LeBron may never be loved in Cleveand again, but who said the rest of the world couldn't jump back on the LeBron James bandwagon?

LeBron James is a villain. Everyone hates everything he does. So how is he supposed to become a hero? That is the question I have been thinking about.

LeBron is a lot like Kobe Bryant. Kobe is loved and hated… no in between. Kobe is also said to be great and bad in crunch time. Same with LeBron. LeBron needs to change if he is going to make NBA fans love him again.

So far LeBron has done a great job at keeping in the shadows this summer. But LeBron will have to come out once the NBA lockout is over. When he does, LeBron needs to show everyone he wants towin a ring for the Heat more than himself. LeBron should go out on the court every night and take over the game, unlike what anyone did last year. The Heat need to become HIS team.

LeBron should show us that he is the most hungry player in the NBA. He needs to show he is mature enough to take the Heat to any city, and take over every game. LeBron could do so much with all the teams role players, but he would need to use the time he could use to make himself better to make his teammates better.

Miami has the big three so they need to work together like the 08 Celtics. LeBron would be the Heat’s Paul Pierce. LeBron is a great player, he just needs to step up and become the leader, and maybe, if he does all that, he can gain his fans back.

I wrote this recently and I decided not to let it go to waste, even if this is a little late.

The buzzer sounded. American Airlines Arena hadn’t been quieter all year, but now it was all over, all they could do was watch the Dallas players cheer and wish they could have a redo, but this wasn’t a video game, this was reality.

It all began when the Cleveland Cavaliers got eliminated from the 2010 NBA playoffs, LeBron James walked off the court taking off his jersey and we could only wonder what he would do next. Leave.

LeBron headed down to Miami and joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. They danced and cheered, but as they often do, the Miami Heat cheered too early. They still had to play an NBA season.

So they played. Sometimes they were laughed at and other times they were respected, and somehow, after a 9-8 start, they managed to finish their season 58-24, favorites to win a ring.

All throughout the playoffs NBA fans watched the Heat speed through the first three rounds. When it was time for the finals, Cleveland diehards were picking Miami to beat Dallas.

That is why it was so disappointing when Miami could not beat the Mavericks, or even force a game seven. But my question is, how?

Miami had the big three and a handful of role players and they couldn’t beat the Mavericks in a best of seven series.

Well, Dallas had a better coach, Rick Carlisle was making changes in the starting line-up in the finals. Carlisle also ran a zone defense, which I believe is the best defense available.

Dallas also had a better supporting cast around their star players. Miami had had Mario Chalmers and Joel Anthony in the starting line-up while Dallas had J.J. Barea and Shawn Marion around their core three players.

The biggest problem for the Heat was their inability to finish games. During the finals there were several games in which the Heat let go of a close game. In game five the Mavericks led 84-79 going into the fourth quarter and won 112-103.

The Miami Heat are a very talented team, but they need to do some work if they want to win a championship, because right now, Miami is not capable to win a championship with the way they played in the NBA finals.

Would getting rid of a few teams help the NBA?

Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas, New York, Boston, etc. The good teams. Cleveland, Minnesota, Sacramento, Charlotte, Detroit, Milwaukee, etc. The bad teams. New Orleans, Houston, Indiana, Memphis, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia, etc. Somewhere in the middle.

The NBA is broken up into three different sections. The sections aren’t official, but they are very, very real.

The good teams are the teams that make it to the playoffs with a good seed year, after year, after year. The teams in the middle are the mediocre teams that may or may not make the playoffs, and are not championship contenders. The bad teams are the teams that have no chance at the playoffs, and they are looking for a higher draft pick.

The NBA is a great league, don’t get me wrong, but, obviously it has it’s problems, as does any business. But one problem with the NBA is that it has too many good and bad teams.

I may sound crazy right now, but I am about to explain what I mean.

The good teams have a lot of star players. Miami has Bosh, James and Wade. Boston has Allen, Garnett and Pierce. New York has Anthony, Billups and Stoudamire.

The bad teams don’t usually have an all-star on their roster. Minnesota has Kevin Love, okay, but Cleveland has… Antwan Jamison and Kyrie Irving. Charlotte has Kemba Walker. The Kings, Tyreke Evans. See what I mean?

