My LBJ editorial thoughts of the day....

[enetric]

It cracks me up how local sports radio and NY Knicks fans are battering LBJ around. Acting like he is to blame for leading Knicks fans on that he was coming to NY. ESPN radio has a lead in every single commercial break.... "two years of losing, and tonight we find out if all the sacrifice was worth it. With one move it can all change."


Lebron is the bad guy? He led on Knicks fans? Local sports radio, TV and newspapers trying to sell air time and add buys led NYers on. NOT LEBRON. Not once did he say...or do anything to indicate he was going to be a Knick. And what two years of losing? Two years of sacrificing????? The Knicks have had a losing record for 9 straight years and have spent more money on team payroll during that time frame than any team in the NBA. Havent won a playoff game in 11 years. And havent won a title in 37 years. 37 years. I am a life long Nyer....and a Yankee fan. Its not like I am unfamiliar with NY arrogance or havent displayed it myself. But sometimes I just have to laugh at what fools this city is filled with. And if you find yourself buying into any angle where he was supposed to come to your team that had the worst roster of 6 in this process on July 1st,...that he OWES you...that he has no right to go to a better place to win...or that he is a bad guy for giving up 29mil less in guaranteed cash to go elsewhere..to a smaller market...then yeah..I am talking to you. This is your wake up call.


I actually have been hearing idiots all day talking about how its wrong in some way if he goes to a team with better players. Like...Knicks fans would be saying if Curry could have been dumped and Bosh/Lebron./Wade were possible in MSG....you know...its not really a good thing. I dont like it. We shouldnt sign all those guys! Same fans who are my buddies...Yankee fans...who wont ever say...damn Tex/CC/AJ in one off season on top of all the rest we have. Its bad for the sport...we shouldnt do it.


And then there is that other angle. The other part of the NY bravado. Despite how much Dolan has destroyed that franchise there is still that pride. That arrogance that acts like this is the Bulls, Lakers, or Celtics.


Next arrogant comment. The Garden is the Mecca of basketball. I am amazed how many NYers do not realize that this is the 4th location in Manhattan the Garden has stood. And that this current version has only been there for 43 years. Just because we saw the circus there growing up, or the Globetrotters, or concerts.or whatever sporting event...doesn't get around this simple fact when you say.... Mecca of basketball. Two titles in that building's 43 year history with the last one coming 37 years ago...at some point...realize...it's become silly to act hollier than though. There is no entitlement here. There is no...your legacy is so much better if you do it here you know.



How do Knicks fans treat the big established names of the past who tried and failed? Are they beloved? Riley? Wilkens? Nellie? Isiah? Ewing is one of the 5 greatest players of all time. Mike Piazza who defected from another huge city and market where he was already a superstar...never won a World Series for the Mets...yet...some how...more beloved than Patrick Ewing in this city.


And the...better legacy in THIS market or in a major media market? Does anyone actually believe that Willis Reed is a bigger deal in NBA history than Tim Duncan? All you need to do is WIN. It cures all evils. How about...no one will ever get over it if you leave and win elsewhere? Reggie Jackson. Shaquille O'Neal. JUST WIN BABY.


Yes, you will earn more in a bigger media market and this is the biggest. And yes, NYers when they love you...they are rabid. But I will say this right now. 5 team's fans will hate him when this is over. They would have on July 1st and they will on July 8th. Because ALL of them wanted to believe what their local media told them. And if tonight he says...KNICKS...all these same people trashing him will talk out of the other side of their mouth in the morning.


I hear...Lebron is an attention whore. Lebron's huge ego. Lebron wants this to be a circus. Really? Funny how I keep hearing it from the same guys. The ones on every station, every channel, in every paper, on every blog, in every tweet. Those are the guys saying he has done all this...as they say it...24 hours a day as they build their following. And you know what? I havent heard a single word from Lebron. These same media sources will say...we hear...from unnamed sources....that he is going to do this. Then the next hour...he is going to do that. And they say....but we dont know for sure because Lebron isnt talking...and none of his people are talking. And through it all...he did six 2-3 hour interviews in an office building in his home city. He didnt tour. He didnt cause traffic jams. He did nothing wrong. He politely gave everyone their chance to make their pitch.


