The "Bad Guy" Image

For this post, I'm going to do things a little differently. I have two videos to be considered "bad plays". The first one is a video of AJ Burnett, a recently traded player to the Pirates from the Yankees, getting hit in the face with a ball at batting practice.

Now Mr. Burnett not only hit himself in the face with a ricocheted ball, but he did so with literally his entire team watching. What kind of practice is this that practically every guy in the organization is watching a pitcher take batting practice. I know from experience that being the only person playing in a drill and having your entire team watching you is slightly embarrassing and nerve-racking enough, but to mess up while doing so? That has to be the worst. But hey, at least he's getting paid millions to hit himself in the face.

Now it's time to talk about LeBron James. Usually he makes spectacular plays that would be considered "top plays", but for this post, I'm going to take it in a different direction. REcently, during the NBA All-Star game, LeBron was given the ball in the final possession of the game. This is a common occurrence, since he is considered one of the best players in the league, but just as common as giving him the ball for a last-second shot is his inability to actually convert in those late game situations.    

Now you need to skip ahead to about 4 minutes to see the play, but basically, Lebron passes up the chance to win the game. BUT his Eastern team gets the ball back for a second chance and the ball goes to LeBron. LeBron still can't get the job done, though, even with this second chance. Now to the point I want to make about LeBron. Ever since he made his "decision" two summers ago, to play down in Miami, everyone has been looking for reasons to hate on LeBron. Whether it's deserved or not, I would expect LeBron not to enjoy this criticism, I get that, but LeBron is also doing NOTHING to help his case against being the "bad guy". LeBron is looking to win back the hearts of all fans, yet he sets himself up for failure by posting idiotic things on social media outlets. This is a great example of athletes using social media networks and putting themselves in a position to say something stupid. Just as Justin Hall had his online "personality" and his "real life" personality, LeBron's real personality is being way overshadowed by stupid decisions made through tweeting or by his "decision", which are all analyzed extra hard by the media. How can LeBron eliminate his bad guy image? Stop complaining and worrying about it and stop giving people reasons to hate you.