LeBron James shows his frustration with the media
When the star-studded roster for the Miami Heat was assembled over the summer, it became clear that the team would receive its fair share of media attention. And with the Heat and their
Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh off to a slow 5-4 start, the scrutiny has only intensified.
After the Heat lost to the Boston Celtics on Thursday 11 November, two words by James resulted in numerous media stories about a brewing conflict between the two-time reigning MVP and
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
When James took a look at the box score in the media room after the game, he said his 44 minutes of playing time was “too much.” Over the weekend, he showed frustration with the media
for turning an innocent comment into a full-blown story.
"It got blew up out of proportion, saying that I told coach Spo [Erik Spoelstra] that he's playing me too much and he's a bad coach," James said before his team’s Saturday game against
the Toronto Raptors.
"You kind of understand sometimes what Randy Moss was talking about when he said, 'I will not be answering any more questions.' Because every time I say something, it gets turned out of
character."
Moss is an NFL receiver who told the media two weeks ago that he would ask himself the questions, instead of fielding them from reporters. He was cut by the Minnesota Vikings the next
day.
Spoelstra said the 44 minutes for James were a direct result of the game being close down the stretch. He is averaging 37.7 minutes so far this season.
"We're on the same page about that," he said of James' playing time. "He was supposed to come out early in the fourth quarter, but it was way too competitive. He didn't want to come out.
And every time he looked at the bench, I looked away."
James maintains that he and Spoelstra have a healthy and open relationship.
"You never want to get to a point where you say something, and it catches you from behind, or the coach says something and you say, 'Wow, I didn't know nothing about that'.
"That's something that me and coach had talked about two days before the Boston game, and it's something we will figure out as a collective group. The open form of communication is always
important in this game, because you don't want to get to a point where you're talking through the media."
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