Man vs. Media

Usually, the mid-season classic’s media availability doesn’t end with LeBron James scraping paint off windows. But based on the first official afternoon of All-Star Weekend, the New Orleans experience could be a little out of the ordinary.

As he has for the last four years, the starting small forward for the Eastern Conference’s All-Star squad took questions from media – local, regional, international – handling the rapid-fire questions with the same deft touch that he handles foes in the fourth quarter. (Even the crazy Canadian reporter, who annually grills each of the All-Stars with an absurd line of questioning. This year, he asked LeBron if “he was (his) high school’s prom king” and if he “could be LeBron’s friend.” LeBron politely answered, “No.”)

Of course, King James was barraged with questions about the Jason Kidd trade and trades in general. And each time he fended the questioner off.

When asked if he was getting frustrated, LeBron responded: “At times it can be frustrating. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that I have teammates around me that are going to play hard for me every night – and I’m going to do the same for them.

“You see the big-name players move around and you wish you could grab a Pau Gasol or a Jason Kidd or a Shaquille O’Neal – of course. But at the same time, that’s not going to take away the fact that I love my teammates and I’m going to play hard every night that I go out there.”

About the only series of questions that got the former St. Vincent-St. Mary’s star’s Irish up was when he was asked more than once about whether or not the Cavaliers can beat the Celtics.

“They gotta beat us! Why does everyone say we have to beat the Celtics? We’re the Eastern Conference Champions. At one point, we’re going to get a little respect. I’m sick of hearing about everybody else. We hold the title right now. We hold the title in the Eastern Conference and San Antonio holds the title for the league.

“’We’re not that good’ – that’s what everybody says. We ‘didn’t beat Detroit – Detroit beat themselves.’ That’s all we were hearing. ‘Washington was without their key guys,’ ‘New Jersey didn’t play up to their capabilities.’ Enough Cavaliers talk, now. I’m only talking about All-Star Weekend – now you guys got me upset.

After his media session, LeBron got on a bus headed for the Holy Cross neighborhood where he and some NBA heavyweights – including Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Bosh – pitched in with a hands-on effort to improve the devastated neighborhood.

As far as LeBron’s sparring session with the media, here are some of the other highlights …

On the vetoed trade with Jason Kidd and where that leaves him for All-Star Weekend: “I told him (Kidd) he should spend 30 minutes in Western Conference meetings and 30 minutes in Eastern Conference meetings. He’s with us now, but after halftime he might go play for the West.”

On Daniel Gibson’s succecss: “He’s a second round draft pick. You’d never imagine a second-rounder would be in the position Daniel’s in – going to the Finals in his rookie year and now being part of All-Star Weekend in his second. I’ve tried to be a mentor to him and he’s listened. Now he’s in a position where he can succeed.

On giving Gibson shooting pointers for the three-point contest: “He’s giving me pointers! He shoots the ball better than I do.”

On Nike spending potential advertising money into the community instead of on billboards: “We know that All-Star Weekend the NBA is sponsored by adidas and they’re going to feature their guys – Dwight and KG and Tim Duncan. The Nike swoosh speaks for itself; we don’t need big billboards around the city of New Orleans. We did our thing by giving money back to the community.”

On how much he respect he has for soldiers in Iraq: “Everybody focuses on the game of basketball so much and someone asked me who are the bigger heroes – us as NBA players or the soldiers in Iraq, and I said the soldiers in Iraq. What they do for our country is unbelievable. They allow us to be here for All-Star Weekend, because they protect us on a daily basis. They get up at 5 o’clock in the morning and protect everyone that’s here – you guys in the media, us players and our families.”

On the Phoenix Suns playing an outdoor preseason game and whether he’d like to be part of it: “That would be extremely fun. Try something different – have a preseason game outside. That would be fun. My whole life I played basketball outside and it was always fun. It doesn’t’ get any better than that. You’re not closed in – you feel free. I know that game’s not being played in Cleveland.”

On seeing Dwayne Wade and his Heat struggling: “It’s very tough. Because I know what a competitor he is. I know he plays through injuries a lot more than other players in this league. He’s seen the highest level of success and the lowest point, being the worst team in the league. They’re just going to have to rebuild for next season. It’s tough – as a friend – watching him go out there and give it is all every night and have them still come up short.”

On Boobie borrowing LeBron’s stylist for All-Star Weekend: “He can’t afford my stylist. But he will! If he keeps listening to me, in a year or two he’ll be able to afford my stylist.”

On what’s in the creative pipeline for Nike and the future of The LeBrons: “What we did with Nike, we wanted to get back to the basketball side of things. That’s where I came up with my commercial where I’m in slow motion. Getting back to more basketball and get kids focused on the game. The LeBron’s aren’t dead; they just took a vacation.”

…and finally, from our favorite reporter from North of the Border …

Can you help me become popular: No.