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NFL Truths: LeBron needs to focus on NBA

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Jason Whitlock

Jason Whitlock writes about the sports world from every angle, including those other writers can't imagine or muster courage to address. His columns are humorous, thought-provoking, agenda-free, honest and unpredictable. E-mail him or follow his Twitter or become a fan of Jason Whitlock on Facebook.

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Updated Nov 20, 2009 4:23 PM ET
     
 
Dear Jason: I wanted you to have an autographed copy of my book, "Going Rogue." Your NFL Truths column reminds me of my life story also, you betcha. Also, I can see the Steel Curtain from my backyard, mister. Also sincerely, Paris Palin 10. Like most young people, and like all young people with money, LeBron James doesn't think the axiom "two ears and one mouth" applies to him. Everyone, but especially everyone under the age of 40, needs to do twice as much listening as talking. Our creator did not make a mistake giving us two eyes, two nostrils, two hands, two ears and one mouth. You get farther in life observing than you do offering observations. In the past 10 days, King James has stated that he wants to retire Michael Jordan's number and perhaps try his hand at NFL tight end. I mean this respectfully: Shut the hell up, LeBron. Jordan won three titles before he gambled on (pun intended) a baseball career. Yes, Deion Sanders dabbled in baseball when he wasn't playing his other non-contact sport, football cover corner. But football can break a man. It destroyed Bo Jackson's hip, ruining what could've been one of the all-time great baseball careers. I suspect LeBron knows this and was just running his mouth when he suggested he'd like to give the NFL a try. In his excitement to talk about anything other than the Browns' failure, Cleveland coach Eric Mangini quickly announced he'd welcome LeBron running seam routes for the Browns.
It's too bad Cavaliers coach Mike Brown doesn't have the necessary authority to tell James to spend his free time fantasizing about developing a consistent low-post game rather than feeding the media quotes about silly NFL dreams and Jordan's jersey number. He's an incomplete, title-less basketball player who wants to possibly experiment with football. He's immature and shallow. His argument that Jordan's number should be retired across the NBA solely because Jordan is the game's greatest player is a peek at how little depth James has. Major League Baseball didn't retire Babe Ruth's or Willie Mays' or Hank Aaron's numbers. MLB retired Jackie Robinson's number out of respect for his overall impact on the game and society. Robinson is not the greatest baseball player of all time. He is arguably the most important baseball player of all time. Jordan is the best basketball player. I'll give him that. And I won't deny his amazing impact on the game. But Jordan's impact hasn't been totally positive. During his Hall of Fame induction speech -- an address I still defend -- Jordan accidently explained his basketball legacy when he said you can't spell win without the letter "I." That's Jordan's legacy. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird redefined "team basketball." They took the court trying to orchestrate the perfect game. Michael Jordan took the court trying to be the perfect player.

