Who cares? If your a Cleveland fan you're allowed to feel betrayed. Then again? Who really cares about Cleveland fans? I agree with Tree...win again? He's a lock to stay...win it not? And ya never know.
WADR, so what? He had every right to want to go somewhere else. He honored his contract. He played to the best of his ability. He got them further than they ever have been. The Cavs never put the pieces around him. They screwed the pooch. They also could have done what Miami did. Sure, maybe Bron had planned to go to Miami for awhile, but Cleveland could have changed his mind all the way up to the Decision, but they didn't. Instead they choose to rest on their laurels instead of busting their *** like Miami did. If Cleveland had made any effort whatsoever, Bron would have stayed. He loved it there, it was his home his whole life. As for the Decision, that was all ESPN. Bron deciding to do it, should have made him ESPN's Man of the Year, for all the money that brought in to CLEVELAND charities. Hate Bron all you want, but let's stop acting like he hurt Cleveland. He gave them every opportunity he could and it was they that betrayed him. The hate is nothing more than bitter jilted BS. I don't even like basketball.
You know how many years it took me before I consistently found my way to the NFL Draft Forum on this board and at Finheaven's board? And I'd been doing draft stuff since like 2003.
I don't think he will leave. BUT If he did, he has honored his contract and brought pride to the organization. I won't lie and say I wouldn't be depressed if he left. But I wouldn't hold an irrational grudge about it either.
Hard for me to imagine them all breaking up when they're still succeeding. I think lack of success is the only thing that would break them up. And by lack of success, I don't mean 2011 going to the NBA Finals and losing to the Mavericks. I mean multiple consecutive years of first or second round playoff exits. Players are greedy about championships and legacies, as they should be. Bosh knows he's not winning a championship by himself, he knows he's always going to be at best 2nd fiddle on a championship run. Why would he want to start tinkering with different formulas hoping to get the same results he already has in Miami? I think Dwyane Wade also realizes that his days of potentially leading a championship run by himself are over, and he's already done that once. That's already part of his legacy. He's in Miami til he retires anyway, basically. As for Lebron, I think the fear of non-success will scare him more than the enticement of going to a team, being the only guy there, and still winning it all. Besides, his situation in Miami is not like with Shaq and Kobe, where you have both sides thinking they could do it without the other, and you have factions of fans and analysts debating which guy is/was more important. In Miami, everyone knows it's Lebron's court. Hell the running narrative all through this playoff run was how Lebron had to do everything by himself and Miami has turned into just another Cleveland team as if he were still just surrounded by guys like Larry Hughes and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. When Lebron leaves it open saying that life can take unexpected turns, I think he's more or less thinking that Mickey Arison could at any time get tired of paying so much in luxury taxes, and they could be forced to break up.
I agree and I said the same thing when I thought Wade might leave for Chicago (there was that child custody thing going on and living in Chicago would put him with his kids even if he lost). Either way he had honored his contract and played hard for us. I wasn't going to act like a spurned GF and hold a grudge for some perceived slight (but he said he loved me! LOL). I expect James to stay. I think it's his most likely destination. Just like before, he's saying he wants to stay, but admits that things can change. I think things are less likely to change here simply b/c unlike Cleveland, he's won here. And even if Wade is declining (I don't agree), I can't think of another person I would trust more than Riley to put the right pieces around me. I don't even believe the Heat has to win it again next year. (I do think they will, though) That would help of course, but regardless, I still think that Miami and Riley give him his best chance of continuing to win multiple championships going forward.
Lebron already took the hit leaving Cleveland. Given his druthers I think he would like to be the man for an organization and have a statue erected out front some day. I also think he is on cloud nine with the organization and team right now. Something traumatic would have to happen for him to leave IMO. Also the idea of him leaving for the Lakers is just absurd in my opinion. The only reason that one is being spun is the media just can't fathom the Lakers being irrelevant.
I'd be upset but thankful to have witnessed four or five years of him playing for Miami... I try not to hold grudges too much when it comes to sports. It's not worth getting too upset over IMO.
I read a story about Rondo the other day that I found funny. At some charity event involving kids they didn't want him out mingling so all he did was sit at a table playing Connect Four. I guess he played hundreds of kids at multiple events, sometimes two or three simultaneously. He never let any of them win, lol. But then one time, a 12 year old kid managed to beat him. He was so upset he forced the kid to play him like five more times so that he could beat him all five times, and then when reporters asked him about finally getting beaten he made sure to point out that he beat the kid five more times after that.
I know a lot of people that work the NBA, and some that work in the NBA. Not ONE has a good thing to say about Rondo. He is surly, obnoxious and generally always causing problems.
The Celtics have only had two people I've liked the last few years, Allen and Rivers. I'm glad that it will be easy to go back to hating the Celtics in total again.
Generally speaking Ive never heard of anyone really having an issue with Ray Allen. By all accounts he seems like a really good teammate. When I heard last year that Rondo and Allen nearly came to fighting, I figured it had to be more Rondo then Allen. When Allen actually left Boston and the rumors persisted that it was because Rajon Rondo was still there, I think it lent even more credence to the idea that Rondo is a jackass. If people remember when he was drafted, there were only 2 things that prevented Rondo from being a top 10 pick; attitude and jump shot. Think about it. Even DeMarcus Cousins managed to not mess up his interviews enough to stay in the top 5. You have to be a real douche to slide from top 10 status to early 20's in the NBA. Talent trumps everything in the NBA unless its extreme.
Definitely easier now that both of those guys are gone. But Jeff Green is still there and that kills me.