The one move he can be ripped for is saying yes to ESPN...the same 24 hours a day on 5 different channels making a fortune off all this...that he will do the sit down idea they apporached him with a couple of months ago. But...he wanted all money paid by sponsors to be donated to the Boys and Girls Club. Now, the end result of that is a good thing. But...at this stage...the media saturation...which THE MEDIA was responsible for...as they built him and now they tear him down...sure...end the specualtion and do it quickly.


Some think he dragged this out. He didnt. If you would have asked me a week ago...and I posted it on RealGM....that TODAY was the day he was going to announce. Why? Because the official cap number wasnt coming out until late last night.


He owes the Cavs nothing. Lose revenue? Most American's never heard of Akron before Lebron James. What about all the money he MADE for that franchise? If he wants to chase a better spot for a title and is willing to give up a guaranteed 29mil to do it? Isnt that a GOOD thing? Isnt that what we say we WISH guys would do? Put winning above money?


And what if he actually goes to the Knicks? And chases the 2 billion that was the heart of the Knicks pitch? Not basketball. BILLIONS. No way to pitch trades beyond Curry...they didnt have other assets. But...if that is what HE wants..in year 8...Knicks fans will forget all their disappointment...and not see the hypocrisy.


Either way....as disappointed as I am...as a fan of a team that also was in this process...end of day...I wish him luck. And what I hope...is he picks a team he feels gives him the best chance to win. For me? Now that all the pieces have been signed and the cap has been set...it clearly shoould be Miami or the Bulls. Go get your rings Lebron. You are the best player in the world. And if Kobe didnt get the gift of Gasol...he already told the world...he was going to make a hot mess for the Lakers to get out of LA. But...he got help. Like he was to Shaq. Like Worthy was to the Magic. Like Mchale was to the Celtics. 7 years. 2 MVP's, 1 finals appearance, 2 60 win seasons...he has a right to try and win.



Go get yours LBJ.....


-E

[SpeedyG]

Sorry, dude...can't go along with you on this one. Doesn't matter how many he wins...it won't be his.

This is one of the reasons why I thought we REALLY had a chance, Prok and Jay-Z aside...because our team wasn't complete. It had the pieces, but it wasn't quite there. It had the promise, but it wasn't quite there. This would have been HIS team.

Chicago would have been, with him and Rose and Noah. And now with the Heat? You can find a lot of ring-chasers out there who would fit that team and would be willing to sign for cheap.

When I started my "Summit" thread, which I never really got to finish due to how the rumor mill kept churning out new information by the hour, one thing I wanted to say was...there's no way all these guys team up. They have to split up somehow. Bosh maybe not. But Lebron and Wade? I thought for sure.

I thought both players were ultimate competitors. They want to win, but they also want to be challenged. Or so I thought.

Or maybe, perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe by them teaming up, they are putting themselves in a much higher platform than they would have on their own.

Because now, their challenge isn't to win 1 championship. It's not even to win 2. Their challenge is to be a dynasty, to win back-to-back-to-back...for majority of the length of their contracts.

Perhaps, that is what they consider as the ultimate challenge.

And should they fail to dominate, then even if they win one...I think it will be considered a disappointment by most.

[NjNeTs1029]

im going to have to disagree. You don't call yourself King, get a chosen one tattoo, and have a 1 hour national television special and then join somebody elses team. Any chance he had of becoming the greatest of all time is now gone.. Bill Simmons had a column earlier today and i completely agree with this part,

"I think it's a cop-out. Any super-competitive person would rather beat Dwyane Wade than play with him. Don't you want to find the Ali to your Frazier and have that rival pull the greatness out of you?.. That's what Jordan would have done. Hell, that's what Kobe would have done.In May, after the Cavs were ousted in the conference semifinals, I wrote that LeBron was facing one of the greatest sports decisions ever: "winning (Chicago), loyalty (Cleveland) or a chance at immortality (New York). I never thought he would pick "HELP!"

