16 THE FREEPORT NEWS Wednesday, June 13, 2018 SPORTS Lebron facing LEBRON JAMES unfair criticisms James was best player of entire play-offs

blocks. Throughout, he put in 41.9 minutes on av- erage per game, more than any other and shot the “Out of the fray of a four-game sweep and per- ball at a .538 percentage from the fi eld. PORTS The man is a mere human. S haps the most excruciating play-off run in NBA He was worn down. Others, carrying his load and accomplishing so much would have caved in history, stood the 33-year-old Lebron James much sooner. It is most unfair to be critical of Leb- SCOPE ron for what happened in that fi nal game against BY FRED STURRUP a.k.a. the King of this era of , having the Warriors, without putting into the mix all of the factors. ebron James and his Cleveland Cav- just demonstrated to the world his awesome Lebron will move on however and I predict that aliers’ teammates crashed out of the historians in years to come will judge him much recent National Basketball Association physical talents and basketball mind on the more fairly. (NBA) championship round in four By then, he might probably be the greatest scorer games. court.” in NBA history. He fi nished this past regular sea- L son with 31,038 points in seventh place. Barring The simply overwhelmed the Cavaliers from the overtime segment of the and concluded in a slim 113-112 victory. given Cleveland the edge with just 4.7 seconds any lengthy absence from games in the upcom- fi rst game to the over-matched fi nal quarters of the Of course, that game took all of the fi ght out of left. J. R. Smith climbed for the of the ing season, he will pass Dirk Novitzki (31,187); fourth contest. the Raptors and the Cavs closed out in the next missed and instead of going right back Wilt Chamberlain (31,419); and Out of the fray of a four-game sweep and perhaps three games. up he dribbled out precious time and an overtime (32,292). the most excruciating play-off run in NBA histo- However, the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Con- period was necessary. He will, given injury-free status, move beyond ry, stood the 33-year-old Lebron James a.k.a. the ference championship series, proved to be another The Warriors, given a second chance at home, de- Kobe Bryant (33,643) the season after and then King of this era of basketball, having just demon- young squad chomping at the bit to do in the an- livered in a mighty way. The momentum for Kevin bear own on Karl Malone (36,928) and the leader strated to the world his awesome physical talents nual championship team, the ‘ Durant, Steph Curry, , Draymond Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387). If Lebron plays and basketball mind on the court. and King Lebron. It was another grueling encoun- Green, Andre Iguodola, , David four more seasons, considering he is just 33, there Yet, the pundits have lambasted him. ter. West, JaVale McGee, and company is a strong likelihood Lebron will be tops in points. It was really astonishing to me how quickly the All along, Lebron was logging more minutes continued through to a sweep. Yes, admittedly Lebron is 3-6 in the NBA play- critics came out ready to target Lebron. than anybody else and performing on an All- We’ll never know what might have happened off fi nals, at this . He’s played in nine of They accused him of packing it in. World level. had the Cavaliers held on for that fi rst game win in them through. Who knows? Before it’s all over, he Even ex-NBA players, who ought to know better, So, on his back, Lebron took his guys all the way regulation time. might get back to the NBA Championship series a attacked him, saying that he did not give enough to the NBA championship series, against the team Lebron’s huge 51-points game in that overtime few more times. energy in the fi nal game. they faced the three previous times, having won loss has been forgotten. Even at the present though, he has proven him- Well, for goodness sake, did they forget the two once and lost twice. They attacked Lebron mercilessly, after the horn self over and over again. incredibly tough series Lebron and his mates had The world waited for the fi rst game. It was worth sounded to end game four. The Warriors celebrat- In my view, the criticisms have been