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The "King" foolishness needs to end, Wade is the man in Miami who has the ring.
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They still have to agree on the number$ and sign though so it ain't a completely done deal yet. Should be an interesting experiment to see if LeBron can rein in his ego and his need to be the star.
Then there's that minor detail of finding a center and team to put around them.
Bob Kravitz
Indianapolis Star
He can never be Michael Jordan now.
He can never be Kobe Bryant, or Larry Bird, or Magic Johnson or Tim Duncan or any one of those players around whom franchises built championship teams.
No matter what LeBron James does, no matter how many titles his new team in Miami happens to win in the coming years, The King will never live up to his nickname, never be regarded as one of those forever players who put a franchise on his back and carried it to greatness.
Maybe, in the end, James never really wanted that responsibility.
Which is a shame.
And a surprise.
Because he could have been the ultimate hoops icon, staying in Cleveland, lifting that economically and athletically depressed city to a championship that has eluded the town since 1964. He could have done it the hard way, the way the legends have done it, fighting through the tough times.
I thought Michael Wilbon asked the best question on ESPN, wondering if a championship in Miami -- and they will compete with the Celtics and Magic for the Eastern Conference crown -- would be as sweet as winning it all in his home area of Northeast Ohio.
James responded, "A championship is a championship.''
This felt like a cop-out.
This looked like a great athlete running from a challenge.
This seemed like the kind of desperate move a once-great player makes as he chases a title in his waning years -- like Gary Payton and Karl Malone joining the Lakers.
Seriously, can you imagine, back in the day, Magic calling Larry and telling him, "Larry Joe, we need to join forces and build a super team''? Can you imagine Bird getting on the phone and having a free-agent summit with Magic?
No.
Those guys lived to compete with one another. They lived to beat the other man, to beat the best in the game. Every summer, Bird pushed himself as he thought about Magic, and Magic stretched himself while thinking about Bird.
James, though, appears to be a different kind of cat. He didn't want to beat the competition. He wanted to join it. If that's what ultimately makes him happy, great. But he will never be one of the all-timers, no matter how many titles or MVPs he wins from here on out.
I would have loved to have seen him say "Cleveland.'' I would have loved it because he had a chance to be one of those Jordan-like figures in the game; maybe it's appropriate he will no longer wear No. 23. And I would have loved it for the sake of Cleveland, a city that has been punched in the gut so many times.
Give all the credit to Pat Riley, who masterminded this whole thing along with the players in question. Apparently, James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade -- along with Chris Paul -- made a pact during the Beijing Olympics that they would find a way to someday play together in the NBA. Nobody should begrudge the Heat. They are doing something we thought was impossible in the salary cap age, signing three mega-salary players like they're the New York Yankees.
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I have no issue with players dictating the rules of engagement; they are the game, right? If three stars in their prime can work the process to best suit their needs, good for them.
I can dislike James' choice, but I can grudgingly respect it. And here's why:
If James was all about the money, he would have stayed in Cleveland, where he would have made $30 million more.
If James was all about the marketing and the high profile, he would have gone to New York and become the darling of Madison Avenue -- although, it should be noted, the most marketable NFL player, Peyton Manning, works out of Indianapolis.
We often criticize athletes by saying, "It's about the money, not the winning,'' and with James, with this decision, that can't be said. It is about winning. There's no other reason he makes this move, although the scenery in South Beach puts Cleveland's Flats to shame. He is going to Miami -- and theoretically giving up part of his individual game -- for a chance to create a super team.
For a young man who has come off as a bit of a narcissist in recent weeks -- really, The Decision? Is this a national election? -- his ultimate decision speaks to a refreshing lack of ego. And that goes, too, for Wade, who made all of this happen, and for Bosh, whose refusal to accept a sign-and-trade to Cleveland ultimately tipped the scales for the Heat.
They can play together and they will be great together. It worked in Boston for three future Hall of Famers, and it will work in Miami for three more guys headed to Springfield, Mass.
With this move, though, The King abdicated his throne to true NBA royalty: To Larry and Magic, to Michael and Kobe and Duncan, who lifted franchises on their backs and took them to championships.
I can understand James' decision, even respect it, but he gave something away Thursday night.
He gave away a chance to be mentioned in the same sentence with the greatest who've ever played the game.
Fuck king James and the lamborghini he rode in on.
What a turd. You tell your girlfriend that you're leaving her by introducing her to your new girlfriend? No class.
Magic showed up to a Lakers team that had Karrem among others. Yeah, they had stars.
Bird? He did elevate that team from the ashes. BUT, he also won from day one. And, they had the talent that he could win with.
