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Gilbert's official statement was that he can't comment because league rules prohibit team executives from talking about players that are under contract with other teams.
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A lot of people are trying to compare this to Thome, and while I can kind of see it, it's pretty far from the same.
Thome actually did make comments that he was going to stay, Lebron took a pretty strong stance on not talking about his free agency other than he was going to go through it. He did throw out small clues that somewhat hinted he was going to stay, but for the most part it was clear he was going to go through the FA process.
When Thome came back, I didn't care. I stopped hating him soon after he bolted, and by the time he got his first at-bat back in Cleveland when he was with the White Sox, I didn't care. When he came back as a member of the Tribe, I still didn't really care. It was a nice story, but I thought it was nothing more than the organization trying to sell extra tickets.
I want Lebron back, but I don't want him back like that. I don't want some hobbled up former superstar who's just trying to make good so he can live in Ohio without being hated, and get his number retired into the Q.
I only want him back if he can truly help us win a championship. That's the only thing I care about. I just want to see a title before I die.
I also don't think he deserves to have his jersey retired in Cleveland, as it stands. Some people make the mistake of thinking it's automatic because you have records and numbers with the organization, or you won x amount of MVP's, etc.
I think having your number retired isn't just about the numbers and MVP's. You need that stuff, but it's also how you conduct yourself. This guy didn't even have the stones to let the organization know he was leaving until a few seconds before that debacle on ESPN, and it wasn't even him that called. I know the agents usually handle that call, but I thought his situation was a lot different and pretty unique.
Like I said, there are bridges that need to be fixed before he ever came back, but I think the only way he deserves to have his number in the rafters of the Quicken Loans Arena is if he comes back and busts his ass to try and win a championship.
As it stands, he doesn't belong up there.
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And he'd still be cheered the first time he wore the uniform again...
I'll cheer for anyone in a Cleveland uni... but IMO he only said this because he wants to improve his image...
I don't think there's any way he'll play in cleveland again.
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Quote:
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And he'd still be cheered the first time he wore the uniform again...
I'll cheer for anyone in a Cleveland uni... but IMO he only said this because he wants to improve his image...
I don't think there's any way he'll play in cleveland again.
How does he change his image, especially to those in and around Cleveland if he doesn't come back but only talks about coming back?
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He buys himself time. "Look, really, I'd love to come back in 3-4 years when my contract is up ........."
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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I don't think there's any way he'll play in cleveland again.
I'm with you here. I don't know that he cares about his image as much as we want him to. I think he was asked a tough question from the media, and he took the high road. When asked, if he said "No, I will never play in Cleveland again." It makes him look like an ingrate. He took the high road.
Sorry for doing this, but I have to comment: Cleveland was a different city with him here. Not for all of the obvious reasons (economy, attendance,etc) But for the first time ever, this wasn't a Browns town. Ever since game 5 in Detroit, this town was obsessed with Lebron. I remember listening to sports talk radio in 07, 08,09, and 10, and for the first time, throughout the year, the conversation focused more on the Cavs than it did the Browns. I loved having him here. Whether he wanted to be or not, we anointed him the first citizen of our city. We all remember the mural of him on the side of that building. - He was everything to many of us as far as sports go.
However, we never bothered to ask ourselves if he wanted to be that big.
My best friend (smartest guy I know) brought up a good point the other day when he noted that as a high schooler, Lebron was always the best player on the floor, but was never an outspoken leader. Here in Cleveland, he was the best player, but not as outspoken as some of the other notable basketball legends. He liked playing, he liked winning, but as his career here developed, he became less outspoken about the team. He earned two MVP's because he was unquestionably the best player in the NBA. He accepted them in as humble as he could, back at high school. Many of us thought he did this out of loyalty to Akron, but maybe he did this because high school basketball isn't as big of a spectacle as NBA basketball, maybe he felt more comfortable accepting the MVP in a place more humble than the Q.
Now he has what he wants. He isn't the best player on his team, and he is comfortable with that. He is still the best overall athlete on the court, but not the outspoken leader that he never wanted to be. He doesn't mind being labeled a "sidekick" because thats all he ever wanted to be. - And there is nothing wrong with that. The Miami Heat are playing great basketball and it looks like they will win the title this year.
