Coach K To LeBron: Congrats On The Ring…Now Get To London
“Everybody relax…LeBron’s still coming.”
The Miami Heat wrapped up the NBA Finals last night (I don’t know if you’ve heard about it yet or not), giving LeBron James his first NBA Championship in his illustrious career. Now he can put to bed all of the talk about how he can’t win a ring, that he’s cursed by his selfishness, and all that other talk because he’s achieved what every athlete hopes to by reaching the pinnacle of his profession. LeBron and the rest of the Big Three kept the party going last night, partying with Game 5 timeout entertainment LMFAO, and the South Beach celebration is sure to last all summer long! Oh, wait, never mind. Mike Krzyzewski needs King James for the Olympics…like now.
From ESPN.com:
“I know LeBron will play.”
“I’m proud of LeBron and where he’s at right now, and I do think that when you’re that great a player, that great a talent, that you learn openly,” Krzyzewski said. “You don’t go learn in private. You’re out there while you’re learning, and while you’re learning, you’re going to be criticized for the things that you’re in the process of learning. … There’s some things you cannot learn unless you’re in that moment. Like, you can’t rehearse it.
“You can’t feel it until you’re in the moment of a finals, a gold medal game, a seventh game, a national championship. He’s been in two of those moments, and I think he’s shown in this series that he’s learned from those moments.”
Yeah, but what about learning? What are your thoughts on that?
Coach K is likely a little stressed out about the state of James after a long playoff run ending in the exuberant celebration of his first title. The condensed NBA season, the late start to the playoffs, and an early start for the Olympics have put a time crunch on the preparations for the defending gold medal winning Team USA. Add in the injuries to Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose, Chauncey Billups, and LaMarcus Aldridge, which left the team thin on depth, and you can see why Coach K is a little anxious about losing the league and finals MVP.
James was a member of the Krzyzewski-led Olympic team that won gold in Beijing four years ago. At this point, with the Olympics just on the horizon, the team hasn’t even been decided on yet. That will wait until eveyone in the pool of potential players gets to Las Vegas and goes through workouts. However, after seeing all those potential stars go down during the season and playoffs, Coach K isn’t giving LeBron any room to wiggle out of his commitment.
So expect LeBron’s South Beach Party to go into overdrive between now and the U.S. tryouts in Las Vegas. Coach K can’t afford to lose another NBA talent before the Olympics, as that would put the U.S. team in a bit of trouble. So, “the coronation” of King James will have to get cut short cause Coach K isn’t heading to London without at least one superstar to rely on.
(pic via)
