Recently Danny Ainge made the comment about LeBron James and him “complaining about calls being embarrassing.” Really, Danny?

Is this a good point for you to make, when your entire career was riddled with boos and hate mail because of your incessant whining and complaining. How can you in seriousness complain about LeBron complaining?

Notice the irony, there? Now a few things to take into consideration here. The Boston Celtics love to get physical, especially when Kevin Garnett is getting the team behind him like rabid wolves. And they are not scared to play harder when LeBron plays them.

There is absolutely no love lost between these 2 teams. They truly are a throwback to teams that actually dislike one another, which is nice to see teams play that care about beating the other team, even embarrassing them if doable.

Their history is great, with the 4-1 pounding in 2011, the classic 7 game series in 2012. And then, the ultimate for Garnett, when Ray Allen went to “the enemy.” I loved that Garnett “lost his number” in his cell phone and snubbed him in Allen’s return to Boston. Garnett cares about rivalries and he should, it’s a lost art, rivalries are what make sports even that much better. Lakers, Celtics in the 80’s, Bulls and Pistons in the 90’s, and Heat, Celtics currently, good stuff.

I think that the Celts would love to get the Heat in rd 1. Not only because they play them hard, but now with this being brought out, they can bang a little more, knowing that LeBron is getting angry with it. Maybe even get inside his head. This of course can either lead to 1 of 2 outcomes, he gets rattled and falls apart at the seams like a cheap shirt, or he gets provoked and angry and explodes vs them and scores 45/game. It very well could go either way, and LeBron has definitely shaken off the feeble mental strength. He was oftentimes criticized for.

Now there is no question, LeBron does in fact get hit extra hard, based on his size, his athletic ability, and his strength. A player does have to hit him a bit harder than they would hitting paper thin, Tayshaun Prince. So it leads to the thought, is there more of a mental battle going on? Is LeBron trying to get refs to get a few more open eyes, maybe get more calls?

Historically, superstars typically always get the benefit of the call; it’s always been that way and always will be. Bird, Magic, and Jordan certainly got them. And in the same sense, rookies never appear to get the call; it’s the unwritten law of the courts.

We lived through “Hack a Shaq” his power was unstoppable down low, they needed to make sure his arms didn’t get the shot up, so he was hit roughly, all the time, and he knew it as well. If they didn’t, Shaq could have been a 40 ppg player.

Why are great players not supposed to care if they get fouled too hard? Why should they turn away? Based on Leadership? They are still players on the court, like everyone else, so they are supposed to be able to take the cheap shots and smile, because it’s expected? I love physical play, let them bang and play hard, basketball is a physical sport, and I hate touchy fouls. But pulling to the ground…a bit much, when you are laying a forearm across someone’s chest, it’s too much.

Only problem was the timing for LeBron’s comments for me, which it happened to be during “the streak.” It could be twisted by the media like he’s using it as a justification for the loss. And it wasn’t, they won 27 straight games, maybe being exhausted, maybe the Bulls wanted it a little more, but maybe, without those terrible fouls, the Heats streak is still blazing along.

Written by TonyK of VegasTopDogs.com