Lebron to the Heat is a no brainer

[wayne1218]

Miller is not shocking. Show me something after that!

[BigWeiner]

Miller is not shocking. Show me something after that!

You said 3 guys and 12 rookies yesterday. I said Miller would sign also, and more would come.

[wayne1218]

They have talked about miller signing for 2 days. Miller doesn't get me all excited by any means. What has he ever won? He used up 6 more million of the cap and like I said, show me something else and then ill be impressed

[BigWeiner]

They have talked about miller signing for 2 days. Miller doesn't get me all excited by any means. What has he ever won? He used up 6 more million of the cap and like I said, show me something else and then ill be impressed

It's gonna be a bunch of role players, exactly what they need.

[bryce]

from yahoo sports

They ended up with that split-screen of the King’s jersey burned live on his infomercial, as this sad, lost robot sat in a leafy suburban gymnasium with children as props and the world watching, those empty eyes masking a lost, dazed LeBron James(notes). This was the champagne shower for the Championship of Me, an exercise in self-aggrandizement and self-loathing that will have far-reaching implications for the NBA and James. What a spectacle, what a train wreck.

Cleveland fans were left feeling jilted after LeBron James abandoned them via national TV.
(AP Photo)

As the worst idea in the history of marketing unfolded, James looked trapped somewhere between despondence and defiance. His bumbling buddy Maverick Carter had walked him into the public execution of his legacy, his image, and there was a part of James that clearly wished he could turn back through the doors and hide. Only, it was too late. No going back now. James goes to the Miami Heat, Cleveland goes into a basketball Hades and LeBron’s legacy becomes that of a callous carpetbagger.
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“His brand is [bleep] now,” one high-level NBA official said late Thursday. “He’s destroyed everything.”

The Championship of Me became the Championship of Flee, because LeBron James doesn’t believe he can be the centerpiece of a title team. He needed Dwyane Wade, a closer, far more than Wade needed him.

Yes, he’s ruined everything. What a wonderful idea: Divorce your childhood sweetheart on national television and tell her, hey, I’ll let you keep the “We are all Witnesses” billboards lording over downtown Cleveland.

“I’m taking my talents to South Beach,” James said, and it was like time stopped because – even for him – this was a moment so devoid of reality and free of concern of consequences. South Beach? He wasn’t picking a basketball team as much as a party. He’s 25 years old, and yet somehow this felt like a cloistered teenager picking a party school for college.

Yes, James will take his talent to South Beach and leave his soul in Cleveland. His hometown won’t hate him as much for leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers as for the way he left them. Leaving never would’ve been easy, but he went out of his way to humiliate them. LeBron James can never go home now. He’s the Browns leaving town, The Fumble, The Shot, all rolled into one colossal disappointment.

Now, Clevelanders truly see it for themselves: He was a fan of the Cowboys, the Yankees – never the Browns and Indians. He was a frontrunner, and he just made the most frontrunner move in the history of the NBA. Off to Miami with Riles, D-Wade and Chris Bosh(notes).

New York would’ve been hard, and maybe Cleveland would’ve been the hardest. With those state tax laws in Florida, he isn’t taking less money with the Heat. He’s just taking less risk and less burden in his championship chase.

“This whole idea that he makes his own decisions, that [bleep] went out the window with this,” one NBA executive said. “Someday, he’s going to look back at this and not believe that he let those kids at LRMR talk him into doing this. This idea that he’s his own man … Come on, he’s a follower. And he’s following all the way to Miami now.”

This was the train rolling down the tracks from miles and miles away, and James never saw it coming. He should lose his obsession to become the richest athlete ever, because the people surrounding LeBron James are much more likely to leave him broke than a billionaire. Someday, he will fire his business manager Maverick Carter for turning the two-time MVP’s free-agent moment into Geraldo and Al Capone’s vault. Carter used the cover of charity for a historically horrible event and completely destroyed the credibility of his client.

So now people are cheering Dan Gilbert’s manifesto tearing apart James, but no one contributed more to what the world witnessed on Thursday night than the owner’s enabling of James and his inner circle for seven years. Gilbert is the biggest con going, a man who makes his fortune peddling mortgages, and he’ll make his next on casinos in downtown Cleveland. He sells illusions for a living, and now he’s selling the biggest of all: that he’s a victim here, that James betrayed everyone. That’s a lie, and no one ought to dare buy it.