The NBA would be so much better if their were more teams that could contend and less teams that might be good in ten years. So, what could the NBA do?

If the NBA cut ten teams (five in each conference) good players on bad teams could go play for better teams and make new teams contenders. Imagine if Philly had Kevin Love and Iggy. Or if Orlando got Deron Williams. Or if Houston got Tyreke Evans. The NBA would be THAT much better.

The Houston Rockets are one of those teams that could be great, but they need that push. If Houston got a star that a bad team has, the Rockets might be able to win a ring. All they need is a star, and Kevin Love or John Wall have what the Rockets need.

But, fans would get angry. Sacramento is about to move and Kings fans are devastated. Could David Stern get rid of ten teams without upsetting fans too much?No. But it would be better in the long run.

I don’t want to upset Cavaliers fans, but let’s face it, Cleveland sports suck. They could be good, but the Cavs had their chance when they had LeBron, and they had their chance in the 90′s when they had Mark Price and Brad Daughtery.

Stern could move teams like Cleveland who don’t have a good history. Detroit couldn’t be moved because of their deep history, but the Timberwolves never won a ring, they haven’t  even made a finals appearance.

If the NBA did something this big it would be a lot of hard work, but it would be worth it (even if it did upset a few fans).

Jason Terry should be the starting shooting guard for the Mavericks. I didn't work too hard on this article but I wanted to post something, enjoy.

He sat in a tattoo parlor ready to get his newest tattoo. Hoping, that maybe it could give his team some good luck. And it did.

Standing at 6’2” Jason “the Jet” Terry is short for his position. But that doesn’t keep him from playing shooting guard in the NBA, even though he has to guard Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade.

Anyway, Jason Terry is a very talented player, and, yet, he still plays sixth man for the Dallas Mavericks. Why?

Terry has been with Dallas for seven years and was there when they lost in 06. He saved Dallas in game six of last year’s finals. Even when Dirk couldn’t hit a shot he made sure Dallas didn’t fall into a hole, kinda like Ron Artest in game seven of the 2010 finals. Huh.

Well, Rick Carlisle has Terry as a sixth man even though he is the second or third best player on the team. J.J. Barea who isn’t even six feet tall was starting at shooting guard for the latter part of the finals. Why not Terry?

Unlike most coaches Rick Carlisle is willing to change his roster and move different players to the starting line-up in order to win, and that is exactly what Terry can do. They have nothing to lose, they just won a ring and thet aren’t looking like favorites to repeat so now are they supposed to get Caron Butler re-signed and start him and Shawn Marion? They probably will, but that is the wrong choice.

I’m not saying they shouldn’t re-sign Butler, but Terry is the most experienced player they could start at shooting guard. He won a ring and is a veteran. He can guard Kobe and D-Wade, and score against anybody. He intimidates people, he talks trash, he’s loud when he plays well. Barea is humble and not as talented, Butler may be better but he is a three, not a two.

Dallas should have Jason Kidd and Rodrigue Beaubois at point, Terry and Rudy Fernandez at the two, Butler and Marion at the three, Dirk and Brian Cardinal at the four and Tyson Chandler and Brendan Haywood at the five. That is a good team, and that doesn’t leave Corey Brewer, Jason Terry and Rudy Fernandez all fighting for playing time. But, hey, I’m not Rick Carlisle. but if I were I assure you, Jason Terry would not be sitting on the bench for the tip-0ff.

Could the Portland Trailblazers be the next L.A. Lakers? Maybe, just maybe.

Most of the good teams in the NBA Western Conference are old teams. the Lakers, Mavericks and Spurs were the top three seeds in last years playoffs. All three teams are old.

Many younger teams will begin to get into the playoff mix, most of them are not that great yet, but teams like Memphis, Houston, the L.A. Clippers and the Warriors are just a few of the teams I think could be serious contenders in a few years. And we cannot forget the Thunder.

But I see one NBA team that could be just like the Lakers of the past few years. The Portland Trailblazers.

Portland is a good city that players could be attracted to and they have a strong fan base. In fact, the Mavericks lost two of the three post-season games in the Rose Garden.

