I’ve never been on an NBA floor playing basketball and then having to walk to the bench for a timeout. Maybe it’s a really easy process and in order to bump into someone you have to deliberately aim or deliberately avoid avoiding people. It doesn’t seem like that when you watch it in person or on television, but apparently that’s the thinking this morning. The video above surfaced late last night which shows LeBron James walking to the bench after a timeout is called and bumping Erik Spoelstra on his way. The slow-motion capture of the bump is being analyzed this morning like the Zapruder film (“Note that Spoelstra’s tie goes back... and to the left.”), in an effort to see some level of disdain from James towards his head coach.
Now, don’t get me wrong, James deserves more criticism than anyone for their failures as of late, but I can’t help but feel we’re freaking out over something fairly common. A timeout consists of a bunch of tired and sweaty guys walking one direction while a bunch of aggravated and distracted people (coaches) walk the other. Some bumping is to be expected. And when LeBron James is the size of a moving house, getting blown back a bit by the contact doesn’t seem out of the ordinary. The Heat deserve every ounce of criticism they’re receiving right now. But maybe we shouldn’t be throwing random allegations at them for the fun of it. Unless you’re from Cleveland. In which case, toss away. But decide for yourself.
Update: Brian Windhorst from ESPN notes this isn’t the first time LeBron’s bumped a coach.
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