Everyone searching for a scapegoat here – Mike Brown, Danny Ferry, Delonte West(notes) – well, just understand that it was the man screaming loudest with LeBron out the door, the man most determined to deflect blame onto him now.
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert called LeBron James' decision to leave a "cowardly betrayal."
(AP Photo)

Now, Gilbert is the tough guy with James leaving the Cavs behind? Listen, Ferry and Brown always warned Gilbert that giving James everything he wanted – giving it when and where and how – wouldn’t be the way they would keep him. LeBron didn’t respect them because they never demanded it.

Gilbert always believed he should do everything James wanted – hire his buddies into jobs, throw them on summer-league rosters, allow him to do those stupid pregame choreographed dances – that James would love him, that he would never leave. Only, James is a taker, and he took and took until he had bled Gilbert and that franchise to the bone.

So now, Gilbert unleashes the most revisionist and self-serving screed that a scorned owner’s ever done. Gilbert is a bully and a baby. As much as James, Gilbert revealed himself, too. He asked for this humiliation and deserves it. Only those fans in Cleveland don’t deserve this. They were loyal, true, and ultimately they must know Gilbert lashed out to make James the villain for a most self-serving reason: to avoid the blame himself. Damn right James quit on the Cavaliers in that playoff series, but that was because Gilbert was always there to make it easy for him. All those times Ferry and Brown warned the owner they had to make stands with James, that they had to force him to have some level of respect within that organization or there would be an ultimate price to pay.

And here it came on Thursday night, in this bizarre, sad set-up that turned LeBron James into a caricature. His puppet seems more human than him. Listen, James’ people tried to leak this story to soften the blow on Cleveland, but here was the problem: He’s so insincere, and they’re so over their heads, that most of us were uneasy with believing what they were selling in the hours leading up to Jim Gray holding everyone hostage. There had to be an agenda, a bait-and-switch, and yet source after source within LeBron’s world insisted: He’s leaving. He wants out. They had been doing this for weeks, even months. So, armed with that knowledge, why would they ever stage this event to rub it in the face of James’ hometown? Lots of stars have moved on, but never one that had such a unique history with a town, a city, a franchise.

We kept writing it with qualifiers because deep down a lot of us doubted his courage to leave that cocoon. He would make Cleveland feel like it had lost him, and then swoop back into town and be celebrated all over again. Only, LeBron’s people were telling the truth. He was gone. He was always gone. He never considered staying, and that’s the most frightening part of all.

For the hand-wringing out of Gilbert and James’ apologists who protected him – and who would still be protecting him had he simply said, “Cleveland,” on Thursday night – they need to stop with this nonsense that somehow LeBron James has transformed into someone else. This is him, and it’s always been him. He’s a creation of our times, of an industry and system that wants to manufacture the next M.J. at the expense of a young man having a sense of himself.

So there was LeBron James, the MVP, the man of the hour, sitting in the middle of his own “Truman Show” on Thursday night. His personal network ran his commercials and celebrated his greatness and let him hijack a platform to build his brand and break hearts. He can never go home again now, and he can never completely rebuild what he let his cast of buddies talk him into losing that night. He’s taking his talents to South Beach, and the kid going away for the first time will have some party down there. After all these years, it was clear he had been coddled and protected and ultimately prepared to do one thing: Take the easy way out. Wherever he was going, he looked conflicted, lost and completely confused.

What a spectacle, what a train wreck.

What a shame.

[grandmama]

from yahoo sports

They ended up with that split-screen of the King’s jersey burned live on his infomercial, as this sad, lost robot sat in a leafy suburban gymnasium with children as props and the world watching, those empty eyes masking a lost, dazed LeBron James(notes). This was the champagne shower for the Championship of Me, an exercise in self-aggrandizement and self-loathing that will have far-reaching implications for the NBA and James. What a spectacle, what a train wreck.

