LeBron fiasco

[S197]

Wow. This is a pretty epic letter.

Open Letter to Fans from Cavaliers Majority Owner Dan Gilbert

http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/gilbe ... 00708.html

Wow... at first I thought it was a fake then I saw it was from nba.com. That really was epic.

[vikeinmontana]

I read up a littl more about it and I didn't realize he took much less money. I can understand the move a little more, but I still feel bad for Cleveland. To me, he is in his what 5th year, and I think he could have stuck it out in his home town a little more, and if it doesn't happen in say 3-4 years, then move to try to get your ring.

the one thing i didn't like about the move was the one hour special. although the proceeds went to the boys and girls club, i thought it was salt in the wounds of all cleveland fans. if he was going to stay then the special would have been cool. i also heard that the cavs basically learned of his decision the same time that we did which i also thought was wrong. however, after reading about his relationship with management, and the letter from the owner...maybe it was the right move. but the guy obviously cares more about winning titles than his legacy or money and i can respect that. and let's face it, if the cavs would have ever surrounded him with any type of talent at all we woldn't be having this conversation. jordan had pippen. kobe had shaq and now gasol. magic had kareem and worthy. bird had parrish and mccale. lebron had no one. i say more power to him. that said, i'll still be rooting against the heat like crazy. any team with that much talent i couldn't possibly root for!

[reyez]

the one thing i didn't like about the move was the one hour special. although the proceeds went to the boys and girls club, i thought it was salt in the wounds of all cleveland fans. if he was going to stay then the special would have been cool. i also heard that the cavs basically learned of his decision the same time that we did which i also thought was wrong. however, after reading about his relationship with management, and the letter from the owner...maybe it was the right move. but the guy obviously cares more about winning titles than his legacy or money and i can respect that. and let's face it, if the cavs would have ever surrounded him with any type of talent at all we woldn't be having this conversation. jordan had pippen. kobe had shaq and now gasol. magic had kareem and worthy. bird had parrish and mccale. lebron had no one. i say more power to him. that said, i'll still be rooting against the heat like crazy. any team with that much talent i couldn't possibly root for!

How does this explain him quitting on his team when they played the Celtics?

Also I would not go as far and say he didn't have talent. Sure he didn't have another A-list player but he did had key role players who can shoot, defend, and block shots. Mo willams was pretty decent who made the allstar team. Jamison and delonte were decent shooters. Varejao made All Defensive Second team. They had players and the Cavs did thier best to surrond him with tons of talent by getting shaq, making that trade for Jamison (which everyone thought was a steal). Remember this team made the finals in 06-07, and they beat some good teams with nobody. He had no excuse as they held the best record in the NBA for the past 2 years and they were favorites to win it all.

He could not win a championship on his own so he has no business calling himself King James. If he wanted to raise money for charity then why not donate your own money.

[reyez]

Also, it's not like the Cavs were a terrible team. They did have the best record in the NBA two years in a row. Something like a coaching change (which Cleveland did), and maybe one or two more pieces could have put the Cavs over the hump. The Celtics are getting older, the Magic are not the same w/o Turk. What was Lebron afraid of? Kinda shows what he's made of. I guess if you can't beat em, join em.

Agree 100%

[vikeinmontana]

i guess we just have different opinions of talent surrounding these guys. lebron got a 40 year old shaq who played 10 minutes a game and a 35 year old antawn jamison. obviously if you play for an nba team you have talent so yes i guess you could say that mo wiliams and delonte west are talented. but no team is ever going to win a title with one star. you know what pippen, mccale, parrish, worthy, and shaq all have in common? they are all hall of fame players and some are in the nba's top 50. i just don't think they did a good job getting guys around him capable of winning a title. and just because they had the best regular season record doesn't mean anything. it's pretty obvious that regular season ball and playoff ball are two totally differeerent things and more times than not the team with the best regular season record does NOT win the finals. also, they were not favorites to win. at least not by the experts and vegas. the defending champion lakers who returned nearly everyone and even added ron artest were the favorites. did he quit in the finals? possibly. although no one has proof of that other than what his owner said. and if lebron is truly such a bad guy, and a quitter, why did the cavs want him back so badly? i don't buy it. i would believe that he was wore down though. he was averaging over 42 minutes a game and as i mentioned...he was pretty much on his own. i will concede that williams and jamison provided more help than he had in the past, but he was still asked to play a ton of minutes. the point is none of us know. you say he quit i say i don't think so. neither of us can prove it one way or another.

