LeBron James returns to court on Wednesday after running the first suspension of his career. The Los Angeles Lakers forward drew blood on Sunday while punching Detroit Pistons forward Isiah Stewart. What some initially thought was an elbow, really turned out to be fist That James sent to Stuart’s back.
The NBA on TNT’s Reggie Miller made an interesting point about the video. He said that if you look closely, James did not intentionally try to hit Stuart in the face. Stuart got in a little too much for James during that box. James wanted to get a position, but also wanted to send a quick message with a hit.
The problem is that Stuart bent very low in an attempt to get under James for the position and where his shoulder or chest might be, turned out to be where his head was. Because James was as strong as he was, such a blow aimed at Stuart’s upper body eventually resulted in the kind of wounds that a blow to the head could have in a boxing ring. It took eight stitches to close the wound.
JJ Reddick knows all too well what it’s like to get to the wrong side of James’ power. He said a story In his old and three podcast about the time he took responsibility from James.
In Reddick’s fifth NBA season, the 6-foot-5 guard will schedule James ’round perfectly once on defense. He knew it was coming, and even though he was scared, he stood there and took the role from James 6 feet and 8, 260 pounds at his athletic peak, because that’s exactly what the Orlando Magic paid their three-point expert. Do, take his life into his own hands on the field. This routine basketball game gave Reddick 11 stitches under the eye.
James is a strong man. That’s part of the reason he’s one of the best players in the history of the game, we just do not always think about it because his physicality is only part of his game, in contrast to the most important skill he brings to the table. He’s not Charles Oakley, Dale Davis, Udonis Islam, or even Kwon Lonnie on the pitch. His job is not to use those huge shoulders mainly to punish screens and box exits. He uses them to get a position to score 25 plus points per game and pull the defense so he can deliver great dedication.
This is not to say that his body is just a deadly scoring and passing machine. It can be used in the same way that Oakley, Davis, Islam and Lonnie use their own. James decided to keep young Stuart away, and unfortunately, the young man was caught by James’ body in the same way that Reddick did. it happens sometimes.
This is not to forgive James, because his goal at that moment was not simply to take Stuart’s arms off him, but to keep Stuart away from him. It just became Bam Bam’s moment where his powers moved away from him (yes, Kadmoni Family Is a musty cartoon reference and I stand by it.)
The Pistons and Lakers play again on Sunday in what has been called in the meantime Staples Center. Hopefully the game is smooth and clean, but if the referees are comfortable in the second half there might be room for Stuart to show that he too can forget his power, just hope he does not bleed.
.