Would I take him back? In a heartbeat. I loved watching him play and I loved bragging about his accomplishments to all of my old cronies from the Marines who live throughout the country.
Will he ever come back? I don't think so, but, if Kyrie Irving becomes the premiere point guard in the league we may see Lebron here to support him. - The same way he does D. Wade in Miami - a role that he has wanted all along.
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j/c Here's the ego if the idiot. "Of his return, James said: “I think it would be great. It would be fun to play in front of these fans again. I had a lot fun times in my seven years here. … I’m here as a Miami Heat player, and I’m happy where I am now, but I don’t rule that out in no sense. “And if I decide to come back, hopefully the fans will accept me.” If HE decides to come back? Honestly? The guy just doesn't understand. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-wojnarowski_lebron_james_opt_out_cavaliers_gilbert_021712
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LeBron James’ sly campaign to return to Cleveland followed a private message to Dan Gilbert By Adrian Wojnarowski LeBron James came to Cleveland with an unmistakable mission this week, the beginning of a campaign to soften the fans and ownership on his desire to return to the Cavaliers in 2014. Free agency is forever on his mind, and James is determined to make his hometown want him as much he wants it again. This was no accident, no misspeaking, nothing out of context. Before mentioning Thursday his openness to playing in Cleveland again, James months ago had an emissary or two carry that message to the Cavaliers’ front office, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. His camp wanted the message delivered to owner Dan Gilbert, sources said, but so far, the response has been silence. The Heat play the Cavaliers on Friday night in Cleveland, and yes, LeBron has manufactured the drama of his return again. James can’t opt out of his contract until after the 2013-2014 season, but he understands that the Cavaliers would have to make a decision to hold back on their rebuild, preserve cap space, and wait on him all over again. He has to convince Gilbert to make the leap of faith, and that includes first working over the fans. Of his return, James said: “I think it would be great. It would be fun to play in front of these fans again. I had a lot fun times in my seven years here. … I’m here as a Miami Heat player, and I’m happy where I am now, but I don’t rule that out in no sense. “And if I decide to come back, hopefully the fans will accept me.” And then, Friday morning, James tried to play the other side: “The fans of Miami shouldn’t be worried about anything at this point.” At this point. Make no mistake: James will need to make this easy for Gilbert, make it a public mandate. It promises to be a delicate dance for Gilbert. After all that, how do you welcome him back. And, well, how do you tell that talent, that kind of winning and profit, no? “He has started to lay the groundwork, and he’s waiting to see what Dan Gilbert’s reaction to it is,” one league source with direct knowledge told Yahoo! Sports. Here we go again, yes. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio reported a month ago that James had expressed unhappiness in Miami, and that a return was on his mind. Different dynamics are working here too. James loves to be in perpetual recruitment, always wanting to be wanted. LeBron is the MVP of the NBA this season, and yet, he isn’t the story. And he likes to be the story. In the middle of Linsanity, James made a bid for some bold headlines – and that worked. It always works for him. James’ doubts on his choice of Miami started as soon as his cable television show ended July 8, 2010, sources said, and it wasn’t until Gilbert released that hellacious public statement that James knew fully that he would leave Cleveland behind. Cleveland’s reaction still haunts him, and he never wanted to be hated there. Those who know Heat president Pat Riley believe he has to be livid with the past 24 hours, because loyalty is everything to him. The Heat stood with James through the public evisceration of a season, the NBA Finals collapse, and, with three more trips to the playoffs under this contract still awaiting him, it is beyond belief James is publicly discussing his next stop in free agency. James’ camp hasn’t heard a word out of Gilbert, nor will they. Under NBA tampering rules, Gilbert isn’t allowed to engage them on the matter. Gilbert hired a private law firm and spent several hundred thousand dollars to investigate what he believed to be tampering by Riley and the Heat when James was a Cavalier. He never made any of those findings – if there were any – public, or turned them over to the league office. Gilbert hasn’t bothered to weigh the pros and cons of such a historic reconciliation, sources said, largely because it’s well over two years away. Things change. How James feels tomorrow could be entirely different than how he feels today. Within the Heat, they have to wonder about his investment with them, his commitment. As one league executive briefed on this matter said, “At least with Cleveland, this didn’t start until the last year, or year and a half. He has a long way to go there. “ Whatever his desire to win championships, LeBron James lives for the recruitment, lives to be wanted elsewhere. That never changes, and it promises to start the hysteria to 2014 free agency all over again. LeBron James comes home on Friday, and yes, he may yet come home again for good. From Yahoo! Sports Sounds like it's more for real than some of you think. Adrian Wojnarowski is one of the most respected and reputable NBA writers out there. I can't believe some of this. I have always said he will probably be back, but if this is true, wow. Speechless.
