LeBron James going to Miami

Bubastes

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I talked to some of my Cleveland friends yesterday. Their response: at least he didn't go to Chicago. Not sure what that means, but there you go.
 

Jcomp

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I'm a fan. Should be fun, though I wish he'd gone to Chicago instead. Would have been better / more interesting for the league to have a pair of powerhouses in the East that could duke it out for years to come. Still a possibility, but Chicago needs a really good shooting guard and for Derrick Rose to make the leap from "potential superstar" to bonafide superstar.

It's been interesting to see many Cleveland fans and ownership flying off the handle to demonize the man they loved and hoped would stay as recently as 24-hours ago. Suddenly he's "overrated" and a "quitter." If you really thought that, then why would you want him back anyway?
 

mscelina

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Pfft. Horse puckey.

Lebron James is going to Miami for less money because he wants to be on a winning team. Cleveland has never provided him with other players who could take up some of the slack--they sat on their asses and expected him to win all by himself against TEAMS.

Personally, I'm glad for Lebron James. As for the squawking currently going on in the state of Ohio, I have little tolerance for it. If the sports franchises in this state actually want to win (which seems unlikely judging for the abyssmal front offices of every franchise in Ohio) then they need to do what it takes to insure those victories--you know, putting together TEAMS instead of one-man-shows.

Good for Lebron. I hope he gets his ring.
 

Eddyz Aquila

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They have Antawn, they have Shaq (old, but he still goes), Big Z, Jamarion Moon, Mo Mo (Williams), Telfair and Varejao...That seems like a decent team, and if they actually work like a REAL TEAM, then you have LeBron in the leading role, Zydrunas keeping the defence and the rest passing around.

But it turns out it never worked that way. Cleveland never had a good coach to begin with.
 

scope

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I'm a big hoops fan who's disgusted with the attitude and posture of most of today's "dream" players, particularly James, the self proclaimed "King" of the Hill. I really didn't need a one hour show-and a show it was-to find out the team from who he will make billions of dollars in the next few years. Nice of him to give the proceeds to The Boys and Girls Club, but he could have done that with the change in his pocket and without the fanfare. For those of you who are old enough, can you imagine the laughter over this fiasco from the greats of the past? And I don't even mean a long time ago. For instance, can you imagine Bill Russell, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson having secret meetings to determine how and where as a group they could make the most money? Man, they wouldn't even talk to each other, much less call themselves "King". These three and a slew of others could do more and accomplish more than "King" James and his posse will ever be able to do.
 

robeiae

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Well, James took a 30 million dollar hit by choosing Miami, so I hardly think the plan was about making the most money. And in the days of Magic and Bird, there was no salary cap, thus LA and Boston were free to stock up on all the talent. Seriously, look at those squads. Who was gonna sign them away? The Clippers? Or maybe the Bullets...

That said, I agree about the one hour special.
 

Jcomp

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They have Antawn, they have Shaq (old, but he still goes), Big Z, Jamarion Moon, Mo Mo (Williams), Telfair and Varejao...That seems like a decent team.

It's not though. Literally none of the above guys could start on the Lakers or Celtics, and would be lucky to crack the starting lineup for the Suns and Magic. Antawn or Shaq could maybe crack the starting lineup for the Spurs. Maybe. The second best player behind Lebron for the Cavs last year would be the third or even fourth best player on the Oklahoma City Thunder. So basically, no one who started for the Cavs besides Lebron last year could have started or been a major factor on a championship caliber squad.

The reason why Cleveland fans are so angry says it all. Without Lebron, this is a lottery team. Not even decent. And we'll see how "loyal" the hometown fans are when this team is limping along to a 30 - 52 record.

And let's be real here, the "Summer of 2010" has been hyped up by the media for over two years now, specifically geared toward where would Lebron go. So A) Cleveland has seen this coming for years and didn't have any sort of backup plan? Their bad. B) Clevelnad blaming Lebron for the 1-hour special is like a parent blaming their child for being spoiled rotten. They put up an enormous poster in his honor where he's striking a suspiciously Christ-like pose, ordained him a "King" and happily played along with the whole "Witnesses" promotion that made him seem like some sort of Messiah. And now they're calling him a narcissist? Gee, I wonder why that might be...
 
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Ken

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... keep hearing about this guy on the news. Excitement is astounding. He must be a very great player! Probably on steroids though like most athletes these days. So not much to be enthused about for me at least. I'll stick to my old sports heroes like Wilt Chamberlain.
 

Silver King

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Geez, Ken, you need to trade in that old black and white TV for one of those newfangled color versions they have out these days. And don't forget to adjust the rabbit ears for a clearer picture.
 

Ken

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... glad at least that I got you to smile, even if it is a sneering one ;-)
(And I do see your point. Food for thought.)
 

Silver King

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I'm just pulling your chain, Ken, gently tugging when I saw it out there swaying.

As for the new King James version of the basketball bible, only time will tell whether any of the self-proclaimed prophets are correct in their visions, no more than one or two seasons at most.
 

Jcomp

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I think Miami makes the Finals this year. Won't be easy, but I think they're in. Can they beat whoever meets them there (almost certainly the Lakers unless someone like the Spurs or Phoenix makes a late addition in a trade or free agency) is the question.
 

poetinahat

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I think the Cleveland fans deserve a little slack. Has any other city been more disappointed, more screwed, in sports over the past thirty years? Byner's fumble, Modell's move, the Tribe, (eta: and the ongoing Browns saga: the string of failed 'franchise' quarterbacks and savior coaches, Kellen Winslow being stupid, getting injured, then leaving) and now this. Who wouldn't be bitter? They've been hurting a long, long time. Agreed, the sour grapes are unbecoming. But man oh man, they've gotten so close, had so many hopes dashed. And they get hammered simply for Being Cleveland. Spare a thought, hey?

