This is cold blooded! The response to LeBron leaving by Cleveland Cavs majority owner Dan Gilbert:
http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/gilbert_letter_100708.html
Makes you think that LeBron said one thing but did another.
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mod
Joined: May '05
Posts: 1,879Posted 16 years ago #I heard the reading on ESPN last night... pretty strong language f'sho'.
But really I could give 2 pHuCks about it... I am so sick of all these dumb-ass sports stories dominating the media, even ones that don't cover sports are in the mix .
Favre this & LBJ that... seriously, who cares? A One Hour Primetime "Special" to announce his next move...really? They are all over-paid, under-skilled, & way too self-absorbed. Just like the Commercial Music Industry, Professional Sports are addicted to the cash & celebrity & they won't be able to ween themselves from it. All of this is forsaking the original source and purpose...
It seems that money ruins all good things... eventually.
EDIT: I guess I shouldn't say they're under skilled...
And I forgot to throw Tiger's name in there too.
It will be interesting to see what the Heat can do with a stacked team, now he MUST win to be considered one of the G.O.A.T.'s.
You'd think that it was a Monday with how cheery my post was...lol
Happy Friday y'all -
EP
Joined: Mar '10
Posts: 130Posted 16 years ago #lebron will never be considered a g.o.a.t. -
P fan #1
Joined: May '05
Posts: 1,528Posted 16 years ago #right, LeBron pretty much bitched out. He quit on his team and ditched them for the easy route. The difference between him and the other legit greats is that they battled their way to a title. MJ didn't get through the Pistons until his third attempt.
The problem with today's athletes is that they are too friendly. There are no rivalries like there were 10 years ago. Back when the Heat and Knicks got into to epic battles. Knicks and Indiana. Bulls and Heat to an extent. -
LP
Joined: Oct '06
Posts: 381Posted 16 years ago #It was a classless letter and if I were LeBron, I would feel even better about my choice after reading it. Not to mention the classless fans burning his jersey and talking garbage about LeBron as if he didn't make Cleveland a notable team for the 7 years he was on it. The Cavaliers had seven whole years to get some worthwhile talent around LeBron to make a championship team and they couldn't do it so yeah of course LeBron left to somewhere where he thought he could win. LeBron was carrying the team for most of the way and in a TEAM sport one man isn't going to do it no matter how talented they were. I don't blame him leaving. I mean if not for the fact that the rest of the team is just average then just because Cleveland as a city blows.
It's also hilarious how he's saying Cleveland will get a title before LeBron does. Without LeBron, Cleveland is nothing, they'll be lucky to break .500. It's really not fair to say he won't be a "legit great" and then compare him to Michael Jordan or Magic or Bird because they all had other very talented players around them. Cleveland on the other hand who did they have? Mo Williams? Varejao? ILGAUSKAS? Don't make me laugh. I'm happy for LeBron and glad he went with his friends in Miami. Good for him, I hope they kill it. -
P fan #1
Joined: May '05
Posts: 1,528Posted 16 years ago #I agree the letter was classless. The owner, of all people, should take the high road because what star player would really want to go play for his team after that. What probably set Dan Gilbert off was the fact that LeBron didn't have the courtesy to tell him himself he was not returning. No class on either side.
That whole argument of LeBron not having anyone around him is bullshizzle. They were good enough to reach the Finals in 2006 and have the best record for two seasons in a row. Besides, LeBron made it difficult for the team to get anyone to "help" him because he set this whole spectacle off back in 2008. Would you want to sign with Cleveland to play with LeBron if in 2 years he would be gone and now you're stuck? Also, it's not like the team could shed salaries and tank a season or two to get the cap room to sign another star. When LeBron came in 2003 they were in "win now" mode.
LeBron's has cheapened his own legacy. Like playing NBA Live, instead of playing on "Superstar" level, he's chosen to coast through on "Veteran" level. No matter how many championships he wins, he still cannot be named as one of the greats. -
LP
Joined: Oct '06
Posts: 381Posted 16 years ago #If LeBron wins multiple championships he will go down in the hall of fame without question. I'm not sure how in the world you can think otherwise. Look at the Lakers, their team is so good, their bench is better than some teams' starting line up, you think Kobe won't be in the HoF because he's got it considerably easier with his amazing team supporting him?