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After the fiasco on ESPN I can't believe fans of this team would welcome this moron back.
(disclaimer) I could care less about the Cavs or basketball for that matter.
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What you missed in that article (same one I cited I believe), was James saying "If I decide to come back....)
Does he honestly think he's in charge?
Typical of the pampered from grade school on to the pros mentality.
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After the fiasco on ESPN I can't believe fans of this team would welcome this moron back.
(disclaimer) I could care less about the Cavs or basketball for that matter.
As bad as that was, I believe in second chances. The guy did us wrong, but he didn't do anything horrific. He made a mistake.
If he came back while still in his prime, said that he was sorry, vowed to work hard, play under byron scott's rules, and make true on his promise for a championship, that wouldn't be good enough for you?
I don't need the guy on his hands and knees begging for forgiveness, but I would like to see him swallow his pride and admit that he screwed up. Pour out his feelings.
I'm believe in second chances. Some of us here have probably been given a second chance at something.
I'm different than a lot of sports fans, I get over things quickly. It's not best it to sit and dwell about things. I'm also about my teams having the best chance to win, and I think despite his failures over the last 2 years, he's still one of the best players in the league.
Hate is a strong word, even outside of the real world and in our little sports world. I hate the Steelers, I hate Ben Roethlisburger, I hate bandwagon Steeler fans, I hate ESPN for the way they treat us Cleveland fans over the last 3 or 4 years. I don't hate Lebron.
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LeBum threw us under the bus. We won't forget that.
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web page Michael Arace commentary: Once again, James toys with fans The plan this morning was to talk about how the Cleveland Cavaliers have transited to a new place, a place where they are the Cavs again, and not a one-man band or a soap opera. The plan was to talk about how they are tightly knit and well-coached, and how they have a budding star at point guard, who turns 20 next month. The plan was to talk about how Anderson Varejao’s broken wrist probably scuttles their playoff aspirations — which is a shame, but it does not change the fact that they are headed in the right direction. That was the plan before LeBron James, that spoiled and needful man-child, added to his legend. There went the plan. Last season, it was a big deal when James and the Miami Heat visited Cleveland, the city he spurned with The Decision. The wound felt by Cavs fans was still fresh. The sulfurous specter of the deed still hung in Quicken Loans Arena. The national media flew in to describe the whiff of it. This season, as Kyrie Irving has made it to the rim and the Cavs have flirted with the playoff line, a new identity began taking form. The fans began looking ahead. I do not know if healing is the right word, but at least Clevelanders were no longer contemplating the jagged scab on their collective back. Last night, the Heat once again wended through The Q. The day previous, James and his mates practiced there and met the media. James could not help but pick at the scar, and scratch. James was asked if he could ever see himself playing for the Cavs again. He said: “I don’t know. I think it would be great. It would be fun to play in front of these fans again.…Y ou can’t predict the future, and hopefully I continue to stay healthy. I’m here as a Miami Heat player and I’m happy where I am now, but I don’t rule that out in no sense. And if I decide to come back, hopefully the fans will accept me.” Of all the things he could have said, he said that. In one sense, James was asked a question and he answered it. Is that a problem? Yes it is, on two fronts. It was the wrong thing to say to Cleveland, where James toyed with fans’ hearts and played with their loyalty. It is tasteless and cruel for him to do so again. It buttresses the notion that he is a narcissistic jerk who cannot comprehend that he might have done his adopted hometown wrong. Cavs fans no longer adore James. For some, hatred still festers. For most, they are moving on. James should understand all of this and just get over himself. Maybe, he should concentrate on winning a title with Miami. Was not that the point? As James made a clumsy, selfish attempt to assuage Clevelanders, he raised the hackles of Heat fans at the same time. They came off the beach to watch James disappear against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals last