Official LEBRON 2010 Thread (The Decision: MIAMI HEAT)

[scotthallwithapick]

Originally Posted by RKO2004

Originally Posted by Chuck Finster

Originally Posted by LimitedRetroOG

Originally Posted by Scott Frost

WCWP SPORTS – In what is truly a disturbing story, comes exclusive Terez Owens news that LeBron’s teammate Delonte West is sleeping with LeBron’s Mother Gloria James..Yes, this is the purported story coming from my source in Cleveland..My source explains the following:

 

[manslayer]

Originally Posted by tmoney85

ultimate best fit are the Clippers.

they have a team full of players waiting for a leader. plus its Los Angelas, the greatest city in the US.

he can start working on his acting game while he's here. plus imagine the rivalry, KOBE vs Lebron, same city. it would be epic.



hey i can dream cant i?

This.  Lebron will make thm change the color of the stadium seats in a year.

 

[hannsum]

Originally Posted by tmoney85

ultimate best fit are the Clippers.

they have a team full of players waiting for a leader. plus its Los Angelas, the greatest city in the US. 

he can start working on his acting game while he's here. plus imagine the rivalry, KOBE vs Lebron, same city. it would be epic.



hey i can dream cant i?

yea just dream.

 

[hannsum]

Didn't NBA change the rule of salary cap by extending the space? I thought NY could sign 3 all-stars at once...

 

[Air273]

FYI...... raps are going to sign and trade bosh to the bulls for deng(plan b jefferson for deng) and bron will sign with bulls and wear 32. 

you can lock this thread and open up the bulls road to championship thread

 

[i noah dentist]

Originally Posted by Air273

FYI...... raps are going to sign and trade bosh to the bulls for deng(plan b jefferson for deng) and bron will sign with bulls and wear 32. 

you can lock this thread and open up the bulls road to championship thread

Bron is wearing 6

 

[air max 87]

Originally Posted by Air273

FYI...... raps are going to sign and trade bosh to the bulls for deng(plan b jefferson for deng) and bron will sign with bulls and wear 32. 

you can lock this thread and open up the bulls road to championship thread

i mean i hope whaeva these big 3 do is soon, i cant deal with a summer of yall dudes and the media making up stories

also lebron is not gonna sign with Dwade, dont make sense, you need a big man and interior presence to win. my money is hes gonna end up with Bosh/Booz/Stat.....

 

[carlos tevez]

LeBron is NOT signing with the Bulls. I guarantee it. Playing in Jordan's shadow? Playing with team mates that may only be slightly better than his current Cavs team mates?

At the end of the day I think it'll come down to 4 teams...
-Cavs (they are going to remain contenders if he stays but they need to fire Mike Brown)
-Knicks (have the money for another max player to play next to Bron plus they have some good young players and some additional cap room when Curry's contract expires. Oh yeah, NYC is a ginormous city = more hype = more $$$).
-Nets (billionaire owner committed to winning at all costs, moving to New York, Jay-Z has ties to the team, the Nets have some good young players, some assets to trade and likely a top 3 draft pick).
-Heat (play next to Wade with one of the greatest NBA coaches ever running the show, in a great city. I think it's unlikely he signs with the Heat but it's a distant possibility).

 

[ezflash26]

^Agree with you completely on the Bulls.....cuz I mean, Derrick Rose is not already one of the top 5-6 best PG's in the league, and Noah wasnt putting up 20-20 games on the Cav's in the previous round (out of position, at that).

two grade-A articles by Simmons/Adande...especially the KG one.

[h1]Winning, loyalty or immortality?[/h1]

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By Bill Simmons
ESPN.com
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My son wakes up between 5:30 and 5:50 every morning. We call him the CEO. He rolls out of bed, stomps toward his door, opens it, walks out, slams the door as hard as he can, then stomps into our bedroom saying, "Come on, let's go downstairs" in his little boy voice. If I want to wake up early, I don't even set an alarm clock anymore. I just rely on him.

So when I wanted to get up early to write about Thursday night's Game 6 in Boston, I just assumed he would wake me up in time. Nope. He woke up at 6:45. An hour late. I hopped out of bed for a hasty wake-up shower, but not before asking him, "What happened? Where were you?"

His answer: "I don't know, Daddy. I didn't wake up."

Same goes for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They never woke up.