LeBron hasn't cheapened his legacy at all, he took a worthless team and made them competitive. It's true that LeBron didn't have any stand out players around him; none of the starting roster was composed of great players besides James. Ilgauskas is a poor center and Shaq is well past his prime. Mo Williams isn't anything special like Nash, Rose, CP3 or Rondo (who actually showed some serious weakness in the Finals) and who else was there on the starting roster? Delonte and Green? Neither of them are upper-tier players either. Yeah they were good enough to make it to the finals but that was because LeBron is that good and his level of talent pushed the other players to play harder. Now that he's gone, the Cavs will be nothing, something that wouldn't be true if they had some truly good players on their roster.
If they had managed to trade or draft for some great players that won championships it can't be certain that LeBron would have left Cleveland. I really don't see why he would when he made it clear his reason for leaving was to win. -
P fan #1
Joined: May '05
Posts: 1,528Posted 16 years ago #Yes, if LeBron wins multiple championships, the media and his fans will hail him as one of the greats. But it doesn't alter the fact that he quit on his team and deserted them. Simple and plain. The greats don't quit on their team. Maybe I have a different view in sports, but I value players more that tough it out with one team and work their way to the top. Especially someone of LeBron's talents and stature. I understand sometimes that its best for a player to leave, and am not arguing that LeBron should have stayed. What I'm saying is the manner in which he left and the route he has chosen has tarnished him significantly.
Again, the team was good enough to win during the regular season, so how did he not have a supporting cast? If you are so down on them, like many other LeBron supporters are, how in the world do you expect the Cavs to trade them for better players to help LeBron? If they are having success in the regular season, they draft later in the round and there's not much talent there. We'd have to look at who they drafted and the players they could have taken to see if they could have drafted better. So again, realistically how do the Cavs get better while he's there? Can't trade away their players for better ones. Can't build through the draft because they are too successful. Can't sign top free agents because LeBron has handcuffed the team two years before he bolts. -
LP
Joined: Oct '06
Posts: 381Posted 16 years ago #Yes he quit and deserted the team, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. It's not bad at all. You say that the greats don't quit on their team but many of the greats never had any reason to in the first place because they were surrounded by big talent. Same can't be said for LeBron's situation, his whole supporting cast are mid-level talent.
Already explained why they were good enough to win even with a mediocre supporting cast. Yeah, drafting good rookies would be difficult since they were good enough to get bad draft picks but I don't know where you're getting that they can't sign top free agents or make trades. First off, like I already said, LeBron left because he didn't feel like he could have won in Cleveland so if you signed some top talent for the Cavs and they ultimately won, there'd be significantly less reason for LeBron to leave. And there's absolutely no reason why they couldn't give a free agent a short contract so he doesn't feel like he has to commit to a worthless team should LeBron leave anyway. And they can absolutely trade players for better ones. You sign off two or three players for one all star. It happens all the time in the NBA and the fact that the Cavs couldn't even get one more top tier player on the team with LeBron in the seven years he was there is just poor management and another reason why LeBron left in the first place. -
mod
Joined: May '05
Posts: 1,879Posted 16 years ago #That show that Miami & the 3 Stooges put on was quite the Theatrical Display... They should take that show to Vegas!
Really though, the table has been set for LeBron. If he doesn't come through with a ring, this story will go down as a joke and it will haunt him forever.
MJ won his rings with a team that he helped shape & mold. You think Pippen, Kukoc, & Grant were power-house names in the NBA in the 90's? Hell no, they were good, but not as good as MJ made them. Rodman was the only "big" name that was on that court back then, and that was for his D and funky hair styles'. When a player wins championships in this manner, he is immortalized forever... why? Because he "earned" that ring.
On the flip-side of the coin, you have the Kobe & Shaq Laker saga... Look how good that "stacked" team worked!
