I Just Hope That You Miss Me A Little When I'm Gone...

Charles Klein

Hello blogosphere. I have not been around for a while. As the title suggests, I do hope you missed my presense for the past few weeks. I just returned to Washington, D.C. for my fourth and final year of higher education at The George Washington University. I am thankfully done with my over 40 hour a week summer job and now have more time on my hands, which I shall use to update this site much more.

Roger Clemens testifies before Congress concerning his alleged steroid use

Over the past few weeks more than a few things have caught my attention. I will just start with Roger Clemens so that I can get it out of the way and I will never have to write or think about him again. About a week ago Clemens was charged with, among other things, lying to a federal grand jury about his supposed usage of performance enhancing drugs. I do not think there is much debate on whether or not Clemens is guilty of such drug use, thusly I find it awfully curious as to why Clemens continues to claim he was clean.

Clearly his attorney has been confunded into believing the same ego-induced lies of his client. The attorney's argument to reporters about how Clemens' continued efforts to persuade the public of his innocence is an indication that Clemens is not guilty remains quite asinine and silly. After making such a contention he commented that he and his client would make their arguments in court and not to the public. If that is the case, then why did he just moments before that make an argument to the public? Maybe Clemens needs to seek alternate representation.

One thought that did occurr to me as I meditated on this subject is just how easily we were all sucked into believing that Clemens was legitimately one of the best pitchers of all-time. When he came back to baseball around the age of 40 to pitch for his hometown Houston Astros and not only performed adequately, but exceptionally, we all ascribed it to the fact that he was Roger Clemens. Even though many of us are not as over the top in our infatuation with him as New York Yankees radio announcer Suzyn Waldman, we gave Clemens the benefit of the doubt. The same is true of the other great atheletes who have also used PEDs. When Alex Rodriguez juiced during his first few years with the Texas Rangers and was mashing the ball out of Arlington no one raised an eyebrow because he was Alex Rodriguez a.k.a. God's gift to baseball (and blond haired celebrities). We get lulled into the cult of these players and become willing to believe them of anything. They were able to get away with cheating through their stature in the game.

One of summer's greatest dramas has been Albert Haynesworth versus the Washington Redskins. One thing I have never fully understood in football is when teams spend exorbitant amounts of money on one player. I know that teams usually do this because they think player x is the missing piece to the winning a championship puzzle. But oftentimes signing that missing piece comes at too great a cost. The Redskins signing Haynesworth to a seven year, $100 million contract last offseason is the perfect example of such a phenomena.

I thought that it was a daft signing at the time because the most successful defenses often do well by having depth at the defensive line. A solid rotation of guys is preferred to having three or four that play most of the downs. The number one defense last season (measured by total defense) was the New York Jets, who did not have a 'sack artist' who racked up double digit quaterback take-downs.

Let's remember, most of these lineman are in excess of 270 pounds. Persons weighing that much would be considered obese in any other profession. Asking them to go full tilt over the course of a 60 minute game seems illogical. So when the Redskins signed Haynesworth to that contract, it prevented them from addressing the real issue, which was that they lacked proper depth on the defensive line. They could have signed three decent defensive linemen with the money they gave to Haynesworth.

What's more, the Redskins ought to have seen this coming. While Haynesworth did have a few good years in Tennessee, he has always had issues with staying in shape and being motivated to play football. The Redskins divined that such red flags were instead red herrings and signed (Fat) Albert. I'm not sure if I really believe that Hayneworth has some disease that prevents him from practicing with the team now (maybe that's the same one that He Who Must Not Be Named had before he returned to Minnesota), but if it is true Haynesworth and the Redskins ought to sit down and establish some kind of solution that works for both sides.

And there you have it, my two readers. To borrow from Jim Rome, that's what I am burning on today. I have an NFL preview in the works, in which I will pick two teams to go to the Super Bowl that will be henceforth subject to the 4-1-1 On Sports Curse (last year I picked the Giants and the Steelers and neither made the playoffs). The races in MLB are heating up and the NHL and NBA seasons are a mere month away from starting. The dog days of August are about over my friends, and thank God for that.

The MLB Trade Deadline: Ruben Amaro Jr., Super Dummy

Charles Klein

Perhaps what I like to do the most on this blog is to clear up misconceptions in the manner in which sports is understood and analyzed by the pundits. The Major League Baseball trade deadline provides plenty of fodder for such articles, which I only take so much joy in writing.

