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Morning Tweet: It's LeBron's world, we just live in it

Jan 28, 2010, 9:00 AM EDT

70 Comments

Zachariah Blott of Empty the Bench has a great piece up today about how the refs are evidently letting LeBron James fly first class, foul-wise, while the rest of the league languishes in coach. Noticing a distinct lack of whistle whenever LeBron was guarding someone, Blott crunched the numbers and found that, indeed, Bron-Bron only collects an average of 1.8 fouls per game, or roughly 50 percent less than the average NBA player. When it comes to the refs, Brony is indeed the King: Nine of the top 10 scorers in the league collectively average 2.7 fouls per. Blott writes:

And this isn’t the first time he’s been in the referee’s good graces to this degree. Last year, James averaged 1.7 fouls per. Going backwards from there, you have 2.2, then 2.2, then 2.3, then 1.8, then 1.9… then he was at his high-school prom. Not only is 2.3 fouls per the worst of LeBron’s career, it actually marks the best in the careers of both Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant.

Is this Tim Donaghy revisited, asks SportsbyBrooks? Not sure about that, but Blott goes on to compare LeBron’s foul numbers with those of past greats, such as Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, and the results are quite interesting. Bottom line, the refs, and the NBA, have some ‘splainin’ to do.
I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano; A stage where every man must play a part, and Thursday is a sad one.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT …

What you missed while enjoying the refreshing, thirst-quenching taste of Stalin …

* PETA proposes robot groundhog replace the real thing on Groundhog Day. This idea of course goes over very well.

* This just in: Basestealing at Shea Stadium now punishable by 30 days in jail, and/or a $1,000 fine.

* Sports Pickle: All-white hockey league quite popular.

***
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  1. Kobe - Jan 28, 2010 at 12:29 PM

    Ummm…he’s talking about Bron Bron fouling others genius. But yes, watch any game – any time anyone goes to the rim there is a foul but they can’t call everyone.

  2. Tommy - Jan 28, 2010 at 12:31 PM

    Right on jackodn! He also has a tendancy to play defense only when it comes to him. Yes, sometimes he will block a shot but generally his defense is weak. He is NOT a complete player like MJ and Kobe.

  3. amused - Jan 28, 2010 at 12:45 PM

    LOL, that’s funny right there. Kobe nearly broke Bibby’s nose with an elbow in game 6 back in 2002 and they called a foul on Bibby! It was so bad Ralph freakin’ Nader called for an investigation.
    Kobe fans have NO room to talk on this issue.

  4. Wakehead - Jan 28, 2010 at 1:25 PM

    And he still complains about every call on him and any no calls when someone plays defense on him. If your the best ball player, why are you always asking for the refs help!
    And this doesn’t even address the walking or as Lebron call it “crab steps”, lol.
    Games with Lebron are pretty unwatchable for me.

  5. tidho - Jan 28, 2010 at 1:35 PM

    Yes he’s a superstar and gets superstar treatment. That’s not a LeBron issue its an NBA issue.
    There’s something to say about what goes on at the offensive end too. LeBron is constantly getting slapped on drives without getting calls. He’s so strong he just plays through them and the refs ignore.

  6. Ravi Jayagopal - Jan 28, 2010 at 1:35 PM

    Evan,
    Well said, and I totally agree. And it’s a fact, not an opinion. Lebron doesn’t guard guards or slashers, and he doesn’t try to take a charge. He tries to stop them from in front, or tries to do a “chase down”, a technique and word that he’s made very famous :-)
    Can you imagine David Stern and the NBA telling the referrees, “Guys, you have to turn a blind eye to the fouls made by LBJ because he’s our golden boy”.
    Come on guys. Get a life. The US is not some nauseously corrupt 3rd world country where you have to bribe to go even pee in a public restroom.
    - Ravi Jayagopal
    Founder & Developer
    http://DigitalAccessPass.com
    ——————————————-
    Even wrote:
    >>Guards tend to draw more fouls because they have a lot more contact with ball handlers (hand checks, reach ins and anyone guarding a slasher). Meanwhile, Lebron matches up with guys more used to catching ahd shooting. This will ALWAYS net you fewer fouls than defending a guard.

