Perhaps it’s because he has a lot of free time recuperating from a season-ending Achilles tear in his left leg, but Brandon Jennings sounded off on all things LeBron James today. He said on twitter LeBron “run too much when s*** get tough,” alluding to James’ departure from Cleveland in 2010 and Miami this past summer. He also called LeBron the best small forward ever. (*shakes fist at sky: LARRY BIRD!*)
Jennings is no stranger to LeBron mockery. Like more than a few pre-pubescent kids who find balding hysterical, he’s poked fun at LeBron’s escalating hairline. This is different, in our eyes, primarily because he actually makes some good points even if they don’t really matter in the grand scheme of LeBron’s legacy — at least to us.
Here’s the tweet that’s probably got some LeBron sycophants in an uproar, with a tip of the hat to Pro Basketball Talk:
https://twitter.com/BrandonJennings/status/562459976653090816
Obviously some thought Brandon was hiding from challenging ‘Bron directly by not including his handle in the tweet. Here’s Brandon’s rebuttal:
https://twitter.com/BrandonJennings/status/562464610859503617
But Jennings also makes an analogy to everyone in the media jumping on LeBron in 2010 after James’ much-maligned “Decision.”
https://twitter.com/BrandonJennings/status/562635800018317312
Also, Jennings called LeBron the best small forward of all time and one of the greatest players, ever, so it’s not like he’s just hating in a vacuum; Jennings knows LeBron has game, he just thinks he bailed on his teams when they were faltering:
https://twitter.com/BrandonJennings/status/562639491899195392
https://twitter.com/BrandonJennings/status/562467702975905792
In a sense, Jennings is right. The Cavs were pretty terrible in LeBron’s first go-around, and the Heat had seen better days when he fled Miami this past summer.
But he also knows James is already one of the greatest players ever; although, as we’ve noted, we don’t yet think he’s the greatest small forward of all time (feel free to talk about the Hick from French Lick as some athletically-challenged overrated gunner, but if you do, we’re pretty sure you’re not old enough to remember just how good Bird was).
[Related: Is LeBron James the greatest small forward ever?]
The rest of Jennings’ responses within the Twitter milieu are pretty on point, even if the rhetoric is a tad slapdash. We doubt LeBron leaves Cleveland again, even if they suffer through some more losses. We still think he’ll be with the Cavs through his retirement. If not, it’ll merely add more ammo to Jennings’ beliefs, even if we don’t totally agree with the sentiment.
Do you agree with Jennings?
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