The biggest myth I would like to bust is the idea that Ruben Amaro Jr. is a good general manager. People were over the moon about the Phillies head man last year when he opted to trade for Cliff Lee and did not have to give up any of the Phillies top prospects in the process. I gave the move my approval at this time last year. Damn good deal.

However he gave away all of the positive momentum he gained in the Lee deal last December when he dealt Lee to the Seattle Mariners for three decent but not overwhelmingly good prospects after completing a deal with the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay. The debate over who is the best pitcher in baseball (it's really just between Lee, Johnson and Halladay) will be saved for another article. But one is not taking a definitive step up with replacing Lee with Halladay.

To Amaro's surprise, he found that by midseason the Phillies were in desperate need of a number two starter to slot in behind Halladay in their rotation. Cole Hamels was supposed to be that guy. He has been decent but nowhere near as dominant has he was the season in which the Phillies won the World Series. J.A. Happ was supposed to take the next step this season but was under utilized and ultimately traded to the Houston Astros as a part of the Roy Oswalt trade.

Speaking of that Oswalt bloke, Amaro has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he in actuality has very little clue of what he's doing. The success of the Phillies has more to do with Pat Gillick than anything Amaro has had a role in doing. If he had any skill as a general manager he would have realized that keeping Lee would have been the better option for two reasons:

1. Cliff Lee is a better pitcher than Roy Oswalt. Lee ought to win the Cy Young Award in the American League. He leads the AL in ERA and has thrown almost as many innings as Halladay this season. His strikeout-to-walk ratio alone ought to win him the award.
2. Cliff Lee costs less than Roy Oswalt. Lee is in the final year of the contract he signed with the Indians in which he is due a meager nine million dollars. Chump change when one is talking about a Cy Young caliber pitcher. Having him at that price is like getting away with murder. Oswalt is due $16 million next season as part of a player option given to him by the Astros. Even if Oswalt pitches well he still leaves the team on the hook for an exorbitant sum that ought only be paid to much younger players. The Astros will be paying for part of it, but even then Lee remains the cheaper option.

The Seattle Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik showed up Amaro by trading Lee for a much better set of prospects to the Texas Rangers. One would assume that Amaro ought to have done better considering the Mariners had the opportunity to have Lee for a whole year and the Rangers would only have him for around four months. But that was not the case. The Mariners got a great set of prospects in the deal, including Justin Smoak, who has been projected to be a Mark Teixeira type first baseman. I can safely guarantee you that he will be a better professional than any of the prospects the Mariners sent to Philadelphia last December.

And I know there will be those who will read this and say "Well the Phillies would not have been able to re-sign him at the end of the season so Amaro did well to get something for him." To that I would offer keeping Cliff Lee and the prospects dealt to the Astros for Oswalt presents a much healthier long term outlook for an organization. Let's be real, the Phillies took one step forward and two steps back with the two deals they made involving ace pitchers. It may help them catch the Braves and give them a shot at getting to the World Series for the third consecutive season (surely the city of Philadelphia will explode if it experiences even more success in the sporting world), but in five years the Phillies may end up regretting ever saying goodbye to Cliff Lee.

Who knows, maybe the Phillies will pay the Mariners seven million dollars and trade them Roy Oswalt in return for some more average prospects in December. I do not think Zduriencik would mind that one jot.

Two-A-Days: Rookie Hazing In The NFL

Charles Klein


For once, I found myself agreeing with egomaniac wide receiver. And I thought that merited it's own article in and of itself. Dez Bryant, the Dallas Cowboys first round pick from last April's draft, angrily reacted to teammate Roy Williams' demand to carry his pads, stating "I'm not doing it. I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player's pads."


Usually hazing is generally funny or light-hearted, resulting in rookies paying for dinners or buying donuts for the team. And to me that is okay, especially if one is that rookie who gets the JaMarcus Russell type contract without playing a down. 


But the whole carrying pads thing or taping the player up to the goal post for general embarrassment purposes is ridiculous. When ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth defended the practices this morning his sole defense was just to say that's how it's always been done. If tradition was society's sole paradigm for acceptable social practices, well, progress would be as undefinable a word as love. 


