But when he fled at such a critical moment tonight, all the excuses about LeBron James became meaningless.
Especially with Kobe, Billups, and Howard fighting back hard, James' performance stood out even more starkly.
Reggie Miller almost hated that number 23, saying word by word: "Maybe to him, it's just another game, that pathetic bastard."
Roger knew James hadn't come to his senses yet, which is why he didn't call a timeout earlier. It proved to be the right choice to trust James.
Now, the lead is back to 7 points, with only 35 seconds left in the game.
Phil Jackson called the last timeout, and the entire Lakers crowd began to boo, which quickly turned into a unified chant: "LeBron sucks! LeBron sucks! LeBron sucks!"
It's probably unprecedented in NBA history for a player to be hated so much by his home fans.
Even during the times when Black players faced severe hatred from White people, Bill Russell wasn't this despised in Boston.