  7. moreflagsmorefun - Jan 28, 2010 at 1:43 PM

    I wonder if LeBron has learned anything about shaking your
    opponents hand when after they bust ya butt, maybe Shaq can
    teach him after someone teaches Shaq, I guess.

  8. moreflagsmorefun - Jan 28, 2010 at 1:44 PM

    check the 2008 finals against Boston.

  9. EyesWideOpen - Jan 28, 2010 at 1:53 PM

    Pretty obvious that the NBA is fixed. Has been forever. Today is just another addition to the growing confirmation that the NBA is corupt.

  10. JJ - Jan 28, 2010 at 2:02 PM

    Art and all you LBJ lovers did you or did you not see the playoffs last year were LBJ chocked or couldn’t will his team to win against an Orlando team that Kobe and TEAM dismantled!!!! Kobe is the true MVP 4 rings & counting to ZERO!

  11. Fear the Turtle - Jan 28, 2010 at 2:03 PM

    When I was a kid, you could take 1.5 steps. Then MJ showed up, and traveling was redefined. It’s been redefined again. I love how a player can take two steps, leave the ground, land on two feet and still shoot. The big draws, like MJ and LeBron, will get a break because they help the NBA. It’s absurd. A foul is a foul is a foul, unless you are really good. The only thing worse than watching LeBron get away with murder, and cry when he is called, is watching Duke get away with so fewer fouls than anyone else. They go down a few points, K starts whining and suddenly the other team is in foul trouble.
    This is why prof basketball is no fun to watch.

  12. Manfred - Jan 28, 2010 at 2:10 PM

    Who cares NBA is a joke. The Refs are a joke and YOUR a JOKE if you waste time following NBA ! Why ? The Refs.

  13. joe - Jan 28, 2010 at 2:11 PM

    not only does he get called for fouls, pretty much the only time they (cavs) win close games is when lebron shoots 18 or more free throws a game, thats the sad part of his game, check the stats , they dont lie, the cavs shoot 15-20 more free throws than many of their opponents, its what George Karl cried about when his Bucks were eliminated by a lesser phili team so the NBA could put AI against shaq and Kobe, which was a 4-0 sweep ,, check the stats when the Cavs win,,, terrible Basketball

  14. montanaman - Jan 28, 2010 at 2:16 PM

    You can’t compare Kobe to Lebron based on number of rings. This isn’t golf, they don’t compete one on one with each other. It’s still a team sport with some individual starts. Even Jordan didn’t win without Pippen.

  15. CavsFan - Jan 28, 2010 at 2:37 PM

    The NBA should give certain players special treatment because it brings more money in. The fans come to see LeBron, not the other players. If LeBron fouled out of games, or had to sit on the bench longer because of too many fouls, the fans would be cheated. They came to see LeBron, not the refs. LeBron is the best player in the league and should not be required to jump thru the same hoops (no pun), like other players are required to jump thru. It is time for the Cavs to be in the finals, the NBA gave Kobe his turn, it is time for the LeBron to have his turn. The NBA was not established to be a competition, it is an exhibition, like the Globe Trotters, or Big Time Wrestling.

  16. edd - Jan 28, 2010 at 2:37 PM

    Thank MJ for this. Stern has made the league about the superstar and not the team. Remember Mourning in 1994, when he said, “Mike touch you its a steal, you touch Mike, its a foul”! The main reason for not watching? What are the rules? Levels of rules for levels of stardom. I do know one thing, when Jordan was in the league, there wasn’t a debate about who was better than him. The debate was who was better MJ or Wilt. Even today they compare Kobe to MJ…Lebron, hows the free throw shooting?

  17. Big Mike - Jan 28, 2010 at 2:46 PM

    Queen James is a flopper as well. People saying he goes to the basket so strong that slaps to the wrists dont phase him need to wake up and realize that he is an actor both ways. Plus the fact that he complains so much it just gets tiresome and you end up finding yourself rooting against him. Win a ring Jamie and then start bragging.