So bravo Dez Bryant, thank you for taking a stand on an important issue. Hazing in the NFL is just silly.

Two-A-Days: Still T.O.

Charles Klein 

Today's article marks the first of many you will find on this blog in the build-up to the 2010 NFL season, where I will post two NFL-related articles everyday to help you get your fix on the most popular league in America. My inaugural post is on Terrell Owens, and as usual, calling the media out on their usual schmaltz.

There's perhaps nothing more hip these days than for NFL pundits to argue that Terrell Owens has something to offer an NFL team. I was watching Sportscenter this morning over breakfast and I almost choked on my orange juice when Mike Schlereth said that Owens provides a good deep threat for any team. That's only if the team's entire receiving corps is comprised of tight ends.

Yes, Owens did have a 98 yard touchdown catch last season, but he had a very down year by his own standards. There is no doubt that Owens has been one of the league's best receivers for nearly a decade, but there is something to be said for the fact that pretty much every team in the league does not want to have him on their team.

Owens only had five catches of 20 yards or more last season. The years before that 22 (2007) and 15 (2008) present a worrying trend for what one may expect from Owens this season. I'm not just saying this because I generally dislike Owens, it's just the truth.

Now on to that media 'shmaltz' of which I spoke at the top. It used to be okay to argue that a team should want Owens because he was worth all of the trouble he caused. Now the pundits say that he is just such a great worker...

COME ON MAN! The amount of work that Owens put in before never endeared him to his teammates when he was also scoring touchdowns and not dropping them, what makes anyone think that when he is not producing and still demanding the ball that anyone will want to be his teammate?

If Owens signs in St. Louis this year, the team will have someone else to blame for the fact that they will not win more than four games this season. And for that alone, it may be worth their while to bring in Owens. But to me, he's still T.O.

Why Chris Paul's Trade Demands Are Out Of Line

Charles Klein

Allow me to just state this openly before I get into anything else: I am a big fan of Chris Paul. I think he is the best point guard in the league and one of the top five players in the NBA today. But I am not a fan of his more recent comments in which it seems that he is demanding a trade from the New Orleans Hornets because he believes that the team is not doing enough to try and win in 2010-2011.

The era of entitlement in the NBA has been one that has driven a fair few casual fans away from the sport. Star players like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade etc. have done little to dispel that theory during any points of their careers. James felt like the Cavaliers were not doing enough for him and he left to sign with the Miami Heat. Bryant at one point during his career with the Lakers seemed like he was on his way out of Los Angeles after suffering through a few title-less seasons without having a second star to help him. And we all have witnessed the tractor beam of 'awesome' that is Dwayne Wade pulling in stars like James and Chris Bosh to South Beach.

The supporting cast has become the excuse for any NBA star player to decide to leave a team. Now that the phrase 'supporting cast' has become so ingrained in NBA culture and punditry, so much so that it deserves a place in a Websters dictionary, it is never the star players fault that his team has not won. Which is ironic because much of the blame for a team's failure or praise for its successes is usually for its one big name player. Perhaps basketball is becoming more of a team sport? But as my fellow scribe Phil Fortuna pointed out in his letter to the editor, that does not seem to be the case.

First, let us examine Paul's supporting cast in New Orleans and see how it stacks up against the teams that he said he'd like to join (for those keeping score at home, they are the New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks and the Orlando Magic). And I think using the Miami Heat template for the SuperFriends playing basketball together is a good way to evaluate it.

Paul's implications about the state of the Hornets seem to be off for a few reasons. The first of which is that he actually does have some talented players around him. How all of a sudden David West became a second rate player is beyond me. West averaged 19.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3 assists per game last season. Those numbers are on par with those of Amar'e Stoudemire (23, 8.9 and 1) and Chris Bosh (24, 10.8, and 2), the top two free agents in this year's free agent class.

Not only is David West a pretty good player, but the Hornets also had a rookie of the year candidate in Marcus Thornton last season. Thornton, a small forward, averaged 14.5 points, 2.9 boards and 1.6 assists in 73 games last season. Hornets center Emeka Okafor was no slouch either last season with 10.4 points per game and almost two blocks per game. The Hornets lack of success last season was down to poor coaching and Paul's injury. Luckily they had Darren Collison, who had a breakout year in the absence of Chris Paul.

