Remember when during the 2015 NBA Finals LeBron James said he had some "extra motivation" that he would reveal only when he won another championship with Cleveland? They didn't and so he didn't. Now he has and he does:
"When I decided to leave Miami -- I'm not going to name any names, I can't do that -- but there were some people* that I trusted and built relationships with in those four years [who] told me I was making the biggest mistake of my career. And that shit hurt me. And I know it was an emotional time that they* told me that because I was leaving. They just told me it was the biggest mistake I was making in my career. And that right there was my motivation."
* James revealed his secret motivation to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. The quote above with the plural usage is James'. We often speak in the plural when we mean the singular. McMenamin gave an interview in addition to writing about it:
"It turns out he told me that actually when he left Miami, that people who he thought he had strong, trusting relationships with, and he said he's not going to name names, but 'Someone told me that, 'You're making the biggest mistake of your career.' "
"And he said it really hurt him. Basically, he felt taken for granted, like, 'Look, I just gave you four years of my prime and you're not going to be comfortable with my decision and root me on? You're going to try to make me feel bad going out the door?' "
"When I decided to leave Miami -- I'm not going to name any names, I can't do that -- but there were some people* that I trusted and built relationships with in those four years [who] told me I was making the biggest mistake of my career. And that shit hurt me. And I know it was an emotional time that they* told me that because I was leaving. They just told me it was the biggest mistake I was making in my career. And that right there was my motivation."
* James revealed his secret motivation to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. The quote above with the plural usage is James'. We often speak in the plural when we mean the singular. McMenamin gave an interview in addition to writing about it:
"It turns out he told me that actually when he left Miami, that people who he thought he had strong, trusting relationships with, and he said he's not going to name names, but 'Someone told me that, 'You're making the biggest mistake of your career.' "
"And he said it really hurt him. Basically, he felt taken for granted, like, 'Look, I just gave you four years of my prime and you're not going to be comfortable with my decision and root me on? You're going to try to make me feel bad going out the door?' "
Now, that is McMenamin paraphrasing James and even being precisely correct grammatically "you" can be singular or plural but doesn't that sound more like James having this conversation in his mind with a person not people?