At point guard the Trailblazers got rid of their Derrick Fisher (Andre Miller) and got someone younger and better. Raymond Felton.

The Lakers needed more talent at point guard but now Portland doesn’t need that as much. Felton is a very talented player who has played on many teams and been in many different locker rooms. He is an upgrade from veteran Andre Miller.

Portland also has their Kobe in Brandon Roy. Okay, so Brandon Roy isn’t exactly Kobe Bryant, but that is his team, and he doesn’t want anybody taking the role of leader.

For example, when Portland was down 2 games to 1 in game four, they went into the fourth quarter with an 18 point deficit. Well, Brandon Roy led the team scoring 18 of the team’s 35 fourth quarter points, and the Trailblazers won the game 84-82.

The Lakers have Ron Artest who may be their best defensive player. He also came out huge offensively in the 2009-10 NBA playoffs. He hit a game winning buzzer beater against the Phoenix Suns which changed the momentum of the series. And then came out big in game seven of the NBA finals when Kobe couldn’t.

Gerald Wallace is Portland’s Ron Artest. Wallace is the team’s best defender and can have huge games like Artest can.

Pau Gasol is L.A.’s power forward who is good on both sides of the ball but not as strong as big man like Kevin Garnett and Blake Griffin. LaMarcus Aldridge is a pretty good player on both sides of the ball but not the strongest big man either. He is big and tall like Gasol, and maybe a future all-star, but not the best power forward in the NBA.

The Greg Oden, Andrew Bynum comparison kind of scares me. Both players are injury prone, but are very good when healthy. But you want to hear something REALLY SCARY? Both men are 7’0” 285 lb. No joke. And they are not even a year apart in age!

Okay, now that we got that out of the way, both teams have a great coach. The Lakers had (keyword, had) Phil Jackson and Portland has one of the best coaches in the NBA. Nate McMillan.

As for their benches Portland could use work. Their Lamar Odom is Marcus Camby.See what I mean?

Portland also needs one thing to be championship contenders in a few years. The same thing that keeps Chicago and OKC from getting rings. They need a veteran.

I don’t mean just any veteran. I mean a veteran who has been to the finals. Dallas has Dirk and Kidd. L.A. has Kobe, and Boston had three superstars and a great coach.

I don’t see Portland getting three superstars so they might need a veteran who has been to the finals.

Who is a better player, Kevin Durant or LeBron James?

I was on ESPN looking at their writers opinions of the best small forward in  the league. Their outcome LeBron:5 Rest of League:0, I couldn’t disagree more.

Brendan Jackson from “Celtics hub” (http://celticshub.com/) said “Anyone who picks against LeBron James has to be a hater, right?” So before I continue my article, let me just say, I am not a hater of LeBron James, nor am I bias on this topic.

LeBron James v. Kevin Durant. Four years into the league and Durant led his team to the Western Conference Finals, but not just any team.

In the 2007-08 NBA season the Seattle Supersonics (led by rookie Kevin Durant) went 20-62, finishing with a record only better than the Miami Heat (15-67). A year later, playing their first year in Oklahoma City, they improved their record to 23-59. Only three teams had more losses than them.

In the 2009-10 season the Oklahoma City Thunder ended with a 50-32 record grabbing the eighth seed in the playoffs. They took the soon to be champion Lakers to six games in the first round.

Last season Durant led the NBA in scoring (27.7 PPG) and took the Thunder to the Western Conference Finals. Sure, OKC blew a few games and ended up losing to Dallas in five games, but the Heat couldn’t beat them either.

LeBron James is a great player, don’t get me wrong. two MVP awards, two finals appearances and seven all-star appearances is enough to show that, but he has a lot of flaws in his game that could keep him from being better than Durant.

In Cleveland the Cavs always choked, so King James fled to Miami. That doesn’t show that he’s worse than Durant because Durant doesn’t have a ring either, but when LeBron got to Miami, he still couldn’t win.

The Thunder had Durant and Westbrook. The Heat had Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh and they can’t even force the Mavericks to seven games?! LeBron couldn’t play good, quality basketball in the finals and even though they had two more superstars, they couldn’t beat Dallas? I don’t get it.

LeBron played great against Chicago but he was guarding Derrick Rose. Great, Derrick Rose is a VERY talented NBA player and was the MVP. LeBron has five inches on him!