summer (just as Cavs fans watched him quit against the Boston Celtics in the playoffs the year previous). They want to think that the sight of the world’s most gifted player fading at the most inopportune moment is an aberration. They want to believe that this self-made trio of Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and James is ready to deliver on the promise of multiple titles. Now James is pining for a return to Cleveland, if folks there will have him? James was doing damage control after the morning shoot-around yesterday. “I answered truthfully,” James told reporters. “But it’s all about this season for me, and it’s all about playing with this Miami Heat team and trying to win an NBA championship. The fans of Miami shouldn’t be worried about anything at this point.” That is what he should have said in the first place — unless, of course, he is secretly pining to play with Jeremy Lin in New York. So it goes with James. There is so much to like about the man himself, and his game. You just can’t trust him. Michael Arace is a sports reporter for The Dispatch. marace@dispatch.com
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J/C (Although it was a good column.)
I don't usually dabble in hoops threads, but in this case, I will. The cynic in me says this whole fiasco is about two things: 1. Nike selling more stuff in Northeast Ohio and around the country, and 2. Lebron James leapfrogging Jeremy Lin into the lead story on Sportscenter, and the headlines of sports pages around the country. The two objectives are not mutually exclusive. Its a cheap, cheesy publicity stunt designed to rehabilitate James' image in his home region, and around the country. Good PR is good for business.
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The writer brings up some good points. I tend to believe James, that he would want to come back in 2014. Wade will be 32 going on 33, by that time, and the cavs would probably be in a great position to make another run, if they added a player like James ability. If I were Gilbert I wouldn't recruit him, he would have to let the cavs know he was interested in coming back, and that he wants to make things right. I think James had this thing planned out for a long time. He couldn't pass up the chance to play with his friends in bosh, and wade, and what better story to write, than to come back to cleveland to try to win a championship for them as well. He just didn't think the backlash of him leaving would be so severe.
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Damn I can't remain silent...lol
Could u imagine this team with Irving and whatever we land in this upcoming draft...Be it Barnes or Lamb...Gilchrest...Whoever...And anything we get from a "V" move...Sessions trade etc...
And then bring James back...I'd bet we go on a Jordan led Bulls type run...
Go Browns!!!
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DnD.. LeBum could have had that! He threw it away!
All he had to do was be patient, he would have had the rings and a city that loved him. But no.. he has to toss that away. The writer is correct.. he wants to be constantly recruited. He IS that insecure.
He blew it period.
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Quote:
And then bring James back...I'd bet we go on a Jordan led Bulls type run...
I would assume by that point LBJ would have figured out how to finish a series... 
<><
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And then bring James back...I'd bet we go on a Jordan led Bulls type run...
I would assume by that point LBJ would have figured out how to finish a series...
Exactly. I want no part of the bum. He wants to win yeah but he doesnt want to be the MAN. Alot of people forget history, he forced the Cavs to make trades trying to appease him instead of building the team by only signing 3 year contracts.
I think it was great that he got boo'd loudly last night every time he touched the ball. I think he got the message. Your no longer welcome here LeBron.
Last night he had some dumb comment on his way out the door that Cleveland fans only like players wearing wine and gold well DUHHH. Oh and if he did come back I would lose all respect for Gilbert and Boo him still.
Listen if he cant win in Miami with 3 all-stars why would I want him cluttering up a roster spot here? Hes a regular season warrior playoff whimper.
Cleveland says "We're leaving your talents in South Beach" 
If you need 3 years to be a winner you got here 2 years to early. Get it done Browns.
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Quote:
DnD.. LeBum could have had that! He threw it away!
All he had to do was be patient, he would have had the rings and a city that loved him. But no.. he has to toss that away. The writer is correct.. he wants to be constantly recruited. He IS that insecure.