Cleveland fans were left feeling jilted after LeBron James abandoned them via national TV.
(AP Photo)

As the worst idea in the history of marketing unfolded, James looked trapped somewhere between despondence and defiance. His bumbling buddy Maverick Carter had walked him into the public execution of his legacy, his image, and there was a part of James that clearly wished he could turn back through the doors and hide. Only, it was too late. No going back now. James goes to the Miami Heat, Cleveland goes into a basketball Hades and LeBron’s legacy becomes that of a callous carpetbagger.
Related Video
Fan burns LeBron jersey
Fan burns LeBron jersey

Fan burns LeBron jersey

Dream Team Complete Cav's Fans devastated Lebron's Top Dunks
More NBA Videos
More on LeBron James

* Cavs owner's explosive letter to fans
* Warren Buffett to LeBron James: 'Call me'

More From Adrian Wojnarowski

* State of LeBron: Live at 9, from his ego Jul 7, 2010
* NBA stars know they better bank money now Jul 6, 2010

“His brand is [bleep] now,” one high-level NBA official said late Thursday. “He’s destroyed everything.”

The Championship of Me became the Championship of Flee, because LeBron James doesn’t believe he can be the centerpiece of a title team. He needed Dwyane Wade, a closer, far more than Wade needed him.

Yes, he’s ruined everything. What a wonderful idea: Divorce your childhood sweetheart on national television and tell her, hey, I’ll let you keep the “We are all Witnesses” billboards lording over downtown Cleveland.

“I’m taking my talents to South Beach,” James said, and it was like time stopped because – even for him – this was a moment so devoid of reality and free of concern of consequences. South Beach? He wasn’t picking a basketball team as much as a party. He’s 25 years old, and yet somehow this felt like a cloistered teenager picking a party school for college.

Yes, James will take his talent to South Beach and leave his soul in Cleveland. His hometown won’t hate him as much for leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers as for the way he left them. Leaving never would’ve been easy, but he went out of his way to humiliate them. LeBron James can never go home now. He’s the Browns leaving town, The Fumble, The Shot, all rolled into one colossal disappointment.

Now, Clevelanders truly see it for themselves: He was a fan of the Cowboys, the Yankees – never the Browns and Indians. He was a frontrunner, and he just made the most frontrunner move in the history of the NBA. Off to Miami with Riles, D-Wade and Chris Bosh(notes).

New York would’ve been hard, and maybe Cleveland would’ve been the hardest. With those state tax laws in Florida, he isn’t taking less money with the Heat. He’s just taking less risk and less burden in his championship chase.

“This whole idea that he makes his own decisions, that [bleep] went out the window with this,” one NBA executive said. “Someday, he’s going to look back at this and not believe that he let those kids at LRMR talk him into doing this. This idea that he’s his own man … Come on, he’s a follower. And he’s following all the way to Miami now.”

This was the train rolling down the tracks from miles and miles away, and James never saw it coming. He should lose his obsession to become the richest athlete ever, because the people surrounding LeBron James are much more likely to leave him broke than a billionaire. Someday, he will fire his business manager Maverick Carter for turning the two-time MVP’s free-agent moment into Geraldo and Al Capone’s vault. Carter used the cover of charity for a historically horrible event and completely destroyed the credibility of his client.

So now people are cheering Dan Gilbert’s manifesto tearing apart James, but no one contributed more to what the world witnessed on Thursday night than the owner’s enabling of James and his inner circle for seven years. Gilbert is the biggest con going, a man who makes his fortune peddling mortgages, and he’ll make his next on casinos in downtown Cleveland. He sells illusions for a living, and now he’s selling the biggest of all: that he’s a victim here, that James betrayed everyone. That’s a lie, and no one ought to dare buy it.

Everyone searching for a scapegoat here – Mike Brown, Danny Ferry, Delonte West(notes) – well, just understand that it was the man screaming loudest with LeBron out the door, the man most determined to deflect blame onto him now.
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert called LeBron James' decision to leave a "cowardly betrayal."
(AP Photo)

Now, Gilbert is the tough guy with James leaving the Cavs behind? Listen, Ferry and Brown always warned Gilbert that giving James everything he wanted – giving it when and where and how – wouldn’t be the way they would keep him. LeBron didn’t respect them because they never demanded it.

Gilbert always believed he should do everything James wanted – hire his buddies into jobs, throw them on summer-league rosters, allow him to do those stupid **** choreographed dances – that James would love him, that he would never leave. Only, James is a taker, and he took and took until he had bled Gilbert and that franchise to the bone.

