Cavs fans need to keep things in perspective...

[Baseline Runner]

We could be a team mired in mediocrity year after year like Atlanta or Denver with no chance of ever winning anything. Worse, we could be like the New Jersey Nets or LA clippers that can't even give away seats in their arena. As Cavs fans we got it good compared to most franchises in the NBA. Sure we have had the heartbreak year after year but we have also had the excitement and drama and the thrill of the NBA playoffs. Maybe we are like the Knicks and Pacers of the nineties, great teams but not good enough to beat the best. But I'd rather be relevant with great playoff battles and lots of excitement, than irrelevant like most other franchises in this league.

I was a Cavs fan during the dark years when we were pinning our hopes on guys like Darius Miles, Dajuan Wagner, and Chris Mihm, just like the Browns fans are doing today with their scrubs. They never lose hope no matter how bad they are. You are either a Cavs fan through and through or you a fair weather fan. If you are just coming along for the excitement on the LBJ train, you aren't really a Cavs fan. Browns fans have experienced even more heartbreak than us, lost their franchise for five years, have been terrible for the last decade, yet they still assemble every Sunday morning in muni lot in sub-zero temperatures. If you are real Cavs fan, bleeding wine and gold, you will stick with the team through and through no matter how good or bad things become in the future.

[yungal07]

What makes you think the Cavs are any better as a franchise than the Nuggets? If the Cavs were in the West, they'd be "mired in medicority" too.

[B Mac]

As long as they dont put blue seats back in the Q.

I look forward to being able to buy cheap seats and move to the lower bowl again.

[Pula_86]

As long as they dont put blue seats back in the Q.

I look forward to being able to buy cheap seats and move to the lower bowl again.

Just a few years ago, the Sonics (now the Thunder) were looking dead in the water. Now, they are the hot young team in the NBA who has the talent to contend moving forward. With the right moves, Ferry will turn this thing around quick. As I've stated, tonight is a new beginning and I don't think that's a bad thing.

[ATL DirtyBird]

We could be a team mired in mediocrity year after year like Atlanta or Denver with no chance of ever winning anything.

Forget U. Youve won no more than the Hawks and you have the best player on the planet. If he leaves, you have no chance.

[God Squad]

Yeah Cavs are **** without lebron. You have a bunch of scrubs that can't play without him. For the sake of cavs fans...Hope he resigns.

[mg]

The Cavs still have the best owner in the NBA.

This league is fixed but I still have a feeling Dan Gilbert will win more rings than the media creation LeBron James. Based on the way he quit during the Boston series, LeBron may never win a ring if he has to be the #1 option unless he suddenly develops a killer instinct.

[Marc3287]

Based on the way he quit during the Boston series, LeBron may never win a ring if he has to be the #1 option unless he suddenly develops a killer instinct.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmjFSVhf4g0[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mr0dllspd8[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUDqqkcyw3I&feature=channel[/youtube]

[Hilltop]

It's going to be a sh*tstorm in the days to come. The media will blow this thing over the top and critics will rub salt into open wounds. But keep it together, you guys will be fine

[Gordon Bombay]

It's going to be a sh*tstorm in the days to come. The media will blow this thing over the top and critics will rub salt into open wounds. But keep it together, you guys will be fine

it'll certainly be an interesting offseason for us regardless of whether lebron leaves or not...btw good luck against beantown, hill

[tidho]

If LeBron does leave we're at least in a position for a potentially quick turn around. We'll get pretty bad quickly and have our picks. We're also only locked into the current roster for about a year.

Still a little hard for me to believe the guy who , in his book, crucified his former coach for leaving the team and who has 'loyalty' literally tattoo'd across his chest will be skipping down in free agency.

Can't hold it against him if he does though. Its his life, he should do what he wants with it.

[kam_soluusar]

The Cavs still have the best owner in the NBA.

Leslie Alexander is the best owner in the NBA!

Clevelands biggest problem is too many headcases on the team. Shaq, West, and LeBron.

I miss the Cleveland days of Bob Sura and Shawn Kemp. That was entertaining!

If only you still had Sura running the point, things might have been different for you!!

[LA Titletown]

The Cavs still have the best owner in the NBA.

Leslie Alexander is the best owner in the NBA!

Evidently, Neither one of you have heard of Jerry Buss.

[808Freq]

If Lebron leaves like this, the karma gods will definitely be on Cleveland's side.

I mean.. is this guy even worth the trouble? For as long as I can remember, he's been holding this stupid contract over the fans heads. And now on ESPN they are talking about how him leaving will crush basketball in Cleveland forever...

