LeBron James is still royalty — an emperor with no clothes

 who had been disappearing in fourth quarters in the NBA Finals, left even earlier Sunday night, recalling the legendary falls taken by Wilt Chamberlain, the only other NBA superstar as controversial as he is.

After starting four for four in the first 4 minutes 12 seconds, James took 11 more shots Sunday night as he and the Heat slid slowly into ignominy, falling meekly to the Dallas Mavericks, 105-95, and losing the series in six games.

"Their time is not now," Dallas Coach Rick Carlisle said.

"Our time is now. It needed to be. …

"I kept having people come up to me the last three or four days [and say] 'Hey, there's billions and billions of people rooting for you guys.' … And we could feel it.

"Come on, how often do we have to hear about the LeBron James reality show and what he is or isn't doing?

"When are people going to talk about the purity of our game and what these guys accomplished?"

Not today, except in Dallas.

Everywhere else, they're talking about James' reality show in which he turned into the emperor with no clothes.

James scored 21 points, but nine came in the first 4:12. He scored only five in the next 36:45, by which time the Mavericks were up by nine with 7:03 left.

The rest was increasingly garbage times as James scored his last seven.

The last all-time great who went out with such a thud was Chamberlain, who in 1968 didn't take a shot from the floor in the second half of the 76ers' loss to Boston in Game 7 of the Eastern Division finals in Philadelphia.

A year later as a Laker, Chamberlain asked out of another Game 7 against the Celtics after hurting his knee, tried to go in at the end but was told to sit back down by Coach Butch van Breda Kolff.

Chamberlain said he didn't get the ball in Philadelphia, didn't get along with van Breda Kolff in Los Angeles but went out known as much for the controversies swirling about him as his gigantic feats.

James is only 26, but within 12 months has fallen from grace image-wise and, now, basketball-wise.

Playing with a bone chip in his shooting elbow in last spring's second-round loss to Boston, he nevertheless went out like a tiger with 27 points and 19 rebounds in the last game.

After looking like his Superman self this spring when Scottie Pippen said he was better than Michael Jordan, his attempts fell off and his jumper stopped going in the Finals as the Heat tried to establish struggling Dwyane Wade.

Beauty Crush: Gabrielle Union's Sexy Waves

As baseball season takes full swing, basketball is just coming to an end as Tuesday night kicked off the NBA Finals in Miami. But luckily for celebs sitting courtside at the Dallas Mavericks vs. Miami Heat game, the Floridian humidity wasn't an issue and tresses were in tact all throughout the (enclosed) American Airlines Arena arena. Such was the case with Gabrielle Union, who's effortless waves were the perfect sporty-sexy balance.The 38-year-old actress, who was at the game cheering on her longtime beau, Miami Heat Guard Dwyane Wade, worked a white striped tank, silver hoop earrings, and kept her makeup simple with flawless skin and defined eyes. And even though her boyfriend’s team won Game 1 in the championship series, we think the big winner was her choice of tousled hairstyle
To get beachy waves like Union's try using a clipless curling wand -- they're all the rage now and every hair company under the sun is coming out with one. But what makes these different than the tools-with-clamps we've seen for decades? These irons are designed to give you crease-free curls, and since there's no clip to hold the hair, a heat-resistant glove comes in the package. Below is the step-by-step for creating your own tousled look, straight from Us Weekly's beauty team:
1. Divide your hair into three layers (top, middle, bottom), so you can work in small, manageable sections.
2. Wrap your hair behind the wand (as opposed to in front of) to achieve the sexy, wind-blown look that Union sports here.
3. Hold for 10 seconds, slide out the wand, and cup the curl in your gloved hand while it cools. (This is the key to getting your waves to stay.)
4. Slowly let go of the piece and spritz with a firm-hold hairspray.
5. When you're finished, finger comb through your waves to create the beachy texture..