It's DWades team, he already won a ring there. LeBron should change his nickname to Prince James, Wades already king in Miami. I honestly hope the Heat dont win any championships with this big 3, it would kill competition.

[mikhailjordan]

Look I can't read all of this right now I'm still suffering from Outlawism but let put it this way:

1. Lebron is an egomaniac and arguably the most arrogant player in the league (he's far more arrogant than young Kobe Bryant which is really saying a lot!)

2. I don't see anything wrong with him leaving Cleveland to team up with Wade and Bosh. It's actually SMARTER to do this now when they're all young than to do it when you're old and your championship window is much shorter.

[Jersey Generals]

I don't think he owes anything to the Cavs organization, but you bet your *** that the fans of Cleveland deserve better than being made a spectacle of. Like I said in another thread, I don't care that he went to Miami (other than, of course, the Nets probably not being able to get out of the EC), I care about how he did it.

[SpeedyG]

I don't think he owes anything to the Cavs organization, but you bet your *** that the fans of Cleveland deserve better than being made a spectacle of. Like I said in another thread, I don't care that he went to Miami (other than, of course, the Nets probably not being able to get out of the EC), I care about how he did it.

Nah, not really it man. There's no good way to break up with someone. Cleveland would not be less devastated if he had not done it on national TV.

[Jersey Generals]

Nah, not really it man. There's no good way to break up with someone. Cleveland would not be less devastated if he had not done it on national TV.

Agree to disagree.

[BigWil17]

Outside of coming to the Nets, I'm kinda glad he did this. For all the arrogance people says he has, it turns out winning championships was the most important thing in his decision-making.

It also gives us the big bad Yankees.... er.. Heat to root against. I'm looking forward to it.

[SpeedyG]

Nah, not really it man. There's no good way to break up with someone. Cleveland would not be less devastated if he had not done it on national TV.

Agree to disagree.

Seriously dude. Think about it. Television is no longer the #1 news source it once was. Internet is the king nowadays. Imagine if there was no show tonight, and all these people just went to sleep, woke up in the morning, read their paper on their way to work or checked online as they got to work.

It would not sting any less.

When you lose someone of this caliber (be it in basketball, economic, or relationship wise)...it doesn't really matter how the news was broken to you. The only thing that matters to you at that point is that you just got dumped/fired/whatever.

[enetric]

You guys are suffering from envy right now. And I get that. But you saw something tonight never done before.

A superstsr in his prime, have the guts to walk away from home regardless of backlash.

A superstar in his prime take MILLIONS less to go to the team he felt was his best option to WIN.

A superstar in his prime who wil sacrifice stats to do it.

And the fact that Wade has a ring and Lebron was willing to check that ego to take on this challenge? That isnt a rip on him...its a rip on us for the perception that we as fans have already decided we wont give him credit no matter what he does now.

And Wade won years ago with a team that didnt have ONE of those guys left on it. It may be Wade's uniform of that season...even last season...but the plan right now is to not only have no one from that team...but only ONE other guy from LAST years Heat team. THis issue? Our issue. Its to his credit that he can put that aside.

If this was ring chasing...you ask for an S&T to the Lakers....Not sign a contract for at least 30 mil less and 9 scrubs. THIS IS A CHALLENGE> MAKE NO MISTAKE.

As for Simmons the entertaining hack...that article was a joke. Kobe? I spoke to that in the off season thread.

As for doing it on TV....I didnt like that initially too. But once I saw it...I felt...he answered every single question LIVE and did it candidly. He didnt have his PR firm write a release. He wnet on TV>..took 3 straight interviews and did it with as much respect as one can give.

What Gilber did with that open letter...THAT was the coward. The guy who took no responsibiliy for failing to get the right team around him. That later was an embarrasment.

And one other thing my heart broken fellow Nets fans....I knew this letter wasnt going to get support. I knew it was going to get this reaction. But I did it to make you think. Come back and read it tomorrow..or whenver your initial sadness wears off. And ask yourself do I blame him? Or am I envious.

