No, LeBron James, You're Stupid

Charles Barkley recently made some strong comments about LeBron James and the fiasco that surrounds him about his free-agent status in 2010. Barkley was quoted as saying,

"If I was LeBron James, I would shut the hell up, I'm a big LeBron fan. He's a stud. You gotta give him his props. I'm getting so annoyed he's talking about what he's going to do in two years. I think it's disrespectful to the game. I think it's disrespectful to the Cavaliers."

King James responded by saying this,

"He's stupid. That's all I've got to say about that," and later said, "I think July 1, 2010, is a very big day," James said when the Cavaliers were in New York. "It's probably going to be one of the biggest days in free-agent history in the NBA."

Sir Charles is completely correct here.

First of all, why is the media even asking LeBron about what he is going to be doing in two years. I've never seen anything like this. Nevertheless, LeBron is stupid for indulging these media outlets by answering their questions.

Instead of telling us how excited you are to be a free agent on July 1, 2010, why don't you tell us how the Cavs are going to make a strong playoff push in the current year, 2008.

Whenever someone from the media mentions New York, he should provide them with this perfect answer,

"I'm not worried about what is going to happen in two years, I'm focused on right now. We are trying to win a championship here with Cleveland. I'll worry about being a free agent when the time comes."

That's all Charles Barkley was trying to say. Maybe LeBron took it too personally because Barkley doesn't sugarcoat things. He tells it like it is.

Is LeBron being disrespectful to his teammates? You bet he is. How would you like to be sitting in that locker room knowing your best player is already entertaining the idea of skipping out on you?

And for those of you who think LeBron doesn't love New York, this is what he said after his 50 point performance against the Knicks last season,

"This ranks really high, because of the place where it happened, in the mecca of basketball, I’ve dreamed about playing well in this building. I mean, it’s overtaken how I ever could dream about—to get a standing ovation in the greatest basketball arena in the world is a dream come true for me.”

Message to LeBron, at least pretend you aren't interested in the Knicks.

This man doesn't just play for the Cavs, he has spent his whole life in the state of Ohio. Yet, he shows up for Cleveland Indians playoff games wearing a Yankee hat. Do that in Philadelphia or Chicago and you might not make it out alive.

He's stated he wants to be the first billionaire athlete and market himself. What city do you think of when you hear money and marketing? Not Cleveland.

King James should worry more about wining NBA Championships than how much money he makes or his marketing ability. As great as he is, a championship is not guaranteed.

Perhaps Barkley was trying to tell LeBron to focus on the game and not the outside distractions because retiring without an NBA Championship would be stupid for someone this good.