LBJ backlash?

[rickbrunson]

After the whole "I love NY" shoes he's got out now, at what point do you cavs fans start to get pissed at all his hinting at leaving BS? I'm a knicks fan, so I like the whole thing, but there is no way I could ever cheer for a guy who is openly flirting with another team to this extent. Im really surprised cleveland fans arent pressuring this guy to stfu and play ball. Its not like hes already brought you guys a title or anything....what's up with that?

[mcfly1204]

Marketing, that's what's up with that.

[rickbrunson]

Marketing, that's what's up with that.

Agreed, but don't you think Lebron has some kind of say in all of this? Why would he let them do it? I can't imagine being a teammate of this guy with all of this promotional garbage going on when you're trying to win games.

[gflem]

Yeah Lebron has a say, I think it goes something like " show me the money NY". Whatever.

[B Mac]

LeBron also said he loves China. I guess that means he is going there.

Meanwhile he'll take all of China and New Yorker's money and make stacks of cash, in Cleveland.

[mg]

It's all about marketing and LeBron is the King of marketing himself. I wonder how many fools will actually buy this new shoe? LeBron will make everyone wait until August for maximum media coverage and then resign with the Cavs w/ another opt out after 3 years. I would be very surprised if he leaves any money on the table to sign with an inferior team like NY.

Personally as a Cavs fan I just want to see my team finally win a title. You can't take the LeBron media machine personally. Those of us from NE Ohio have been used to LeBron and the media attention since he was in high school. If the Cavs win a ring in 2010, I won't jump off a bridge if LeBron leaves. It actually would be a bit of a relief to see some of the bandwagon fans and drama gone. I have no doubt Dan Gilbert will find a way to keep this team competitive even if LeBron does choose to leave one day.

[eyejayem]

Actually I support it. Lebron wants to be the wealthest sports star ever. If he can see that even while being in Cleveland he could make the money he wants he wont have to leave. If he sees that he could make that money without leaving then he wont have to debate it. If he didnt do this, maybe he questions whether or not he can make more money if he left.

[JonFromVA]

Hasn't it even been confirmed that the shoe is anything but a concept?

[heathmalc]

I know that NY fans are keeping their collective fingers crossed that the Cav's superstar will bo0lt the city of Cleveland and goto NY. However,Put yourself in position of LBJ: He plays for a yearly title contender; he has a FO that supports not only him, but also him family, and his "friends."
Outside of the Lakers & Kobe, there is not team in the league that puts as much into a single player, than Cleveland puts into LBJ.
Could he leave? Yes. Is it likely ? No!
The shoes could be interpreted in two ways: #1: LBJ is leaning toward signing with NY. #2: This is a marketing campaign to grab the $$$ in NY w/o ever going there.

I have seen pundits in the media give NY as much as a 60% chance to land LeBron. I have seen those same pundits give NJ 40%; yest 88 % in the espn poll believe LBJ will stay in Cleveland, signing a 6 yr deal with an early out option after 3 seasons. Who is right? Only LBJ knows.

We just want him to stay in Cleveland.... land-o-the-Lakes.

[4daluvofdagame]

LOL @ the MIAMI BOARD ITS GOING HAYWIRE! THEY THINK LEBRON IS GIONG TO MIAMI! BAHAHAHA

[JonFromVA]

The shoe is now being reported to being either a hoax or an unauthorized non-Nike item.

[Canomad]

i saw chris paul wearing a NY hat before hes going to the knicks!


the only thing about this i dont like is the n and question mark. yes there are pictures of the shoes if anyone is wondering.

[heathmalc]

[Triumph36]

LOL @ the MIAMI BOARD ITS GOING HAYWIRE! THEY THINK LEBRON IS GIONG TO MIAMI! BAHAHAHA

The Heat board is full of idiots. It's funny though, because the rest of the league will be getting the last laugh when Miami loses out on the big name FAs and they get stuck with Boozer, who won't even make them a title contender.

It's kind of sad to see all the posts there, to be honest. I didn't think people could be so gullible and/or just plain dumb.

[knicksNOTslick]

I know that NY fans are keeping their collective fingers crossed that the Cav's superstar will bo0lt the city of Cleveland and goto NY. However,Put yourself in position of LBJ: He plays for a yearly title contender; he has a FO that supports not only him, but also him family, and his "friends."
Outside of the Lakers & Kobe, there is not team in the league that puts as much into a single player, than Cleveland puts into LBJ.
Could he leave? Yes. Is it likely ? No!
The shoes could be interpreted in two ways: #1: LBJ is leaning toward signing with NY. #2: This is a marketing campaign to grab the $$$ in NY w/o ever going there.

I have seen pundits in the media give NY as much as a 60% chance to land LeBron. I have seen those same pundits give NJ 40%; yest 88 % in the espn poll believe LBJ will stay in Cleveland, signing a 6 yr deal with an early out option after 3 seasons. Who is right? Only LBJ knows.

We just want him to stay in Cleveland.... land-o-the-Lakes.

The Cavs are a yearly title contender because of Lebron. Wherever he goes, that team's a legit playoff team. The Knicks >>> Cavs without Lebron, and we have the better coach too. Let's be honest here.

