I think it's a shitty decision professionally(he's got a better shot at winning with Chicago)and personally (I don't think he can ever go back home comfortably).
It was handled in a terrible way, so bad that I think he should fire his people and hire Tiger's people because even they would be better.
However, if the QOTD today was "Would you accept millions and millions of dollars to work in Miami?" I think we'd all know our answers.
I only care in that it made for a good time to blow dry my hair during NPR this morning. I missed most of it because I was eating delicious mac and cheese. Also, I initially discovered he was going to Miami by reading Facebook posts but I was reading them backwards (most recent first) and it was quite amusing. John N and Scottie's posts on Facebook were my favorites.
I think he thinks his decision is smart since he obviously feels that he single-handedly carried Cleveland to the near top of the Eastern Conference.
He's obviously thinking that he's God's gift to the world. Here is a man who has only one won conference title, and no NBA Championships yet thinks he is so great that he needed to dedicate part of ESPN to make his announcement.
I am sure Scottie agrees with me when I say to LeBron "I'm sorry, I can't hear you through all of the NBA Championship banners hanging in the Garden and Staples Center!"
i'm sad for cleveland, but its awesome that their hometown boy played there for as long as he did. not many teams/cities get that.
lebron, like the rest of us, has to make the right decision for his career and his goals rather than make a decision that will make his employers happy.
I was pretty surprised, although I see the sense of it. Chicago might be better on paper, but chemistry matters. The method of the announcement was really, really cruel. It was like he stood Cleveland up at the altar. I care a little too much.
I think it's ridiculous. It looks great on paper for Lebron to play with Wade and Bosh (and probably Chris Paul after next year, if conspiracy theorists are right), but a) in a league with a hard salary cap, there is no way to have three max-contract guys and still have a decent supporting cast. You can't win titles without role players like Derek Fisher, Eddie House, John Paxson, Mario Elie, etc...and there's no way to get anyone but league minimum type guys if you're paying LBJ, Wade and Bosh max-money. And b) LBJ and Wade are both superstars in their primes, who are used to being The Man on their respective teams (Bosh is too, but to a much lesser extent...he's in his prime, but he's not a superstar, and I think he'd fit in well with either LBJ or Wade, but maybe not the two of them together). Ego will become an issue at some point, because, like it or not, it's ALWAYS someone's team. Every team with more than one superstar (Lakers in the 80s and early 2000s, Celtics as of late, Miami, Dallas and Phoenix in the mid to late 2000s, etc.) has sort of organically evolved to a situation where one of those superstars took over as the Alpha Dog (as above, it was Magic, Shaq, Garnett, Wade, Nowitzki, Nash). I can't see either Wade or LBJ backing down in the biggest of moments. The thing about basketball is that nine times out of ten, chemistry is more important than talent, and for these two reasons, I can't see this experiment working.
The method he used to make this announcement is absolutely asinine. "Hey, I'm gonna buy a full hour of time on ESPN with the sole purpose of stabbing the entire city of Cleveland (where I grew up) in the back and thereby tacitly admitting to everyone that I know that I'm the greatest player in the league right now, despite my recent failures to win even one ring." A friend of mine compared this to the Baltimore Colts picking up and leaving in the middle of the night...if I were from Cleveland, I might have preferred that he signed the contract in the dead of night with no fanfare. In my opinion, Kevin Durant's decision to reup with OKC with ZERO fanfare is ten orders of magnitude classier, and I honestly believe he's going to be the best player in the league within five years.
As for the last question--how much do I care?--clearly, the answer is a lot. I don't really *care* that much, as I'm a born-and-bred Lakers fan who's still riding the high of another title run. I thought LBJ would have more sense than this. He had the opportunity to become the savior of pro basketball in New York. He had the opportunity to win eight straight titles in Chicago (a team that is tailor made for, and BEGGING for an Alpha Dog like him). He had the chance to prove he was a standup guy and stay in Cleveland...the city where he grew up. But nope...streetball and income tax made this decision for him. He's earned his spot next to Art Modell as the most hated man in Cleveland history. But I don't really care that much. KISS THE RINGS!!!!
I was surprised by my reaction to this. I have a lot of thoughts so this may be a bit of stream of consciousness.
Rationally, I think it is LeBron's life and he should make whatever choice makes him the happiest. Emotionally, I am pretty pissed. This seems like the easy way out. LBJ OBVIOUSLY quit on the Cavs in the playoffs. Next time he comes up against adversity its going to be that much easier to quit again. Winning championships is not supposed to be easy. LeBron has basically taken a few feet off his ceiling as far as legacy goes. Even if they win the next six championships in Miami, and I think they will struggle to win next year, he will never be viewed on the same level as Jordan, Magic, Bird or even Kobe.
