He's quite literally changing the face of one of the largest cities in the United States, and he did it with complete and total disregard of human emotion. Of course we let ourselves get too attached, but this area is hurting financially a bit more than most, and we were pretty desperate for a beacon of hope and positivity. Excuse us for feeling a little down at the moment. If I did own a LeBron jersey, I would set fire to it too, because it's not like I would be wearing it anymore, and I don't think a homeless person can stay warm in a basketball jersey.
I never realized how emotional Clevelanders could be....though I guess if your last superstar before LeBron was Jim Brown, you might get a little worked up, too...LOL..
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
The thing thats funny about all of this is that the Cav's actually completed a sign and trade with the Heat. The Cav's get a whole mess of draft picks, kinda funny since Lebron was a free agent. It seems this is standard in the NBA as it happened in the Amare and Bosh deals. They should just call it sign and trade period, instead of free agency, since thats what it seems like.
The Cavs organization is not blameless here. They had a dipstick as a coach, one that Dan Gilbert wanted to fire last year but Danny Ferry talked him out of it. And they let Lebron and his peeps have the run of the place, from the suites at the arena to the charter plane. So Dan Gilbert's letter falls a little flat because of that.
But some of what he said is spot on: LeJerk couldn't be bothered to return a text or phone call, and he had to create a "look at me" spectacle on national TV. He also hamstrung the Cavs' ability to sign free agents by making a 3 year deal a few years ago instead of what Kevin Durant just did, re-upping for 5. For that reason, players wouldn't commit to Cleveland because Lebron wouldn't. Just last year, Trevor Ariza and a couple others cited Lebron's refusal to commit as one of their reasons for declining the Cavs' offers. He never lifted a finger to help get players to Cleveland, but there he was today, greeting Derek Fisher at the airport.
I've been wondering all day: if Delonte West and Lebron's mom have a fun baby, do they name him LeLonte or DeBron?
Ron Burgundy
Buying Vintage, all sports. Buying Woody Hayes, Les Horvath, Vic Janowicz, and Jesse Owens autographed items
OK LeBron its GO TIME! I play you one on one for all the glory. Meet me down at the schoolyard with the chain nets and we will see who rocks! The Slammah
Oh please...it's not the owner's fault and it's certainly not the fan's fault for reacting the way they did - they had every right to react accordingly as good sports fans do...and it's not anyone else's fault about LeBron, except for LeBron.
Bottom line, to sum up the event, it's quite simple...it's LeBron having the "grass is greener on the other side" mentality and ya know what?...often it ain't. I think one day this season or sometime in the future, LeBron may be sitting alone in his hotel room and saying to himself, "What the F did I do?"...because he had all the fame and fortune anyone could ask for in Cleveland and it was his home. Sometimes ya don't apprecdiate what ya have until it's gone.
But of course sometimes the grass is greener on the other side, and he'll be getting to play with his two buddies, he'll become friends with Pat Riley whom he seems to admire, certainly he has a better chance to get a ring in Miami, and maybe it had a little something to do with the warm weather. Sometimes human beings just yearn for a change, any change...but in my opinion considering where he was and what he had, I believe after all is written, he will say he made a mistake leaving Cleveland.
1. First and foremost, it's all about being robbed of a chance to see a player try to reach "immortal" status in NBA history. Because that is off the table now. LeBron has regulated himself to role of "supporting cast" on Dwayne Wade's team. Forget comparisions to MJ, Bird, Magic, and Kobe, and start drumming up comparisons to Pippen, Gasol, and any other 2nd best player on championship teams. I wanted to see him take on the challenge of taking HIS team (whether it was Cleveland, Chicago, New York, or New Jersey) to the top multiple times. He cowered away from that challenge. He felt he didn't have the stones to be THE MAN to carry a team, and took the easy way out.
2. Yet, while shying away from being the leader of a team, he has the audacity to have a 1-hour special dedicated to him, and his "decision". And uses the guise of a strong relationship with his mother and his charitable work to try to hide the fact that is was sticking the knife in the back of Cleveland. He wants to be a "global icon", yet isn't even the biggest icon in the city he is moving to. Pretty big ego for a guy that basically just said "I don't want the pressure of leading a team by myself".
3. The whole charade of Wade, Bosh, and James holding a week-long set of meetings with various teams, holding all of them hostage from pursuing other free agents, and the whole time, they already knew what their decision was. Such a joke.