Jordan took the long road to the title. But, the players were a good fit when he finally got it all figured out with the right coach.
I'm no fan of LeBron and this bullshit media hype, but, Cleveland left him hanging out on a limb and he moved on--it's the Cavs management's fault. Similar to Earl Campbell at Houston. Best player in the NFL and they gave him almost no supporting cast.
I still don't know if they can win with that team.
oh...and that Kobe dude...didn't he get Shaq to teach him how to win a title? Yeah...that's right. And he's got a pretty good supporting cast.
Easy come, easy go for King James
By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports
36 minutes ago
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.
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.
“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 Dwayne 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.
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.
"
So much for the World Wide LeBron empire. Any predictions on his jersey sales for the next few years? ( Actually, they may have ticked up slightly from so many people wanting one ... to burn. )
LeBron wanted to ride the whirlwind. Well I hope he's happy now. Be careful what you wish for.
I don't fault him for changing teams .... but this all could have been handled sooooooooooooooo much better.
I guess I am going to have to get used to this asshat being on my team now, he better check his ego at the door and listen to the coaching staff.
The Wojnarowski article above perfectly nailed how Gilbert created the Frankenstein monster that ultimately betrayed him ... and now he wants to put the blame elsewhere.
But, your follow up about his trip to Miami is exactly what we have seen in the past. Too many superstars on one team. Guys that want to be "the guy." Probably will be fun to watch.
"
LeBron headlines from around the country
By RYAN CASEY
At this point, LeBron James has killed overkill. Never before has one man gotten so much attention.
So … we’re going to add to it.
Here’s a collection of the front pages of newspapers from around the country:
L.A. Times: Heat over heart
N.Y. Post: Son of a beach!
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Gone.
(A caption stemming from an arrow pointing to James’ hand reads: “7 years in Cleveland. No rings.”)
The Washington Post: Good night, Cleveland. Good day, Miami.
South Florida Sun Sentinel: Drama King.
El Nuevo Hearld (Miami, Fla.): El Rey viene a Miami
The Palm Beach Post: Welcome reign in Miami
AM New York: Knixed
N.Y. Daily News: Hey, we’re New York, the greatest city in the world, so … WHO CARES!
Akron Beacon Journal: LeBron takes Heat
The Columbus Dispatch: He’s gone
The Time Reporter (Dover-New Philadelphia, Ohio): ‘Le-Gone’
"
I also spotted "Error to the Throne" on the LA Times.
Good stuff!
Classic
Pit Row
Also, he tried to get Chris Bosh in Cleveland, but he wouldn't go. Do you really think that the top players in the league will go to Cleveland before the go to Chicago, New York, or even LA (clippers).
If none of what I have written has opened your eyes then just read the letter that the owner of the Cavs wrote. Who would want to work for a guy like that???
P
It was just a kind of distraction between football season with the Browns and Ohio State and baseball season with the Indians.
Also, the Indians always stunk back then, so by the All-Star break, they would be 12 games out of 1st place, and we'd all just sigh and start talking about how good the Browns would be that fall.
Then the Browns would let us down, and we'd start talking about how good the Indians might be in the spring.
Welcome back to 1985, Cleveland!
I'm still a Cleveland sports fan (always will be!), so here I sit with the Indians 13 games out of 1st place, wondering if Mike Holmgren is going to turn the Browns around this fall.
At least the Buckeyes will be good, we KNOW that!
The Cavs? Who cares!?
James' 10-story mural comes down as Cleveland begins healing
There's no question that, in Cleveland, LeBron James has
gone from a hero to a villian.
CLEVELAND (AP) --LeBron James is being dropped off a building.
And his jerseys, at least the ones not on fire, are almost being given away.
Workers began dismantling the 10-story-tall iconic image of James on a mural in downtown Cleveland on Saturday. The billboard has dominated the city's skyline for years but is being removed after the superstar announced he was leaving the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat.
As strips of the image of James, his arms outstretched and head thrown back after doing his pregame powder toss, began coming off, pedestrians stopped on Ontario Street to take photos and cars pulled to the side for one last look at No. 23, who has gone from being a hometown hero to villain.
"We are removing the LeBron James Witness mural in downtown Cleveland and expect the process to be completed within a few days,'' Nike spokesman KeJuan Wilkins said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Wilkins said he does not yet know what the company's plans are with the gigantic sign, which includes the phrase: "We Are All Witnesses'' over James' image.
On Friday, several fans gathered on the sidewalk outside the Landmark Office Tower as workers prepared to remove the billboard.
"My mom wanted us to get a picture of it before they brought it down,'' said Kayla Mack of Norwalk, Ohio. "It's very bittersweet.''