I actually like Lebron, if I was a Cleveland fan I would hate him for the way he left though. I don't blame them. I don't blame the organization either, they couldn't do anything to match up with Lebron teaming with Bosh and Wade, its not the organizations fault that Cleveland is, well, Cleveland and Miami is Miami. Cleveland got the to Finals with Lebron so its not like they weren't a good team, Lebron leaving for Miami was smart, how he left was about as dumb as it gets. I don't get the rationalizations of it by Heat fans, even Lebron said he regrets its and it was a mistake so it is what it is.
here is the great thing about the celtics...they are still good enough to make the playoffs..... which means they miss out on the best draft in a decade.
Another lesson learned from this Heat team.... I never cared for "character" as an important factor...but speak to those that cover this team, and be around this team for a little over a couple of days. This team is full of "good guys", and are not afraid to get in each other' face to hold each other accountable. This matters.
Im not sure why you're rewriting history, everyone I talked to thought he was leaving Cleveland for Miami, it was a given, there was no drama. We had people here with the "inside track" that were stating it as a fact way before it happened, it was always going to happen. Of course James, Wade and Bosh played the game, if they didn't the league would have gone after Miami for collusion and tampering but seeing how it all unfolded its obvious a plan was in place. Something like this just doesn't come together the day before the "decision" it was in the works for a long time. I honestly thought this was just common knowledge and that no one was actually still questioning this. Amazing.
I was the guy with the info, and my info was that Bosh and Wade were locks to Miami before free agency started, and that Lebron James would choose between Cleveland and Miami. I then had another report that stated the Heat's confidence was that Lebron would choose Miami, the night before the "decision". But make no mistake...the Heat was not 100% on the day of the decision that he was locked in.
The words that come out of LeBron's mouth have more authority than yours. He would know; you wouldn't.
Pat Riley says the Heat will exercise the $4 million team option on Chalmers' deal. He's coming back.
There was no good way for him to leave Cleveland for Cleveland fans. Even if his people had just sent out a press release, you think no one would've interviewed him, or that the people of cleveland still wouldn't have been pissed? The Decision became an easy way to criticize LBJ coming to Miami and sound halfway reasonable, rather than just slamming his decision for no other good reason.
Right they were 99.9% sure, cmon man there was no drama that day everyone knew he was leaving. If he wasn't leaving why would he had even put together the decision nonsense?
Well theres no great way to dump someone but you could at least sit down with them face to face and tell them you're leaving. Doing it on national television and making a spectacle of it was just a terrible idea that backfired. Everyone universally, including Lebron, agrees that it was bad form so its not worth rehashing a hundred different ways. I like Lebron, I think he's the best player on the planet and a top 3-5 player of all time already and by all accounts he seems like a decent guy.
That only sounds good when you say it fast, but upon just a little thought, it doesn't hold up at all. This wasn't a romantic relationship. This wasn't a relationship built on privacy. This was a public athlete on a public team playing a public game. This was also the best player in the world going somewhere else AFTER his contract was up. The team let him down. You can't simply dismiss that. They had every opportunity to bring in better talent so Bron didn't have all the weight on his shoulders. They failed. Lebron had to play the best he could and in return the Cavs were supposed to surround him with support. Bron fulfilled his end of the bargain, the Cavs did not. This is like the Dolphins letting down Marino.
Its hard to build a team when no one wants to come there and play. Its more of a market issue and city issue than anything else. Its not like the team wouldn't spend the money or didn't try to make moves....no one wanted to come play there.
Think your blaming the Cavs organization way too much... You can't force top flight athletes to come to Cleveland, Ohio. It's not as if they were underspending or not trying to add players. The town just sucks.
In all fairness both statements are true. Cleveland does suck and you will never lure top flight free agents there. BUT that doesn't mean they didnt fail. They had the best player on the planet there. That has to be worth some leverage. In the end this is a pass fail thing. They couldn't surround Lebron with talent so they failed.
Perfect example of Cleveland idiocy; the Antwaan Jamison trade. They could have gotten Stoudemire (who was still great at that time) for roughly what they gave up for Jamison. Instead they wanted a "stretch 4". Complete nonsense. The way to keep LBJ was to get another star.
Maybe that's true...but then its even more understandable for Bron to leave. If the Cavs could have come up with a blockbuster deal getting some stars there, Bron wouldn't have left. He shouldn't languish in an area that freely admits they can do nothing more for him and then blast him for leaving. Making the decision a TV show was maybe (though I don't think so) too much...but whose idea was it? Who paid for it? Who watched it? We have players give press conferences for when they retire or when they screw up or when they get to their new teams. They sit at a table and give us updates before games and after games and hell, even after practices. We have cameras and paparazzi following their moves. We have multiple 24 hour sports channels literally manufacturing stories daily by the dozen. We have Hard Knocks and Real Sports. These guys are processed like cattle coming out of college through various combines. They have cameras on them when they are drafted and when they aren't. They are interviewed by the team, the papers, the shows...all on camera. They're performances are scrutinized on video and clog Youtube. They are hounded after by numerous big corporations to endorse their products on camera. The better they are the more their team gets on TV the more the stations make.... ...but announcing where you're going to play on TV is out of line, and doing it because ESPN (the leader in sports on TV) is going to give money to charities in the town you love? Really? Enemas. A whole lot of people need enemas.
I don't disagree. But, hypothetically. If in 2010 Lebron could have chosen to have D Wade and Bosh join him in Cleveland rather than going to Miami don't you think he would have? I really believe he only left because he wasn't winning a chip in Cleveland. Now conversely you're telling me even with a bum city there's no leverage factor for getting to pair up with the best player of this generation? Cleveland did a terrible job leveraging Playing with Lebron.
Lebron was a young kid who let people talking get to him, it's not uncommon for a 23 year old to just plain want a change of scenery. All any of us can do is speculate on why when he chose to leave, but IDC what his reasoning was...you have only one life to live and have the right to choose HOW you want to live it.