4. The introduction in Miami arena for those 3 guys on Friday night was appalling. Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen came to Boston, held a 30-minute press conference and went on their way to start working for a title. He can say all he wants about winning titles, but LeBron is WAY more interested in putting on a show than winning. He doesn't know how to win. Other than the 48 Special in Detoit, he's never stepped up to the plate when his team has needed him most.
I could go on, but by now half of you have stopped reading yet another LeBron-bashing post. But he brought it on himself. He is so intent on building his "brand", yet did more to tarnish that brand in one week that I ever thought was imaginable. His "approval rating" went from probably a 90 to a 30 in the course of a week. He's public enemy number 1 all over the country now. Wonder if he thinks it was worth it when he's getting loudly booed at MSG this year, after they ballwashed him for the last 2 years every time he played there.
I would have really liked to cheer for him, as he pushes to average a triple double this season (I have no doubt he can do it now - he'll be forced to pass and rebound more than ever before). I would have liked to see another team emerge that can stop Kobe from winning a 6th title. But not this Heat team. I can't stress enough how much I hate Kobe and the Lakers, but if they meet Miami in the Finals this year, I will be rooting for the Lakers, and that's saying something.
The NBA, and to a lesser degree other professional sports, reflect the overall decline in moral values in Western society.
The Roman Empire, after ruling the world for 400 years, saw a similar moral decline. Even in its final days, people filled the Coliseum to watch the gladiators.
If Lebron really was the quitter and a-hole they are making him out to be in Cleveland then why did they want to keep him so bad?
well Gilbert is bent because the net worth of his franchise just plummeted significantly. While he has some kind of vested emotional interest in his team, it's not like Gilbert is some long suffering Cleveland sports fan. He's from Detroit and he's a businessman foremeost who wanted to create an entertainment utopia around C-town with casinos and the like. I'm sure he's upset with how LeBron kept him and his franchise in the dark, and that's what most Cleveland fans should be upset about because I honestly don't think LeBron ever planned on coming back, and he set the franchise back at least five years. The Cavs are going to have to let the current veteran contracts run out and obviously no top FAs are coming anytime soon. The Cavs now have to tear it down and hope to nab a Durant or Duncan type in the draft. Everyone involved has a right to be upset, especially considering the state of the Indians and Browns, the Cavs were C-town's only hope....but it's way over the top. I mean LeBron was showing up to Indians games in Yankee gear, Browns games in Cowboy gear. He showed himself to be the country's foremost front-runner. The warning signs were there. The same signs the Heat fans will be seeing when LeBron has his agent incorporate an out clause after three years so he can bolt to the Brooklyn Nets.
1. First and foremost, it's all about being robbed of a chance to see a player try to reach "immortal" status in NBA history. Because that is off the table now. LeBron has regulated himself to role of "supporting cast" on Dwayne Wade's team. Forget comparisions to MJ, Bird, Magic, and Kobe, and start drumming up comparisons to Pippen, Gasol, and any other 2nd best player on championship teams. I wanted to see him take on the challenge of taking HIS team (whether it was Cleveland, Chicago, New York, or New Jersey) to the top multiple times. He cowered away from that challenge. He felt he didn't have the stones to be THE MAN to carry a team, and took the easy way out. >>
I said something like this a few days ago. Will that championship still feel as good knowing he had to piggyback with 2 other superstars to finally get one?
<< <i>I said something like this a few days ago. Will that championship still feel as good knowing he had to piggyback with 2 other superstars to finally get one? >>
Gonna go out on a limb and say yes. Rarely can one man be solely responsible for winning a championship. Usually, a team needs two top-flight players to take it to that next level. Lebron ain't dumb. Unless Cleveland was going to make a big play, he wasn't getting a ring there.
Heck, for all that talk in the owner's letter about redoubling their efforts to bring home a championship, why didn't he do that a couple years ago and pair Lebron up with somebody that'd make him think, "Man, I ain't leavin' here, we got this."?
<<< said something like this a few days ago. Will that championship still feel as good knowing he had to piggyback with 2 other superstars to finally get one? >>>
He'll convince himself that it does. Fact is, winning one in Cleveland would have been 100x sweeter, but he didn't want to stick it out to find out.
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
It was and is very strange the way LeBron played in the last two playoff games this past spring.
He appeared to be completely disinterested. His facial expression and body language conveyed an "I do not care" attitude.
