However, if the Nuggets have to play the Lakers in the playoffs this year?
I will go back to labeling LeBron James as the biggest piece of shit this world has ever known.
That’s the best you’re going to get from a Loot Sports blog about LeBron that’s not an absolute hit piece.
You’re welcome.
-MustacheMan
*As always, David Roddy is excluded from any and all Memphis Grizzlies slander.
