It's shades of the 1991 Detroit Pistons all over again, and is it any more acceptable now than it was then?
If you're LeBron James, the answer would be yes. But that would also get the Pistons team off the hook.
Sports "experts" still, on occasion, berate the Pistons organization for how they walked out of their final playoff game in 1991 vs. Chicago without even congratulating them. It was the ultimate show of bad sportsmanship and the height of team ego, showing up a harder-working team that deserved their way to the finals. This was perhaps the first sign that there was something lurking behind the smile of Isiah Thomas.
The media didn't give the players much chance to explain. They just reported what they saw: no handshakes for a good series or luck in the future series. The Pistons were seen as brats who didn't want to let go of the "Bad Boys" era.
Flash forward to this past weekend, where King LeBron makes a quick exit from courtside without well-wishes to Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. LeBron claims there is an excuse, saying he doesn't believe in congratulating the advancing team (if it isn't his), and there was nothing personal in that inaction.
Why are we supposed to believe it now, just because LeBron and Kobe Bryant are Commissioner David Stern's pair of torches lighting the NBA? Is it because LeBron has Nike endorsements and the Pistons didn't? Or has the atmosphere of political correctness overtaken the NBA, and it's okay not to shake the hands of your opponent, a sign of good sportsmanship?
LeBron's actions are what they are in 2009. But this should also serve to lift the shroud of doubt that's been on an aging Pistons team since that day in 1991. If it's alright now, it should've been alright to walk off the court then, as well.
After all, don't we long for the days of yesteryear in the world, where everything seemed to be better than now?