From a money standpoint, he would have gotten the max anywhere and a large amount of his income comes from endorsements. I never bought the idea that he needed to be in NYC to get more endorsements and it looks like LeBron didn't either.
From a basketball standpoint, I think Chicago was the best decision he could have made. Chicago has a near elite young point guard (Rose), a defense/energy/RB guy (Noah), a 20/10 banger (Boozer) and I'm not quite sure how Deng fits in the mix. Put me on the bandwagon with the Three superstars can't make it work crowd. Notably, DWade came off the bench and played awesome in the olympics. But this was a sideshow and a week long tournament in the end. Seven months is a long time. Countering this point, Pat Riley is one of two coaches (Riley or Jackson) that I would want to manage those egos. Beyond egos, Wade and LeBron both need the ball for their shitty, ruining the NBA, iso style of play to work. In basketball, one guy is the go to guy in crunch time. In the olympics, that guy ended up being Kobe because he didn't give an ef what the other guys thought of him. Who is that guy going to be in Miami? In regards to cap room, there will always be veterans that hop on for the veteran minimum to win a ring a la Eddie House, Gary Payton, Karl Malone, etc. I don't think this will be a problem.
The hour long special announcement is more of an indictment of the 24 hour news media. The word is that ESPN approached LeBron at the All-Star break to make this happen. In the end, the money was donated to charity so who can be that upset about it.
Sucks for Cleveland beyond the fact that all there sports teams suck now. The Cavs generated significant revenue for an economically depressed city. Now that money is gone. Miami is a terrible place for this to happen. Miami is the ultimate fair weather fan base.
In the end, I can't wait for next year when Dwight Howard and the Magic smoke the Heat in the second round and the national sports media turn on the new big three.
Labron is a douche. And the letter that Dan Gilbert wrote to the Cav fans is brilliant. http://boston.barstoolsports.com/random-thoughts/owner-of-cavs-put-a-curse-on-lebron-james-in-an-open-letter-to-fans-on-cavs-website/
16 comments:
huh?
oh i did hear about his espn 'announcement.' i think he's a joke just like the NBA.
before reading QOTD i didnt know Lebron was going to Miami. I also dont know where Lebron is coming from- so clearly i care. a lot.
predictable, overkill, little.
from comedian Gary Owens: "I googled Cleveland today and it said no matches found!"
http://twitter.com/lebronjamesego
his ego does enough caring for all of us.
I think it's a shitty decision professionally(he's got a better shot at winning with Chicago)and personally (I don't think he can ever go back home comfortably).
It was handled in a terrible way, so bad that I think he should fire his people and hire Tiger's people because even they would be better.
However, if the QOTD today was "Would you accept millions and millions of dollars to work in Miami?" I think we'd all know our answers.
I only care in that it made for a good time to blow dry my hair during NPR this morning. I missed most of it because I was eating delicious mac and cheese. Also, I initially discovered he was going to Miami by reading Facebook posts but I was reading them backwards (most recent first) and it was quite amusing. John N and Scottie's posts on Facebook were my favorites.
I think he thinks his decision is smart since he obviously feels that he single-handedly carried Cleveland to the near top of the Eastern Conference.
He's obviously thinking that he's God's gift to the world. Here is a man who has only one won conference title, and no NBA Championships yet thinks he is so great that he needed to dedicate part of ESPN to make his announcement.
I am sure Scottie agrees with me when I say to LeBron "I'm sorry, I can't hear you through all of the NBA Championship banners hanging in the Garden and Staples Center!"
i'm sad for cleveland, but its awesome that their hometown boy played there for as long as he did. not many teams/cities get that.
lebron, like the rest of us, has to make the right decision for his career and his goals rather than make a decision that will make his employers happy.
idk how he announced it.
I was pretty surprised, although I see the sense of it. Chicago might be better on paper, but chemistry matters. The method of the announcement was really, really cruel. It was like he stood Cleveland up at the altar. I care a little too much.
I think it's ridiculous. It looks great on paper for Lebron to play with Wade and Bosh (and probably Chris Paul after next year, if conspiracy theorists are right), but a) in a league with a hard salary cap, there is no way to have three max-contract guys and still have a decent supporting cast. You can't win titles without role players like Derek Fisher, Eddie House, John Paxson, Mario Elie, etc...and there's no way to get anyone but league minimum type guys if you're paying LBJ, Wade and Bosh max-money. And b) LBJ and Wade are both superstars in their primes, who are used to being The Man on their respective teams (Bosh is too, but to a much lesser extent...he's in his prime, but he's not a superstar, and I think he'd fit in well with either LBJ or Wade, but maybe not the two of them together). Ego will become an issue at some point, because, like it or not, it's ALWAYS someone's team. Every team with more than one superstar (Lakers in the 80s and early 2000s, Celtics as of late, Miami, Dallas and Phoenix in the mid to late 2000s, etc.) has sort of organically evolved to a situation where one of those superstars took over as the Alpha Dog (as above, it was Magic, Shaq, Garnett, Wade, Nowitzki, Nash). I can't see either Wade or LBJ backing down in the biggest of moments. The thing about basketball is that nine times out of ten, chemistry is more important than talent, and for these two reasons, I can't see this experiment working.