Looking at the rosters of the supposed approved teams, Paul's supporting cast does not look to improve all that drastically. The only way I see him having a greatly improved SC is if he is traded to Orlando. Just imagining how many alley-oops Paul would be able to create for Dwight Howard is mind-boggling. If Paul really does want to leave, if I was Orlando I'd do anything to get him on that roster. Jameer Nelson is a good point guard, but let's be real, he's no Chris Paul.

I also think that the Trail Blazers would be a good fit for Paul. Brandon Roy is often overlooked because of where he plays but he is one of the top 10 or 15 best players in the Association. LeMarcus Aldridge is a rising star and if Paul were to join the Blazers he would be able to elevate them into a top three or four team in that conference. But I don't know if the Blazers would be willing to meet the Hornets demands, which ought to be very high.

And on to that. The Hornets ought to demand basically the world for Chris Paul. And I'm not just saying that because he is one of my favorite players. He actually is that good. From what I've been reading and hearing about this whole situation, Paul does not seem to be dead set on leaving New Orleans. What he really needs is some good convincing. And with a new coach and GM (and possibly a lame duck president), I highly doubt any of them want to be responsible for trading one of the franchise's best all-time players. Paul has two years left on his deal. If they cannot build a winner by that time, then he will have every right as a free agent to leave the Hornets. Whether or not the players around him continue to develop (Thornton and Collison) will have a major impact on that.

I personally do not think that the Knicks will be able to put together a good enough package to get Paul. The Hornets point guard does not have a no-trade clause in his contract so he has minimal say in which teams he could be dealt to. And the Hornets have little incentive to care about where they deal him so long as they get a top notch package in return. I think Orlando has the best shot to do that considering how much depth they have on their roster. If I was the Orlando Magic GM, I would just say to the Hornets "You can have nayone you want that is not Dwight Howard."

But for anyone thinking that Paul will be dealt before the season opens, I ask you to actually evaluate the situation before coming to such a conclusion. He has two years left on his current deal and I don't think the Hornets will want to give up two years of having him in exchange for whatever package they can get from another team (unless a truly extraordinary offer comes in).

Clearly the impact of this offseason is already being felt around the league. The alliance of the SuperFriends in Miami has given rise to a terrible potential phenomena in the Association. David Stern incentive-ized players to remain with the teams that drafted them by allowing those teams to pay their player a ton more money than he could make by signing with a new one (vis a vis Joe Johnson). It's truly disturbing to see players decide they want out of their current teams so that they can join forces Captain Planet style with another superstar player. I'm just hoping that does not happen, otherwise the NBA will become even less competitive and more banal. And that does not bode well for the Association.

The Hypocrisy In College Football

Charles Klein

This week has been a bad week for any preeminent college football power. But it's been an even worse week for Reggie Bush. I cannot even imagine what it must feel like to be disowned by one's own university after having given so much life to its athletics. Granted, taking about a hundred grand from an agent is not exactly the sort of pay day that a college athlete should get nor is it the right thing to do. But how Bush must feel when what he did is nowhere near as bad as what some of the other athletes of his caliber have done must be pretty awful.

When USC alumnae O.J. Simpson was convicted of robbery and sentenced to 33 years in a Nevada prison, the university did not remove images of Simpson from around its campus nor did it return its copy of Simpson's Heisman Trophy. And yet Reggie Bush's Heisman and images of his achievements at USC have been removed.

I understand that Bush's actions are inexcusable for a college athlete and that his and O.J. Mayo's examples serve as cautionary tales to would-be offenders currently enrolled at USC. But at the same time one would hope for a bit more consistency in college athletics.

Memo To MLS: Let Landon Go

Charles Klein 


That headline may come as somewhat of a shock for you. After all Landon Donovan was a star in the United States team which shocked the world by winning their group for the first time since the great depression. And he is probably the most marketable U.S. based soccer player around right now. But, plain and simple MLS need to get out of the denial stage and skip a few down to acceptance of this one fact: Landon Donovan does not want to play in your league. 


I understand that the league wants to keep Landon Donovan in Los Angeles so that it may build on the momentum gained from the 2010 World Cup and translate into higher attendance and more money for the Major League Soccer. It makes good sense for the Galaxy to want to hold on to Donovan (especially if the Ronaldinho rumors have any truth to them) and many would see a Donovan departure as an indictment on the league; which it would be.


