Imagine this: you're a 6-foot-9 260 pound athletic freak and certified worldwide superstar. You're commercial gold, hawking everything from Bubblicious to State Farm Insurance. You've taken your talentless squad on your back and carried them to the precipice of an NBA title.
And your mama still has to stick up for you when the chips are down.
Gloria James doesn't like to see her little boy get beat up.In all my years of coaching youth basketball, I've obviously seen far worse than this. There was one kid, probably a 5th grader, who got accidentally kicked in the nads. Instead of just writhing in pain on the floor like most kids, this numbnut immediately jumped up and ran into the stands (while the ball was still in play), practically leaping into his sobbing mother's arms. I don't usually advocate poor sportsmanship, but when the kids on my team started clownin' him, I didn't discourage them. Some stuff is just uncalled for, and some of these kids need a foot in the ass to shake free some of that excessive babying.
So when she saw Paul Pierce drag LeBron James into the crowd on a drive to the basket, Gloria jumped up to his defense. Now, she might want to wash LeBron's mouth out with soap.
As Gloria approached the scuffle, Cleveland's star forward told his mom to sit down, using language that might have offended a few lipreaders.
"I told her to sit down with some language I shouldn't have used. Thank God today wasn't Mother's Day, it was yesterday," James said after Monday night's 88-77 victory.
But James swears he was just looking out for her, trying to make sure she doesn't miss any games.
"Even though that's my mother, the commissioner doesn't care if it's your mother or your kids or anybody, you can't allow fans and players to get involved like that. And I can't afford for my mom not to be at every last one of my games."
I'm not sayin' LeBron is that kinda dude, but some of his theatrics during the first round series with my hometown Wizards were a bit over the top.[1] The "extra" facial expressions the moment he's even touched as he goes to the hole have to some degree sullied my reputation of him. I'm not saying this dude is a gutless baby, but c'mon Bron. The league has your back. The refs will whistle the moment you get breathed on. And you're 6-9, 260, with 1% body fat. Enough with all the hysterics.
So, when King James was tossed into the stands last night vs the Celtics, I expected some over-exaggerated throat holding or something or other as usual. But out of nowhere comes Mama-Bron, and things got really gully. You sorta have to watch the whole thing uninterrupted to really get the gist of it, but all I could do is feel mad embarassed for dude.
Seriously, the funniest thing is this whole clip is watching LeBron's mouth as he is separated from his mom. Some are saying he simply told his mom to "sit down", others say he serenaded her DallasPenn-style with a full-blown H.S.D. I'm sure you guys couldn't care less either way, but it's pretty funny to watch regardless.
Question: Do you think some parents take their children's athletic contests a bit too seriously? What's the worst example of bad sports parenting that you've ever personally observed?
LeBron yells at mom to sit down after hard foul [FoxSports]
[1] Yep, I'm still salty. 3 straight years of 1st round losses to the same mediocre squad will do that to you.