..a guy who's never been able to put his team on his back deep into the playoffs.. right. Anyway...
Hickson will turn out to be a nice player, I think. All is not lost

[Icness]

Mark my words--this franchise will not be in Cleveland three years from now if Lebron leaves. No way Dan Gilbert can afford to keep it in Cleveland with a half-full building, not for what he paid for the team. Even in Lebron's first couple of seasons the attendance was only about 70% most nights and they were losing tens of millions. Heck, they probably lost money this year with Lebron. Gilbert is not running a charity for the goodwill of Cleveland and that sort of bleeding cannot last indefinitely.

[cavsfan_osiris]

We are going back to the dark ages of Gund Arena after LeBron leaves. How things played out this year were so devastating that I think it's possible the Cavs will eventually leave the city down the line. After LeBron leaves they will be rebuilding from rock bottom.

You want perspective? Us Cavs fans have been living a Cinderella story, and the clock just struck midnight.

[God Squad]

We are going back to the dark ages of Gund Arena after LeBron leaves. How things played out this year were so devastating that I think it's possible the Cavs will eventually leave the city down the line. After LeBron leaves they will be rebuilding from rock bottom.

You want perspective? Us Cavs fans have been living a Cinderella story, and the clock just struck midnight.

Agreed. Lebron to be honest was prolly the best thing the cavs have had in a while. They had the home grown All-Star. I was thinking the same thing about the cavs potentially losing their team. Cause to be honest without Lebron ticket sales are going to blow. Dan Ferry is gonna be in some trouble. I don't know where they'd move the team though. I hope they dont.

[Baseline Runner]

Dan Gilbert made a gamble on the bet that Lebron would stay here for another decade if they won the championship this year. If Lebron leaves that gamble will have failed miserably and Gilbert will be stuck with a bag of potato chips. It doesn't necessarily mean that the Cavs will move to any other city (doesn't the league have to approve of that?), it just means that Gilbert's business plans didn't pan out and he lost a lot of money.

Even if Lebron leaves he did a lot to revive the sport of basketball in NE Ohio, so if the team rebuilds rapidly there is no reason to think they couldn't be a successful franchise in the future without him. The Cavs were popular in the mid-seventies, late eighties and early nineties, and they will continue to be whenever they put a good team on the court. Cleveland is too big of a sports town to neglect any of their teams unless they are just absolutely terrible like the Cavs were 10 years ago.

Also you have to remember that Gilbert is investing himself heavily in Cleveland with his Casino. The Cavs are part of a big plan in which hundreds of millions of dollars are being invested to turn downtown Cleveland into an entertainment hub, where people would go to the Cavs game and then visit the casino and vice versa. So no matter if Lebron leaves or how much money the Cavs lose in the next few years, he can't simply move the Cavs because it would scrap all of his other plans already in the works. However Lebron is a big piece of the puzzle for him as a brand and franchise to get people to come to Cleveland, and you can see how disappointed he was after that series, a lot is riding on Lebron.

[gflem]

If Lebron leaves via free agency the team will be gone like iceness said. However, if Lebron were to force a S&T (unlikely I know) it would at least bring some sort of return in the form of draft choices and some 2nd tier talent like Devin Harris from NJ, or maybe Dirk from Dallas if Cuban gets involved, maybe even Amare if Lebron wants to go there.
I am just throwing names at the wall here, but the point is the franchise doesnt necessarily have to die if Lebron goes. I think he knows that leaving through FA with no return to the Cavs will most likely kill this franchise, and I hope he cares enough to consider that when making his decision.
Also, Stern is the type that doesnt want a franchise to move on this kind of thing, it will make his league look fragile and cost it $$$$$ in the long run, so accomodating Lebron if he decides to move and saving this franchise will be of mutual importance, not to mention he has a billionaire owner who has invested heavily in the team and therefore the league.
How does Stern sell prospective owners if Gilbert gets screwed? Of course he took a risk buying the team, but if the NBA ends up like MLB, finding deep pocketed owners to buy small market teams will suddenly become extremely difficult. With the CBA negotiations upcoming it may be very ugly for everyone in the league, and if the cap doesnt survive I believe several teams wont either, so this Lebron thing will need to be neat and clean for Stern. Otherwise even he may not survive the next couple of years.

[mcaul55]

We are going back to the dark ages of Gund Arena after LeBron leaves. How things played out this year were so devastating that I think it's possible the Cavs will eventually leave the city down the line. After LeBron leaves they will be rebuilding from rock bottom.

You want perspective? Us Cavs fans have been living a Cinderella story, and the clock just struck midnight.

Man... You should be a writer, having read countless espn articles on the 'state of Lebron'. Your short post gave great perspective and left the reader (me) with a good understanding of what Lebron means to the city of Cleveland