LEBRON JAMES

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CLEVELAND --- The Browns hired Eric Mangini

To believe Mangini is the best ride on the coaching carousel and not just the first seat filled requires more than acknowledging his two winning seasons out of three with the Jets.

Or belief that he's the necessary bad cop after four years of Romeo Crennel.

Or that "genius" would've attached itself to him even if his name were Smith.

It requires much more.

For instance it helps if you believe most of the following:

1) Randy Lerner's football instincts don't often fail him.

2) Mangini wowed Lerner in the interview for good reason.

3) For better reasons than Crennel wowed him.

ESPN's Jalen Rose discusses LeBron's 'crab dribble'

What is a crab dribble?

A. A holiday hors d'oeuvre.

B. A children's game.

C. A raging controversy in the NBA.

The correct answer is C, and one need look no further than Cavaliers practice on Tuesday afternoon at the Cleveland Clinic Courts.

Check out the video clip above (especially at the 1:58 mark) and you decide if LeBron James actually traveled Sunday against the Washington Wizards. Let me know what you think via the comment link below.

Maybe he did, maybe he didn't but the one thing that is clear (if not the video) is the NBA needs more consistency when it comes to making this call.

If James did travel, why didn't the refs blow their whistles in my top five "didn't he travel?"

AP PhotoCavaliers head coach Mike Brown, right, is restrained after being ejected against the Washington Wizards during the fourth quarter.

More photos from the game

With his team getting beat to loose balls, looking lifeless in its first afternoon game of the season and not drawing passion from a quiet crowd at the Verizon Center, Brown pulled the maneuver. With 6:33 left in the game and the Cavs down 12 points, Brown charged onto the court after LeBron James was called for a charge.

Official Bill Spooner nailed Brown with a first technical when he crossed halfcourt, but that didn't stop the Cavs coach, who had not picked up a technical foul all season. Brown kept going all the way until he was in Spooner's face, right in front of the Wizards' bench. So Spooner appropriately tossed him.

Associated PressLeBron James and Antawn Jamison react after James was called for traveling in the closing seconds of the Wizards' 80-77 win over the Cavaliers

Photo gallery | Box score | Game reset

Brown gets ejection to inject life

Brian Windhorst's Post-Game Blog

Washington -- For the past three years, the Wizards publicly, and even more so privately, have grumbled about all the travels LeBron James supposedly gets away with.

Specifically, should you ask, one that stands out occurred in the closing seconds of the pivotal Game 3 in the first-round playoff series in 2006, when James banked in a game-winner on a drive with 5.7 seconds left at the Verizon Center.

So Sunday afternoon's events felt like a small taste of vindication to the home crowd when, driving to the exact same basket in nearly the same situation, James was whistled for traveling with 2.3 seconds left. So this time, the Cavs lost to the lowly Wizards, 80-77.

Jeffrey M. Boan/Associated PressDwyane Wade scores around the defensive efforts of the Cavaliers' Delonte West during the second quarter of Tuesday's Heat victory in Miami.
More Cavaliers

Box score | Slideshow | Reset

Windhorst: Party's over in Miami

The Q with Mo Williams

Insider: Players' kin tag along to Miami

The Cavaliers have been fighting themselves a bit over the last couple of weeks, even though they've been able to pull most games out. Their offense has been a bit off rhythm ever since Zydrunas Ilgauskas got hurt earlier in the month. Their defense has been reasonably solid, but not as strong in its fundamentals.

So Tuesday against a quality team on the road it finally caught up with them as the Miami Heat snapped the Cavs' six-game winning streak and evened this week's home-and-home set with a 104-95 victory.

LeBron James had 38 points on his 24th birthday, but collectively it was probably the Cavs' weakest performance of the season.

That's more of a testament to how well they were playing than an insult. It is no moral sin to lose at AmericanAirlines Arena. After all, the Lakers lost on the same floor last week and the Cavs have won in South Florida once in the last six seasons.

Nonetheless, it was perhaps a wake-up call. The Cavs (26-5) have been starting games lethargically and been out-playing opponents in the fourth quarter to skate by. It was not so easy against the Heat (17-13), especially on Tuesday, when they shot the ball so well.

Join us in wishing LeBron James a happy 24th birthday by signing this card using the comments area below!

LeBron James turns 24 today.
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James is Eastern Conference Player of the Week

Tonight: at Miami

On Tuesday, James will celebrate his 24th birthday on the same day, as many feature stories and TV specials have pointed out over the years, as Tiger Woods celebrates his.

In basketball years it may sometimes seem like James is already middle-aged, but in reality he is still very much of a young man, even if it doesn't feel that way to many fans who have been following him for nearly a decade now.

"Someone asked me how old I was turning," James said. "I told them '24, I'm young but I have an old soul.'"