That said, the Cavs can either complain or figure out how to build a winning team that stars want to join.

As for James, it's a business. So what. But if he does win now, it won't be his legacy. It'll be what he did with an All-Star team. Now he may be remembered as great, but never on a Jordan level. He's got too much help now to claim that. But again, so what. Winners write history.

I saw that he called this the 'challenge' he was looking for. Riiiiiight; he -had- a challenge. What he opted for is shooting fish in a barrel.

eta: and, yeah, it's a business, and fair enough. Good on the Heat for putting this team together. But I might just indulge in some schadenfreude if the Heat don't win.
 
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Jcomp

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As for James, it's a business. So what. But if he does win now, it won't be his legacy. It'll be what he did with an All-Star team. Now he may be remembered as great, but never on a Jordan level. He's got too much help now to claim that. But again, so what. Winners write history.

I saw that he called this the 'challenge' he was looking for. Riiiiiight; he -had- a challenge. What he opted for is shooting fish in a barrel.

Warning... hoops rant on the way...

The whole Jordan comparison is just an example of people remembering more recent history than the full scope of the game. Superteams were what made the NBA great. Wilt Chamberlain played on a team with Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. Magic Johnson played with the best center of all time and James Worthy. Bird played with four other hall of famers at one point in his career. Julius Ervin played with Moses Malone. None of those guys have tarnished legacies due to playing alongside other legends.

The league spent more than half the decade trying to christen the next Jordan. Kobe, Vince Carter, T-Mac, on and on. The problem was, Jordan was like a freak experiment that can't be duplicated. Super talented, some reasonably imitable signature moves and moments (as classically displayed in this commercial), good looking, good name, good voice, and supremely successful because he ALSO had a hall of famer and top 50 player in Pippen at his side, plus, honestly, the league was at a downturn during Jordan's prime compared to the teams that graced the league in the 80's.

It was a bad look for the league to be driven by single-superstar teams, and it showed in the declining ratings. Then the KG trade gave Boston a monster trio (no one knocked KG for wanting to bail out on Minnesota, I guess there's a time limit on how long you have to suffer with a dismal franchise before people give you a pass?), forcing everyone else in the league who wanted to compete to do what they could to assemble their own star studded squad to match. Thus the Lakers bring in Gasol to join Kobe and steer him toward his path to the Hall, the Mavericks reach for Jason Kidd to join Dirk, the Suns reached for Shaq to join Amar'e and Nash, so on and so forth. Meanwhile the Cavs reached for an even older, slower and more rundown Shaq than the one who failed in Phoenix and... Antwan Jamison?

One of these things is not like the other.

The fact is, when the NBA was at its best it always had stacked teams, even back to the ridiculously overpowering Celtics team with Cousy, Havlicek, K.C. Jones and Bill Russel.

Lebron joining the Heat isn't as good for the league as if he had joined Chicago, because Bron + Rose + Boozer vs. Wade + Bosh for years to come would have been epic. But it's still better for the league than continuing to let its most talented player waste away on a team whose second best player isn't even identifiable and would have been coming off the bench for the Celtics, Lakers, Suns and Magic.

Chasing the "Jordan level" is like trying to chase Babe Ruth's legacy in baseball or trying to achieve Muhammad Ali's greatness above winning a championship. It's a foolish endeavor. Lebron failed the Jordan test as soon as he lost in the Finals, and really just by having guys like Kobe and D-Wade in the league with him at the same time. That kind of success requires a perfect storm that it's ridiculous to try to duplicate. The better option is to just focus on winning, which is what we bash athletes for losing sight of all the time anyway.
 
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robeiae

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Magic Johnson played with the best center of all time and James Worthy. Bird played with four other hall of famers at one point in his career.
Yeah, people really do forget sometimes. I noted this above, that these pasts greats were more than happy to be on a stacked team. Those Lakers-Celtics series involved EIGHT hall-of-famers on the court, along with a couple on the bench (Riley and Jones), not to mention some other top notch talent. And look what it took to move these power houses out: Houston's Twin Towers, the Detroit Piston's Bad Boys, etc.

Well said, Jcomp.
 

robeiae

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I think Miami makes the Finals this year.

Startin' to look like you were right. Yes, it's only 2-1 right now, but Chicago has run into what has--imo--been building all year. Bosh dominated on both ends of the court last night. And Wade had a bad game, while James was pretty good. Chicago has no solution if Rose isn't having a great game. Boozer played well, but that's not enough.

Three guys, all of whom can dominate both ends of the court...and now they're gellin' (like Magellan). Finals, here we come.



And on a personal note, I think I'll get some tickets to the finals if the Heat make it. Weirdly, that will mean that I've been to a World Series ('97, '03), a Stanley Cup final ('96), and an NBA final (missed the last one), all in Miami. I say "weirdly" because when I came here in '84, none of those sports had teams in Miami, which was Dolphin town all the way. Who would have thought the other sports would outshine football in Miami over all these years?
 

Jcomp

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Yeah, it's shaping up to be a Heat / Mavericks rematch in the Finals. My heart is actually rooting for OKC and Chicago. I like those young scrappy teams. But my head is saying that neither of those squads has the offensive firepower or poise to come back in either series. Miami's three, like you said, can dominate at either end of the court, and that is proving too much for Chicago to handle, and the only person stopping Dirk these days is himself. The guy can't be guarded...

Rob, if you do go to the Finals, all I ask is that you do not create one of those lame forced-acronym signs solely designed to get the cameras to give you a quick bit of screen time.
 
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