Anyone who argues what I've just said needs to understand something else. Nearly every other player on the United States national team plays overseas. And MLS did very little to stop it. USA's top talents, namely Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Tim Howard (Everton), Jozy Altidore (Villareal), Charlie Davies (Sochaux), Oguchi Oneyewu (AC Milan), Carlos Bocanegra (St. Etienne) and Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach) all play somewhere outside the United States. The league needs to stop trying to keep players in the United States when its best have been thriving abroad. 


I know that Donovan is still under contract with the Galaxy. I understand that the team has a right to hold him to the terms of their agreement. But at the same time if the team decides that it is in their best interests to sell Donovan the league should not stand in the way of them. Players leaving teams before the end of their contracts is a very common thing in world football and yet Americans have a very hard time understanding how it works. Imagine if the New York Yankees could simply go to the St. Louis Cardinals and say, "We want Albert Pujols, we'll give you $100 million for his rights." That's basically how it works in soccer. Ultimately the team has to decide which option is best for them (unless the player wants to leave, in which case they have very little wiggle room in which to operate). It's a rarity for a league to get in the way of a player transferring to another team. 


MLS needs to do what is right and that is to allow Donovan the freedom he deserves. Considering everything he has given U.S. soccer he definitely deserves it.

A Letter To the Editor: RE Michael's Right... Sort Of

Before I post Mr. Fortuna's letter, I just wanted to say that should you as a reader ever vehemently disagree with anything I write about, do not hesitate to e-mail me a response (or comment on the article) and I will re-post it. I'm always open to criticism and debate. It makes this blog even better.

Dear 4-1-1 On Sports,

The Editor-in-Chief of the 4-1-1 on Sports Charles Klein recently posted an article expressing his opinion on Michael Jordan’s comments regarding LeBron James and his “Decision” to take his talents to South Beach. What some people are getting confused about is if Jordan was comparing Wade and Bosh to Magic and Larry. The answer is no because Wade and Bosh are completely different from Magic and Larry. The only comparisons you can make with Wade is that he’s the lead dog, has won as the lead dog and is a top 3 player in his prime. On the other hand Chris Bosh is not even close to being a legend so his name should not be coming up like that. What Jordan means was that when he played against Magic and Larry Bird is that if he had the chance to he would not team with any one of those two because he wanted to beat them and he wanted no confusion on which the real alpha dog was. In Miami right now it seems to be Wade’s team and LeBron hasn’t said anything to indicate he wants to be the alpha dog there. In short, Jordan was saying if you wanted to ever be considered one of the all time greats that it won’t ever happen now because LeBron turned in his alpha dog license. In response to Jordan’s comments this is what Charles Klein had to say.
“What Michael appears to be heavily implying through his comments is that he did it all by himself in Chicago when in fact that is a bit too much revisionist history. Jordan did not win anything with the Bulls until they brought in Scottie Pippen, voted by NBA players as one of the 50 best basketball players of all-time. Not only that, Jordan had the best rebounder in the game with Dennis Rodman, one of the best foreign players in Tony Kukoc, etc. etc. The point is, as much as other analysts may try to claim otherwise, basketball is a team game."

What I plan on doing is breaking down this quote by Charles Klein piece by piece. First Jordan wasn’t implying that he won six titles by himself; instead he was implying that he won six titles as the lead dog, as a guy who didn’t leave when he could have and as a guy who knew how to lead. Nobody ever mistook Pippen as the top guy because Jordan wouldn’t allow it and he let his actions on the court defend him. There were a couple times when he was faced with free agency in the 80’s and 90’s but he did not bolt. This was before and after Jordan had a championship caliber team. A lot of people forget that the Knicks were targeting and trying to persuade Jordan to play in NY back in ’95.


