|||-Abaddon-||| wrote:I think LeBron handled the move with class with the letter, but lets be honest, in terms of respect, he goes down a few notches once again...and I dont hate him (at least as much as I did before)...
As much as he makes it seem like a hero coming home, he is strategically putting himself in a considerably better place for the next 5-7 years with the potential talent of the current Cavs roster. If Wade was 29 he would have stayed with Miami until they won as many championships as they possible could have. Its nothing personal, its pure strategy, he used Miami just as the organization would callously use and dispose of him when he is no longer needed. The truth is he genuinely thought Miami didn't have at least another 2 years of competing for a championship, they would most likely still storm through the East, but Western competition proves too much for an aging team losing motivation.
So the question comes down to: who can even remotely compete in the East? The East is so pathetic in its current state that the only answer is the Cavs for the simple fact that they stockpiled pick after pick and assembled a roster with very good 5-year horizon. There is no other polarizing player in the league currently that can shift the dynamic of the conferences, so its logical to stay East, and the Cavs kind of win by default...
Perfect storm for the Cavs? If the roster remained from 2010, he wouldn't have even considered them, its why he left in the first place.
But this is why my respect for LeBron goes down: he represents a new class of opportunistic athletes who want the easiest way to a championship. Screw being the top-dog and build a team from the rough beginnings, he is intelligent in the sense that his brand and legacy will inevitably be defined by the number of championships he wins. He isn't Jordan or Shaq, who suffered years of disappointment before leading their teams to trophy's, these battle scars define these players and their attitudes towards the game, and makes their journeys much more memorable. But LeBron simply knows that's all BS, he just wants to win, win as easily as possible, and as much as possible; predominately because he knows no one will remember the minute details, and he'll go down as a winner - creating a sports legacy that will generate millions/billions for years to come like the Jordan brand.
So honestly he isn't a hero, just a shrewd business man and opportunist who knows a good situation when he sees one...but with the letter he handled it so well you can't help but believe he is 'coming home' for the sake of Cleveland, but at the end of the day you know he is going to get his cake and eat it too...
I'm with LBJ on this one... I think it's an understatement on the difficulty of "building a dynasty" how many players in the history of the game have done this? Wilt? Jordan? Shaq? Even then look at these teams... LBJ was stuck with Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden as his other scorers on that team... He realized, he isn't the GM he can't build a team, he can only go out and score almost 30 a game and still come up short.
Michael Jordan didn't build the bulls, Jerry Krause did; without Pippen, Kerr, Longley, Rodman, Kukoc, etc Jordan may have won a ring... But he wouldn't be regarded as the best player ever, he would be last generations Durant.
In the modern era of basketball few teams have had as little talent as that 2007 cavs team and been in the finals, maybe the 2009 Magic.
Regardless LBJ has the understanding that he didn't want to become this generations Barkley, Shawn Kemp, Ewing, or any of the other great players that got stuck on a team that was never won anything.
LBJ didn't want to experience this for 15 years to then try and join a team as a MLE player chasing a title in his mid to late 30s.