So now, Gilbert unleashes the most revisionist and self-serving screed that a scorned owner’s ever done. Gilbert is a bully and a baby. As much as James, Gilbert revealed himself, too. He asked for this humiliation and deserves it. Only those fans in Cleveland don’t deserve this. They were loyal, true, and ultimately they must know Gilbert lashed out to make James the villain for a most self-serving reason: to avoid the blame himself. Damn right James quit on the Cavaliers in that playoff series, but that was because Gilbert was always there to make it easy for him. All those times Ferry and Brown warned the owner they had to make stands with James, that they had to force him to have some level of respect within that organization or there would be an ultimate price to pay.

And here it came on Thursday night, in this bizarre, sad set-up that turned LeBron James into a caricature. His puppet seems more human than him. Listen, James’ people tried to leak this story to soften the blow on Cleveland, but here was the problem: He’s so insincere, and they’re so over their heads, that most of us were uneasy with believing what they were selling in the hours leading up to Jim Gray holding everyone hostage. There had to be an agenda, a bait-and-switch, and yet source after source within LeBron’s world insisted: He’s leaving. He wants out. They had been doing this for weeks, even months. So, armed with that knowledge, why would they ever stage this event to rub it in the face of James’ hometown? Lots of stars have moved on, but never one that had such a unique history with a town, a city, a franchise.

We kept writing it with qualifiers because deep down a lot of us doubted his courage to leave that cocoon. He would make Cleveland feel like it had lost him, and then swoop back into town and be celebrated all over again. Only, LeBron’s people were telling the truth. He was gone. He was always gone. He never considered staying, and that’s the most frightening part of all.

For the hand-wringing out of Gilbert and James’ apologists who protected him – and who would still be protecting him had he simply said, “Cleveland,” on Thursday night – they need to stop with this nonsense that somehow LeBron James has transformed into someone else. This is him, and it’s always been him. He’s a creation of our times, of an industry and system that wants to manufacture the next M.J. at the expense of a young man having a sense of himself.

So there was LeBron James, the MVP, the man of the hour, sitting in the middle of his own “Truman Show” on Thursday night. His personal network ran his commercials and celebrated his greatness and let him hijack a platform to build his brand and break hearts. He can never go home again now, and he can never completely rebuild what he let his cast of buddies talk him into losing that night. He’s taking his talents to South Beach, and the kid going away for the first time will have some party down there. After all these years, it was clear he had been coddled and protected and ultimately prepared to do one thing: Take the easy way out. Wherever he was going, he looked conflicted, lost and completely confused.

What a spectacle, what a train wreck.

What a shame.

byrce, I read that colum earlier today and I think its the best one yet. I love this part: For the hand-wringing out of Gilbert and James’ apologists who protected him – and who would still be protecting him had he simply said, “Cleveland,” on Thursday night – they need to stop with this nonsense that somehow LeBron James has transformed into someone else. This is him, and it’s always been him. He’s a creation of our times, of an industry and system that wants to manufacture the next M.J. at the expense of a young man having a sense of himself."

[LVJimmy]

"Cavs waited on him hand and foot and tried to keep him there. Some acquistions may not have worked out but they tried."

BS...they 2nd best player the entire time Lebron was in Cleveland was Antwan Jamison correct? Give me a f'ing break...that is brutal.

As for the owner, so let me get this straight, if Lebron stayed in Cleveland, all those things the owner claimed would've been ok to deal with? Yea, that's logical and says a lot about him..he's willing to pay a 'coward' and a 'quitter' just to keep the revenues coming in...nice!!!

[LVJimmy]

All the overnight Lebron hate cracks me up.

Miami vs. Cleveland

Playing w/Bosh and Wade vs. Playing w/Delonte West and Mo Williams

Having a legit chance to win titles vs. Having a small chance of winning a title


Yea, it was such a tough and appalling decision. How dare the guy who brought millions of dollars to the city of Cleveland and made millions for the owner use his right to choose his destination and it be somewhere other than Cleveland. Some of you guys are such hypocrites, it's hilarious.

[bryce]

If I am a hypocrite so be it. If lejerk is better off playing with better players what is he... A Lehypocrite. What is your point Jimmy. I pretty much have seen your point over the years or tried but don't see this one at all. If you are saying it's all about a stupid fucking ring and that defines someone then you are the fucking hypocrite. Not once growing up did my idols have to win a ring it was about hustle, courage,fight, toughness,grit, energy and love for the game. My idols growing up.. Pete Rose.. Larry bird... Jack lambert..Dave Casper...Fred Lynn....Julius Irving...magic Johnson..Willie Stargell...Thurman Munson...Reggie Jackson...Nolan Ryan...Just to name a few...thesevwere guys that were in there prime when I was 8 to 12 years old and beyond. They were stars and they played hard. They earned everything and I believe they all won a championship and it wasn't all about them... They were part of a fucking team made up by management by the owner who employs people tobtake care of the team.. Not by three millionaire ball players who chose to play and suck each others cocks.