[reyez]

@VikeinMontana

Can't argue with any of that. I do think he quit in the playoffs from what I watch with my dorm buddies. Even my friends and family who have been riding on Lebron James nutz admit it looks like he quit on the team in the playoffs. The man disrespected Clevland by wearing a Yankee hat to a Indians game and a Cowboys hat to a Browns game. As I watch the depths of his corruption unfolds there is no doubt he is that source of danger. And right here right now he is going to face Justice.

[NDVikeFan]

Lebron didnt quit in the playoffs imo. I think the injury had something to do with things.........Lebron is actually going to be making more money. Once he changes his address to Florida he doesnt have to pay state tax on his ENDORSEMENT deals either. If you do the math, after figuring out if he had stayed in Cleveland or Miami, he is actually grossing more with the move to Florida. So really he isnt making as much but he is grossing more and thats what matters......Clevelands Owner should be embarrassed for what he said. I can just see the Free Agents lining up to play for him now after he said what he did about Lebron. Cleveland to win a title before Miami? ............As for Lebron picking Miami its his life so he should be able to do what he wants. He only needs to please himself. Nobody else in the US has to work a job he doesnt want to so why should Lebron? If Lebron wants Miami so be it.

[vikeinmontana]

@VikeinMontana

Can't argue with any of that. I do think he quit in the playoffs from what I watch with my dorm buddies. Even my friends and family who have been riding on Lebron James nutz admit it looks like he quit on the team in the playoffs. The man disrespected Clevland by wearing a Yankee hat to a Indians game and a Cowboys hat to a Browns game. As I watch the depths of his corruption unfolds there is no doubt he is that source of danger. And right here right now he is going to face Justice.

like i said...it's possible. but from what i have heard around the league, people rave about his work ethic. i'm more inclined to believe that he was banged up and exhausted rather than just a quitter. that was my point. if he was a quitter, and such a bad teammate like cleveland is now suggesting...than why did they try so hard to get him back...and why are they so angry he left? seems to me that if the guy was a quitter you wouldn't want him on your team.

as for him wearing a yankees hat and a cowboys hat, i've seen athletes do that all the time. especially with todays fashion. i could do a brief google search and find pics of many athletes wearing other teams gear. especially football players wearing baseball and basketball stuff. not at all disrespectful.

[Now its our time]

I do not respect Lebron anymore. He orders an hour special just to say he's leaving Cleveland. Just say you're leaving and LEAVE! he is so self-centered and orders an hour special for his decision. And what pisses me off?

ESPN Loved it! That day,all it was about was Lebron,where is he going?what is he going to do? how much money is he going to make? I don't care! I want to see highlights from everything in sports! whatever happened to the old ESPN and Sportscenter?

I agree with what Gilbert said. He needed to say it. He did give up. He was self-centered,he was narcissitic. I don't think he is a traitor,I got nothing against him leaving Cleveland. I don't agree with the way he handled it

[glg]

An interesting complaint I've seen out of Cleveland goes something like this. How could he do this to us? Even though he's young, he's been through The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, the Indians WS, etc, etc. He's a hometown guy, he knows our suffering!

