In Michael Jordan's rookie season, the Chicago Bulls won 38 games, lost 44 and made the playoffs with the seventh seeding. Tuesday, as LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers landed in Toronto, they were tied for seventh place in the Eastern Conference, 28 victories in the bank, 18 games to play, with a winning streak of four and a run of 8 of 10.
You may want to call this comparative analysis a contrivance. But consider the long-hapless franchise that began the season 6-19 -- that lost its first 13 games on the road, that had to be recast with veteran stabilizers and a new point guard -- is suddenly following its man-child toward near-instant respectability, to say the least.
"Early on, it was difficult," Paul Silas, the Cavaliers' coach, said Tuesday by telephone. "Now it's become fun, almost magical."
Granted, low-entry playoff qualification in the East carries the stature of running seventh or eighth in the Iowa caucuses, but that's missing the point in the case of Cleveland and James. A rookie who never played a college game, who will not turn 20 until next December, is already making a mockery of conventional career sequence and of the assertion that he would be swallowed whole by his own hype.
"There was a huge aura around Michael his rookie year," said the Nets' general manager, Rod Thorn, who drafted Jordan for Chicago. "But I've never seen anything like it's been for LeBron, and you know what? Just like Michael, he's getting better and better from the first game he played."
LeBron James isn't the whole story in Cleveland, the way Jordan was in Chicago, but that's the good news, especially for the NBA's paternal head of state, David Stern. Silas has a Lithuanian center, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who, when healthy, is in the top five or six at his position. He has an emerging power forward in Carlos Boozer. Someone named Jeff McInnis has come from Portland to run the point.
Still, without James' stunningly seamless transition from the preps to the pros, there would be no playoff chase, no string of sellouts at the formerly gloomy Gund Arena.
"This kid has a swagger about him that tells you, `I can be something special,"' Silas said. "But when you talk to him, he's gracious; he's likable."
Silas, 60, is a hardened NBA lifer who has never engaged in exaggeration and won't start now. He would not draw parallels to Jordan, or Magic, or any of the all-time greats because, as he said, James is not a great player, not yet.
"He still has lapses on defense, still doesn't hit the open man all the time the way he should," Silas said. "I know people said this would be a difficult situation, to coach a kid with so much hype, and if he were a different person it would have been. But from Day 1, we've had a bond, and when he makes a mistake and I call him out on it, he says, `My bad."'
James, Silas said, wants to get this right, so he accepts the coach's honest evaluation. He responds when Silas sits him down, as he did after a recent lapse of focus in Chicago, and reminds him: "As LeBron goes, so go the Cavs." And this is why Silas believes he will one day draw the comparisons with the all-time greats.
In Rod Thorn's distanced view, there is one striking difference in demeanor between the rookies Jordan and James. "We had a soft team when Michael was a rookie, and he was tough on them when he felt they didn't compete," Thorn said. "LeBron seems milder."
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
The sacred flame for the Paris Olympics was lit yesterday in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Games, in a ceremony inspired by antiquity and marked by messages of hope amid multiple global crises. “In ancient times, the Olympic Games brought together the Greek city states, even — and in particular — during times of war and conflict,” International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said. “Today, the Olympic Games are the only event that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition. Then as now, the Olympic athletes are sending this powerful message — yes, it is possible to compete fiercely