Ex- Cavalier Lance Allred comes to LeBron James’ rescue – NBA Update
Lance Allred, a former teammate of LeBron James at the Cleveland Cavaliers, has come to the defence of the King after seeing him bombarded with criticism from all corners.
LeBron James has been under severe criticism since his move to the Miami Heat. The once beloved athlete is now the butt of most people’s jokes and the LeBron bashing has reached new heights since Miami’s loss to Dirk Nowitzki and
the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.
Allred was a backup centre at the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2007-2008 season. The player who is not able to hear and was raised a Mormon, has a very unique perspective on NBA, the fans and his former teammate.
Allred, who recently published his second book, does not believe LeBron deserves to be as vilified as he is at the moment. He said in an interview that the LeBron James he knew, is very different from the one that is projected
on the TV sets these days,
“As with every human, LeBron has many good qualities as well as qualities that could use some work. But as a teammate, there were many times when I first arrived at Cleveland that LeBron went out of his way with small, simple gestures
to help me feel welcome, when he did not need to. But he did anyway.”
Allred did however concede that James and his team could have handled his PR in a better way. He believes that often the PR guys around LeBron fail to project or show to the world his good qualities, the fact that he is a helping
and nice human being. On the other hand, the media blows up everything negative they get their paws on.
A combination of LeBron’s naivety and the media’s witch hunt is the cause of the current PR crisis that the “Chosen One” currently faces,
“At times, the PR machine around LeBron does not best represent him as a person. Maybe as a celebrity, but not as a person. He has many good qualities that maybe are not shown to the world”
Allred also said that the current overall gloomy mood of the United States has played a major part in the hate campaign directed at James. People face tough financial issue in the current weak economy and they have to take their
anger out somewhere. LeBron is getting singled out because of some of the events of the past year and because he is an easy target, always in the news and under the spotlight, unlike some of the real villains who stay in the shadows.
In the end, Lance pleaded with the NBA fans not to be as judgemental of LeBron and his fellow professionals, reminding them that “When the lights turn off and we go home, we are often far different people than the athletes you
see on the court.”
Well said - indeed.
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