You could pick this series apart for years, but the NBA playoffs boil down to one thing: urgency. For professional basketball, there are three types and three types only. The first occurs when a team collectively says, "We would walk through fire to win this game." (Think 2008 Celtics, 2009 Lakers or 2010 Suns.) The second happens when a former champion that has battled internally to keep its edge says to itself, "You know what? We're not done yet. We're not ready to give this up." (Call it a retro-urgency. Think 2010 Celtics or 2010 Lakers.) The third is faux urgency -- when a team's players don't trust each other or their coach and don't have the right leadership in place, but they're desperately pressing to make a bad situation work anyway. That's the worst kind of urgency. They all fully understand the magnitude of the moment, only they can't quite do enough about it. Maybe it looks as if they're trying, but their body language betrays them.

(Important note: If you don't want to leave out the 2010 Atlanta Hawks, "complete apathy" is the fourth type of urgency. By the way, I have no idea whether Orlando has real urgency or faux urgency. I'm leaning toward the latter. Stay tuned.)

You cannot call what happened in the Cavs-Celtics series an upset. Boston played better in five of the six games. The C's had four of the five best players. They were better defensively. Their best player (Rajon Rondo) played better than Cleveland's best player (LeBron James). They had playoff-proven guys who kept coming through. They had better crowds. They showed more heart. This was not an upset … but still, it felt like one. And only because we were duped by Cleveland's faux urgency (for most of the season, it felt genuine) and Boston's retro-urgency (for most of the season, it was dormant). The playoffs hinge on toughness, chemistry, defense, leadership and urgency. Cleveland lost all those battles. Every one of them.

I once heard a great story about Game 6 of the 2006 Finals, when Miami was trying to clinch the title in Dallas, from someone who has seen the unedited footage of Miami's huddles in the second-half timeouts. Pat Riley basically stopped coaching. Threw out his X's and O's. Quit giving advice. Stopped drawing up plays.

So what did he do? He screamed at his guys like a boxing trainer. You're tougher than them! YOU'RE TOUGHER THAN THEM! Don't let up! They are ready to quit! They are ready to fold! Keep attacking them! Keep getting to the rim! Keep knocking their !%%@% down! No layups! No dunks! Stay together! YOU ARE TOUGHER THAN THEM! YOU ARE TOUGHER THAN THEM! That's what he did for the entire second half. Eventually, his players believed him.

Remember that story when you're picking apart James this summer. From the moment he entered the NBA, he's been asked to do everything himself. He's never had a good coach. He's never had a great teammate, or even a very good one. These past two years, he's been asked to vacillate between Magic Mode and MJ Mode depending on the situation. Because his front office screwed up so many times, his supporting cast ended up being a peculiar blend of hand-me-downs, discount guys and bargain pickups from teams that wanted to cut salary. It ended up being too much. One-man teams don't win titles.

As summer free agency approaches, LeBron's camp will shift public blame to his coach (Mike Brown, who could be sued by Cavs fans for coaching malpractice after this series) and his GM (Danny Ferry, who dropped the ball at the 2009 trade deadline and never found LeBron a Pippen-type supporting guy). His people will make the following sentiment clear to Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert: For LeBron to even consider staying, you need to splurge on a better coach and a better GM. And even then, LeBron might leave. Part of me doesn't blame him.

Part of me.

Because the other part feels as if we learned something substantial about LeBron James this spring. I always thought his ceiling looked like this: Jordan's DNA crossed with Magic's DNA crossed with Bo Jackson. Nope. Take the Jordan DNA out. Have to. Jordan was a ruthless mother******. Jordan was a killer. Jordan didn't care if his teammates despised him. Jordan never, ever, not in a million years, would have allowed his team to quit in the final two minutes of Thursday night's game the way LeBron did. His teammates feared him, loathed him, revered him and played accordingly. Bird had that same quality. In the second half of his career, so did Magic. Winning meant so much to those guys that their teammates almost didn't have a choice; they had to follow suit. Or else.

LeBron James is 25 years old. He has played seven seasons -- 548 regular-season games and 71 playoff games. There's a feeling that he can still get better and, with better teammates, maybe he could. But fundamentally, to paraphrase Bill Parcells, he is what he is at this point -- a gregarious, larger-than-life, supremely gifted basketball player who's better at making us say "WOW!" than anything else. If he owned that cutthroat Jordan chromosome, or Magic's leadership chromosome, it would have surfaced by now. In Wednesday's column before Game 6, I mentioned how there comes a point in every great player's career when you have to pour the cement, let it harden and see what you have. We poured the cement for LeBron in this series. It hardened last night. We know what we have.

And last night, LeBron's DNA finally made sense to me. Throw Jordan out. Throw Magic out, too, except for the "controls sections of a game with passing/rebounding" part. Keep Bo. Now, add this guy … Julius Erving.