[vct33]

The Cavs are a yearly title contender because of Lebron. Wherever he goes, that team's a legit playoff team.

I agree 100%. LeBron could be added to any roster in the NBA and win 55 games next year.

[JonFromVA]

The Cavs are a yearly title contender because of Lebron. Wherever he goes, that team's a legit playoff team.

I agree 100%. LeBron could be added to any roster in the NBA and win 55 games next year.

That's not how the NBA works. The Cavs have been constructed around complimenting LeBron. If we didn't have him, they'd be built a different way, or the players we have would accept bigger roles.

But either way, at least we'd play defense and play hard, and that alone would make them a better team than the Knicks.

You can't just put any group of players around a player and win 55 games. One player cannot single-handedly outscore the other team, and certainly can't defend the other team.

What people don't seem to realize, is LeBron won't be looking to join some mish-mash of talent (or non-talent since most of the Knicks will have to be released to make cap space), if he leaves the Cavs, he'll do it to join a better team with a brighter future that needs him to put them over the top.

It just makes no sense for LeBron to leave the Cavs to go rebuild a different team. He's entering his prime years, and it's time for him to start laying down his legacy and racking up rings. Any team wishing to court LeBron, had better show him that they have a solid foundation in place right now.

[knicksNOTslick]

The Cavs are a yearly title contender because of Lebron. Wherever he goes, that team's a legit playoff team.

I agree 100%. LeBron could be added to any roster in the NBA and win 55 games next year.

That's not how the NBA works. The Cavs have been constructed around complimenting LeBron. If we didn't have him, they'd be built a different way, or the players we have would accept bigger roles.

But either way, at least we'd play defense and play hard, and that alone would make them a better team than the Knicks.

You can't just put any group of players around a player and win 55 games. One player cannot single-handedly outscore the other team, and certainly can't defend the other team.

What people don't seem to realize, is LeBron won't be looking to join some mish-mash of talent (or non-talent since most of the Knicks will have to be released to make cap space), if he leaves the Cavs, he'll do it to join a better team with a brighter future that needs him to put them over the top.

It just makes no sense for LeBron to leave the Cavs to go rebuild a different team. He's entering his prime years, and it's time for him to start laying down his legacy and racking up rings. Any team wishing to court LeBron, had better show him that they have a solid foundation in place right now.

The Knicks in the past month have been playing defense and they've been playing hard. You don't even need to watch the games, just look at the box scores. They've held opponents below 100 points in 12 of 15 games in December. The young core of NY plays D (Gallo, Chandler and Douglas while Hill is still a question mark). The Knicks have enough to sign Lee and that core right there is already better than what the Cavs can offer.

I dunno why you keep downplaying Lebron's impact on a team. The Cavs are a good fit for him but it's still not the best fit. Lebron even said it himself that he can win on any team. And non-talent from the Knicks? You sound like you watch too much ESPN. LOL

[Icness]

I equate where the Knicks are right now with the Cavs team of Lebron's 1st season. We had Z, Boozer, and Jeff McInnis playing out of his mind half the season. The rest of the rotation was Ira Newble, Kevin Ollie, Eric Williams, Chris Mihm when he wasn't hurt, both Ricky Davis and Darius Miles for about 30 games each, and Desgana Diop. With a rookie Lebron they won 35 games. Give Lebron that group at his skill level now and they'd probably win 41-43. That is major regression from last year's 66 and this year's 55-60.

I really don't see him wanting to go back to that. I believe both him and Dwade when they say it's all about winning and the $$ isn't so important.

If I'm a Knicks fan, and thank God I'm not, I would be praying Lebron and the Cavs win the title this year so he doesn't feel that obligation to win a title for his hometown and break the 40+ year multi-sport title drought. IMO if he wins this year he's gone but if not he will probably stay. Sort of backwards when compared with the "all about winning" argument, but I think then he can say he wants to prove he can win somewhere else the way Shaq did and the way Kobe tried to leave LA.

[JonFromVA]

The Knicks in the past month have been playing defense and they've been playing hard. You don't even need to watch the games, just look at the box scores. They've held opponents below 100 points in 12 of 15 games in December. The young core of NY plays D (Gallo, Chandler and Douglas while Hill is still a question mark). The Knicks have enough to sign Lee and that core right there is already better than what the Cavs can offer.

Heh, the Wizards, their fans, and their media still go on about a month they played really well a few years ago and rose to the top of the ECF. Their fan base still thinks they would have won multiple titles if not for injuries based on that one month.

At the moment the Knicks are 15th on offense, and 19th on defense, and even if they improve what does it matter if they have to release most of their starting lineup? Plus while you might be able to conceive of a scenario that would allow the Knicks to sign LeBron and keep David Lee. It's just a scenario. He's a free agent. He can go if he wants to go or gets a better offer.

I dunno why you keep downplaying Lebron's impact on a team. The Cavs are a good fit for him but it's still not the best fit. Lebron even said it himself that he can win on any team. And non-talent from the Knicks? You sound like you watch too much ESPN. LOL

Because we've watched his entire career and seen that fitting him in to a team is non-trivial due to how he plays, how defenses react to him, and how he dominates the ball.