Give up, LeBron

ALTTEXT Jason Whitlock isn't the only one down on LeBron's NFL aspirations. Jeremy Shockey is too. Yardbarker blogger Big League Screw has the details.
It amazes me how few people notice that since the end of the Magic-Bird era there hasn't been one player we can say reminds us of Bird and Johnson. Not one. Every three or four years there's a new Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant has perfected a Jordan imitation. Dwyane Wade does a fine impersonation, too. You can say that everyone wants to be like Mike. But maybe Johnson and Bird are more difficult to duplicate, maybe they're the true twice-in-a-lifetime players. A million boxers have tried to be the next Muhammad Ali, but none has come close. How come everyone from Allen Iverson to Carmelo Anthony to Kevin Durant can do five minutes of Michael Jordan? And here we are 40 years after he retired and Dwight Howard is the first NBA player to give us a glimpse of a Bill Russell impersonation. (OK, Hakeem Olajuwon could do Russell from time to time. But that's two players in 40 years.) Wow. I know I went a lot of different directions with this Truth. But I had to get that off my chest. 9. Well, at least we now know where Bill Belichick's castoffs get their arrogance.
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His apples -- Charlie Weis, Eric Mangini, Scott Egoli, to name just a few -- don't fall far from their tree. Belichick's unwillingness to admit the foolishness of his decision to go for it on fourth and 2 at the end of the Colts game demonstrates just how arrogant Belichick is. Players make and admit mistakes all the time. They might even go as far as asking their fan base to forgive them. Belichick throws away a critical game with an obvious mental error and he pretends he did nothing wrong. Belichick makes being a Tom Brady fan very difficult. Coaches can handle money and fame just as poorly as their young players. Failure in Cleveland drove Belichick to success in New England. Success as the Patriots coach might be driving Belichick over the edge. 8. This might be obvious, but I'll write it anyway: Al Davis is a built-in excuse for losing in Oakland, and Raiders players and coaches comfort themselves in that excuse pretty much every Sunday. After getting benched against the Chiefs, JaMarcus Russell said he had no idea why he was pulled from the game. The kid was awful on Sunday, but all he could think about was the passes his receivers dropped early in the game. No one in Oakland looks in the mirror. No one has to because Davis will always -- deservedly -- take most of the blame for Oakland's failures. Russell and the Raiders' speedy fleet of receivers won't develop because they're in a no-accountability environment. 7. I have no idea how Rex Ryan crying in front of his team became a big media story. Marty Schottenheimer cried all the time in front of the Chiefs. Football is a very emotional game. Coaches ask their players to sacrifice their bodies. Coaches watch players make courageous/foolish physical sacrifices just to win a game. Heck, coaches basically abandon their families during the season. Why act surprised that Ryan (and other coaches) teared up in front of his team? 6. Everyone is praising Maurice Jones-Drew for taking a knee at the 1-yard line rather than scoring a touchdown in the final minute of the Jags' victory over the Jets. I think it was poor strategy by Jack Del Rio. Field goals can be blocked. Long snaps can be botched. Holds can be dropped. Jacksonville should've scored the TD, kicked off and kept the Jets out of the end zone for one minute. I realize it was pretty much a game-winning extra point after Jones-Drew's run. But having him go down is like taking points off the board, to me. You just don't do it when he could walk into the end zone. 5. I'm almost willing to guarantee right now that neither the Colts nor the Saints will play in the Super Bowl. They're on borrowed time. Ignoring current records, here are the top teams: 1. Vikings: Brett Favre should be the league's MVP, and Adrian Peterson and Jared Allen will deliver Favre to the Super Bowl.
2. Bengals: Swept the Steelers and the Ravens. What more can a team do to prove their Super Bowl worthiness?
3. Patriots: Indy embarrassment is probably exactly what Belichick and the Patriots need to regain their focus.
4. Eagles: Philly will back into the playoffs, advance to the NFC Championship and then it all just depends on whether Andy Reid screws it up with bad strategy.
5. Saints: Mark it down, New Orleans is going to lose three of four during their Patriots-Redskins-Falcons-Cowboys stretch.
6. Steelers: Never count out Big Ben in the playoffs. His ability to stay alive in the pocket keeps Pittsburgh in games.
7. Colts: The wheels come off this week in Baltimore.
8. Ravens: I haven't given up on Ray-ven Lewis. As DeAngelo told us in season 1, da king stay da king. No other team has a shot at winning the Super Bowl. 4. Great move by the Bills firing Dick Jauron and being the first team in line to nab one of the sidelined Super Bowl coaches. I'm not a huge Mike Shanahan fan, but he would be a significant upgrade over Jauron. Shanahan is like most NFL coaches, a genius when he has John Elway to work with and up and down when he's calling plays for Jay Cutler. With Buffalo now in the head-coach lottery, I'd suspect Carolina's John Fox is the next head coach who's just a loss or two away from a pink slip. If the Panthers don't make the playoffs, especially after resigning Jake Delhomme, Fox should be let go. 3. I'm at a loss to understand why Marvin Lewis would add Larry Johnson to the Bengals locker room.

I understand that Johnson can't destroy Cincinnati's locker-room chemistry in six weeks. Johnson is going to be on his best behavior for a few weeks. Plus, the Bengals can release Johnson at any time without any repercussions. I just don't see the upside. Johnson has been ineffective since setting an NFL record for carries (416) in a season in 2006. 2. If Kansas coach Mark Mangino gets dumped and spends two years shedding weight, he would be an excellent NFL coach. Mangino knows football as well as any coach in the game. If he gets his health and anger-management issues in order, he's a can't-miss winner. 1. Chiefs receiver Dwayne Bowe was busted for using performance-enhancing drugs. He says it was a diuretic to help him lose weight. I believe Bowe. Kansas City's first-time head coach Todd Haley put a massive amount of pressure on his entire team to lose weight during the offseason and training camp. I'm surprised Bowe is the only Chief who got caught cutting a corner. You can e-mail Jason at BallState0@aol.com or find him on Facebook at facebook.com/jasonwhitlock.

Tagged: Brett Favre, Colts, Adrian Peterson, Raiders, Steelers, Chiefs, Larry Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Vikings, Jay Cutler, Patriots, JaMarcus Russell, Saints, Jared Allen, Bills, Jets, Bears, Jake Delhomme, Deion Sanders, Mike Brown, Tom Brady, Bengals, Eagles, Dwayne Bowe, Panthers, Jaguars

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