I will explain.

Doc was one of the 20 best NBA players of all time. (In my book, I ranked him 16th.) Like LeBron, he did things on a basketball court that nobody had ever seen before. Like LeBron, he made the court shrink with a full head of steam. Like LeBron, his peers revered his talents. Like LeBron, he was articulate and thoughtful. Like LeBron, you watched him from afar and thought, "He seems like a good guy." Like LeBron, he was a small forward who rebounded bigger than his size (at least the first few years). Like LeBron, his durability was almost unparalleled. (Doc played in 1,277 of a possible 1,395 games, including seven seasons of 95-plus games). Like LeBron, women and children loved him. Like LeBron, he was extremely savvy about his image (and how to cultivate it). Like LeBron, he was an incredible, once-in-a-generation athlete. Like LeBron, his faulty outside shooting plagued him, so teams laid off him, packed the middle and prayed he would miss 20-footers. And, like LeBron, he was a nice guy.

(Hold that last thought for a second.)

Doc at age 26 (ABA, 1975-76 season, his fifth): 29.3 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 5.0 APG, 50.7% FG.

LeBron at age 25 (this year, his seventh season): 29.7 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 8.6 APG, 50.3% FG.

Doc in the '76 playoffs (13 games): 34.7 PPG, 12.6 RPG, 4.9 APG, 53.3% FG.

LeBron in the '10 playoffs (11 games): 29.1 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 7.6 APG, 50.2% FG.

The big difference: Doc captured two ABA titles (in '74 and '76). LeBron hasn't won anything. Of course, the ABA played right into Doc's wheelhouse: The league didn't have enough big guys, nobody played defense, a school-yard-type game carried the day, and the league was diluted enough that someone as gifted as Doc could run roughshod. When the ABA and NBA merged in the summer of 1976, Doc switched teams (to Philly) and the big question became, "When will Dr. J win an NBA title?"

Now here's where the parallels get interesting. Doc spent the next six seasons falling short as everyone picked him apart. Stuff like, "He's not the same guy that he was in the ABA," "He's too nice, he doesn't have a killer instinct" and "His teammates are letting him down." The '77 Sixers (a selfish team of freelancers) memorably self-combusted in the Finals against Bill Walton's methodical Blazers. When the '78 Bullets shocked Philly in six, not only did Washington's Bobby Dandridge outplay Doc in the series but everyone started calling David Thompson (rather than Doc) the NBA's best ABA import. The '79 Spurs knocked Philly out again, with San Antonio's Larry Kenon playing Doc to a draw. (That March, Sports Illustrated ran a feature called "Hey, What's Up With the Doc?" and wondered whether his best years were behind him.) Once Philly quietly started building a team of unselfish guys around him (Caldwell Jones, Bobby Jones, Mo Cheeks) and found him a second scorer (Andrew Toney), Doc's fortunes changed: Finals appearances in 1980 and 1982, as well as a (dubious, but still) MVP award in 1981. But only when Philly acquired Moses Malone, a true alpha dog and the league's best player at the time, did Doc finally get an NBA ring (in 1983).

Let's go back to those first three Philly seasons: Doc was stuck playing with guys such as George McGinnis (the ultimate ball stopper, owner of the all-time turnover record), World B. Free (gunner), Darryl Dawkins (great athlete, low basketball IQ), Jellybean Bryant (Kobe's dad -- I don't need to say any more) and Doug Collins (another guy who needed shots). He deferred to them way too much. For the '76 Nets, Doc averaged 22.7 shots per game. From '77 through '79: 16.7, 16.4, 18.7. Do you realize what a joke that was? Unfortunately, he was too nice of a guy. Doc allowed everyone else to determine his destiny. When he tried to take over … it never felt right. He was always one of those flow-of-the-game stars. Always. The same quality that made him a wonderful teammate also made him a liability if things were falling apart.

(Sound familiar?)

Doc's Philly teams kept self-combusting at the worst possible times. The '77 Sixers took a 2-0 lead in the Finals, then blew four straight. They lost do-or-die playoff games by two points (197 and three points (1979). In 1980, everyone remembers Magic (only a rookie) playing five positions, notching a 42-15-7 and improbably winning Los Angeles the title; nobody ever wonders why Philly, playing at home against a team missing the 1980 MVP (Kareem), laid such an unforgivable egg. In 1981, the Sixers blew a 3-1 series lead to Boston in the Eastern Conference finals, losing the last three games by five points total. (And by the way, they led in the final minute of all three games.) By the time Philly blew the 1982 Finals, the consensus on Doc was this: phenomenal player, loved by all, an ambassador for the game, one of the best ever … doesn't quite have it.

