He Who Took His Talents To South Beach

[dazed&confused]

Apparently he wasn't breast fed as a baby. Oh wait, that was Delonte!

[Rebels on 3]

I think the Cavs and their owner did get what they deserved. They shouldnt have talked crap and said that they would win a ring before THE KING. When LBJ left they should have just said ok thanks for building this entire city for 7 years, and that should have been all they said. But no they had to run their jibs and now the Heat are number one in the power rankings and the Cavs are either last or close to it. Also I would like to point out I am not a Heat fan nor was I a Cavs fan, I am just a Lebron James fan.

[Rebels on 3]

I get what your saying and I never said LBJ did nothing wrong, but Cleveland was doing wrong also by some of the coments that were said. Neither side took the high road out of the problem, they both bashed each other. But it is also true both Cleveland and LBJ need to get over it, its done there's nothing that can be done now. Also because of the coments by the Cavs ownership no big name superstar will ever want to play for them, so if they want to have a good team again they will have to do so through the draft.

[mister b]

This whole thing with James and company going to Miami has opened up a can of worms that I do not think the NBA will like.

Carmello wants Chauncy Billups included in his deal to go to the Nets on a 3 team, 15 player trade so the Russian billionaire owner can buy a title.

The NBA had better get a handle on this as there will be more of this happening in the future.

[gymrat88]

Cleveland is getting everything they deserved for their actions towards James. The wording on his tweet is questionable, but I agree with the message behind it.

gahs, answer these questions for me if you would be so kind:

1) Why is it ok for Dan Gilbert to talk about Karma but not LeBron?

2) Why is it ok for Cavs fans to rub it in the Heat's face when the Heat struggle through 14 games, but not ok for James to rub it in now that the HEAT ARE ON TOP and THE FIGHTING DAN GILBERTS ARE ON BOTTOM?

3) Why is it ok for Dan Gilbert to write a 14 page hatemail but LeBron cannot write a two sentence tweet?

You all have created a double standard out of your hate for LeBron James and your love for Cleveland.

All I can say is get used to it, because the Heat and James are here to stay!

[JChipwood]

Lebron was definitely the reason the Cavs were as good as they were but cannot be held accountable for being the reason they are as bad as they are. Based on the way Gilbert made no effort to bring in guys to make the team better, even ones that Lebron said he thought they should go after, anyone would have been able to see LBJ going elsewhere and planning ahead with the teams best interest in minds. Gilbert failed the Cavs and the city of Cleveland. Sure Lebron left and it hurt the Cavs and the way he did it was not the best way but to say he is the reason they are bad, c'mon man. He left, Shaq is old and wasn't much help, D West was not a great player, and Z is only good for a few solid minutes per game but never great or dominant minutes besides the fact that he chose to leave for less money and play with a guy that some call the jerk.. Evidentally the people in the locker room with him daily don't see him as a jerk or a bad teammate and Z has had a lot of teammates and experiencing judging them. Dan Gilbert is the reason the Cavs suck and he is the reason that the problem will get worse long before it gets better.

[Rebels on 3]

Couldnt have been said any better JChipwood. Cleveland and Lebron haters should be mad at Dan Gilbert and not Lebron. Lebron asked a number of times for better players, and they gave him Shaq and Jamison. You cant tell me that Amare wouldnt have came to Cleveland to play with Lebron. Dan Gilbert just jumped on the first thing that came to him and it ended up to be a very bad decision. As much as Lebron did for Cleveland they should rename the city LEBRONLAND.

[noreply66]

Go Heat

[JChipwood]

Wow, such hate!!! lol

Usually 4ever I can agree with most of what you say, in this case we will have to agree to disagree. I am not in love with Lebron but am a fan and moreover am a fan of extreme talent and god given ability and physically in my lifetime I have seen guys like Bo Jackson be injured and not able to finish his career along with other athletes that could have been but had their careers cut short and am just appreciating watching something that doesn't happen very often and in Lebron's case, something that I have never seen before physically.

