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Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James speaks publicly for the first time about Shaquille O'Neal and the Jordan Crawford dunk video
by Branson Wright, The Plain Dealer
Thursday August 06, 2009, 4:57 PM
TAMPA -- NBA training camp is two months away, and LeBron James is excited about the biggest addition to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"Wow," said James about center Shaquille O'Neal. "Anytime you can get a guy like that. . . . I was asked by [management], 'Would you like him to be a part of this team?' and I said, 'Of course.' I've never had a low-post presence since I've been in the league. I love it."
For the first time during the offseason, James was candid about several topics today during a session at the National Association of Black Journalists convention, where James also promoted his film "More Than A Game."
Not only did James share his pleasure about his new teammate, he discussed several incidents -- including walking off the floor in the Cavaliers' Eastern Conference finals loss against Orlando in May, and the dunk on James by Xavier University player Jordan Crawford at his camp last month.
After the Cavaliers lost to the Magic in Game 6 of the conference finals, James walked off the court and didn't shake hands with any of the Magic players and did not talk with the media. He was later fined by the NBA and apologized.
If allowed a do-over, James would change a few things.
"I wouldn't have done it the same," James said. "I would have [talked with] the media. Looking back on it, without you guys, there's no LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Tiger Woods or no Peyton Manning without the media."
James, however, does not have any regrets about not shaking hands -- a practice that is uncommon during 82 the regular-season games.
"Shaking hands is not a big deal to me," James said. "It's not being a sore loser; it's moving on."
Moving on and away from what happened has not been easy. James has been the subject of stories and blogs all summer. He has read them and he understands.
"I could see why people were talking about [walking off] because your job [the media] starts when mine ends," James said. "But as far as the dunk or whatever car I'm driving, some things you shouldn't comment on and some things you should."
For the first time, James publicly commented on the dunk heard and seen around the Web. There have been several versions of what happened at James' camp when it came to the dunk by Crawford, the Xavier sophomore guard. On the video clip, the dunk was not impressive. The issue was that Nike confiscated the video.
"I never told anyone to confiscate any tapes," James said. "Nike has a no-videotape policy at pickup games. Now that LeBron is involved, it's blown up."
James added with a smile.
"It's a play that happens in basketball all the time. You can go on YouTube and see me being dunked on by a lot of guys. I like to call myself a shot-blocker, and [getting dunked on] tends to happen."
James expects better things for the Cavaliers this season, especially with the addition of O'Neal. Playing with O'Neal will give James and the Cavaliers a new dimension, since O'Neal often can draw double-teams.
"I can use some of my athleticism when a double-team comes and slash to the rim," James said. "Shaq's a very good passer, so he'll just throw it at the rim and I'll go get it."
James, who said the Cavaliers are still one of the top teams in the league, expects to be even more of an offensive threat this fall.
"Instead of dribbling the ball up where guys can pressure me, I can catch the ball out of a double-team from Shaq, become a shooter or drive," James said.
http://www.cleveland.com/...s_speaks_publicly_f.html
edit: Another article from David Aldridge
TAMPA -- If he could turn back time, LeBron James would have stopped on his way out of Amway Arena and spoken to reporters after his Cleveland Cavaliers were eliminated in the Eastern Conference finals. But if you still think he should have shaken some Orlando Magic players' hands after Game 6, he must agree to disagree.
"I would definitely do the media," James said Thursday in some of his first expanded comments on both the handshake controversy and the controversy over a confiscated tape of his being dunked on this summer at his skills camp. "Looking back on it, without you guys, honestly ... there's really no, there's no LeBron, there's no Dwyane Wade, there's no Tiger Woods, there's no Peyton Manning and the rest of these guys that do the things and (are) seen every day."
"Looking back on it, (not) doing the media was basically the big part of why it happened, why it got out there, and why it's still going on. If I had it to do over again, I would definitely do the media."
But as far as declining to shake hands with the winning team, James continued to defend his decision.
"I look at the handshake like this," he said. "During the regular season, no one ever says anything. We play 82 regular-season games, eight preseason games, guys at the end of the game, no one ever shakes hands. Ever. And you move on to the next game. The congratulations, I congratulated Dwight (Howard) via e-mail, told him congratulations and good luck in the Finals. The shaking hands thing is really not a big thing for me. It's not I'm a sore loser or anything like that. I'm just moving on. You guys beat me ... I think sometimes people want you to accept losing, and I will never accept losing. There's ways to handle it certain times, and shaking hands may be it. But I will never accept losing, at anything that I do."
James spoke on Thursday at the National Association of Black Journalists' convention as a guest of NABJ's Sports Task Force. He was in town for a screening of his documentary More Than a Game, which will be released this fall after finishing as runner-up in the Toronto Film Festival last year to Slumdog Millionaire. The movie chronicles James' days at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
James also was promoting his new book, Shooting Stars, which is to be released along with the film. The book is co-written by James and Buzz Bissinger, the author of Friday Night Lights.
The 2009 NBA Most Valuable Player also shed light on the doings last month at his LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron, when a camper dunked over James during a pickup game. The dunk was taped by a freelance cameraman, who then had the tape confiscated by a Nike representative.
Initial reports implied that it was James who ordered the Nike rep to take the tape, which was ultimately returned to the cameraman after online media outlets found other tapes of the dunk and aired them on the TMZ.com and eBaumNation.com websites.
James denied ordering the seizure.
"First of all, I never told anyone to confiscate any tapes," James said. "Nike has a no videotaping policy at pickup games. They've always done that. It just so happened that LeBron was involved, so now it's blown up. But it's a play in the game of basketball that happens all the time. You can go on YouTube right now and see me getting dunked on by a lot of guys. I mean, I like to call myself a shotblocker sometimes, and that tends to happen sometimes, when you just don't judge the ball right."
During the 20-minute conversation, James expressed his excitement at playing with Shaquille O'Neal next season, calling him "godfather" of the NBA players and recalling that O'Neal came to one of his high school games. And James said he would have no problem playing off the ball next season if it goes inside to O'Neal first.
"I've never had a low-post presence since I've been in the league, he said. "I love it. I can defer to a teammate. If Shaq is going I'm OK, and if it's one of those nights when he isn't feeling it, I can take over ... I know one thing that's going to happen: You can't check Shaq one on one. I can use some of my athleticism when a double team comes and slash to the rim. He's a very good passer so he'll just throw it at the rim and I'll go get it. If I catch the ball in the spot-up (position) I can either drive it or pass it. You're at my mercy."
James was non-committal on the issue of whether he'll re-sign with the Cavaliers after this season, though he said that he loved playing in Cleveland and had no reason to leave, given the team that general manager Danny Ferry has assembled around him and the rabid fan support the Cavaliers receive at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavaliers have begun discussions with his agent, Leon Rose, about a contract extension, but James is almost certain to opt out of the last year of his deal following next season and at least test free agency.
James also expressed hope that the league and the players' union could reach agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. The two sides began talks this week, with a lockout in 2011 looming.
"I've spoken to some of the guys who were there for the last lockout," he said. "Ben Wallace was a teammate of mine and he went through the last one. It was awful."
http://www.nba.com/2009/n.../08/06/lebron/index.html
Let the haters ball commence....