Then Moses showed up, Philly finally won a title, and people everywhere forgot they had felt that way.

Back to LeBron: I think we know what we have. He's Doc 2.0 with a little Magic and a healthy dose of Bo sprinkled in. That means the following …

1. LeBron can win an NBA title (or titles) as the best player on a really good team with another leader in place (whether it's a great coach or another player).

2. If LeBron switches teams to a similar situation to the one he had in Cleveland these past two years (basically, LeBron and the LeBronettes), that won't translate to titles. (FYI: He finished seven wins short last spring and 10 wins short this spring. Not even close.) Staying in Cleveland, hiring John Calipari and sign-and-trading Jamison and Hickson to Toronto for Chris Bosh … that won't solve the problem here. Neither will jumping to the Knicks/Clippers/Mavericks.

3. If he cares about winning titles (multiple) and reaching his full potential as a player, he has only one move: the Chicago Bulls. That's always been the play. If you've been listening to my podcast or reading this column, you know that I've been touting this possibility since the winter, and here's why: Deep down, I think LeBron (and, just as important, the people around him) realizes that he needs one more kick-%!! player to make his life easier. That means Miami or Chicago. And really, I can't imagine him signing with Miami because Dwyane Wade is almost too good. LeBron wants help, but he doesn't want to be perceived as riding someone else's coattails, either. Wade might be the best player alive for all we know -- he certainly was in 2006, and he's been banged-up and trapped on bad teams ever since.

No, Chicago makes more sense. Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah proved they were warriors these past two springs. They could be LeBron's Pippen/Grant or McHale/DJ. Easily. Rose could take the creative load off LeBron on nights when he doesn't have it. Rose could come through a few times in the clutch. Rose could hide some of LeBron's faults. It's the single smartest basketball move for LeBron James. It's the Michael Corleone move.

Of course, it doesn't have the same upside as New York: Biggest market, great fans, most meaning. If LeBron saved professional basketball in New York and brought Knicks fans their first title since 1973? That's the best available accomplishment in team sports right now. Name me a better one. You can't. Biggest star, biggest city. But it wouldn't be a smart basketball move. He could bring only one good free agent with him, and from what we've seen, would LeBron + (Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, Joe Johnson or Amar'e Stoudemire) combined with what the Knicks already have (not much) translate to anything more than what just happened in Cleveland? Please. That's the Sonny Corleone move.

The other realistic option: Just stay in Cleveland. Finish what you started. That's the second-best available accomplishment in team sports right now: Be like Tim Duncan. Be the guy who didn't flee for greener pastures. Be the guy who stayed when almost everyone else would have left. Be the hometown kid who saved Cleveland sports, brought home the first title since 1964 and single-handedly removed the fatalistic malaise that hangs over the city. Be the guy who proved loyalty matters more than anything else. That's the Connie Corleone move. Remember when she finally forgave Michael for killing Carlo and became the matriarch of the family? Exactly. Family trumped logic.

(And yes, if you're scoring at home, the Clippers would be the Fredo Corleone move.)

It's one of the greatest sports decisions I can remember: LeBron can choose winning (Chicago), loyalty (Cleveland) or a chance at immortality (New York). We have one answer -- Doc 2.0 with some Magic and Bo sprinkled in -- and now, we're waiting on the other. Within the next six weeks, we will find out precisely what matters to LeBron James. Just know that, wherever he lands, he's going to need a little more help than we thought.

Final point: Between Games 5 and 6 of the Cavs-Celtics series, an Austin, Texas, reader named Chris Rider sent me the following e-mail:

"I figured LeBron out, dude. I think you define a player by defining what is most important to them in one word.

"MJ -- Winning. Hands down, all he wanted to do was win. And that's over-used for a lot of athletes, but not him.

"Kobe -- Greatness. Yes he's going to win some, but only because he wants to be considered great and that will be a by-product at times. But you'd also see him shoot his team out of a game; jack 3s when he should press the issue and get to the paint. He didn't mind losing a few games if people came away saying 'Kobe is great; look what happens when he doesn't shoot.'"

"LeBron -- Amaze. I think he just really wants to amaze people. Which is why he spends 10 minutes before the game throwing underhand, left-hand half-court shots. Why he celebrates amazing dunks and blocks, but isn't working just as hard to win. I know the Cavs aren't great without him, but he's got PLENTY on that team to win rings with."

