“You come at the king, you best not miss” – Omar Little.
In the last 24 hours or so, it has become very clear that former Cleveland Cavaliers General Manager and current New Orleans Pelicans GM, David Griffin did not watch “The Wire.”
Because Griffin not only came at King James, and missed, but also awakened a sleeping giant.
“Alright alright. Enough is enough. The throne has been played with to much and I ain’t for horseplay. Ether coming soon!” was the cryptic message James tweeted on Thursday.
In all likelihood, it’s in response to what Griffin said in a recent Sports Illustrated piece about being the man that was responsible for delivering the pieces that James needed in Cleveland.
Griffin discussed how he was “miserable” trying to put together championship-level rosters with the Cavs and that it was “not fun.” He also revealed that he decided he was leaving after they won the 2016 Finals because “I don’t think [James is] the same animal anymore about winning.”
The quotes sent shockwaves throughout the sports world, putting fear into Griffin’s heart. Reportedly, Griffin reached out to James’ camp and said that context was missing from his comments.
Yeah. OK, Dave.
“These dudes get funny when all of a sudden there’s a reaction that they didn’t anticipate. ‘Uh-oh, they highlighted my quotes. It’s gone viral and people are saying things and LeBron is tweeting. So let me make a phone call saying that things were taken out of context,” said Myron Medcalf on ESPN Radio.
“You ever been in a relationship and told someone you were miserable and that was taken out of context?” Medcalf asked. “Miserable is miserable. It’s one of the easier words in the English language to understand. Misery is simple.”
People are seeing right through Griffin’s reaction.
“There’s a cottage industry of folks that are waiting for moments to try to attack LeBron. David Griffin knows saying these things in any context will put a target on the back of the man who delivered him the greatest moment of his professional career,” said Nick Wright on Friday morning’s edition of FS1’s First Things First.
The ambiguous response from James was par for the course for him, as he’s often used social media in the past to send messages.
But what Griffin, and most people, are forgetting is that James has been surrounded by “the noise” all his life, from the Hummer incident in high school that deemed him ineligible for a few games, to people criticizing him for celebrating his son’s AAU teammates last weekend.
Drama doesn’t effect James like it does most people. At this point, he’s immune to it. It’s just another reason why we could be on the verge of witnessing another great season from him.
On top of having Anthony Davis as a teammate this season, it’s been overlooked that this is the first time James has enjoyed an entire summer off to rest and recuperate since his rookie season. Since then, every summer has been filled with postseason basketball or Team USA commitments.
When the season starts, LeBron James will be fully charged for the first time since 2004, and Griffin just gave him extra motivation.
Good luck trying to defend that guy next season.