On the court LeBron passes up a lot of wide open shots, from the games I’ve seen him play, he will get an open opportunity for a three, he might pump fake, and drive to the basket.

Durant is not scared to take threes,  in fact, he is one of the NBA’s best three point shooters. If he gets a look at an easy basket, he’ll take his chances. I don’t usually see him drive to the basket like LeBron when he gets an open shot.

Both players are pretty talented rebounders, and I will say LeBron is more of a team player than Durant, and their shooting is pretty close. LeBron is a better defender than Durant, but Durant is a better offensive player. And I see more maturity from Durant than I do from LeBron.

LeBron plays around on and off the court too much. He has fun, which is good, but he doesn’t get serious when he needs to be. He plays around, cracks jokes and dances during games. He mocked Dirk Nowitzki in the NBA finals. C’mon, LeBron, you don’t do that, especially when most NBA fans already hate you.

Durant is a younger player than LeBron and he’s more humble and more serious about winning and playing his best basketball than LeBron is. Durant works on his game because he wants to play well and be a better player.

Overall I found out that LeBron has a better defensive game and team game than Durant, but Durant is a better shooter, leader, and winner than LeBron. Plus Durant is more humble.

LeBron is a great player, but he struggles to win. Durant is younger and I believe both players will get their rings and this argument might never end. But I have got to give it to Durant.

I'm back and I get into some of the rookie talk

I’m back. I’ve been gone for a while but now I am back and ready to post frequently again.

The NBA season might be shorter this year because of the lockout but the time we have should be enjoyed. So without further ado, let’s get into 2012 talk.

The Rookies

Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson teaming up in Cleveland. Jimmer Freddette joining Tyreke Evans. Derrick Williams headed to the “The Land of 10,000 Lakes.” I have so much to talk about.

1.Who Will win Rookie of the Year?

So Many players could be chosen for this, so I’m just going to go through a few of my candidates.

Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers:11 games played in college and he managed to go first. How? He looked great and his foot injury looked to be a thing of the past, so Cleveland took the risk of drafting him first.

Why am I talking about that though? Kyrie is not going to be LeBron or Derrick Rose, he’s going to be Kyrie. He can be a leader for the Cavaliers but he is only a rookie so no one should be expecting a playoff appearance by the Cavs next year.

Kyrie can play kind of like John Wall but John Wall didn’t win the rookie of the year, Kyrie might not win it either. But no matter what happens next year, I expect Kyrie to play good basketball.

How about the new D-Will

Derrick Williams, Minnesota Timberwolves:Derrick Williams may have been the least likely to fail in the NBA out of everybody in this year’s class. He can play power forward and small forward. He can rebound, play defense and shoot threes. But can he win the rookie of the year?

Derrick Williams could become an Antwan Jamison because he can shoot threes and play inside but he is more athletic and aggressive than Jamison. Jeff Green is another player who I might compare him to.

Derrick Williams is defiantly able to win, and with a worse draft class this year and all the questions about the rookies, I think he probably will.

Brandon Knight, Detroit Pistons:I think Knight could become one of the, if not the best player in this draft. Maybe it’s because I was seeing what he was doing in high school, the way he dominated games and was crowned the best high school player as a junior!

Knight could work on his game a little, but looking at a whole career, I think Brandon could be forged into a better player than Kyrie and Derrick, as for Rookie of the Year, that all depends on how he works in Detroit.

Last season Detroit SUCKED. There is no nicer way to put it. The Pistons are in a re-building process and Brandon Knight dropping to eight was a steal. Now they should work him into their system, but with a lockout, I don’t see Brandon turning into a player like John Wall or Tyreke Evans as a rookie. Give him a year or two first.

2.Who Will have the best career?

As I said I think Brandon Knight could become the best player in this draft, keyword, COULD. He was the best high school player, but how will that pan out into the NBA?

Brandon could become the star of Detroit, he could bring the Pistons back and he

Does he look unhappy to you? Does this mean he's going to leave Detroit when he gets the chance?

could make a few all-star appearances. Note, I said could three times in that sentence, because we don’t know what will happen with him.