The method he used to make this announcement is absolutely asinine. "Hey, I'm gonna buy a full hour of time on ESPN with the sole purpose of stabbing the entire city of Cleveland (where I grew up) in the back and thereby tacitly admitting to everyone that I know that I'm the greatest player in the league right now, despite my recent failures to win even one ring." A friend of mine compared this to the Baltimore Colts picking up and leaving in the middle of the night...if I were from Cleveland, I might have preferred that he signed the contract in the dead of night with no fanfare. In my opinion, Kevin Durant's decision to reup with OKC with ZERO fanfare is ten orders of magnitude classier, and I honestly believe he's going to be the best player in the league within five years.
As for the last question--how much do I care?--clearly, the answer is a lot. I don't really *care* that much, as I'm a born-and-bred Lakers fan who's still riding the high of another title run. I thought LBJ would have more sense than this. He had the opportunity to become the savior of pro basketball in New York. He had the opportunity to win eight straight titles in Chicago (a team that is tailor made for, and BEGGING for an Alpha Dog like him). He had the chance to prove he was a standup guy and stay in Cleveland...the city where he grew up. But nope...streetball and income tax made this decision for him. He's earned his spot next to Art Modell as the most hated man in Cleveland history. But I don't really care that much. KISS THE RINGS!!!!
I was surprised by my reaction to this. I have a lot of thoughts so this may be a bit of stream of consciousness.
Rationally, I think it is LeBron's life and he should make whatever choice makes him the happiest. Emotionally, I am pretty pissed. This seems like the easy way out. LBJ OBVIOUSLY quit on the Cavs in the playoffs. Next time he comes up against adversity its going to be that much easier to quit again. Winning championships is not supposed to be easy. LeBron has basically taken a few feet off his ceiling as far as legacy goes. Even if they win the next six championships in Miami, and I think they will struggle to win next year, he will never be viewed on the same level as Jordan, Magic, Bird or even Kobe.
From a money standpoint, he would have gotten the max anywhere and a large amount of his income comes from endorsements. I never bought the idea that he needed to be in NYC to get more endorsements and it looks like LeBron didn't either.
From a basketball standpoint, I think Chicago was the best decision he could have made. Chicago has a near elite young point guard (Rose), a defense/energy/RB guy (Noah), a 20/10 banger (Boozer) and I'm not quite sure how Deng fits in the mix. Put me on the bandwagon with the Three superstars can't make it work crowd. Notably, DWade came off the bench and played awesome in the olympics. But this was a sideshow and a week long tournament in the end. Seven months is a long time. Countering this point, Pat Riley is one of two coaches (Riley or Jackson) that I would want to manage those egos. Beyond egos, Wade and LeBron both need the ball for their shitty, ruining the NBA, iso style of play to work. In basketball, one guy is the go to guy in crunch time. In the olympics, that guy ended up being Kobe because he didn't give an ef what the other guys thought of him. Who is that guy going to be in Miami? In regards to cap room, there will always be veterans that hop on for the veteran minimum to win a ring a la Eddie House, Gary Payton, Karl Malone, etc. I don't think this will be a problem.
The hour long special announcement is more of an indictment of the 24 hour news media. The word is that ESPN approached LeBron at the All-Star break to make this happen. In the end, the money was donated to charity so who can be that upset about it.
Sucks for Cleveland beyond the fact that all there sports teams suck now. The Cavs generated significant revenue for an economically depressed city. Now that money is gone. Miami is a terrible place for this to happen. Miami is the ultimate fair weather fan base.
In the end, I can't wait for next year when Dwight Howard and the Magic smoke the Heat in the second round and the national sports media turn on the new big three.
BTW I am happy that the Knicks didnt get anybody (Amare doesn't count) Rockets own there next two number one picks.
Correction Bosh is not a superstar.
I think he is trying to make himself relevant.
Labron is a douche. And the letter that Dan Gilbert wrote to the Cav fans is brilliant.
http://boston.barstoolsports.com/random-thoughts/owner-of-cavs-put-a-curse-on-lebron-james-in-an-open-letter-to-fans-on-cavs-website/
FYI Scottie the NBA has a soft salary cap (i.e. luxury tax).
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