To help you get there...let me put it like this. If...Lebron and Wade had signed here to play with Brook, Devin, Favors, Twill, Lee and D.James....would you have said...damn. I lost respect for Lebron for taking the easy way out? Not the same thing? OK...now I ask you...would you trade those 6 players for Bosh and Arroyo?

Better yet...in a year....if we traded Devin and Favors for Paul...does your respect for Lebron continue to drop?

He had the right to chose the best situation for him. We hoped it was us. I think...IT WAS US because that core with Lebron plus either of the other two...better than those three, Arroyo, and 9 scrubs. Some think Bulls were a better talent core too. But at the end of the day...it was his right to chose. ANd he put his money where his mouth is. We never see that.

It wasnt us. And that sucks. But...check yourselves my friends. Be BETTER than Knicks fans. Lets not act like...taking more money, or the better market for his brand...or deliberately going to a lesser team was MORE respectable.

I am challenging you. Dont take the easy way out. See it. Something impressive happened tonight.

And I wish him well.

My selfish takeaway? My one admission? Thank god...he didnt sign with the worst of the 6 teams talent wise to chase the 2 billion dollar sales pitch.

[enetric]

What I wrote about Simmons article specifically the Kobe angle....

Seriously? Bill SImmons is full of crap!

Kobe? Kobe forced Shaq out, Phil quits demands a no trade clause (only one in the NBA) and more than 20 mil per year. 3 years in...cant make Butler better...the guy who becomes an all star the second he got away from him. Missed the playoffs, and two first round ousters. What does he do? He has a meltdown...in a deli caught on camera, because the Lakers wouldnt deal Bynum for an older Kidd to help him win MORE RINGS. He demands a trade and has to be flown to Europe for a sit down with Buss to suck on his ass.

Then Gasol is GIFTED to the Lakers without them giving up any of the their top 8 rotation players or two two prospects. And lets not forget those first three years...in adition to Bynum and Caron briefly, he had Odom who at the time was better than ANY player Lebron has ever had.

Kobe has the deepest team in the NBA and the best core of bigs around. Simmons as usual writes entertainment pieces with good writing...but crap on basketball reasoning or facts. The guy is the most overated sports hack of our time. He is the Stuart Scott of writing....BOO YAH.

As for the Bulls? I think as much as him and Wade might struggle to mesh...Rose is a POOR MAN's WADE. And when his contract is up...you think his agent would have said...hey its good for you to be the third guy on this team? Deng 11 mil to be a back up?

He still takes risks here. That team isnt as deep as the Bulls could have been. And sure I can see on talent...Bulls might have made more sense. But you know what? He has every right to decide which team has the most talent. And for the first time in US sports...we saw a guy IN HIS PRIME put his money where his mouth is.

For this hack to say...NY is immortality??? Sure...if you WIN. If not? Ask Ewing what it was like. Ask the long list of HOF coaches, and GM's over the last 25 years.

I am sorry...but at 25 years old...this was a move worthy of respect...no matter how envious we all are. Trully...this has never been done. He picked the situation HE THINKS is his best chance to win. We dont have to agree. But when you show me the long list of athletes in their prime who have done anything like that...or show me FIVE? Then we can talk.

As for loyalty? OK. Isnt that a two way street? Big Z was one of only 4 guys in the NBA with 10 years experience uninterupted with one franchise. he was proud of that. It was a big deal to him. If the Wiz said...we are KEEPING him...not going to waive him...do you think Gilbert says...NAH...we are calling off the trade for Jamison. Think Big Z gets a fat deal to continue his career for the coming season? Think the Cavs show great loyalty to the rest of their players?

Teams trade players all the time. Players have every right to do the same. And in this case...he did it LOSING MAJOR MONEY.

I am sorry...we all need to check out envy here. You saw something special tonight...even if you dont realize it yet.