He blew it period.
Lebron may come back to the Cavs, Dan Gilbert might take him back while swallowing a bit of pride, but I think it's pretty obvious Lebron will never be recruited by the Cavs. They aren't going to be him to return. The Cavs would probably love to have him back, paired with Irving and maybe another lotto pick, but they don't need him.
I think it's a great situation for the Cavs. They don't need to act the way they did in July 2010 when we all went through that ridiculous process.
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LeBron? Almost Laughable! Feb 17, 2012 -- 11:17pm By Michael Reghi This we've come to know about LeBron James: His quest to be universally-loved and regarded as an iconic global figure who transcends mere 'sport' remains deeply entrenched. It’s so deeply entrenched that when criticized loudly -- not just in Cleveland, but the world over -- following his July 2010 departure from the Cavaliers, James reaction was complete disbelief! How could those that so applauded his every move now vilify him for his 'decision' to abruptly leave his home region and play for a stronger team? Ring true, LeBron? Of course, it does. To that end, what better way to foster 'damage control', in the ultimate effort to win back those who have deserted him -- unjustly, in his mind – than to utter the words that Clevelanders will gravitate toward: “I had a lot of fun in my seven years here. You can't predict the future, and if I decide to to come back, hopefully the fans will accept me.” I visualize your heart strings being tugged as I write! You, Cleveland fan, are far too astute to allow James to manipulate you this way. I ask you to not just reflect on your feelings of betrayal in July of 2010, but to also remember that he had every opportunity to leave the Cavaliers franchise in a manner that could have potentially avoided the disaster that resulted in the 65-loss bottom out in 2010-2011. Yes, he had the right to leave via free agency. Yet, after being so empowered, so enabled and so damn emboldened by Dan Gilbert, the entire Cavaliers organization and the region that adored him, LeBron didn't even have the decency to let the owner and organization know that he wouldn't be returning. That would have allowed the Cavaliers’ deep thinkers to make some 'decisions' of their own. Did he 'owe' them that? No. Would it have been the 'right' thing to do? Damn right it would have! Look, I've stated many times on the ESPN Cleveland airwaves, and on other platforms, that James is the most brilliantly-gifted basketball talent I've ever been around on a daily basis. He has impeccable skills, complete understanding of what it takes to succeed and a powerful thirst to do so. I bought in completely from 2003-2006. I had the distinct pleasure of calling every game he played, and seeing virtually every practice, and shoot-around he participated in with the Cavaliers during his first four seasons in the NBA. I wish I had a nickel for each time James would proclaim, "Reghi, I'm going to show everyone I'm the ultimate winner, the ultimate champion." I believed him implicitly. I never doubted him for a moment. But as marvelous as James is talent wise, he’s not what he advertised himself to be. He wants you, and the world to believe he is, but he isn't. He's simply a tremendously-gifted athlete, who hasn't figured out that with the world wide adulation as the best comes the necessity to be the linchpin. Looking for ways to join your perceived equals, and form an alliance that 'allows you' to become a champion isn't the same, young fella. The perception is, and always will be, that James hooked up with guys he doubted he could beat, so he went and joined them instead. Sure, he can try to sell it as subjugating his ego. But it’s actually an admission that James’ constitution isn't as solid as he so desperately tried to sell it for those seven seasons in Cleveland. Do I want LeBron James back as a Cavalier, today, tomorrow, or thereafter? Just as I've told you repeatedly, I wish no ill will or malice on the young man. But as a competitor, I would relish the opportunity to defeat him every chance I received. I say to LeBron, “You left this city, telling all of us, by your actions, that you didn't want to be 'teammates' with any of us any longer. The weight, evidently, was too burdensome to bear. All good, young fella. That's your call. Now here's my call: I don't want to line up and compete with you for something substantial ever again. I can't trust your accountability ever again. And I cannot accept the fact that you told me I'm not good enough to win, so you had to bolt.” Life 'decisions' sometimes have hard consequences attached to them. Championships for LeBron James? Guarantees of such, by returning to Cleveland? Come talk to me this June, and each and every June thereafter. Please, don't fall prey to James’ words of endearment on a trip back to the city where he's trying desperately to get you back on board again. web page
You know my love will Not Fade Away.........