Speculation has been that he found out DeLonte West had hooked up with his mother and that he found out about it before the second to last game.
Maybe that was the reason he did not play well.
Maybe it was some other reason, including disagreements with the team/management/ownership.
At 25 he is still very young. Young people make decisions that they would never make after they have spent many years being an adult and adult responsibilities. He also has been pampered and catered to since middle school, if not elementary school. That will mess you up and give you a self centered point of view.
His TV show of last Thursday was horrible. It smacked of "its all about me" and slapped Cleveland, Akron and Ohio in the face on national TV. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I wonder how his career will go from this point forward? Will he step up and be the leader of the Miami Heat [the "alpha male"]; or will he be content to be Dwayne Wade's side kick?
If both Wade and LeBron have a psychological make up to where each has to be the "top dog" on the team, I can see conflict arising between them in the coming years with each one wanting/demanding the ball in crunch time.
It seems like the best of the best players in the NBA sign on with one team and stay with that team for their entire careers, or at best play on two teams [Jerry West, Wilt, Kareem, Elgin Baylor, Havilecheck, Dr. J, Ewing, Olajawon, Magic, Bird, Jordan, Malone, Stockton, Robinson, Duncan, Kobe], instead of franchise hopping [Shaq].
I wonder if LeBron envies Kobe's career path [minus his legal troubles in Colorado]. Specifically he played during his younger years on a team with a dominant center [Shaq] and had success winning championships with Shaq while he was in his ealry 20's. Then came a split with Shaq leaving and Kobe becoming the face of the franchise. Continued hard work by Kobe and having complimenatry players around him have lead to Kobe winning two more championships with his as the unquestioned top dog on the team.
Next season should have some interesting drama, with the league and TV nextworks touting Miami and the next big thing.
Now some stories are emerging about LeJerk being, well, a jerk. Prima donna behavior when the cameras aren't around. And smokin' weed.........with nookstresses
Ron Burgundy
Buying Vintage, all sports. Buying Woody Hayes, Les Horvath, Vic Janowicz, and Jesse Owens autographed items
[Now some stories are emerging about LeJerk being, well, a jerk. Prima donna behavior when the cameras aren't around. And smokin' weed.........with nookstresses
A megastar acting obnoxiously with women on the side??? Say it isn't so!
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
I know that this is tough for Cavs' fans. The organization did not do enough to make them a championship contender. Yes, they won a ton of regular season games; but that team was not built for the playoffs. When they signed Shaq I said now they are really showing me that they're not serious about winning. Shaq's done and can't play D anymore. The Cavs relied on Lebron to have superhuman efforts to win playoff games. If Kobe was on the Cavs they would be looking silly. Lebron was required to put up near monster triple double games to win. The franchise asked too much of him. I remember when they played the Spurs for the title-----It was all Lebron versus the Spurs. That should have been a wake up call to the organization that they were close but needed to make some more moves. Yes, Jamison is a decent player but hardly any playoff success on his resume.
Just to add: Miami is going to have a tough time winning the title. The big 3 and nothing else. They will not match up well with Orlando and Boston let alone the Lakers. In 2 years the dominant team will be Oklahoma City.
<< <i> Just to add: Miami is going to have a tough time winning the title. The big 3 and nothing else. They will not match up well with Orlando and Boston let alone the Lakers. In 2 years the dominant team will be Oklahoma City.
<< <i>I lolerd for hours though when he said the Cavs WILL WIN before LeBron...Still laughing acually. But yea, LBJ DID just ruin his "legacy" IMO... >>
Hey Mauer fan... close your eyes and imagine Joe Mauer going to the Yankees... yeah... it tastes that bad.
EDIT TO ADD: While doing it on his own ESPN 1-hour special, showing no remorse for Minnesota.
<< <i>I know that this is tough for Cavs' fans. The organization did not do enough to make them a championship contender. Yes, they won a ton of regular season games; but that team was not built for the playoffs. When they signed Shaq I said now they are really showing me that they're not serious about winning. Shaq's done and can't play D anymore. The Cavs relied on Lebron to have superhuman efforts to win playoff games. If Kobe was on the Cavs they would be looking silly. Lebron was required to put up near monster triple double games to win. The franchise asked too much of him. I remember when they played the Spurs for the title-----It was all Lebron versus the Spurs. That should have been a wake up call to the organization that they were close but needed to make some more moves. Yes, Jamison is a decent player but hardly any playoff success on his resume.
