http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/2008/04/haywoods_tough_talk_is_almost.htmlHaywood's tough talk is almost laughable
Posted by Bud Shaw, Plain Dealer Columnist April 29, 2008 13:57PM
Categories: Bud Shaw, Cavaliers
Brendan Haywood calling LeBron James a whiner is like Larry Brown calling somebody "restless."
It's Ricky Davis declaring another player "stats-conscious."
It's me making fun of somebody's receding hairline.
I have watched the tape of Haywood mocking James after a Wizards practice the other day. Incensed that James would think the Wizards are trying to hurt him, Haywood speaks in a a crybaby's voice. For all the talk that the fouls on James are nothing personal, Haywood makes it very personal.
His mocking of James would be incredibly sophomoric all by itself if not for the irony involved.
This the same guy popularly called "Brenda" for being softer than a box of tissues? The one who literally got involved in a hair pull with teammate Etan Thomas?
This the guy who took a swing at Antonio Davis in a preseason game with the Bulls in 2005, then sped into reverse?
That guy is questioning somebody's toughness? I don't care if he's questioning Bip Roberts' toughness, it'd be a stretch for Haywood.
The Bulls and Wizards met in the playoffs later in 2005 and the same kind of kindergarten chatter followed with Gilbert Arenas chiming in that Chicago had dirty players. It led Chicago's Andres Nocioni, an Argentinian, to say, "I don't understand the American player."
Charles Barkley didn't limit his comments to American shores when he called the Wizards "the dumbest team in the history of civilization" before the series began for calling out James and the Cavs.
I made fun of him for that, pointing out that Barkley once irritated Michael Jordan by claiming it was "destiny" for the Suns to beat Jordan's Bulls in the NBA Finals.
But what we have since seen from the Wizards not only validates what Barkley said, it makes his take on the Bulls look tame by comparison.
Down 3-1, going back to Cleveland, having been pistol whipped on the boards 51-31 in Game 4 with no earthly idea on how to defend the Cavaliers late in close games, the Wizards should have been looking to lay in the weeds. But nah. Makes too much sense. Instead they have decided to make fun of the best (or second best, according to Barkley) player in the league with Haywood treating James as if the Cavaliers star were 2 years old and in need of a nap.
Given that Barkley framed Washington's stupidity in terms of civilized history, poking James now is the worst strategy since Custer made his last stand and Lee ordered Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg.
- Bud Shaw
