LeBron James Channels Gregg Popovich in NBA Finals Press Conference

LeBron James was particularly grumpy following the Miami Heat's 114-104 Game 5 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, doing his best to show off how upset he was at the postgame press conference.

With he and Dwyane Wade sharing the podium for the first time in a while, LeBron mostly kept mum on the questions, letting Wade take the lead.

When he was addressed directly, LeBron tended to give short, gruff answers with subtle hints of hostility toward the questions that he did have to answer.

In other words, he spent most of the presser doing his best mini-Gregg Popovich impression.

"

LeBron James didn't have an answer when asked why Miami hasn't won two games in a row: "If I knew, we would have won two games in a row."

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 17, 2013"

James offered up another ho-hum answer when asked about Ray Allen's potential Game 6 impact following a 7-of-10, 21-point performance in Game 5.

"Ray's a big part of our team," said LeBron. "When he's on the floor he's a threat, so we try to find him."

It was really an impressive showing. Not only was LeBron able to pull off the upset interview without seeming like a complete jerk, he was able to do it with poise and the right amount of dry humor sprinkled in.

Popovich has perfected the craft over the past 15 years, and LeBron went out and showed that he was able to do nearly as well as the master in one of his first attempts.

There's just something about the NBA Finals that brings out the condescending interview in players and coaches. It's a thing of beauty.

Now all we need is for LeBron to whittle down the number of words he uses when talking to the media. 

Fewer than 100 is impressive, but getting down to 25 like Popovich did a few games ago is downright legendary.