The mid-season Amare deal was all but done only to have Gilbert pull the plug on the deal in the very end. Then after the season no efforts were made to attempt to make the deal happen but that offseason they brought in Shaq. Everyone was on board except for Gilbert including the Suns and Amare. Amare even had final money numbers in mind that would have worked out great for the Cavs. Gilbert was just either being stubborn or a complete fool.

If anyone thinks the tiny pieces put together were a whole-hearted effort to make the team a winner then I am sorry but that person either knows very little about basketball, doesn't watch the game closely, or is not a very good judge of strengths and weaknesses on the bball court. They were more than one piece away from being a contender especially to Boston's all-star lineup and the Lakers all-star lineup but tried to build one little piece, and not even great pieces, at a time and then say look at me I am doing everything that Lebron wants when he did about half enough to really make it work. What he did was all window dressing to make people think he was trying but what he did was get richer because of Lebron and sent him into battle with a six shooter rather than an arsenal. They didn't give Lebron anything other than a huge salary and based on the team's income, I guess he earned it and would have received that from whoever drafted him. Bottom line is they were lucky to suck enough to have the first pick in that draft winning only 19 games before he got there. Maybe everyone would have been happier if Lebron had never gone to Cleveland, I am sure it wasn't his first choice of teams. He made them winners, made them huge bankrolls, brought in fans, and revitalized a city used to losing all by playing a game at a very high level at a very young age. Fans weren't their to watch Mo or Z and they weren't buying jerseys with Gilberts name on them.

Andy is a solid defender and rebounder and could/will help a team get to the next level but needs a scoring bigman to help him. There is a reason Jamison hasn't and won't win an NBA championship in his career unless he has several guys carrying him along, he can't defend the guys in his position. Mo is a streaky shooter and had one good year because he was wide open a lot but when teams quit leaving him to help out his shooting % dropped and he is not an asset rebounding and def not playing defense. On top of that they had a coach that during tos would stand outside the huddle and scratch his head as to what to do then tell them "play hard" never drawing up anything that might help the team score. The inbounds plays???? well they had none and never tried to get easy shots in the halfcourt or on out of bounds situations. No motion on ofense, no use of screens, no effort to try to get Lebron away from the ball using his strengths, no effort to push guys to go out of their comfort zone and as a result, they lost in the playoffs because playoff basketball is about forcing the other team out of their comfort zone. Teams were able to do that easily with the Cavs because they never waivered from one system all year. My best friend has seats very close to the Cavs bench and has told me some Mike Brown stories that are laughable. His end was forseeable long before his final season with the Cavs and long overdue. Regular season numbers are just that and mostly due to one guy making everyone around him a better player and also carrying the load in every aspect of the game. Teams focused on taking one guy away in the playoffs and no other Cav was capable of stepping up, as a result I am sure Lebron got frustrated, so did I watching that show but again, it was easy to predict.

C'mon with the Shaq thing, really??? Yeah the Celts will most likely beat the Heat this year in the playoffs but because of the 8 or 9 guys on the team better than Shaq and not because of him. Of course, when the decision was made in the summer, most people knew that would be the case this year but in time the Heat will build a roster, Riley is a good bball mind, and they will win some games and probably some championships.

[dazed&confused]

Lebron twisted his ankle last night in a loss to the Clippers and is listed as day-to-day. Apparently, Karma IS a B_____!

[gymrat88]

gahs- Winning in the regular season is totally different than in the playoffs. Take the Celtics last year for example- a 4 seed in the East. They were to old, washed up, nobody gave them a chance. All you want to talk about is how LeBron gave up in the series, when Boston went on to lose to the Lakers by 4 points in a game 7 with their starting Center out. You can't seem to grasp the fact that the reason the Cavs consistently bowed out in the playoffs to teams like the Magic and Celtics was because the Cavs roster as a whole was not built for the playoffs, not to mention Mike Brown, who was one of the worst coaches in the NBA. To win in the playoffs you need depth, good coaching, and more than one guy to go to in the clutch. The Celtics have Rondo, Pierce, Allen, and Garnett to go to in clutch time, the Lakers have Kobe, Gasol, Fisher, and sometimes Artest and Odom. Who did the Cavs have other than LeBron to make a big shot?????? THE ONLY REASON THE CAVS EVER DID ANYTHING WAS BECAUSE OF LEBRON AND LEBRON ONLY. Having the players on his team that he did and then winning back to back top regular season records is not a testement to the Cavs, it is a testement to his greatness as a player and his leadership ability to carry a group of average players on his back to greatness.