I think by the end of his career we will look back on his career and think he was a lot like Tyreke Evans, just, not as good (and I think Tyreke will be one of the best players in the league in ten years).

Derrick Williams is my pick here, I expect him to play like Antwan Jamison or maybe Jeff Green as his career goes on. I don’t see him as becoming a Hall of Famer but he could become the star of a franchise like Minnesota, or the two or three in a championship team.

Would trading Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum be worth the risk of takning Derrick Williams? I guess that depends on who the GM making the trade would be. If I were in Mitch Kupchak’s (general manager of the L.A. Lakers) shoes I would say my farewell to Bynum or Gasol for Williams, but I would see if I could get another piece in that trade.

In ten years I see us looking at all these players and saying “so far, Derrick Williams is the best player from that draft,” but it might not be that easy. With other players such as Kemba Walker, Tristan Thompson and Enes Kanter competing, I think it is next to impossible to guess this stuff.

How bout' 'em Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzlies were a laughing stock when they first made it to the playoffs. I heard people say “sweep,” and “domination.” I’m not going to lie, I am guilty of this. I picked San Antonio in five.

Now Memphis holds a 2-1 series lead over Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Two more wins and they will be headed to the franchise’s first conference finals appearance. Two more wins.

The Grizz need to form a solid bench for a bright future

Okay, they might win game four at home and I would not be surprised if they win three games in this series, three, not four, three.

How would the eighth seeded Memphis Grizzlies upset the Thunder. OKC knows how to get it done.

As long as Kevin Durant gets more shots than Russell Westbrook, OKC wins. But what about Memphis looking forward, they CANNOT go this far and not come back later. They recently re-signed Rudy Gay and it looks like Zach Randolph will re-sign with the team, but some players need to come. Memphis needs a stronger bench.

If the Grizz build a bench like Boston or San Antonio, they could be serious championship contenders. Lionel Hollins has done a tremendous job with this team and I wish them much success.

Despite Rajon Rondo getting injured in the third quarter (dislocated elbow) Rondo was able to come back in the game using only one arm and help lead the Celtics to victory. But is he done for?

Rondo should not have gone back into the game because he had a DISLOCATED ELBOW, though despite the large margin on the

Rondo has a dislocated elbow

score board, Doc Rivers decided it was necessary that Rondo go back into the game.

Rondo will most likely continue to play but should he? The Celtics are old and Rondo is their franchise player, though Boston wants a ring this year. Can Boston get it without Rondo? What about an injured Rondo?

The answer to both of those questions is…

No.

Boston is old, injuries to Ray Allen, Shaquille O’Neal and Rondo will KILL the Celtics. They just don’t have enough gas in their tank to go back the the finals.

Think about it. Kobe and the Lakers got swept. S-W-E-P-T, swept. Boston is playing a Miami Heat with three all-stars, three, young all-stars, two of which have been to the finals (Dwyane Wade and Lebron James) and one has a finals MVP. (Dwyane Wade).

Even if Boston beats Miami they will have to beat Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls (my apologies to Hawks fans) in the conference finals. If they win. Dallas, Memphis or OKC is up next.

I’d rest Rondo.

Kobe and the Lakers have been swept by the Mavericks

The Los Angeles Lakers won two straight championships. Phil Jackson came back for a three peat and they let him down. No, the embarrassed him.

Why should Jackson go back next season? Not only did L.A. lose in the second round of the playoffs, they got swept by the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas.

Jackson has won eleven championships and never been swept. Until now.

Why should he go back? Really. He is an old man who shouldn’t be doing all this travel and undergoing all this pressure. He will not be on the Lakers sidelines next season.

What next for L.A? The team needs to make some trades. They have an old Derrick Fisher, Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest, an Aging Pau Gasol and an injury  prone Andrew Bynum starting.

Trades are not necessary, they are essential. This team needs some young blood, a young star. The team needs to get some cap room, bring in a Jamaal Crawford or a Glen Davis as role players and a franchise tag as in a Zach (ZBO) Randolph or a David West.

As for a coach, former Cavs coach Mike Brown would it in nicely. Re-Building a team who is still paying for Bryant and Gasol will be tough and will take a long time, but in the end it will all pay off when the Lakers are hanging Banner 17 in the rafters.