2009 Eastern Conference Preview: An Addendum

Check out the cover of SI's NBA Preview issue:



I think this sums up why the Shaq in Cleveland experiment is going to fail perfectly.

Shaq--who again is supposed to be the THIRD banana on this team, behind Lebron and even Mo Williams--instead is featured on the cover, pushing Lebron back, stepping towards the forefront of the picture, and menacingly moving towards the lens to fill up the picture. Lebron--the star--instead coolly is sitting in the back, arms crossed, looking tired/bored, like he's willing to let this buffoon have his bluster because he's tired of having to listen to it.

Now, I'm sure that Lebron is just trying to look cool, and Shaq is just trying to be Shaq: the big, intimidating guy. And I'm sure Lebron looks a little tired because they'd been taking pictures for an hour and he was ready to move on and do something else.

By the end of the season, though, I think that's exactly going to be Lebron's attitude. I think he's going to be tired of having to almost singlehandedly carry this team. I think he's going to be tired of listening to Shaq run his mouth and play mediocre basketball while he weighs closer to 370 then he does to his listed 325. Most of all, I think he's going to realize that he's not going to win a championship because of the same reasons he didn't last season. And that's going to lead to the tired face.

Sometimes a picture does tell all.