Just to add: Miami is going to have a tough time winning the title. The big 3 and nothing else. They will not match up well with Orlando and Boston let alone the Lakers. In 2 years the dominant team will be Oklahoma City.
Mickey71 >>
Mickey - Perhaps I'm misreading your post but sounds like your talking out of both sides. CLE didn't do enough to support LeBron, yet MIA now has too many high profiles and not enough role players.
So basically my kid won't be able to go to college, but at least I'll have a set where the three most expensive cards are of a player I despise ~ CDsNuts
My two cents... The reason that Gilbert is so upset is because they spent seven years covering things up regarding Lebron's stupid behavior. Lebron parlayed this into endorsement deals and a squeaky clean image, making him tons more money. In return Lebron says thanks by stabbing Gilbert in the back (dropping his net worth by $200M) on national television and leaving without even returning a phone call. Stories around Cleveland are starting to leak out regarding some of the things the Cavs squashed in the media for Lebron and I tend to believe if even half are true then they would have cost him millions.
He has every right to leave, but the manner in which he did it is absolutely ridiculous. How many Cleveland Browns linebackers can we sign to a 15 day contract to put Lebron into the front row the first time he comes to Cleveland. Three backers would be 18 fouls. On second thought maybe not the Browns linebackers.
<FONT face=Verdana size=1>Cavaliers' owner lays the wood to LeJerk! </FONT> BUT STERN PUT THE 100K whoopin on gilbert (how's that for kick in the other testee)
Dan Gilbert has a net worth of just over $1 BILLION... he was fined $100,000... that is .01% of his net worth. Say your net worth is $200,000, then it would be like you getting fined $20. I'd say he's unaffected. Besides, NBA fines to go various charities anyway. I'd say it was worth it.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Courtesy of HBO Sports, I received advance copy of Bryant Gumbel's closing remarks from tonight's episode of Real Sports, which airs at 9 p.m.:
Finally tonight, a few words about championship rings. Just when did they become the all-important barometer of who does or doesn't count in sports? When did they supersede personal excellence or exemplary character as a standard of greatness?
I got to thinking about that the other night after the self-anointed chosen one, LeBron James, embarrassed himself as he tried to make his decision to seek rings in Miami sound like a search for the Holy Grail. It's when he essentially admitted to placing a higher priority on winning than anything else.
LeBron's decision is typical of our immediate gratification era, but it flies in the face of history. Even though he never won a title, Dan Marino is still the biggest hero in Florida. And in Boston, all those Celtics championships are dimmed by the unforgettable brilliance of Ted Williams, who never won anything. In Chicago, Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus have legendary status despite playing on losing teams. And even in the NBA, where guys seem obsessed with being viewed as "the man," real men like Barkley, Ewing and Baylor are ringless, but revered.
Despite such evidence to the contrary, LeBron James seems to think he needs a ring to change his life and secure his legacy. Maybe he'll get one, maybe he won't, but it's probable that no amount of rings will ever remove the stench he wallowed in last week. LeBron may yet find that in the court of public opinion, just as putting on a tux can’t make a guy a gentleman, winning a ring can’t make one truly a champion.
It is sad and inexplicable that LeBron James boldly trumpets how loyal he is and he claims that he is willing to sacrifice money and statistics to potentially win championships in Miami yet he blatantly quit during the 2010 playoffs when the Akron, Ohio native had a tremendous opportunity to lead his (quasi) hometown Cleveland Cavaliers to a championship; it will truly be ironic if James never gets closer to winning a title than he did in Cleveland from 2007-2010 when the Cavs made one Finals appearance and twice posted the best regular season record in the league with a deep, talented and well balanced roster coached by a defensive-minded head coach.
So basically my kid won't be able to go to college, but at least I'll have a set where the three most expensive cards are of a player I despise ~ CDsNuts
Comments
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Save on ebay with Big Crumbs
But some of what he said is spot on: LeJerk couldn't be bothered to return a text or phone call, and he had to create a "look at me" spectacle on national TV. He also hamstrung the Cavs' ability to sign free agents by making a 3 year deal a few years ago instead of what Kevin Durant just did, re-upping for 5. For that reason, players wouldn't commit to Cleveland because Lebron wouldn't. Just last year, Trevor Ariza and a couple others cited Lebron's refusal to commit as one of their reasons for declining the Cavs' offers. He never lifted a finger to help get players to Cleveland, but there he was today, greeting Derek Fisher at the airport.