[SpeedyG]

I'm not faulting him for making this decision, in fact as I said, looking at it from another angle...it is the ultimate challenge (Well, next to joining the Bulls and trying to surpass MJ's shadow there). Is there some disappointment and envy there? Yeah, definitely. And giving up money for a better chance of winning? Yeah, I can see why some will like that. But to me, I don't like it. For one, it makes the NBA even more of a one-sided league than it already is. More of a haves and have-nots league. And as a fan, that's never a good thing. Unless of course, you're a fan of the haves.

[jerseyjac]

So Lebron chooses Miami, his best chance for a championship, a possible becoming part of a dynasty...this is a nobrainer...

Its not about his decision, its the way he went about it...we're not talking about his interview, he came off sincere and showed this was a tough emotional decision...

But the days leading up to this, turned me off big time...Calling this a circus is an understatement...The way he went about this, letting his front office and fans find out on national tv...not giving them the due respect, where he could bowed out gracefully as a Ohio native...

Why all of this, maybe its his ego, maybe he really didnt know...but keep this about Cleveland and not you...You want to leave the Cavs, no problem, but you need to represent the Cavs as a Cav when breaking ties with your home and your organization of 7yrs...

He went about this all wrong, yeh of course go get yours Lebron, you are the one making all the sacrifices to win a championship, but seriously, you could of saved a lot of face here, saved yourself a lot hatred and a lot character questions, while keeping your ego in check (which we all knew was already inflated)...instead you made it more difficult for yourself...more importantly more difficult for Cleveland and this situation went from bad to worse, real fast...

[Netaman]

agree with Speedy - I respect what your saying E, especially with regards to the $ angle of this situation, but I genuinely believe it's just not a good move for Lebron. There is definitely envy in there for the Heat being that they were able to pull the 3 top players this offseason who were offered max contracts by more then 5 teams. What sucks is that these 3 guys just decided to play together and didn't pick the best team - they picked the only situation where that was cap feasible. Had that been somewhere else, they would be elsewhere right now. I do not fault James at all for not going back to Cleveland. He should have let them down easier but that team has not assembled 1 even decent player to play with him in 7 years and don't look like they are going to anytime soon.

Maybe thoughts will be different when we see this team struggle a little on the court and watch him have to grow with them and become a better player but right now it just feels sucks to see the NBA lose 1 more championship contending team from the pool of 4-5 teams that have a shot. An already predictable sport became more predictable and less competitive any way you slice it.

Last point just re: the Kobe thing. Kobe has been a scumbag from his draft through today. As much as the Gasol trade was complete BS after Lebrons decision I would root for the Lakers to beat the Heat. Gasol is an all star caliber player but he is a not a player that is championship caliber on his own. Lebron didn't just pick to go to a situation where there's a great wingman, he picked to go a situation that has another one of the top 4 players in the NBA. Again, it's just a tough pill to swallow as a fan who hates how predictable the NBA has become. Plus I lived in Miami for 3 years and that fan base sucks. It is an event going city with more apathy towards non-championship sports teams then anywhere else in the country. I guess that makes sense for a guy from Cleveland who's favorite teams are Dallas and the Yankees.

[jerseyjac]

btw, Gilbert did make this worse too...keep your mouth shut, why talk out of frustration and wear your emotions on your sleeve like that...you come off looking like an angry little girl...

There was a better statement to be made, more professional with a more appropriate message sent to Cleveland and Lebron...

[BigWil17]

To me, Gilbert looks WAY worse than Lebron.

[jerseyjac]

To me, Gilbert looks WAY worse than Lebron.

I can agree with that...
But lets stay on topic, w/ LBJ...

[S.I.C. GM]

E, I totally Agree with you.

People need to remember that this is a TEAM sport. This idea that it is "Wade's", "Lebron's", "Kobe's" and Whatever is all good and dandy but lets not forget it takes 2-3 Very Good Players to win a championship. The Label of it being One individual Players Team is based on WHO the leader is. NOT who the is STAR.

We live in such an individualistic society that when a VERY GOOD PLAYER chooses to sacrifice PERSONAL FAME to join a team that can create GROUP FAME that individual is WRONG.

