Tag Archives: lebron james

Athletes Give Their Two Cents On Ferguson

By Matt Rogers

As we all know by now, there was a tragic event that occurred in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9 of this year. The event was the shooting death of an unarmed man named Michael Brown by a Ferguson Police officer, Darren Wilson. Since this happened, there have been countless riots and protests against not only the police officer that shot Brown, but the police force as a whole.

On November 25, it was determined that the officer that shot, and killed, Michael Brown will not be indicted on criminal charges for the incident. This has received tons of media coverage because of the implications of what may come as a result of the decision to not indict the officer. Riots have proceeded in Ferguson. Burning of police cars, arson and vandalism of public building, and police standoffs have raged on.

Not only has this tragic event received extensive media coverage, it has caught the eye of many other public figures, including many athletes. Twitter has been blowing up with tweets from athletes about the decision. LeBron James, maybe the most recognizable athlete on the entire planet, tweeted that “it hit home”, but he also noted that “violence is not the answer”. Matt Barnes, a forward for the Los Angeles Clippers, tweeted that it is “okay to kill people…. as long as the person being killed is of color & the person behind the trigger has a badge”.

These opinions expressed by these two NBA athlete definitely imply that they are not happy with the decision handed down not to indict officer Darren Wilson, a white man, that killed Brown, a black man.

In my opinion, although I do agree with some of what the athletes are tweeting and saying, I do not agree with the way that they expressed their thoughts on the subject. I believe that the subject is worthy of much more than a 160 character tweet. I also believe that athletes too often take to social media to express their impulses, but given the way things are in today’s society, social media seems to have become the most popular way for people to express their inner thoughts and beliefs.

The expansion of social media, mainly Facebook and Twitter, has resulted in too many “foot in mouth” moments because people (athletes) often post off impulse rather than thinking through what they are actually saying or posting. I am also a firm believer that athletes should be more aware of what they say on social media because one of their obligations as role models for children is to exhibit composure in adverse situations. What James said did not come off as offensive, but what Barnes posted could have been something that a large number of people could have taken offense to.

I was nowhere near Ferguson, Missouri the day that this shooting occurred. I do not know what lead up to the shooting or why Wilson felt threatened by Brown. I do know that sensationalism is something that is abundant in media coverage, especially today, so certain parts of stories are made from nothing. I suggest that athletes offer little to no public thoughts on situations like this one on social media. If they want justice, like the rest of us, they should let the public hear the word come out of their mouths. It should not be that hard for LeBron James to find a camera to voice his thoughts to, the press is constantly looking for anything new from King James.

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Derrick Rose: The Comeback Kid?

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By Ellen Chlumecky

On Wednesday, October 29th, Derrick Rose was finally cleared to play again. The long-awaited return of Chicago Bull Derrick Rose to the United Center has finally been answered. However, Derrick Rose’s return to the court so far has not been met with entirely positive opinions. While there will always be haters of Derrick Rose, some media has doubts about whether or not Derrick Rose can make a comeback.

For the most part, Chicago fans are ecstatic to have their prince of basketball return to center stage. While there are some disbelievers, the city of Chicago cannot wait to see Rose prove himself on the court once again. Chicago Bulls fans are a long-suffering community since the Michael Jordan era. Don’t get me wrong, they have had glimmers of hope since their last 1998 Championship but Derrick Rose was truly their new beacon of light and with his teammates Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah, and Taj Gibson, they seemed unstoppable. On April 28, 2012 Derrick Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee and all of Chicago’s glimmer of hope was shut down once again. Now that he has once again returned, Chicago is wary of his return just because of the injury and worried how long the prince’s reign will last this time.

His teammates and coaches have shown nothing but positive praise for Rose as he worked in the past few months during the preseason. He is working tirelessly to perform at his best. Rose wants to play at his best level for his teammates and coaches. His teammates and coaches know that his main priority is always to improve the whole of the team. His teammates comment on how he is a team player and have complete faith that he will be at 100% this season. Very few players lead the team with such passion such as Rose. His teammates look up to him and wish for nothing but a successful return.

However, several different media sources like the New York Times, have some doubt about whether or not Derrick Rose still has what it takes to remain a legacy. While they had some high praise to say about Rose, they still have some doubts about his progress and if he can be the same player that he was before his injury. They have been calling Derrick Rose a question mark, not in his talent, but in his health.

It seems that the people who have the most faith in his ability to come back are competitors. LeBron James has stated several times how he believes the Chicago Bulls have a shot at a playoff run this year. He stated, “The Bulls are a team that’s much better than us right now.” He has stated that with Rose back in top health and the team he has behind, there is no doubt it’ll be a successful season for them. Even Iman Shumpert of the New York Knicks had only positive things to say about Rose. He commented, “He’s a franchise player and the reason he needs more time to recover than me is because his main goal for him when he comes back is to be M.V.P. right away.” Players in the NBA know what he’s capable of and seem to have no doubt in their minds that he’ll be back in action this season.

As a Chicago Bulls and a Derrick Rose fan myself, I am more than excited to see what he has up his sleeve this year. He has worked his tail off during the preseason to be stronger, faster, and a better teammate. I have no doubt in my mind that Rose will make the doubters eat their words this season.

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Chris Bosh Says he Hasn’t Spoken to LeBron Since his Departure from Miami

By Matt Rogers

Another day, another story about LeBron James leaving Miami for a reunion with the Cavaliers in Cleveland. This story does not have much to do with the teams, but has every thing to do with Miami and national media digging for any and every story involving LeBron’s departure from the Heat.

It was no coincidence that this story was broken just days before the Heat and Cavs clashed in a preseason game in Rio de Janiero, Brazil on Saturday. The story was derived from quotes that Chris Bosh gave to reporters when asked if he had spoken to LeBron James since his decision to leave the Heat to re-join the Cleveland Cavaliers, after leaving 4 years earlier for the warm weather, beaches and title opportunities in Miami.

Whether or not Bosh intended any ill will by his comments about James is unknown, but Bosh did say that “We will see each other on the court. That’s plenty of time to catch up.” These quotes have been run by a vast majority of all major media outlets since they were made, each putting their own twist and spin on how the quotes were to be interpreted. Most media outlets saw what Bosh said as a stab at LeBron for leaving his “close” friends, Dwyane Wade and Bosh, in Miami after 4 consecutive NBA Finals appearances (2 of which the Heat won).

Personally, I believe that the Bosh quotes are a non-story to draw interest to an otherwise meaningless NBA preseason game. The quotes should not come as a surprise to anyone because of how much media coverage LeBron’s decision received this past summer. There were stories that broke about LeBron riding back with Dwyane Wade on a plane to Miami from his skills camp in Las Vegas the day of his decision. This did not sit well with media members in Miami because this lead most to assume LeBron had decided to return to the Miami Heat, which obviously did not happen.

This definitely is not the last story to break about a possible rift between a member of the Miami Heat and LeBron James because of James’ departure from Miami and the media coverage it received and continues to receive. Anything that the media can use to conjure up a buzz about certain marquee match-ups throughout the long and drawn-out NBA season, especially anything that involves the best player in the NBA and the entire planet, LeBron James, is going to be used as much as possible.

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