Flash4thewin wrote:DWadeno3 wrote:Flash4thewin wrote:
No the blame goes on Pat for that. I for one cant understand how we have UD phone number on speed dial and make him team captain for the duration of the big three yet we cant have a working relationship with Lebron ? It is what it is i guess.
We can't have a working relationship with LeBron, are you serious? We brought him here, embraced him, helped him win titles, defended him when the entire basketball world trashed him (just remember Riley telling Ainge to shut the f*** up when Ainge claimed LeBron cried too much about the refs) and you blame us for that?!? Get the f*** outta here with that. I'm tired of this non-sense that we didn't treat LeBron well enough.
Something happened which turned the relationship that was once a great one into a split. You have Pat that can sell Ice to Eskimos yet was unable to get a face to face meeting with Lebron at the end? Something clearly happened. Right now all i care about how to get this team back into a championship contender. We have many adjustments to make and hopefully get lucky in trades.
Yes, LeBron being his selfish, narcissistic self happened, nothing else. Superstars are spoiled brats and LeBron is amongst the worst of them personality wise. The way LeBron conducted his business only supports that notion, both in Cleveland and here.
Hell, Wade almost left us for Chicago in 2010 and at least in his case he could've said we wasted two years of his prime with extremely poor talent around him just for the 2010 plan. But even Wade is a diva, albeit not as much of one as LeBron.
Loyalty means less than it ever did in this business. I mean look at the Cavs move from LeBron's perspective:
- Basketball wise, a young intriguing core he can lead.
- Marketing wise, he can milk the 'coming home' aspect and remove the stain he got four years ago when he joined us. Do you know how much money his brand is probably making off of it?
- Legacy wise, if he can win only one title with Cleveland, that'll probably be worth as much as winning two or three more here.
- LeBron runs this organization or at least has a large say in it, which would've never happened around here and I'm glad for it. But if you can influence the GM a lot, why not go there?
For him personally, there was no smarter move than this, especially from a business standpoint. That's the reason he left, not because Riley didn't show him enough love.