Count Doc Rivers, who knows a thing or two about decorum and representing the NBA well regardless of circumstances, among the many disappointed by LeBron James' post-Game 76 behavior in the conference Eastern Conference finals.
``I am surprised,'' the Celtics coach said via text message last week. ``It's the big picture. He has handled himself so well. He's human. It's the wrong message to kids.'' Rivers can't remember whether James shook his hand, or that of any other Celtic, other Celtics player, after the Cavs were eliminated by the C's in the 2008 conference semifinals.
But we know this much.
James, locked in a historic scoring duel with Paul Pierce, actually paused during a break in Game 6 to give the Celtics captain a big, appreciative smile.
He was also good natured about having to be in the Garden on opening night this season, when the Celtics celebrated with a championship ring ceremony.
But all this proves is that, like Michael Jordan before him, James feels these losses deeply. Jordan, too, was once fined for avoiding the media.
So James accepted a $25,000 slap on the wrist from the NBA for skipping out on the media that night - the league has no control over whether its players show sportsmanship - and issued an apology through commissioner David Stern.
But none of this is going to mask the real problem. James may be young, but his impatience is overflowing.
The Cavaliers, who have out-performed Nadia Komanechi Comaneci within a willingness to bend over backwards for their star, have to wonder if there are any other stops to pull out for James.
The answer - and we're talking about satisfying LeBronJames, not in terms of moves that could guarantee a trip to the Finals - may be taking shape in Toronto.
Chris Bosh announced last week that he won't sign an extension with the Raptors this summer, thus setting up free agency in the summer of 2010.
With one season at $15.7 million left, Bosh isn't especially tradeable, though the contracts of players like Ben Wallace ($14 million) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas ($11.5 million) would at least help make the numbers work.
Cavaliers management, which doesn't have actual talent to offer in return, --that's why the Cavs are in this predicament to begin with - has once again been put in the position of having to prove to James that winning is the only goal.
If so, a player like Bosh or the perpetually available Amare Stoudemire of the Suns, makes supreme sense only on the only level that matters to the greatest player in the game.
