MAILBAG Submit a comment or question for Arash. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

"It was kind of frustrating for us to lose that game, but as far as quitting on my team or anything like that, it's crazy," said James. "If we would have won the game, it would have never been mentioned. Say if we was winning the game and I did the same thing. Would it have been mentioned? I don't think so."

Chances are, James wouldn't be pulling up his jersey and walking off the floor if his team was winning. That's not even the point. The outcome of the game or how the media covered James' actions has nothing to do with what James actually did. He could have easily put the situation behind him and made a good example for the young fans who idolize him by apologizing for walking away from the action prematurely and saying it wasn't the right thing to do and that he would never do it again. Instead, James basically defended himself and blamed the media for making it a big deal.

So if a team full of grade-school basketball players in Cleveland who look up to James were playing a game and were down by 9 points in the final 15 seconds after a missed shot, I suppose it would be perfectly fine if they all followed his lead and walked off the floor.

It's a different image when it's all five players doing the same thing, isn't it? It's also a reminder that what James did was not only a mistake, it was entirely selfish. What if the rest of his teammates had followed the example of their leader and done the same?

Not surprisingly, James' teammates have stood behind his actions, defending them with reasons almost as ridiculous as James' own defense. "It's no big deal," said Drew Gooden. "LeBron is under such a microscope that every little thing he does gets noticed. I don't care what anybody says, at some point I'm sure Michael Jordan and Larry Bird walked off the floor with 13 seconds left."

It's clear that Gooden doesn't care what anybody says, but I wonder what he would say if he got a call from Jordan and/or Bird, who would tell him that, no, at no point in their careers did they ever walk off the court prematurely during a game and that he should think twice before ever using their names to defend a classless gesture like that again.

Thankfully Cavs coach Mike Brown served as the voice of reason and was an example of how James should have handled this situation from the very beginning.

"We both understand there is a right way to do things," he said. "This business is the perception business and the right way to do it is to finish the game out on the court. It won't happen again."

Let's hope not.