After the Miami Heat defeated the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals, LeBron said that “I wanted to team up with some guys that would never die down in the moment. The opportunity presented itself with this great organization and we made it happen.”
Daniel Gibson, a longtime teammate of LeBron’s and one of his closest friends when James was with the team, apparently took issue with LeBron’s comments, and had this to say on The Dugout Sports Show Podcast today:“The way it’s said, you can’t help but take it personal. I would prefer to talk to him personally and say, ”Exactly what did you mean when you said this comment? What point were you trying to make?”…I take comments like that and when you speak out and you feel the need for everybody to hear what you are saying, it’s kind of like admission.
By you saying that, I don’t think great players should feel the need to say this about a team or say that about a team. I think what it all boils down to if you’re great, you go play great, be great and everybody will realize you’re great. And you wouldn’t have to let it be known that everybody else was less great.
Great players shouldn’t have to do that. So I feel like it’s kind of an admission. He might have needed some help. He might have needed to go somewhere and find someone who is a little greater so maybe he wouldn’t die down in those moments.”Gibson was a crucial part of LeBron’s first run to an NBA Finals -- everyone remembers LeBron’s 48-point performance in Detroit that gave the Cavaliers a 3-2 lead in the 2007 Conference Finals, but Gibson was instrumental in closing out the Pistons when the then-rookie scored 31 points and made all five of his threes in the clinching Game 6.