I've been wondering all day: if Delonte West and Lebron's mom have a fun baby, do they name him LeLonte or DeBron?
Buying Vintage, all sports.
Buying Woody Hayes, Les Horvath, Vic Janowicz, and Jesse Owens autographed items
Bottom line, to sum up the event, it's quite simple...it's LeBron having the "grass is greener on the other side" mentality and ya know what?...often it ain't. I think one day this season or sometime in the future, LeBron may be sitting alone in his hotel room and saying to himself, "What the F did I do?"...because he had all the fame and fortune anyone could ask for in Cleveland and it was his home. Sometimes ya don't apprecdiate what ya have until it's gone.
But of course sometimes the grass is greener on the other side, and he'll be getting to play with his two buddies, he'll become friends with Pat Riley whom he seems to admire, certainly he has a better chance to get a ring in Miami, and maybe it had a little something to do with the warm weather. Sometimes human beings just yearn for a change, any change...but in my opinion considering where he was and what he had, I believe after all is written, he will say he made a mistake leaving Cleveland.
1. First and foremost, it's all about being robbed of a chance to see a player try to reach "immortal" status in NBA history. Because that is off the table now. LeBron has regulated himself to role of "supporting cast" on Dwayne Wade's team. Forget comparisions to MJ, Bird, Magic, and Kobe, and start drumming up comparisons to Pippen, Gasol, and any other 2nd best player on championship teams. I wanted to see him take on the challenge of taking HIS team (whether it was Cleveland, Chicago, New York, or New Jersey) to the top multiple times. He cowered away from that challenge. He felt he didn't have the stones to be THE MAN to carry a team, and took the easy way out.
2. Yet, while shying away from being the leader of a team, he has the audacity to have a 1-hour special dedicated to him, and his "decision". And uses the guise of a strong relationship with his mother and his charitable work to try to hide the fact that is was sticking the knife in the back of Cleveland. He wants to be a "global icon", yet isn't even the biggest icon in the city he is moving to. Pretty big ego for a guy that basically just said "I don't want the pressure of leading a team by myself".
3. The whole charade of Wade, Bosh, and James holding a week-long set of meetings with various teams, holding all of them hostage from pursuing other free agents, and the whole time, they already knew what their decision was. Such a joke.
4. The introduction in Miami arena for those 3 guys on Friday night was appalling. Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen came to Boston, held a 30-minute press conference and went on their way to start working for a title. He can say all he wants about winning titles, but LeBron is WAY more interested in putting on a show than winning. He doesn't know how to win. Other than the 48 Special in Detoit, he's never stepped up to the plate when his team has needed him most.
I could go on, but by now half of you have stopped reading yet another LeBron-bashing post. But he brought it on himself. He is so intent on building his "brand", yet did more to tarnish that brand in one week that I ever thought was imaginable. His "approval rating" went from probably a 90 to a 30 in the course of a week. He's public enemy number 1 all over the country now. Wonder if he thinks it was worth it when he's getting loudly booed at MSG this year, after they ballwashed him for the last 2 years every time he played there.
I would have really liked to cheer for him, as he pushes to average a triple double this season (I have no doubt he can do it now - he'll be forced to pass and rebound more than ever before). I would have liked to see another team emerge that can stop Kobe from winning a 6th title. But not this Heat team. I can't stress enough how much I hate Kobe and the Lakers, but if they meet Miami in the Finals this year, I will be rooting for the Lakers, and that's saying something.
The Roman Empire, after ruling the world for 400 years, saw a similar moral decline. Even in its final days, people filled the Coliseum to watch the gladiators.
History repeats itself.
well Gilbert is bent because the net worth of his franchise just plummeted significantly. While he has some kind of vested emotional interest in his team, it's not like Gilbert is some long suffering Cleveland sports fan. He's from Detroit and he's a businessman foremeost who wanted to create an entertainment utopia around C-town with casinos and the like. I'm sure he's upset with how LeBron kept him and his franchise in the dark, and that's what most Cleveland fans should be upset about because I honestly don't think LeBron ever planned on coming back, and he set the franchise back at least five years. The Cavs are going to have to let the current veteran contracts run out and obviously no top FAs are coming anytime soon. The Cavs now have to tear it down and hope to nab a Durant or Duncan type in the draft. Everyone involved has a right to be upset, especially considering the state of the Indians and Browns, the Cavs were C-town's only hope....but it's way over the top. I mean LeBron was showing up to Indians games in Yankee gear, Browns games in Cowboy gear. He showed himself to be the country's foremost front-runner. The warning signs were there. The same signs the Heat fans will be seeing when LeBron has his agent incorporate an out clause after three years so he can bolt to the Brooklyn Nets.
