# NBA Playoffs are here! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 21, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259 "2011-04-21T18:05:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/242 "2011-06-10T19:15:32Z")
LeBron grew up in Akron, not in Cleveland. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/243 "2011-06-10T19:22:39Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > So what? People would rather watch the Heat than any other team in the league. Tell me how that’s bad for the NBA. You’re missing the point. The Heat dominating basketball for the next decade would be bad for the NBA, hence why people root against them and want to watch them lose. If they won this year and the next and the next you would see ratings crater. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/244 "2011-06-10T19:28:25Z")
Yeah, if we know anything about the NBA, it’s that basketball fans hate dynasties and tune out when they win. Fans ignored Kobe’s Lakers, Jordan’s Bulls, the Shaq-Kobe Lakers, Bird’s Celtics, Magic’s Showtime teams… ---
**Author:** ![LonghornDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/245 "2011-06-10T19:29:48Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Even if anyone wants to believe he only did it that once (yeah right), that is still, in itself, worse than anything we know of that LeBron has ever done. So what; is this your first time paying attention to sports? People hate athletes that never committed crimes more than those that did all the time. If you were to make up a list of the most hated athletes of the last decade it would probably be littered with names like John Rocker, Terrel Owens, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Tiger Woods, Brett Favre, Roger Clemens, Bill Belichick, Manny Ramirez, and Derek Jeter. None of those guys are exactly hardcore criminals. People hated John Stockton; what did he ever do wrong? Lebron is hated more by the general public than Kidd because he is an arrogant asshole. Kidd may have done worse acts, but Lebron has a more hated personality. ---
**Author:** ![LonghornDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/246 "2011-06-10T20:07:05Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > LeBron grew up in Akron, not in Cleveland. So when Cleveland won the draft lottery in 2003 and Lebron James held a press conference at his high school and announced, “I’m staying in Cleveland, and I’m real excited”, what do you think he meant by that? Could it possibly be that Akron is a part of the greater Cleveland area or Cleveland metropolitan area or however you want to refer to it? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/247 "2011-06-10T20:08:08Z")
Edit to respondto a few posts up: Akron is part of the whole Northeast Ohio thing, people would consider him to effectively be from Cleveland. Northeast Ohio is actually a pretty big and interesting place with a lot of diversity and about a billion more cities than other metropolitan areas. > [@LonghornDave](#): > > Lebron also left his hometown. Cleveland isn’t just the team that drafted him; it’s where he grew up. They were fans of him long before he was a Cavalier due to his popularity as an amateur athlete. > > We’re also talking about a guy who grew up in Cleveland and his favorite professional teams were the Yankees, Cowboys, and Bulls. That says something about his personality right there. That’s a good point and I don’t think people outside of Cleveland really understand how much he meant. Cleveland sports have been a pit of failure for decades and yet the fans have been dedicated and awesome - although they don’t reach the downright fanatical levels they do for football. People really get into their sports in Cleveland far more than the success of the teams would dictate. And they were lucky enough to win the lottery the year the Akron boy wonder was entering the draft - it was almost like destiny. People were hoping for years that they’d find a way to let him stay home. He was going to be the savior of the Cavs and the man who finally broke the unending pain and suffering of the Cleveland sports experience. It was a perfect fit, and a player has probably never meant so much and had so much connection with the particular city/fanbase he played in. So for him to bail like that - and not only bail but flaunt it and fucking build a monument to it - is far more devastating to a city and fanbase than pretty much any other athlete/team combo in the entire world. Free agents leave their teams all the time, but I’m not sure they’ve ever before taken a piece of the soul of that city with them. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/248 "2011-06-10T20:39:43Z")
Agree with that. He should have stayed. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/249 "2011-06-10T21:09:35Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Free agents leave their teams all the time, but I’m not sure they’ve ever before taken a piece of the soul of that city with them. Wayne Gretzky. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/250 "2011-06-10T21:47:37Z")
Cleveland Cavaliers fans are going to burn the city down if the Mavs win it all! ---
**Author:** ![LonghornDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/251 "2011-06-10T22:04:57Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Wayne Gretzky. Uh, not exactly the same thing. Gretzky was traded; he didn’t leave as a free agent. Also, I’d say his quote of “I’m still proud to be a Canadian. I didn’t desert my country. I moved because I was traded and that’s where my job is. But I’m Canadian to the core. I hope Canadians understand that.” is a little different than "I have chosen to take my talents to South Beach.” and “I wanted to do what’s best for LeBron James and what would have made LeBron James happy.” ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/252 "2011-06-13T01:46:13Z")
Good game so far. Dallas stepping up despite Nowitzki’s slumping. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/253 "2011-06-13T02:10:29Z")
One more quarter. Come on Mavs, you can do it! One more quarter and the whole Lebron shit of the last year comes back to bite him in the ass ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/254 "2011-06-13T02:37:36Z")
I’ll be the first to say “Gratz! Mavs” And Gratz Cleveland. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/255 "2011-06-13T02:47:24Z")
Good. I’m so glad the Heat did not get to win this year. I assume they will pull it off some other year. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/256 "2011-06-13T02:48:00Z")
“This team never gave up in the face of adversity.” --Jason Terry. _That’s_ never been said before. So, what, Miami gave up in the face of adversity? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/257 "2011-06-13T02:50:14Z")
Yeah; pretty much. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/258 "2011-06-13T02:50:36Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Nice to see the Heat take back home court advantage and atone for giving game 2 away through sheer laziness. The refs were doing everything they could to help the Mavs in the 4th quarter (LaBron gets called of a DD after a deflection, but Nowitzki is allowed to tale 7 steps between every dribble without a call?), but at the end of the day, the Mavs are just outclassed. I predict they won’t win another game in the series. It won’t even go back to Miami. This was an awesome prediction. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/259 "2011-06-13T02:51:24Z")
Woo hoo! Great series, and the Mavs definitely proved that they deserved to win the championship. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/260 "2011-06-13T03:05:42Z")
If possible, **Dio** gets more wrong in his sports predictions than in his opinions on other things. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/261 "2011-06-13T03:08:15Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > If possible, **Dio** gets more wrong in his sports predictions than in his opinions on other things. If it was made after game 3 in 2006, then it was utter genious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259.md?page=14)