Charles then states that Jordan didn’t win a championship until they got Scottie Pippen who was voted in as a top 50 player all-time. I agree with that statement to a certain extent, I agree with it to the extent that you need a good running mate to win especially when trying to build a dynasty. This is where I disagree; Jordan didn’t win his first championship until the ’90-’91 season when the Bulls beat the Lakers in the finals. Was Scottie Pippen drafted in 1990? No, he was not; actually he was drafted in 1987 with the 5th overall pick by Seattle. The Sonics then traded the rights to Scottie Pippen to the Bulls for Olden Polynice. When the Bulls traded for Pippen, they had no clue they would be getting a future Hall of Famer. Pippen was a star at Central Arkansas but that wasn’t even a Division 1 school, they were a NAIA school. Chicago was assuming that the type of player that Pippen would turn into would be one of a decent role player. How did he do his rookie year? Forget stats for a minute, he didn’t start a single game! He didn’t become a full fledge starter until his third season. After his third season he was considered to be an upcoming player in the league. The next season is when he and Jordan captured their first of six titles. Now this is where everyone says Jordan had Pippen, well he had him there but according to the NBA he wasn’t even a star yet. His numbers for the ’90-’91 season were as followed: 82 games played and started, 17.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 6.2 apg, 2.4 spg and 1.1 bpg. Those are some pretty impressive all-round numbers. So with those numbers how he was not even considered a star yet? There are three all NBA teams and since Scottie Pippen was a forward there were six forward spots to fill. The guys who claimed the six spots were Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Chris Mullin, Dominique Wilkins, James Worthy and Bernard King. Yes, I’m well aware Pippen broke out in the playoffs for 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists per game but that was a “playoffs breakout”. The fact is to state “Jordan had Pippen” is absurd due to the fact that the statement makes Pippen look like a 10 player when he wasn’t even a top 6 forward. The next season in ’91-‘92 he made the NBA all second team with Barkley as the other forward. Karl Malone and Chris Mullin had the first team while on the third team was Dennis Rodman and Kevin Willis. Rodman and Willis were both good but not star Power Forwards which showed the lack of depth at the Small Forward position due to Dominique Wilkins missing half the season. The following season in ’92-‘93 Pippen makes third team with Derrick Coleman? Ahead of Pippen were Wilkins, Malone, Barkley and Larry Johnson who just got done with second year in the NBA. That’s their first 3-peat right there while Jordan was always on the first team. Right before the ’93-’94 season, Jordan left and Pippen led them to the Eastern semi-finals and lost in 7 games to the Knicks. The season after in ’94-’95 the Bulls were in danger of missing the playoffs until Jordan returned and led them to the playoffs in the final 17 games. Charles Klein and everyone makes the “Jordan had Pippen” claim look like the “Kobe had Shaq” claim for Kobe’s first three rings. You can’t compare, Jordan was the lead while Kobe was the second in command. You could use the “Jordan had Pippen” claim for their second 3-peat as Pippen truly became a star once Jordan left for a bit to play baseball but then you don’t have a defense for the first 3-peat. 


When Charles then proceeds to say Jordan had the best rebounder in the game in Dennis Rodman, he is kind of right but not really. Jordan’s first 3-peat he did not have Rodman or one of the top rebounders. The second 3-peat, Rodman was on the Bulls but technically Rodman was only the best rebounder during the ’97-’98 season. The previous two years belonged to Dikembe Mutombo and David Robinson. A more accurate statement would be Jordan had one of the best rebounders in the league. My response is that I agree with the more accurate statement but in the ’97 and ’98 finals Karl Malone outplayed and out rebounded Dennis Rodman but yet the Jordan-led Bulls won both of those finals.
With stating Toni Kukoc was one of the best international players and maybe the best at the time wasn’t stating very much. He was definitely a great 6th man with averages of 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists for the second 3-peat. However, back then there were no star international players except Olajuwon but he played college ball in America so you can’t fully consider him “international”.

The last part I will argue is that basketball is a team game. Now, I’m not going to say flat out that it’s not because team chemistry and players being accepting of their roles are very important. My argument is this, when the game is on the line with 5 minutes to go, you can’t really consider it much of a team game anymore. What you want is for your star player to take over, if he takes over and how he finishes not only determines one game but it can also determine the ability to compete for a title. Jordan loved to take over, that’s what he loved best. LeBron James on the other hand fears it, that’s why there have been plenty of times where LeBron folds and loses. It’s the reason why he decided to play the mega Pippen to Wade’s Jordan. In conclusion, Jordan didn’t have Pippen, instead Pippen had Jordan.


Sincerely Yours,


Phil Fortuna


Northport, New York