<< <i>Why do I now hate LeBron James now?....
1. First and foremost, it's all about being robbed of a chance to see a player try to reach "immortal" status in NBA history. Because that is off the table now. LeBron has regulated himself to role of "supporting cast" on Dwayne Wade's team. Forget comparisions to MJ, Bird, Magic, and Kobe, and start drumming up comparisons to Pippen, Gasol, and any other 2nd best player on championship teams. I wanted to see him take on the challenge of taking HIS team (whether it was Cleveland, Chicago, New York, or New Jersey) to the top multiple times. He cowered away from that challenge. He felt he didn't have the stones to be THE MAN to carry a team, and took the easy way out.
>>
I said something like this a few days ago. Will that championship still feel as good knowing he had to piggyback with 2 other superstars to finally get one?
<< <i>I said something like this a few days ago. Will that championship still feel as good knowing he had to piggyback with 2 other superstars to finally get one? >>
Gonna go out on a limb and say yes. Rarely can one man be solely responsible for winning a championship. Usually, a team needs two top-flight players to take it to that next level. Lebron ain't dumb. Unless Cleveland was going to make a big play, he wasn't getting a ring there.
Heck, for all that talk in the owner's letter about redoubling their efforts to bring home a championship, why didn't he do that a couple years ago and pair Lebron up with somebody that'd make him think, "Man, I ain't leavin' here, we got this."?
mosaic's Nolan Ryan Basic Topps registry set
mosaic's Big 3 Nolan Ryan Run Showcase
He'll convince himself that it does. Fact is, winning one in Cleveland would have been 100x sweeter, but he didn't want to stick it out to find out.
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
He appeared to be completely disinterested. His facial expression and body language conveyed an "I do not care" attitude.
Speculation has been that he found out DeLonte West had hooked up with his mother and that he found out about it before the second to last game.
Maybe that was the reason he did not play well.
Maybe it was some other reason, including disagreements with the team/management/ownership.
At 25 he is still very young. Young people make decisions that they would never make after they have spent many years being an adult and adult responsibilities. He also has been pampered and catered to since middle school, if not elementary school. That will mess you up and give you a self centered point of view.
His TV show of last Thursday was horrible. It smacked of "its all about me" and slapped Cleveland, Akron and Ohio in the face on national TV. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I wonder how his career will go from this point forward? Will he step up and be the leader of the Miami Heat [the "alpha male"]; or will he be content to be Dwayne Wade's side kick?
If both Wade and LeBron have a psychological make up to where each has to be the "top dog" on the team, I can see conflict arising between them in the coming years with each one wanting/demanding the ball in crunch time.
It seems like the best of the best players in the NBA sign on with one team and stay with that team for their entire careers, or at best play on two teams [Jerry West, Wilt, Kareem, Elgin Baylor, Havilecheck, Dr. J, Ewing, Olajawon, Magic, Bird, Jordan, Malone, Stockton, Robinson, Duncan, Kobe], instead of franchise hopping [Shaq].
I wonder if LeBron envies Kobe's career path [minus his legal troubles in Colorado]. Specifically he played during his younger years on a team with a dominant center [Shaq] and had success winning championships with Shaq while he was in his ealry 20's. Then came a split with Shaq leaving and Kobe becoming the face of the franchise. Continued hard work by Kobe and having complimenatry players around him have lead to Kobe winning two more championships with his as the unquestioned top dog on the team.
Next season should have some interesting drama, with the league and TV nextworks touting Miami and the next big thing.
Buying Vintage, all sports.
Buying Woody Hayes, Les Horvath, Vic Janowicz, and Jesse Owens autographed items
A megastar acting obnoxiously with women on the side??? Say it isn't so!
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Just to add: Miami is going to have a tough time winning the title. The big 3 and nothing else. They will not match up well with Orlando and Boston let alone the Lakers. In 2 years the dominant team will be Oklahoma City.
Mickey71
<< <i>
Just to add: Miami is going to have a tough time winning the title. The big 3 and nothing else. They will not match up well with Orlando and Boston let alone the Lakers. In 2 years the dominant team will be Oklahoma City.