Is that totally fair? Probably not. But just for fun, let's extend Chris' game …

Russell, Magic, Bird, Duncan, Walton, West and Havlicek: Winning.

Wilt: Numbers.

Oscar and Barry: Perfection.

Shaq: Fame.

Kareem and Elgin: Pride.

Moses: Rebounds.

Malone and Garnett: Work.

Barkley: Fun.

Cousy, Stockton, Isiah, Pippen and Nash: Team.

For Doc and LeBron, you probably need more than one word. By the rules of the game, we can use only one. So we're forced to pick this one: Amaze. You are who you are.

[h3]You can't spell "King" without KG[/h3]
May, 14, 2010
May 14

10:34

AM ET

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By J.A. Adande
Archive

NBAE/Getty Images

Everything on Thursday was so LeBroncentric that you probably didn’t even see Kevin Garnett when he and LeBron James hugged after the Cavaliers tumbled out of the playoffs.

You might have seen Garnett, but you didn’t really process him, or consider what he means in this whole LeBron saga that took on the feel of a Homeric epic this week. Garnett should serve as a marker, or perhaps a possible endpoint for the LeBron story.

James is already way ahead of Garnett by 25, an age at which Garnett was still two years away from winning his first playoff series. James has won at least one playoff series for five consecutive years (the longest active streak in the league) and reached the conference finals twice and the NBA Finals once.

But to take the next step and actually rule over the NBA, King James might have to leave his initial team. Just like Garnett did.

And what if LeBron needs to win a championship in the manner Garnett did, as part of the council instead of the tribal leader? What if LeBron isn’t a top solo rapper like Biggie or Tupac and is better when collaborating, like ODB?

As a man consumed with stardom, LeBron wants his name above the title on the movie poster, but his first instinct as a player is to share. He has become more aggressive and dominant in the fourth quarter because he was told that’s what superstars are supposed to do. He learned his lesson from the first game of the 2007 conference finals, when he took only three fourth-quarter shots and passed to Donyell Marshall on the final play, then had to deal with two days of fallout after Marshall missed the shot and the Cavaliers lost. If you’re going to get the blame you might as well shoot it yourself, a lesson he took to the extreme in his “48 Special

 

[Renaldo Balkman]

I have been getting text messages from people who know guys who work for espn... supposedly rumors going around that Delonte West was sleeping with Brons mom and he found out before game 5... I HIGHLY DOUBT this story is true, but the source is pretty credible

 

[mo matik]

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

LeBron is NOT signing with the Bulls. I guarantee it. Playing in Jordan's shadow? Playing with team mates that may only be slightly better than his current Cavs team mates? 

This is such an important point and I didn't even consider it.  There is no way Lebron is going to Chicago.

I say he resigns with Cleveland.  They will quickly forgive his hesitation to commit early shortly after they stop holding their breaths.

 

[air max 87]

Jordan was a ruthless mother******. Jordan was a killer. Jordan didn't care if his teammates despised him.
QFE


2 very good articles....

 

[ag 47]

Originally Posted by I Noah Dentist

Originally Posted by Big J 33

Yes, AFTER you posted owned you offered a real response. So you're half right. And I can't ever recall seeing you around so if I ignore you its because I don't really care that much.. July 1st is still a long time from now.



I still say both players skills and talent won't be as effective without the ball in their hands. Rose would be better suited having a great shooter on the outside or a scoring PF in the paint. Anyway, my original point wasn't even criticizing Chicago but how quick opinions and views can change in the media.

Oh so since I don't have a high post count you don't respect my opinion??  Trust me knick fan, I have been around NT for more years than you.  I am telling you that you are wrong by saying Rose and Lebron can't play together.  Of course Rose needs an outside shooter, but what does that have to do with signing Lebron?  Do you have any idea the options the Bulls have this season when it comes to salary caps, sign and trades, and expiring contracts. Bulls could easily sign a player like Morrow, Korver or maybe even Ray Allen if they are lucky.   And if you truly believe the Bulls are better suited with a scoring power forward rather than Lebron James than I can not respect your sports opinion and someone needs to take your fanhood away.  

How could they easily sign one of those players if they're lucky?

Dude is right. Rose NEEDS the ball in his hands to be effective. Same with LeBron. Neither are knock down shooters.

Chicago just ain't a good fit for LeBron.

 

[23kidd]

Originally Posted by rayray3thousand

I have been getting text messages from people who know guys who work for espn... supposedly rumors going around that Delonte West was sleeping with Brons mom and he found out before game 5... I HIGHLY DOUBT this story is true, but the source is pretty credible

Heard this as well....hmm

 

[lawdog1]

Originally Posted by 23ska909red02

this dude started off his report on ESPN w/ 'The Clippers are high on LeBron's list,' and I had to stoneface my damn tv.