[wayne1218]

if i am a hypocrite so be it. If lejerk is better off playing with better players what is he... A lehypocrite. What is your point jimmy. I pretty much have seen your point over the years or tried but don't see this one at all. If you are saying it's all about a stupid fucking ring and that defines someone then you are the fucking hypocrite. Not once growing up did my idols have to win a ring it was about hustle, courage,fight, toughness,grit, energy and love for the game. My idols growing up.. Pete rose.. Larry bird... Jack lambert..dave casper...fred lynn....julius irving...magic johnson..willie stargell...thurman munson...reggie jackson...nolan ryan...just to name a few...thesevwere guys that were in there prime when i was 8 to 12 years old and beyond. They were stars and they played hard. They earned everything and i believe they all won a championship and it wasn't all about them... They were part of a fucking team made up by management by the owner who employs people tobtake care of the team.. Not by three millionaire ball players who chose to play and suck each others cocks.

ditto!!!!!!!!

[BigWeiner]

Both Lebron and Bosh are signed and traded freeing money for other players, again not shocking at all.

[flarendep1]

All the overnight Lebron hate cracks me up.

Miami vs. Cleveland

Playing w/Bosh and Wade vs. Playing w/Delonte West and Mo Williams

Having a legit chance to win titles vs. Having a small chance of winning a title


Yea, it was such a tough and appalling decision. How dare the guy who brought millions of dollars to the city of Cleveland and made millions for the owner use his right to choose his destination and it be somewhere other than Cleveland. Some of you guys are such hypocrites, it's hilarious.

Jimmy,

I dont fault any player for leaving a team........but;

Lebron showed no class the way he left Cleveland, period. The no class TV special, I mean, come on. That is the way I see it.

Do you think Kobe would have done that or MJ? No, but the truth is those guys are winners and LeBron is not.

[bigdog237]

im not a james fan but really this was an easy decision.cleveland did not have the right players for lebron to win a championship.cleveland is a sorry city for putting a team together around a so-called superstar.lets face it,what have they ever won,NOTHING,the guy gave them 7 years and they still did not put a winning group together to win it all.yea hes no kobe or mj,but they had decent players around them most of the time.i have to say that this years lakers championship goes directly to kobe,he did it all and not much real help from the others except fisher.so bottom line is lebron had to move on to better himself and get a chance to win a championship(even though it might not happen either)but at least he has a good chance of that happening in miami.


my take on the cleveland owner= classless,jealous,and sore loser

[grandmama]

Jimmy,

I dont fault any player for leaving a team........but;

Lebron showed no class the way he left Cleveland, period. The no class TV special, I mean, come on. That is the way I see it.

Do you think Kobe would have done that or MJ? No, but the truth is those guys are winners and LeBron is not.

I agree, I have no problem with him going to the heat, and in reality, he owes nothing to the city of Cleveland. However, the 1 hour special on ESPN was a bit much and he looked uncomfortable doing it. I think people in his camp talked him into doing it, and it was a classless egomaniac move. On top of that, he used to boys and girls club as a shield acting like he was doing the special for charity; he could have given the boys and girls club that money if he wanted to, but he wanted to use them as a front inorder to have a one hour special all about him. All this dude cares about is money and don't let him fool you. Miami has no state income tax so if he makes 14 mill in Miami its the same as making 16 in other places, on top of that, once the changes his permanent address to Miami he won't have to pay as much taxes on all his endorsement deals. I have no problem with him being all about money, but he's acting like he's taking a huge pay cut by going to Miami which is a joke.

[LVJimmy]

Jimmy,

I dont fault any player for leaving a team........but;

Lebron showed no class the way he left Cleveland, period. The no class TV special, I mean, come on. That is the way I see it.

Do you think Kobe would have done that or MJ? No, but the truth is those guys are winners and LeBron is not.

I said I didn't agree with the 1-hr special, but as you can see, people are hating for him simply leaving. People can have their opinions on this one, but he was a free agent meaning he gets to choose where he wants to play...ie, their opinion is wrong in this case.