The problem is, he's not a hometown fan. He's a complete frontrunner. Look at his teams, Bulls, Cowboys, Yankees. Gee, who was winning titles when he was in his formative years in the 90's? He's a frontrunner. Makes The Decision seem obvious, no? (the funny thing is, I was coming up with this yesterday and couldn't remember who he rooted for in football, but I knew it had to be either Cowboys or 49ers because of they were the ones winning titles at that time)

Bill Simmons made a comparison to when Roger Clemens left the Red Sox for the Blue Jays. Simmons watched the press conference, waiting for Clemens to throw a bone to the Sox fans, thanking them for their support, acknowledging that his beef was with management, not the fans who had adored him for over a decade. It never came. Same thing with The Decision. All he needed was a simple shout-out to all the fans who had supported him for 7 years in the NBA and in HS before that would have eased so much pain. But he didn't.

[vikeinmontana]

again those are all fine points, and none i really dispute. i will say that i don't care how old you are, you can get worn down. I played hoops in college and we had this one stretch over christmas where we played 5 games in 8 days and do to foul trouble and injuries i was forced to play nearly every minute of every game! I was only 21 but i was completely drained. and i had the benefit of sometimes guarding guys not that great so i could rest a little on defense! i don't think you get that when you're playing in the nba playoffs, but obviously i've never played in the nba playoffs! but the dude was playing more than 42 minutes a game. you say they had a really good team...i'm saying i disagree. he never played with another hall of famer aside from shaq but i think we all can agree the shaq of last season playing 8 minutes a game doesn't really count. did they have the best record? yep. and guess why? lebron. don't believe me. watch and see what their record is going to be next year. if they really have the talent to win...then why would he have left? that is my point. no one who honestly thinks they have the makings of an nba champion would leave their hometown and a max contract. he didn't have that. he does now. and people say he took the easy way out. well that is fine, but for me i respect him even more for that. people are trying to make him the next jordan, or the next kobe. maybe he doesn't care about that. maybe he just wants a shot at winning. did shaq take the easy way out by joining kobe? or wade? did garnett ruin his legacy by joining ray allen and paul pierce? and if they did, maybe...just maybe, they don't care about their legacy. seems to me that "legacy" is something the fans create and care more about than the players. as far as being the self-annointed "king" i don't belive that is true either. sports illustrated called him that when he was on their cover back in high school and everyone ran with it. what's he supposed to do? tell people not to call him that? who cares? it's a nick name. it's fun and creative. i think people are making way too big of a deal about this whole thing. guys who become free agents often go to where the most money is, or where they have the best chance of winning. i don't see why lebron has to be any different just because the fans decided that he's gonna be the next jordan and should have to stay in cleveland. and lastly...have any of you been to cleveland? it's a crap hole! who in their right mind wouldn't trade cleveland for south beach? i just don't see what's any different between him and every other big name free agent in sports. wait till next year when carmello anthony, tony parker, chris paul, etc. do the same thing....

[Cliff]

I don't get how him not doing it for the money *in the short term* makes it any less selfish. It's still a self-motivated move.

I'd be willing to bet a lot of it has to do with how he'll go down in history. He couldn't win with the Cavs and he probably doesn't want to go down as the best player to never win a championship. Can't blame him too much there.

James would have went to whatever team drafted him ... it just so happened to be the Cavs. It's a business deal, plain and simple. Who knows where he would have actually went if given the chance.

I enjoy sports as much as the next guy ... but let's not lose track of what it's really about. James has plenty of money and now he wants a trophy. The Cavs didn't put together what James considered to be a high enough quality team and he left.

Cleveland was fine before James and they'll be fine after.

[NDVikeFan]

Cleveland was fine before James and they'll be fine after.

I hope you mean the town, and not the Cavs, as they sucked before James got there.

[Cliff]

I hope you mean the town, and not the Cavs, as they sucked before James got there.

I do indeed mean the town.

[PurpleMustReign]

I do indeed mean the town.

Actually when I was there in 2004ish, the town was a pig sty. But to each his own...