Ken Berger

Before we get to what will be an interesting and entertaining NBA Finals, there is the small matter of LeBron James that must be addressed.

Was it unsportsmanlike for LeBron to walk off the court without shaking anybody's hand? Yes, but I'm sure it's nothing Dwight Howard or anyone on the Magic found particularly offensive. Was it unsportsmanlike for LeBron to blow off the media after the game? A little bit. I've never been one of these people who believe that a person's character can be boiled down to his relationships and conduct with respect to the media. There have always been and always will be a lot of phonies in sports whose unblemished records with the media only cover up other flaws that the public never gets to see. But LeBron should've known how it would look, and he should've anticipated the fallout. He made a mistake. Hey, he's 24 years old.

Here is the problem I have with LeBron: All that dancing, preening, posing, joking, air-guitar strumming, and shenanigans during pre-game introductions -- and during the games sometimes -- that he and the Cavs liked to do during the good 'ol days when they were rolling and everything was just spectacular in Cavsville? I didn't like it then, and I like it even less now. It was unprofessional then, and it can be viewed in an even harsher light now that it was all for nothing.

During the Cavs' 107-76 thrashing of the defending champion Celtics on April 12, I wrote something in this blog that proves that sometimes, I know what I'm talking about. I wrote that the Cavs' joking and back-slapping and unprofessional conduct on the bench during the blowout -- all of which was orchestrated by LeBron -- was unprofessional. I wrote that it was more than that. It was planting the seeds for payback. I wrote that the Celtics would remember that, and that it would motivate them to make the Cavs pay for their immature behavior.

Well, I was wrong about which team would exact revenge. Had the Celtics gotten Kevin Garnett back for the playoffs, who knows? Maybe they would've beaten Orlando -- I suspect they would have -- and then gotten their chance to make LeBron and the Cavs pay. Didn't happen. But the foolishness certainly came back to bite LeBron and his teammates, and they only looked smaller when LeBron needed 24 hours to face the music once the Cavs' brilliant season ended in defeat.

So here's what I have to say now, and I don't think I need to say it for it to be true: You will not see LeBron & Co. -- whatever players make up the "Co." part -- carrying on that way next season. Or you shouldn't, anyway. I believe the King and his royal subjects have learned a very tough lesson. You don't get to dance, celebrate, and show up your opponents until you are standing on the court next to the championship trophy.

None of this makes LeBron a sore loser for failing to shake hands or blowing off the media after losing to Orlando in the conference finals. But it should -- and I believe, will -- make for a much different LeBron when we see him again next season. From now on, I believe you'll see him save the celebration until there's something to celebrate.