"Yeah, I think he came down and took two steps and then fell into the cameraman. "I think he jumped into the cameraman," Bogut said when asked to give his perspective on the play. While Bogut had been the one who fouled James hard as he drove to along the baseline, James came down in a vertical fashion before taking two steps as he fell toward the nearby cameraman. When the Cleveland Cavaliers star went flying into a cameraman sitting on the Quicken Loans Arena baseline in the second quarter of the Warriors' 103-82 win, the puzzling part was how he got there. James grew weary and his tired teammates didn't have enough energy in supply to help him out, especially after he bumped into Andrew Bogut, landed and his momentum carried him into one of the many instruments that have made him an internationally-recognized icon.CLEVELAND – LeBron James only has LeBron James to blame for the cut to his head that took place in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.Īt least that's how Golden State Warriors big man Andrew Bogut sees it.
#Lebron james cameraman series#
The blood and the rare, relatively poor performance - 20 points on 7-of-22 shooting - in a Game 4 loss that tied this best-of-seven series at 2-2 was evidence that James remains a mortal man - despite what the first three games may have intimated. "I know what you're getting at," James said when a reporter sought to ask a follow up question to one of his responses. He is also intelligent enough to decide whether he wants to play along or simply avoid any potential gotcha moments.
He understands his role in crafting the LeBron James story and can play up to his audience with dramatic, highlight- and camera-friendly reactions - such as falling to his knees after an exhaustive performance in the conference finals or a well-timed ball spike and guttural scream after Game 2 against the Warriors. He has sent fans and reporters into a frenzy in the Finals about his supposed secret motivation to win a title this season, inspiring conspiracy theories and guessing games all over. James is the best reality show going, his life played out on NBA Jumbotrons, television debate programs and social media. Fortunately, James has offered ample fodder for both sides, always succeeding in driving the conversation toward him. James's most die-hard fans want to see him challenge the ghosts of the greats while his most strident detractors want to see him fail in the most spectacular fashion imaginable. If he comes up short, James will be hailed for giving the best team in the league more than anyone could have expected. If he is able to lead the Cavaliers to an upset of the favored Warriors, it would be the greatest accomplishment of his career, given his depleted supporting cast. Through it all, James is the memory that lingers - not Dirk Nowitzki's incredible scene stealing performance or the Spurs turning heartache into a beautiful brand of unselfish basketball. Severe cramping became too paralyzing to overcome last season, setting off another round of corny jokes and irrational assessments of his toughness. Ray Allen spared James another potential meltdown with a series-saving three-pointer and James finally finished off the Spurs with a Game 7 performance that stands as his best to date. There was his own personal discovery of his greatness a year later, as he dominated Oklahoma City. James had that bizarre disappearance against Dallas in 2011, when the moment became so big that a season spent wearing a figurative black hat caused him to implode and later lash out at his peasant haters. You go out and you play, and you've been playing basketball your whole life. "It shouldn't matter what everyone is talking about or what everyone is putting pressure on you or things of that nature. It's being covered by everyone in the world, and you should be happy to go out and compete," James said. James's first Finals appearance at age 22 was a forgettable dud not worth mentioning, but the five since he entered his true prime have been beyond memorable. The record television ratings ABC is experiencing is the result of James, the prodigy turned playful wunderkind turned reluctant villain turned champion turned self-appointed savior for Northeast Ohio. The underdog Cavaliers' two wins came after they lost Kyrie Irving to a broken kneecap and James has his franchise closer to a title than it's ever been - in the most unlikely of circumstances, with a collection of role players playing above their heads, against the league's most valuable player and a 67-win team. This series has been about the best player in the game defying the odds of playing with a depleted team led by a rookie coach, of him nearly averaging a triple-double while making 40-point efforts appear routine against the league's best defense.