Mickey71 >>
i would love to see the THUNDER win!!!
looking for low grade t205's psa 1-2
<< <i>I lolerd for hours though when he said the Cavs WILL WIN before LeBron...Still laughing acually. But yea, LBJ DID just ruin his "legacy" IMO... >>
Hey Mauer fan... close your eyes and imagine Joe Mauer going to the Yankees... yeah... it tastes that bad.
EDIT TO ADD: While doing it on his own ESPN 1-hour special, showing no remorse for Minnesota.
<< <i>I know that this is tough for Cavs' fans. The organization did not do enough to make them a championship contender. Yes, they won a ton of regular season games; but that team was not built for the playoffs. When they signed Shaq I said now they are really showing me that they're not serious about winning. Shaq's done and can't play D anymore. The Cavs relied on Lebron to have superhuman efforts to win playoff games. If Kobe was on the Cavs they would be looking silly. Lebron was required to put up near monster triple double games to win. The franchise asked too much of him. I remember when they played the Spurs for the title-----It was all Lebron versus the Spurs. That should have been a wake up call to the organization that they were close but needed to make some more moves. Yes, Jamison is a decent player but hardly any playoff success on his resume.
Just to add: Miami is going to have a tough time winning the title. The big 3 and nothing else. They will not match up well with Orlando and Boston let alone the Lakers. In 2 years the dominant team will be Oklahoma City.
Mickey71 >>
Mickey - Perhaps I'm misreading your post but sounds like your talking out of both sides. CLE didn't do enough to support LeBron, yet MIA now has too many high profiles and not enough role players.
He has every right to leave, but the manner in which he did it is absolutely ridiculous. How many Cleveland Browns linebackers can we sign to a 15 day contract to put Lebron into the front row the first time he comes to Cleveland. Three backers would be 18 fouls. On second thought maybe not the Browns linebackers.
T222's PSA 1 or better
</FONT>
BUT STERN PUT THE 100K whoopin on gilbert (how's that for kick in the other testee)
SKY
View Vintage Football Cards For Sale
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
looking for low grade t205's psa 1-2
View Vintage Football Cards For Sale
looking for low grade t205's psa 1-2
Bryant Gumbel Blasts LeBron James
Courtesy of HBO Sports, I received advance copy of Bryant Gumbel's closing remarks from tonight's episode of Real Sports, which airs at 9 p.m.:
Finally tonight, a few words about championship rings. Just when did they become the all-important barometer of who does or doesn't count in sports? When did they supersede personal excellence or exemplary character as a standard of greatness?
I got to thinking about that the other night after the self-anointed chosen one, LeBron James, embarrassed himself as he tried to make his decision to seek rings in Miami sound like a search for the Holy Grail. It's when he essentially admitted to placing a higher priority on winning than anything else.
LeBron's decision is typical of our immediate gratification era, but it flies in the face of history. Even though he never won a title, Dan Marino is still the biggest hero in Florida. And in Boston, all those Celtics championships are dimmed by the unforgettable brilliance of Ted Williams, who never won anything. In Chicago, Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus have legendary status despite playing on losing teams. And even in the NBA, where guys seem obsessed with being viewed as "the man," real men like Barkley, Ewing and Baylor are ringless, but revered.
Despite such evidence to the contrary, LeBron James seems to think he needs a ring to change his life and secure his legacy. Maybe he'll get one, maybe he won't, but it's probable that no amount of rings will ever remove the stench he wallowed in last week. LeBron may yet find that in the court of public opinion, just as putting on a tux can’t make a guy a gentleman, winning a ring can’t make one truly a champion.
It is sad and inexplicable that LeBron James boldly trumpets how loyal he is and he claims that he is willing to sacrifice money and statistics to potentially win championships in Miami yet he blatantly quit during the 2010 playoffs when the Akron, Ohio native had a tremendous opportunity to lead his (quasi) hometown Cleveland Cavaliers to a championship; it will truly be ironic if James never gets closer to winning a title than he did in Cleveland from 2007-2010 when the Cavs made one Finals appearance and twice posted the best regular season record in the league with a deep, talented and well balanced roster coached by a defensive-minded head coach.
Oh, wait...
<< <i>Why is Bryant Gumbel a racist?
Oh, wait...
I'm sure Jesse Jackson thinks so