What would the NBA Finals be without some drama? Miami Heat superstar LeBron James responded to comments made by DeShawn Stevenson of the Dallas Mavericks. Stevenson claimed that James had mentally "checked out" of Game 4 of the NBA Finals, as evidenced by his paltry eight points.
According to Calvin Watkins, James responded to those comments today.
"He has the right to say what he wants to say," James said. "Just know I'll be there for 45 minutes on the court tonight. We'll see what happens."
"It translates to all of us, especially me," James said. "We're always at our best when we're in an attack mode and it starts with me and it starts with D-Wade and trickles down to everybody else."
It appears for the most part that James isn't phased by Stevenson's comments - but he probably is bothered by the fact that it's been echoed in the media.
It's also silly to assume that James will turn it up a notch because of what Stevenson or the media thinks. A professional athlete, especially one of James' talent, should not need bulletin board material to get jazzed up for Game 5 of the NBA Finals - or the World Series, Stanley Cup or Super Bowl for that matter.
It seems like both James and Stevenson need to go to the Bill Belichick school of dealing with the media. What would BB do, guys?