El delantero del Miami HEAT LeBron James fue escogido Deportista del Año 2012 de Sports Illustrated. Anualmente, la revista entrega el galardón Deportista del Año a un atleta por sus elevados logros atléticos y comportamiento nos inspiraron.
NEW YORK, NY (December 3) – Sports Illustrated today announced that Miami Heat and USA Basketball star LeBron James is the 2012 Sportsman of the Year.
Cynics should be taking Sports Illustrated’s choice to award LeBron James with the Sportsman of the Year award as their initial instinct suggests. Other athletes, other bad dudes and dudettes, have taken in more scorn. Other athletes have been the focus of all out cable TV marathons, daytime television dedicated to their potential and little else. Others have been trumped up, to ridiculous levels, merely for acting the centerpiece for a sterling collection of winning athletes. And other athletes have risen from low points with great alacrity and to marvelous results.
With something less than ease, James has mixed all of the more unsettling aspects of our attempts to saturate things. Basketball is a team sport, but the man went nine years without a title in ways that made Michael Jordan’s frustrations (no playoff wins in his first three years for MJ, three straight losses to the same team in two different rounds, no titles for his first six seasons) seem like a smooth ascent to glory. LeBron didn’t handle it well, he rightfully left a team in the least dignified manner possible, we bashed, and he failed. And then he won, so we give him an award.
Roll your eyes all you want, but this is fitting designation for a player that absolutely turned things on its high-heeled sneakers in just a fortnight’s time. LeBron James grew before our very eyes last June, moving in just 14 days from the brink of another disappointing season to a championship to initiating talk of the Miami Heat dynasty he gleefully hinted at in July of 2010.
LeBron James gets this award because he finally figured out what to do. Because even the best still need to find ways to translate their greatness into something that counts, and even the best should be awarded when they finally suss it all out.
(Reuters) – LeBron James of the Miami Heat was named as Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year for 2012, the U.S. magazine announced on Monday. In an outstanding year, the 27-year-old James won his first NBA championship, his third league Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, was named MVP of the NBA finals and a won gold medal with the United States at the London Olympics. He became just the sixth basketballer to win the award, which began in 1954. The most recent was his team-mate Dwyane Wade in 2006. …
Dec 3 (Reuters) – LeBron James of the Miami Heat was named as Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year for 2012, the U.S. magazine announced on Monday. In an outstanding year, the 27-year-old James won his first NBA championship, his third league Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, was named MVP of the NBA finals and a won gold medal with the United States at the London Olympics. He became just the sixth basketballer to win the award, which began in 1954. The most recent was his team-mate Dwyane Wade in 2006. …
NEW YORK, NY (December 3) – Sports Illustrated today announced that Miami Heat and USA Basketball star LeBron James is the 2012 Sportsman of the Year.
If Andrew Bynum actually cared, his potential would be limitless.
He could be the face of the Philadelphia 76ers franchise, playing a key role in the young team’s Eastern Conference uprising.
But he doesn’t care—or at least he doesn’t show it.
If a player cared, would he go bowling while he’s rehabbing his knees? Of course he wouldn’t, but Bynum did.
ESPN’s Chris Broussard and Brian Windhorst reported the story, that “The Philadelphia 76ers fear All-Star center Andrew Bynum might have done additional damage to his knees while bowling.” I read that, and I laughed, but he hadn’t confirmed it himself, so there was a chance that it wasn’t completely true—until Sunday.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer reporter John Mitchell, Bynum confirmed the laughable news:
Bynum just confirmed that the damage to his knee occurred while bowling.
— john mitchell (@JmitchInquirer) November 18, 2012
Broussard and Windhorst‘s report did note that bowling isn’t one of the activities that are disallowed in standard NBA contracts, but come on. That doesn’t give Bynum an out here.
He’s injured, and he’s on a new team. He should want to get back on the court as soon as possible to prove himself to his new squad. No way, no how, is bowling benefiting that. Sure, his setback was probably more bad luck than anything, but what does it say about the player who would risk it?
It doesn’t say much, and, in Bynum’s case, no one should be surprised. This is the same guy who carried Playmates around on his shoulders while he was injured in 2009 (via Sports Illustrated).
He has never had a reputation as one of the league’s most mature players, and he’s either oblivious to that, or, again, he just doesn’t care.