unfair. to deal with, fi rst against, the , a the wait. Just as the Cavs had stolen the fi rst game ed their third championship win in four years. The NBA King lives on! young squad itching to fi rmly establish themselves from the Raptors in Toronto, they came very close Why dump on Lebron though? in the NBA? They took the Cavs to seven tough to stealing one from the Golden State Warriors on The man was the best player of the entire play- • To respond to this column, kindly contact games. Then, against the Toronto Rapters, came their home court. off with a 34.0 points average; 9.1 rebounds; 9.0 Fred Sturrup at [email protected] or on that hard-fought fi rst game that went to overtime missed a free throw that would have assists, 1.4 in the steals department; and 1.0 in WhatsApp at 727-6363. Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund remain dominant in standings tenth win of the season, (10-0-1) For - 27 Against - 17 SHAYNE STUBBS with a 9-0 shutout victory. Barcelona FN Sports Reporter Borussia Dortmund continued to For - 18 Against - 14 [email protected] pile on the goals and got healthy Borussia Dortmund production out of striker Gabri- For - 7 Against - 42 Another week in the Grand Ba- elle Simms. Sims led the assault hama Champions Soccer League with fi ve goals on the day, while Women (GBCSL) meant another week of Meaghan Smith found the back of Borussia Dortmund intense action on the soccer pitch. the net three times. Abigail Victor For - 57 Against - 8 For Borussia Dortmund Women’s chipped in with one goal. Chelsea team (Sanitation Services), they As for Chelsea, their momentum For - 19 Against - 16 aimed to shake off last week’s from last week’s win carried over tough loss to second place Chel- in this past Sunday’s contest when Barcelona sea women’s team (PharmaChem) they took on Barcelona Women’s For - 13 Against - 28 and Real Madrid Men’s team team (Subway). The now 6-2-3 (FOCOL) aspired to keep their Chelsea team rolled to a 4-0 vic- Real Madrid loss column unblemished. tory over third place Barcelona For - 6 Against - 42 This past Sunday, June 10 at the (2-2-7). Grand Bahama Champions Soc- YMCA Soccer Pitch, the now The trio of McKell Yallop, Phoe- cer League Points Leaders 9-2-0 (win/draw/loss) Real Ma- be Wilson and Shannon Albury Men drid men’s team remained sharp put in one goal each, and got one Real Madrid - 29 as they’ve been all season. De- from Barcelona who inadvertent- Chelsea - 19 spite giving up one point by scor- ly scored in their own goal. Barcelona - 14 ing in their own goal, Real Ma- This past Saturday, the Chelsea Borussia Dortmund - 1 drid dominated their way to a 3-1 men’s team (Municipal Motors) victory over Borussia Dortmund’s needed to just two goals to con- Women mens team. quer Barcelona men’s team (Poly- Borussia Dortmund - 30 The trio of Keith MacGregor, Ki- mers). Attwoud Gibson would Chelsea - 20 anno Miller and Jay Philippe led had the boot of the game and Barcelona - 8 the Real Madrid attack with one scored both goals for Chelsea. Real Madrid -5 goal apiece. Chelsea’s men currently hold a It has been a trying season for 6-2-4 record, good enough for Schedule for this Saturday coach Donnie Knowles and the second place in the standings. (June 16) - Sunday (June 17) mens team but growing pains are Meanwhile, Barcelona now holds Saturday all a part of the sport. The team onto a 4-2-5 record and sit in third 2:30 Ladies: Borussia Dort- remained fourth in the standings place. mund vs Barcelona with a record of 0-1-10 for the Here is a look at the goals for/ 4:30 Men: Chelsea vs Borussia year. against leaders in the men and Dortmund Nonetheless, Borussia Dortmund women’s divisions: women’s team bounced back Men Sunday from their fi rst loss of the season Real Madrid 2:30 Ladies: Chelsea vs Real REAL MADRID WINS AGAIN - The Real Madrid Men’s Team (black) scored another victory this This past Satuday, June 9. They For - 36 Against - 9 Madrid past week in the Grand Bahama Champions Soccer League (GBCSL) on Sunday when they powered their way through Real 4:30 Men: Real Madrid vs Bar- defeated the Barcelona Men’s Team (not pictured) 3-1. Kianno Miller, left, scored one of Real Madrid women’s team for their Chelsea celona Madrid’s three goals against Barcelona. (PHOTO: GBCSL)