Sorry for the delay on the Federer article (how he ruined tennis), but I don’t get paid to do this, I have a life beyond watching the ATP, and this is some juicy shit going down in the NBA playoffs. You all know how I think about Lebron James. In short, he is the most over-rated basketball player in the history of the league. I say this because many think he is one of if not the best player in the history of the league. I have written about this and talked about it predating and beyond those articles.

This is a crisis of perception. How in the world can this guy be so misread? This is where basic understanding of sports, the history of the sport, and a willingness to go against (at least question) the status quo comes into play. I did this a bit with Nadal in series of articles. This is a bit the mission of this blog, as you know. But this Bron Bron mess is reality!

Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors has been suspended for tonight’s game 5. He is the emotional leader of the Warriors. He has been matched-up with Bron Bron frequently in this series.

Here is the incident that got Draymond into the cross-hairs of league officials, from game 4, last Friday. The Warriors won the game in Cleveland and the series is now 3-1.

Now, just for some clarification. If you watch the video closely, Lebron essentially knocks Green to the floor (they’re tangled, so it may not look overt, but certainly this initial move doesn’t have Draymond instigating).

Things get interesting when Bron Bron steps over Green. In NBA or everyday life parlance, that’s pretty disrespectful – stepping over someone who is on the ground. Others have chimed in on that. Green was in a position to go after Bron Bron, at least verbally, because of that step-over.

If you look closely, Green does give Bron a tap to the groin (the under carriage). This is probably what the league is suspending Green for. Let’s hope that’s the reason. To be fair, he has been “flailing” a bit all post-season and the way the punitive system works, he was a flagrant foul or two more technical fouls away from a one-game suspension. There is, admittedly, some rationale from the league. But this entire incident stinks. Here’s why.

This probably doesn’t even get to the league office’s attention if Bron Bron doesn’t make a big issue out of it (it wasn’t much of a tap). However, Bron Bron was complaining after the game that Green called him a “Bitch.” That’s what got Bron Bron so upset, apparently. Bron Bron was complaining that he was called a Bitch by an opponent in a game of professional basketball. If you’ve played any sort of competitive sport, especially one that involves aggressive play, body contact, etc., this seems pretty laughable.

Green was suspended. And many are basically saying this was the result of Bron Bron complaining about being called a Bitch. The irony is explosive, no?  Here’s how some of the subsequent pressers went.

Note the awkward/fake laugh from Bron Bron. Folks, this is him in a nutshell. Let’s not forget, they are down 1-3 and game 5 is tonight in Oakland, CA.

Good luck, Bron Bron.

PS If he comes out and dominates a game, scores 40+, 10+ rebounds, I gladly acknowledge his success. But this has become the pattern: Bron Bron has trouble under such pressure. He becomes timid, he chokes, etc. Prove me wrong, Bron Bron. Prove me wrong.

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Sorry again for the delay in my tennis commentary. To be clear, I wish I had been preparing this Federer article via academic-styled research, interviews, etc. Ha! I have not. This will come right off the top of my brain though some notes and plenty of thought goes into this. I will pose two reasons why he has undermined the sport of men’s pro tennis.

As many of you know, I simply have positions on the sport based on a lot of tennis and sports history. There are some topics in these conversations that don’t even require knowledge of the game, but you better have some to evidence the insight.

Some of this commentary is simply a reaction to stuff on the court and how people are interpreting that stuff off the court. In other words, if you know how things have gone in the sport for 30+ years, and you hear people saying things that simply do not jive with those earlier eras and events, it’s pretty easy to call people on their bullshit.

What prompts the Federer discussion I am about to write (today, after I publish this) is the frenzied adulation for Djokovic. He deserves a ton of adulation. He is in possession of all four majors, at once (something he almost did in 2011-2012 had he beaten Nadal in the FO ’12). He has accomplished this extremely difficult task. Bravo.

But the fans are another story. And that takes us to my discussion of one Roger Federer, a champion’s champion, an all-time great tennis player, and the man who ruined tennis.