Shaq left, lost all credability he had. Kobe stays, gets decent talent around him and turns them into a world-class squad. I'd say the Leadership characteristic are just as important for a "superstar" as his athletic skill...
The only thing that I see as a positive to this story for LeBron, is that he took the high road in taking less money in exchange for a stacked team.
But, how hard is it for a bajillionare to turn down a few million bucks for something that money can't buy? -
P fan #1
Joined: Aug '09
Posts: 588Posted 16 years ago #I didn't realize there were still some NBA fans in the forum. Where were you all during the playoffs? What teams do you root for? I'm a long time Spurs fan. Can't stand Lebron cause of his ego, even before this whole free agency thing. One hour special for a decision that takes 5 seconds to say; disgusting. -
mod
Joined: May '05
Posts: 1,879Posted 16 years ago #freshkest said: I didn't realize there were still some NBA fans in the forum. Where were you all during the playoffs? What teams do you root for? I'm a long time Spurs fan. Can't stand Lebron cause of his ego, even before this whole free agency thing. One hour special for a decision that takes 5 seconds to say; disgusting.
I was a big Utah Jazz fan up until the Bulls ended their Finals run. Ever since that time, I have slowly lost interest in the Jazz & the game itself. Not to say that they aren't my team anymore, but I justs don't invest any emotion in the game like I used to.
I hear yah on the ego thing too freshkest... I hate how LeBron throws the chalk dust up in the air before every game, like he is some kind of WWF Wreslter or some sh!t. It seems like people are going to the game more for the pure spectacle being put on and not the sport itself. All I know is you'd never see Jordan doing the extra-carricular BS that a lot of the NBA\NFL players do now days. I'm not a Kobe fan at all, in fact I HATE LA Sports! But, I have come to respect the man, not only for his Athletic Skills but fo rthe way he has learned to carry himself on and off the court. It is as if Kobe has taken, not only a page, but a chapter out of MJ's book of life. I'm sure getting publicly humiliated/ridiculed helped him find a humble state too... -
P fan #1
Joined: May '05
Posts: 1,528Posted 16 years ago #Instrumentalist,
Glad we could have this discussion.
What I'm trying to say is if you're a great player, you never quit on your team. Never. You play out every game no matter what the circumstances are. The fact that he stopped playing in the playoffs brings him down a notch to me.
I have no problem with him or any other player leaving their teams. I think an athlete should NEVER remain loyal to a team because that same team will drop you when you're not producing. The NFL is the perfect example of that.
The main argument I hear about LeBron not being able to win with the Cavs is because the other players around him were suspect and lacked even half the talent level he had. If the players are so lackluster, how in the world did you expect Danny Ferry to trade them for an All-Star player? You suggest a three for one. If the team is winning and succeeding, why break them up? Because you're not going to trade 3 bench guys for an All-Star. You'd have traded Mo Williams, Varajao and Hickson or whoever for who? Starting PG gone, serviceable SF/PF gone. PF of the future gone. For what? When the main attraction to your team isn't committed beyond 2010.
As for free agents, what big name free agent do you know that would sign a 2 year deal at the height of their careers? None. You sign for the max or for as many years as you can get to protect yourself from injury since NBA contracts are guaranteed. Its like the fans were able to make these types of trades in NBA Live and expected the Cavs to do the same. -
P fan #1
Joined: Aug '09
Posts: 588Posted 16 years ago #Eso: Lots of respect for Sloan, and Stockton is one of my all-time favorite players.
SLC: Noah is one of my favorite players to watch. That guy HAS heart. I still they should have kept Del Negro. He was able to coach them towards the playoffs although they had all those injuries and all that drama with the higher-ups.
"Now, if a player does not have an altercation on or off the court once each month, we fine him. I've tried to get this into the press, but people won't pay attention. And, the guys who are our top four scorers, each of them will be required once every two months to appear on MTV. And the guys who shoot the worst free throws over a one-month period, the next time we have a TV game, they are required to look into the camera and beat their chests after they make a good play. I think then we will have a little bit different reputation." - Gregg Popovich.
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