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Lebron is having a hard time living with the choices he made. His inner conscience is eating him alive. Not that he left but how he did it and the consequences of going from one of the more adored sports figures trying to raise a city up to being second fiddle in a town full of transients. He has a hard time being booed wherever he goes and might even miss the values of the Midwest region that take care of their own.
I would rather win a championship without Lebron than to ever see him come back here. I don't even believe he is sincere, because the guy is a fraud and cares about himself and his image more than anything. I think this is more about him than it is about wanting to be here. Don't buy it and no thanks Lebron. Have a nice life in South Beach..even after the talent is gone.
"Going from 4-12 to 6-10 isn't good enough. I believe we are going to be better than that. We're going to be a lot better than that." - Mike Holmgren (3/15/12)
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It's weird, because I have this weird daydream thing every once in a while where he and Gilbert planned this ...... the Cavaliers would tank ....... grab 3 or 4 high 1st round picks, plus a bunch of extra picks ....... then Lebron would return with this cast of excellent players all around him.........
He would almost have to leave to get enough high pick type players, because none of the high end premium free agents would come to Cleveland.
The strange thing is that it could, conceivably, happen. It won't ...... but it could.
Weird.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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I wrote this on another forum after Game 5 of the Finals last season. It seems fitting in this thread (profanity removed): Quote:
I don't hate LeBron as a person, as I've seen him in public (aside from going to NBA games) exactly once. I do hate that he spent his last two seasons in Cleveland taking a giant crap on the team and then bolted without a courtesy flush. I do hate that his decision to go play for a team located in sunny southern Florida is somehow synonymous in the minds of the sports media with my city being a dump (it isn't). I hate that, as a fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers (because basketball is a team sport, and I don't give a crap about individual accomplishments if they don't mean a thing for the team), if I express these sentiments I'm told to quit whining, to shut the hell up and get over it, that nobody wants to live in your horrible city, that I should be grateful to have ever had a player as great as LeBron James play for my team, that no wonder he left...look how bad they were this past year without him (one player from last season's roster played the entire season for the Cavs this year...JJ freaking Hickson).
I hate that I'm told all of this by bandwagon fans, by people who don't know what its like to have loyalty to a city and a team. Even worse, I hate that I'm told this by people who don't have a rooting interest in any team. "I just love the game."
I take plenty of enjoyment in seeing a guy tell the team I root for that they're not good enough, and then go play with a team that he has essentially handpicked and experience failure, as an individual if not as a team. Miami may not have been in the Finals without LeBron, but they've lost two pivotal games (and nearly lost a third) as a direct result of his inability to be what he's professed to be: the King. The Chosen One. Instead, LeBron James is just hoping to get through the fourth quarters of these past few games as quickly as possible so he can go and guzzle the bottle of Maalox thats sitting in his locker, so that he doesn't crap himself literally the way he has been figuratively (not a metaphor, by the way). It's shallow and catty and vindictive as hell, but it makes me smile.
I'm also bewildered at how such a physical freak of nature with such amazing talent and high IQ for the game he plays could willingly be so passive and uninvolved. Maybe he really does not have the mental fortitude to handle it. Whoever it was that posted that little nugget from Colin Cowherd [about LeBron being too worried about being liked by everyone]...that was nothing Cavs fans haven't known for four years now. He's too worried about how he's perceived to become the stone cold killer that the greats before him were, and that his #1 teammate is. Maybe that will change, but I doubt it.
But I don't hate LeBron James.
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Legend
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Legend
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Noone likes the WAY he did, aka "The Decision" obviously...
But would have picking a different team (Not The Cavs) made a difference?
What if he had said "I'm taking my talents to Madison Square Garden, to bring back basketball to NY!"
Sure he's teaming up with Amare, but IMO it's not even close to the same thing.
I remember the days before The Decision when Bosh stated he was teaming up with Wade, and then the morning of, Tim Legler breaking the story that Lebron was probably going to join them...