Stuart Scott on 1050 this morning made a good point. Lebron raised a lot of money for the Boys and Girls Club, a charity. Yeah he could have just wrote a check but by doing this he has made more money. The other point that Scott made is. Yeah Lebron didnt tell the Cavs he wasnt staying, but if lebron was a decent or bad player or injured, Teams could have done the same to him when his contract was up. Tell him at the last minute we are not re-signing you.

Me, personally, would have loved to have Lebron here, but I dont blame him for going to the Heat. If I was in his shoes, I would have done the same thing. Being able to play with 2 other Stars would be the best decision.

Even on regular basketball playgrounds every day when everyone lines up to pick teams, DONT YOU TRY TO PICK THE PLAYERS YOU THINK ARE THE BEST! The worse player always gets picked last.

Was Lebron trying to get more of a SPOTLIGHT? DEFINITELY
Did he help YOUNG people in the processe? DEFINITELY

TWO things I have really learned from all this is..

1) People shouldnt be AFRAID to make HARD DECISIONS.

2) YOU SHOULD ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU THINK IS RIGHT. NOT WHAT EVERYONE ELSE THINKS YOU SHOULD DO IS RIGHT.

Lebron you SUCK for not coming to the Nets, but YOU are a GREAT BUSINESS MAN and WILL BE a GREAT CHAMPION.

[jerseyjac]

Scott makes a good point, its valid...but LBJ is top 3 in the NBA, if not the best player in the league...there's a big difference

you cannot deny the way he handled this was wrong, he hosed the city of Cleveland and Cavs fans everywhere...

great decision by LBJ...its an easy decision if you're interested in championships, everything else is collateral damage, that you cant worry about...Again IF, you break ties and went your own way while giving the organization and fans the respect and professionalism they deserve...

Instead they got Jeopardy!

[enetric]

So Lebron chooses Miami, his best chance for a championship, a possible becoming part of a dynasty...this is a nobrainer...

Its not about his decision, its the way he went about it...we're not talking about his interview, he came off sincere and showed this was a tough emotional decision...

But the days leading up to this, turned me off big time...Calling this a circus is an understatement...The way he went about this, letting his front office and fans find out on national tv...not giving them the due respect, where he could bowed out gracefully as a Ohio native...

Why all of this, maybe its his ego, maybe he really didnt know...but keep this about Cleveland and not you...You want to leave the Cavs, no problem, but you need to represent the Cavs as a Cav when breaking ties with your home and your organization of 7yrs...

He went about this all wrong, yeh of course go get yours Lebron, you are the one making all the sacrifices to win a championship, but seriously, you could of saved a lot of face here, saved yourself a lot hatred and a lot character questions, while keeping your ego in check (which we all knew was already inflated)...instead you made it more difficult for yourself...more importantly more difficult for Cleveland and this situation went from bad to worse, real fast...

I have to agree with Speedy in the sense that...there was no way to have a good break up here. Find out on national TV JJ? Think about that. No matter what...he wasnt calling everyone one at a time. No matter what...it was exactly how they would have found out. At least this way...not only did they find out...they didnt have to heart it from the guy at the desk with a prepared statement or a flash of him at a podium smiling holding up a Heat jersey.

The first thing they go was a polite heart felt explanation. Every question answered, live interviews...the whole thing. No matter what...stings. But this was in the end I think as it turned out actually better.

Yes, there was a circus. And yes the IDEA of the press conference was a turn off. But he didnt create the cricus...the media did selling air time and add buys. He did no interviews before hand. No press releases. And by all acounts didnt talk to anyone to add to the circus. No shots of him all week going city to city stopping traffic, flashing the peace sign, eating his steak in each city...talking from the car...nothing. Office building, to the car, meeting...go home. Everyone else built it up. We felt over saturated by the circus but he didnt create it is my point.

He owes Cleveland NOTHING. They would have traded him at any point if they thought it made them better and makde them more money. Just as teams have done for years and years. The 7 years he gave them were fantastic. And if they could have figurd out a away to win...I am sure he would have stayed.

The world will move on once he wins a few titles. Just as it did when Shaq left Orlando.