After James announced his decision to leave Cleveland as a free agent Thursday night, some irate Cavs fans feeling betrayed by the Akron native they've cheered for since he was a teenager, burned the two-time MVP's jersey. Others hurled rocks at the mural, which towers over the corners of Ontario and Prospect avenues - a long 3-pointer from Quicken Loans Arena, home of the Cavaliers.
Elsewhere, James jerseys, so fashionable during his seven-year stay, can be found at discounted rates as merchants look to get rid of their inventories of Cleveland's career scoring leader and arguably the most celebrated pro athlete in the city's history.
At Dick's Sporting Goods in Westlake, James jerseys have been reduced to $29.99 with the store offering a further 75 percent reduction. T-shirts and other merchandise with James' face or number on it are also at bargain prices.
Businesses are also offering perks in exchange for James' jersey. At McNulty's Bier Market in Ohio City, anyone turning in a James jersey or T-shirt got a free beer. Anyone with a T-shirt, hat or tattoo featuring another Cleveland sports star got a free second round.
In addition, Fathead.com, an online retailer owned by Cavs owner Dan Gilbert dropped the price of its LeBron Fathead wall decals from $99.99 to $17.41, which happens to be the same year Revolutionary War traitor Benedict Arnold was born.
Following James' announcement to join fellow free-agent stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, Gilbert posted letter to Cleveland fans, ripping James for "a several-day narcissistic, self-promotional buildup culminating with a national TV special of the decision unlike anything ever 'witnessed' in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.''
Later, in an interview with the AP, Gilbert accused James of quitting in the playoffs the past two seasons.
"LeBron James needs to go to another team with two superstars already so he can win a championship,'' Gilbert said. "We will win a championship before (the Heat) do. ... It's not about him leaving. It's the disrespect. It's time for people to hold these athletes accountable for their actions. Is this the way you raise your children? I've been holding this all in for a long time.''
The Cavs were good enough to lead the league in wins 2 years in a row. They had an awful offensive scheme that allowed teams to shut them down in the playoffs. When teams have 7 games to study you they find ways to stop you. Mike Brown may have been a good defensive coach but when it came to offense there was nothing. They let Lebron dictate the offense and it did not work. How many times in the last 2 post seasons after a loss did Barkley and others comment on "how are they going to win when the offense is 4 guys standing around watching Lebron dribble".
As far as Dan Gilbert goes he kissed Lebrons ass for years, hired Lebrons friends in team positions, and let his buddies in the locker room. He bent all the normal rules to keep Lebron happy and was rightfully pissed when left town. His letter may have hurt the Cavs in the future but I bet that he never acted that way to Lebron when he was with the team.
“
Jackson His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner employee relationship -- between business partners -- and LeBron honored his contract.
” -- Rev. Jesse Jackson on Cavs owner Dan Gilbert's comments about LeBron James
Shortly after James announced his decision last week, Gilbert fired off an incendiary letter to Cleveland's fans, ripping the 25-year-old and promising to deliver a title before James wins one. He called James' decision "cowardly" and later told The Associated Press he believes James quit during a handful of Cavaliers playoff games.
"He has gotten a free pass," Gilbert told the AP in a phone interview late Thursday night. "People have covered up for [James] for way too long. Tonight we saw who he really is."
Jackson said Gilbert's comments were "mean, arrogant and presumptuous."
"He speaks as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers," the reverend said in a release from his Chicago-based civil rights group, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. "His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner employee relationship -- between business partners -- and LeBron honored his contract."
Gilbert responded to Jackson's comments on Monday.
"I strongly disagree with Rev. Jesse Jackson's recent comments and we are not going to engage in any related discussion on it. Going forward, we're very excited about the Cavaliers and the positive future of our region," Gilbert said in a statement released by the Cavaliers.
Messages were left Sunday night seeking comment from James.
Jackson also called Gilbert's comments an attack on all NBA players and said the owner should face a "challenge" from the league and the players' association.
NBA spokesman Tim Frank declined comment.
Sure, the Cavs had the most wins in the regular season, but everyone knows that doesn't mean shit in todays NBA. Everyone kicks it up a few notches. I think that Labron had more than proved that he can handle the pressure, but when you're the only guy on the team that can take the pressure it doesn't work out to well.
Also, what friend of Labron did the Cavs hire?
Dan Gilbert is a dick. He's basically trying to assassignate Labrons character. He knew that Labron might go to another team. If he didn't he's not just a dick he's stupid. Labron tried to get Chris Bosh to go to Cleveland, but he didn't want to go and after his letter I don't think that other players will want to go either. That's just MHO.
P
Kobe ain't shit without Jackson, and Shaq won those 1st 3 titles
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