In a weird way, I can almost picture myself rooting for James to win a title had he gone to The Knicks, because he didn't go there to make it easier, he went there to "save" NY Basketball...
Then I realize, that would of never happened, because James can't do it by himself, nor does he want to even try...
Am I the only one that pronounces hyperbole "Hyper-bowl" instead of "hy-per-bo-le"?
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Hall of Famer
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Quote:
But would have picking a different team (Not The Cavs) made a difference?
No, it was all in the way he did it.
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 12,065
Legend
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Legend
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 12,065 |
Quote:
Quote:
But would have picking a different team (Not The Cavs) made a difference?
No, it was all in the way he did it.
So if he had done the Decision and picked Cleveland, You'd still be upset? Or is that ok?
Am I the only one that pronounces hyperbole "Hyper-bowl" instead of "hy-per-bo-le"?
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,186
Dawg Talker
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Dawg Talker
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I'm not upset with this guy. It's not like he is family or a friend. A lot of people in this country spurn an employer in their lifetime. He lacked class, and respect, but life goes on. But if he picked cleveland, the other teams fans had nothing invested like the cavs fans did. So of course they wouldn't be as mad as the people in cleveland.
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You had that one locked and loaded, nice.
Of course I wouldn't have been upset that he chose to stay with Cleveland, and I would've still rooted for him.
On the other hand I would've still thought he handled the entire thing poorly. Going AWOL for the month of June leading up to the decision really made it look even worse.
So no it still wouldn't have been ok, and I would've looked at him in a much different light than I did 2 months prior to the decision. I just wouldn't have been as angry, of course.
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Joined: Sep 2006
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Legend
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Legend
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I would have been perfectly fine if he had done that whole thing and picked Cleveland. Would have been a nice boost for the city, especially after the way Cleveland, the city, and the fans were portrayed through the whole thing leading up to the decision. It was like we weren't good enough to have a superstar that big and didn't deserve him. Then when he made his decision, blowhards at bspn made us out to be horrible fans with a racist owner.
Nah, I woulda had no problem with it. Would have been a giant middle finger to the haters.
I do get a kick out of Bulls fans here that hate Lebron and think "they're with me" on the whole hating Lebron thing (even though I don't).
Pshh, please. If he had picked Chicago instead of Miami, you'd have your Lebron jersey on right now talking about how I need to just get over it.
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 12,065
Legend
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Legend
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Posts: 12,065 |
Bill Simmons wrote in his Book of Basketball, that he thought Lebron using the Decision to pick Cleveland would have been one of the best moments in sports.
No I don't need New York, I don't need Miami, I'm taking Cleveland, OH and we're doing this thing..
But it all goes back to the fact that, Lebron can't do it by himself.
I thought peopel burning his jersey almost immediately was a bit of a stretch, but almost right away you can see his reaction to it, he tries to play it off, but you can see it on his face "Wait, why do they hate me now?"
If the Big 3 in Miami were really smart, they would of each taken like 5 mil a year, and used the rest of the cap go and find some other good players, But I doubt anyone thought that far ahead...
Wait you mean having a 99 overall team rating in NBA2k11 doesn't mean we win the title?
Am I the only one that pronounces hyperbole "Hyper-bowl" instead of "hy-per-bo-le"?
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All Pro
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All Pro
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Posts: 832 |
What else was LeBron supposed to say? No matter how he answers that question, it is national news. Media Relations 101... he has to say that he enjoyed his time in Cleveland and would consider returning at some undisclosed time in the distant future if unnamed circumstances were in correct alignment. How is this news? Quote:
Source
CLEVELAND (AP) -- LeBron James says he wouldn't rule out playing again for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Back in the city where he began his NBA career, Miami's All-Star forward said Thursday he could see himself playing in Cleveland, and if he decided to return he hopes "the fans would accept me." James played seven seasons for the Cavs before leaving as a free agent in July 2010. He acknowledged that he "made a mistake" but says he has moved on and is enjoying his time with the Heat.
James says he has not made an attempt to patch up his relationship with Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, who was harshly critical of the two-time MVP.
James says he could see a time where he and Gilbert make up.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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DawgTalkers.net
Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum LeBron not ruled out playing for
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