There’s no doubting Bynum’s ability on the offensive end. He averaged 18.7 points and 11.9 rebounds last year. He shows touch that most seven-footers would never dream of, consistently making shots from anywhere around the paint.
But being a superstar requires more than that. If he wants to be the face of the 76ers franchise, like they expect, then he must grow up and take things more seriously.
Bowling is fun. I like bowling. I’ve never carried a Playmate around on my shoulders, but I can imagine that that’s a good time too—but Bynum’s an NBA player. Right now, he’s an injured NBA player. Getting back on the court requires rigorous rehab, not living it up until your full-time job begins again.
Bynum is only 25 years old, so there’s still time, but Philadelphia should be shaking its head over this one. Instead of making shots, the big man would rather roll strikes.
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David Lee will never be able to win. That doesn’t mean you should feel sorry for him, not with another decade to enjoy in his NBA career and a six-year $80 million contract to currently have and to hold, but no NBA fan that is aware of his reputation or Golden State Warrior fan that is aware of his defensive shortcomings will ever get past that years-old scouting report of David’s:
Good finisher, fine scorer. Great rebounder. Possible league-worst defender at his position. Puts up great numbers and has yet to play in the playoffs. That’s the scouting report.
Unless you’re one of Sports Illustrated’s anonymous NBA scouts, the ones that for almost a decade have routinely infuriated us with step-slow takes ( like calling this team great on offense and terrible at defense) that seem way out of line with the fantastic work the great majority of NBA scouts do each season. Reports that may push the limits of tact with, well, take a look :
Everyone says David Lee is a great guy, but talk about overrated. He’s looking for his own numbers big-time. I’m guessing he leads the league in rebounds off missed free throws. He has turned himself into a 20-and-10 guy — an accomplishment, for sure. But he’s never been a guy who is constantly helping on defense. The story you hear from the Knicks is that his teammates used to call him FEMA, because he’s never there when you need him.
They’ve cut ribbons with giant scissors, filmed reality television episodes, convinced Vegas they’re the best team in New York and, most recently, graced a Sports Illustrated cover – all without playing a game.
According to Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated, the Boston Celtics have expressed interest in signing Kenyon Martin and Terrence Williams.
Williams would be nice, but let’s face it, Martin is the far bigger prize here and is probably the best player remaining on the free agent market.
The problem with Martin is that he does not want to sign for the veteran’s minimum. This would mean that GM Danny Ainge would have to use the bi-annual exception on the 34-year-old. Well, for the betterment of the team, it would be in Ainge‘s best interest to do that.
The Celtics are already deep as it is, and bringing Martin aboard would give them what would unquestionably be the deepest team in the entire league. Although K-Mart is not the same player he was a few years ago, he is still productive. This was most evident in last year’s playoffs, as Martin averaged 3.5 blocks per 36 minutes, by far the best of his career.
What Martin will really bring to the table though will not show up in the box score, and that is a tough guy persona that Boston sorely missed in its frontcourt this past season. Outside of Kevin Garnett, no one else on the C’s’ frontline struck any kind of fear into their opponents. Greg Stiemsma may have been a good shot-blocker, but he was anything but an intimidator.
The Celtics did somehow sign Jason Collins, who will undoubtedly add some toughness and physicality to the club, but the more the merrier, right?
Martin is not only physical, but he is also a skilled defender. Always has been. He may be turning 35 in December, but there is no questioning his intensity on that side of the floor. Just picture K.G. and K-Mart patrolling the paint. How vicious of a duo would that be, and how crucial would that be against a team like the Miami Heat?
Here is something else to note: Martin averaged 1.6 blocks per 36 minutes during the regular season in 2011-12, his best mark since his rookie year in 2000-01. Don’t think he has anything left in the tank? Think again.
Adding K-Mart would give Boston incredible depth up front, as the team would have Garnett, Brandon Bass, rookies Jared Sullinger and Fab Melo, Chris Wilcox, Collins and Martin.
This seems like a no-brainer for Ainge. I understand that he might want to wait until mid-season when decent players tend to get cut to use the bi-annual exception, but let’s be real here, is there really going to be anyone available who is better than Martin?
What are everyone else’s thoughts on signing K-Mart?
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