The only real thing LeBron said last night about his free agency was that he wants to win, and this ESPN dude throws the Clippers out there as a team that's high on LeBron's list?

Just... no.

I mean, yeah, he could end up there and make me look dumb as hell right now, but... c'mon, he says 'I just want to win' and someone else says 'Clippers! That's where he's going!'

For someone who has indicated at times he likes the Clippers, I don't know why you would act like its that far fetched.  From a talent perspective, there's no reason to think the Clippers wouldn't be a playoff team if they added LeBron.  They have an all-star center, a PG who has been an all-star, a guy in Eric Gordon who is capable of putting up 30 on any given night, and Blake Griffin, who is going to be a beast in this league.  Or, put it this way, just in terms of talent LeBron, Kaman, Baron, Gordon Griffin > LeBron, Jamison, Williams, Shaq and Parker
.
  

 

[scotthallwithapick]

LeBron Becomes Available... and the Clippers Become Invisible

Clipsnation_tiny by Steve Perrin on May 14, 2010 6:51 PM PDT in News Comment 27 comments
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The conventional wisdom this season has been that in order for the Cavs to re-sign LeBron James they needed to win a championship. Or more accurately, that the odds of him leaving Cleveland would increase substantially if they did not win a ring. Well, guess what? They didn't win.

It doesn't mean that LeBron is gone - but you could hardly tell from the way everyone has reacted. It certainly didn't help that his final game in Cleveland this year (possibly his final game as a Cavalier) was a 32 point blowout in which he was booed in the fourth quarter. He might want to get used to that - If he signs elsewhere that's all he's going to hear on trips back to Cuyahoga County.

It's not hard to see why everyone thinks that LeBron is LeGone. This Cavs team was built to win now - and they didn't. If he stays in Cleveland, he's stuck with Antawn Jamison, Mo Williams and Anderson Varejao (and the $30M combined they'll make next season) as his supporting cast. The center position is currently empty, with both Shaquille O'Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas being free agents, and both of those guys are on their last legs even if you wanted to re-sign them. In a particularly bitter twist, the Cavs don't have a single draft pick in this draft, with the first rounder going to the Wizards as part of the Jamison deal and the second rounder going to the Suns in the Shaq trade. In other words, Shaq and Jamison were acquired to win now, they didn't, and the second half of the 'win now' equation is 'lose later.'

Star-divide

In fact, if LeBron does indeed leave, the Cavs could have one of the biggest backslides in league history. After having the best record in the league in 2009-2010, how bad would they be without LeBron next season? Only the post-Jordan Bulls come to mind as a comparable riches-to-rags story.

There are other reasons to believe that he'll be leaving Cleveland, above and beyond the immediate problem that the Cavs didn't win the title. His every word between now and July will be parsed for hidden meaning and I think for the most part people are making mountains out of grammatical molehills (for instance referring to his time in Cleveland in the past tense makes sense, given that his time there to this point is, you know, in the past). Having said that, one quote did catch my eye. When he said that "me and my team have a plan" (and by 'team' he meant "Team LeBron", not the Cleveland Cavaliers), that said a lot to me. And it didn't say "I'm staying in Ohio."

Because, let's face it, staying and playing for the hometown team would be a personal decision, not a team decision. The reasons to stay in Cleveland all tend toward the personal - loyalty, family, that sort of thing. Individuals care about that sort of thing. Teams of agents and lawyers and marketers care about things like maximizing exposure, global branding opportunities and multi-media cross over appeal. The 'team' wants him the hell out of Ohio.

If he does bolt, where will he end up? I have no idea, but neither does anyone else. How do I know? The 'LeBron and Calipari to the Bulls' rumor got so much traction, so quickly, it obviously was rushing in to fill a vacuum of LeBron info. Now, I don't pretend to understand the power of Worldwide Wes and Sonny Vaccaro, but I do know that Calipari isn't even looking for a job and has gone out of his way at this point to say that he will be coaching at Kentucky next season. (At least Vaccaro had the Clippers high on the list of potential destinations, for what it's worth.) How do rumors like this get started? Again, I don't know, but if John Calipari were making $10M in the NBA next season instead of $4M in Kentucky, someone else would stand to be making a lot more money also (like for instance his agent). But there's absolutely no reason for Calipari to get on Twitter and say he's coaching the wildcats next season if he's not, so the red-hot rumor from this morning is done this afternoon. (It doesn't mean that LeBron wouldn't go to Chicago without Calipari of course, but the whole idea of that rumor was Calipari and his pals Rose and LeBron together in the Windy City, so it all looks like so much wind at this point.)