  18. Greg - Jan 28, 2010 at 3:05 PM

    This comes as no surprise. I haven’t watched the NBA since the Magic Bird years. I’ll check in once in a while but that’s about it. The NBA needs a megastar to survive so they create one. After real basketball died they created Michael Jordan, then Shaq, then Kobe and now King James. This is the most rigged league in any pro sports. Why people waste there money on it or time is beyond me. The WWE has more legitimacy than the NBA.

  19. Ice - Jan 28, 2010 at 3:53 PM

    The NBA is practically unwatchable. Because of that, I can’t comment on LeBron too much because I don’t see him play often. But between endless “no-calls” on Jordan, Patrick Ewing’s 3 steps into the paint that was never called, and Shaq’s use of his butt as a weapon to steamroll the person guarding him makes the NBA the least legit of the major sports.
    At least the WWE admits they are entertainment. The NBA should do the same…. They manipulate the game so fans can see the best players on the floor. It can still be entertaining but it’s not real.

  20. hectorartm - Jan 28, 2010 at 4:25 PM

    It’s very sad to me…the game I love has literally been modified for a single player that doesn’t really play basketball, but something else. He takes three steps on every play AND he constantly fouls and never gets called for it. This is not basketball, it’s WWE.

  21. chiciagoK - Jan 28, 2010 at 4:35 PM

    Why don’t they ring the court with a 20 feet steel fence, give the players chains and knives, and play to the last player standing. I don’t understand how anyone can watch pro-basketball. When I played HS ball, if you slapped a hand you were called for a foul. You might lean on the back of the center, but any other contact was a foul. Pro-BB is no longer a sport. Heck, they can bring guns to the arena and pull them out and only get a 50 game suspension. I hope a judge puts these jerks in jail for 10 years! It is time for cities to pass laws defining who can play in publicly funded arena’s or at facilities where public funds support any activity, e.g., security, parking, changed transit schedule. Any player with a rap sheet is barred! The people in the city where these jerks have been suspended should sue the jerks for their season ticket price times 10! Let’s put these thugs in jail and take away their money!

  22. BT1 - Jan 28, 2010 at 4:50 PM

    I have watched almost all of the CAVS games for a few years now. LeBron does even get ‘homecourt’ fouls in his own arena. He gets hacked many times with no calls. You remember the slam on KG a couple of years ago, that was featured in the Where Amazing Happens commercials? Well KG got away with a forearm to the chest despite the posterization. A couple of nights ago, I watched the CAVS / HEAT game, you know what, you can’t even look at DWADE without a foul getting called, plus he can foul and goaltend and get away w/ it. So don’t pick on LeBron when you can pick any # of players and write the same article.

  23. whocares - Jan 28, 2010 at 4:50 PM

    Almost as much special treatment as Michael Jordan received form the refs! Too bad a player can palm the ball, travel and dunk (no real skill required) and we still call it basketball.

  24. John D. - Jan 28, 2010 at 5:07 PM

    I can’t believe I am actually writing this b/c I don;t even watch the NBA anymore and I am surpirsed that some of you do. The NBA is no longer a game, rather a show and sports entertainment much like WWE wrestling. They stopped calling fouls on star players a long time ago and stopped making it a “team” game b/c it was considered boring. Instead David Stern pushed (and got his wish) for highlight dunks, bad to awful outside shooting, no low post game, poor passing skills (with few exceptions on the highlights) and little to no defense. The NBA knows who they want to win and who they want to market. If LeBron is the player that people want to watch and who makes everyone in the NBA a lot of money, then he will never foul out nor will he get calls against him for illegal hand-checks, etc, etc. No star that makes the NBA money does (see how many times Kobe, DWade, AI, etc fouled out in their respective careers).
    Bottom line is the NBA is sports entertainment and the results are predetermined to a certain degree. You’ll see at the end of the year this year when LeBron is holding up the trophy surrounded by players who couldn’t make an outside 20-foot shot if they wanted and some who would be hard-pressed to make a legitimate Division I program.

  25. pants_on_the_ground - Jan 28, 2010 at 5:29 PM

    LeBron is King!!!

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