With the end of the NBA Finals, it’s safe to say that the sports media is going overboard on LeBron James.  Of course, there was the outrage and reaction to the outrage from his Game 6 postgame press conference, the subsequent apology and reaction to the apology, and a lot of talk about LeBron needing a sports psychologist.  All the LeBron talk finally reached its saturation point with the video below – for some reason, ESPN thought that Herman Edwards giving an imaginary pep talk to James with a knockoff of The Patriot soundtrack playing in the background was a great idea.  Have a listen and be inspired…

Here’s my problems with this video…

1) ESPN feeling the need to give a “pep talk” to James only gives more ammo to folks saying that their coverage has been biased towards Miami all season (cough, Heat Index, cough) although Herm has given other “pep talks” in the past.
2) What is the point of this video?
3) Herm Edwards is a football coach, not a basketball coach.
4) LeBron James is not going off to war tomorrow, as the music would imply.
5) Herm Edwards was an inspiring 54-74 in his career as a football coach.
6) Herm Edwards did not say, “YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME! in this video.”
7) What is the point of this video again?

I like Herm Edwards as an analyst and as a TV personality, but an NFL analyst giving a pep talk to LeBron James is puzzling.  Was Lou Holtz not available?  Maybe Barry Melrose or Ditka can give it a try this week as well!  Let’s just have every former coach on ESPN give LeBron an imaginary pep talk, now that could be entertaining.  Just imagine Digger Phelps tossing highlighters around the studio or Lee Corso using mascot heads to elicit motivation.  

Don’t worry though, if you still need more LeBron, Skip Bayless is planning to say that LeBron’s legacy is permanently tainted on First Take this morning.  The first three debate topics on 1st & 10 are about LeBron James.  It’s not like Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals is tonight or anything… I can see all of you reaching for your remotes right now!

 

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