Even if no one knows where he will end up, everyone seems pretty certain about where he WON'T be - in LA with the Clippers. The Clippers don't even enter the conversation. Chris Sheridan handicaps the four favorites (New York, Miami, Chicago and Cleveland) and even throws a darkhorse into the race in New Jersey - with nary a mention of LA. You know it's a big sports story when they cover it on NPR, and Stefan Fatsis on "All Things Considered" today went through the same list, again omitting LA. Of course, those who do mention the Clippers usually conclude that, despite a lot of concrete reasons that LBJ should consider the Clippers, he won't because of the most concrete reason of all - "It's the Clippers." Solid reasoning.

Of course, "It's the Clippers" is really just code for the real reason - "It's the Donald" - and I happen to concur with that conclusion. LeBron has a lot of options, and wherever he goes there won't be a long list of people that can adversely affect him. Coaches can be fired, teammates can traded. But a bad owner? Even LeBron would have difficulty transcending that.

If we ignore that little problem just for the moment, you can certainly make a strong case for LeBron as a Clipper. Start by asking yourself why he would leave Cleveland. The reasons boil down to two that are head and shoulders above the rest -

1. the size of the market (and the opportunity to be an even bigger marketing brand that goes with it) and
2. the quality of the team.

There are other potential factors of course. Things like weather and taxes and nightlife. But it seems obvious that those factors are not significant as compared to the first two.

This is why omitting the Clippers from the conversation is so depressing, because based on these requirements LA is an obvious potential destination. LA is the second biggest market in the country, and it also happens to be the location of the movie industry. The reality is that LeBron was a plenty big marketing force in the relative backwater of Cleveland. But if you're looking for the things that one city might be able to provide to a global icon that another city could not, movie studios would be high on the list.

As for talent, most anybody who bothers to analyze the potential destination rosters tends to agree that the Clippers are a great choice, if not the best choice. If he joins the Knicks, he's joining a 29 win team that is losing their all star center and doesn't have a first round draft pick. Assuming they add a second major free agent, how much better will he be then David Lee? Maybe it will even be David Lee. In the best case scenario in New York, who's the starting point guard? Who's playing in the backcourt at all? After the free agent money is spent, the Knicks are still missing two starters.

If he joins the Nets, he's joining the team with the worst record in the league last year. Are Brooke Lopez and Devin Harris nice players? Sure. Did I mention that the Nets had the worst record in the league last year?

Chicago has a claim to most talented suitor, but I'm not convinced LeBron would want to be there. For one thing, if the driving force is to get to a bigger market, Chicago is certainly bigger than Cleveland, but it sure ain't New York or LA. I'm also not convinced that he's a good fit with Derrick Rose, who has to have the ball in his hands to be effective.

Miami's pitch is predicated completely on the guys they'll sign this summer (and yes, they have a ton of cap space), so it's hard to say what they look like. But there's a bigger problem with the Heat - Miami is already Dwyane Wade's town. I don't care how much LeBron says he's enjoyed playing with DWade on Team USA - he's not sharing the spotlight with him. If his ego is too big for Cleveland, then it's definitely too big to bunk with Wade's in South Beach.

On the other hand, i he were to join the Clippers, they'd immediately become the most complete starting five in the NBA (Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, LeBron James, Blake Griffin, Chris Kaman). There'd be no question whose team it was, Baron Davis notwithstanding. And James and Griffin would have a chance to become the most formidable pair of athletes ever to suit up together. On talent alone, it's a compelling argument.

The latest issue of New York magazine is more or less dedicated to pitching LeBron on the Knicks as a destination. It's one of many shameless promotions going on, and there will doubtless be many more. (The Heat have dedicated a new web site to Dwyane Wade; a bunch of 'famous' Clevelanders got together for a "Please Stay LeBron" tribute song, which, if I was LeBron and I watched it, would pretty much send me to the exits. Those are the famous people in Cleveland? Yikes.) One of the the features in New York Magazine was a critique of all the potential destinations by Kevin Pelton. It actually included the Clippers, and here's what he had to say about LAC:

Pros: Better returning players than any competing team, with a glaring hole at small forward.

Cons: Those players all want the ball in their hands. These are the Clippers, the city’s second fiddle. And owner Donald Sterling has a poor reputation among NBA players. (Former G.M. Elgin Baylor once claimed Sterling tried to run the team with a "southern-plantation-type structure.")

"Better returnng players than any competing team." He said it, not me. The cons are what they are. I'm not sure I agree that all the other players necessarily want the ball in their hands more than most competent NBA players. In fact, Blake Griffin is likely to be more complementary than any other first overall pick. As for the other cons, they're all not basketball related - it's the Clippers, and it's the Donald. Sigh.

And that's why no one is talking about LA: it's the Clippers.

 

[illmatic34]

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

LeBron is NOT signing with the Bulls. I guarantee it. Playing in Jordan's shadow? Playing with team mates that may only be slightly better than his current Cavs team mates?

At the end of the day I think it'll come down to 4 teams...
-Cavs (they are going to remain contenders if he stays but they need to fire Mike Brown)
-Knicks (have the money for another max player to play next to Bron plus they have some good young players and some additional cap room when Curry's contract expires. Oh yeah, NYC is a ginormous city = more hype = more $$$).
-Nets (billionaire owner committed to winning at all costs, moving to New York, Jay-Z has ties to the team, the Nets have some good young players, some assets to trade and likely a top 3 draft pick).
-Heat (play next to Wade with one of the greatest NBA coaches ever running the show, in a great city. I think it's unlikely he signs with the Heat but it's a distant possibility).

Bulls > Cavs without LeBron. LeBron's teammates are significantly older than the Bulls' nucleus and they are worse as well. Jordan is a valid point but slightly better teammates? No. LeBron has the best chance of winning with the Bulls...Rose/Noah/Gibson/Deng is better than any of those other teams (except maybe the Nets) you mentioned. Will he sign with the Bulls? We'll see. The Bulls have enough cap space to sign two max free agents...even though the Knicks can too, their team is significantly worse than the Bulls.

 

[dman14]

taken from ny season thread

EMBED-We Are Lebron Video - Watch more free videos

 

[scotthallwithapick]

 

[moneyisthemotive]

if cleveland can twirk deals for 2 stars somehow, he will stay ... but if not, he is going to the nets or lakers and heres why ...

if the nets land wall and sign/trade for another star fa they go from doormat to 1st seed in the east ... wall lebron and lopez + star is NASTY ... jay-z influence and the brooklyn thing in 2 years ... you will have the youngest nucleus to work with and the east to play in ... it's really a no brainer with the owner being a billionaire ...

if the lakers give up artest and bynum for lebron it makes the cavs at least serviceable in the future and it pairs lebron with an aging kobe who will gladly ride james' coat tails to try and get 7 ships ... kobe will OK it in a heart beat and lebron will love the media attention as well as the wining potential with phil ... shannon brown, kobe, lebron, odom, gasol + triangle offense + the bench = guaranteed 3 ships at least ...

sorry new york and chicago ...

 

[airjordan jb23]

Originally Posted by ScottHallWithAPick

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/e/16711680/wshhCeISB5900r2JA11ehttp://worldstarhiphop.com/videos/viewvid.php?v=16711680/wshhCeISB5900r2JA11e&ap=0http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/e/16711680/wshhCeISB5900r2JA11e

Ok

 

[heshua]

Why does everyone keep bringing up the playing in Jordan's shadow? Did people say Kobe is playing in Magic or Kareem's shadow? That's ridiculous.

 

[hannsum]

magic and kareem ain't jordan.

noway kobe would've played for the bulls never.

 

[kenji714]

Originally Posted by moneyisthemotive

if cleveland can twirk deals for 2 stars somehow, he will stay ... but if not, he is going to the nets or lakers and heres why ...

if the nets land wall and sign/trade for another star fa they go from doormat to 1st seed in the east ... wall lebron and lopez + star is NASTY ... jay-z influence and the brooklyn thing in 2 years ... you will have the youngest nucleus to work with and the east to play in ... it's really a no brainer with the owner being a billionaire ...

if the lakers give up artest and bynum for lebron it makes the cavs at least serviceable in the future and it pairs lebron with an aging kobe who will gladly ride james' coat tails to try and get 7 ships ... kobe will OK it in a heart beat and lebron will love the media attention as well as the wining potential with phil ... shannon brown, kobe, lebron, odom, gasol + triangle offense + the bench = guaranteed 3 ships at least ...

sorry new york and chicago ...

Kobe at the 2 and James at the 3 + Gasol and Odom inside the paint

Instant back to back to back championships

Do it Mitch

 

[antoekneeo]

You are a January, February, March, April, May... fool if you believe Lebron is going to the Lakers under any scenario.