If you believe that he would have won championships and carried Cleveland to the promise land if he stayed, then you are 100% wrong. He tried for 7 years to do it. The players the Cavs were bringing in were either 1) old and used up or 2) role players that would hardly play on any other team in the league. Not to mention a coach who should have been fired about 3 years ago. LeBron left because of 2 people (Dan Gilbert and Chris Bosh when he went to join Wade), and because he like everyone else who has a critical eye for Basketball could see Cleveland was not going to compete in the playoffs with the Lakers or Celtics any time soon.

gahs you just like the media expect him to be PERFECT. He can never make a bad decision, and in your eyes and in the media's eyes, when he does, you condemn him. Take into account that he his 26 years old. Do I agree with the wording of the tweet? No. Do I think he was perfect in his summer annoucements? No. But I am willing to forgive and forget and just watch a tremendous athlete go to work.

[gymrat88]

[quote="gahs4ever"]Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....I do believe that roster and coach reached the NBA finals. Kinda hard to get that far with a roster not built for the playoffs.

As far as your LeBron ONLY remark, do you even proof read what you type before you hit enter? If he alone won 60+ games, and he ALONE reached the NBA finals, Im wondering how he pulled that off going one against an entire team. It is YOU who fails to acknowledge that NO one man team in NBA history EVER won a championship by himself.Jordan didnt do it until Kukoc, Pippen and Rodman came along. West couldnt do it even with Baylor, Chamberlain couldnt do it in Phil or SF, and on and on and on.

You think I hate on him. I think you give him too much credit. Im older than most on this site, and at this point he isnt even on my top ten list of all time greats. He cant carry Jordan's jock, and only Oscar averaged a triple double for an entire season, but even the Big O ha to wait until Jabbar came along to win a ring. Bird and Magic are ahead of him as is Russell, Chamberlain and Jabbar. West is in there somewhere as well. You remember him...the guy whose image is the basis for the NBA logo.

BTW... a little off topic but can you tell me who was the first NBA player to score 20,000 points in his career? I'll give you a hint. He played most of his career without a shot clock and no 3 point line. No cheating![/quote

If you have been reading my posts on the LeBron James topics, then you know that what I am getting at is the sole reason he left is because that is what Cleveland was- a one man team, and by him leaving Cleveland for Miami, he went from a one superstar team with a bunch of John Doe's to a three superstar team with a bunch of John Doe's. I'll gladly take the second option. I am a FIRM believer in the fact that it takes more than one. That is why what LBJ did in Cleveland was so great, because I cannot hardly remember anybody leading his team where he did with the talent that his team possessed.

As far as my guess to your trivia question, without looking I would have to answer Pistol Pete Maravich.

[mister b]

Heat walk through their game vs the Clippers, play no defense (is that allowed in the NBA) and suffer an embrassing road loss to the lowly Clippers. Must of been too many family and posse members on the team flight out to LA to get prepared for the game. Oh, I forgot, the Heat take 2 planes, one for the 3 amigos and their crew and another for the rest of the Heat.

[JChipwood]

Again I'll say WOW.................

No appreciation for factual history??? The facts are, and even ESPN was reporting at the time, that the Amare deal was all but done. Amare and his agent were both ready to pack up and go to Clev. The Suns ownership even made statements as the details of the deal but no I don't have those facts stored in my brain.

As far as nobody talking about any misfortune of the Cavs and everyone saying how great they were during a 60 win season. Not so much the case. I certainly posted on here about the same issues I just stated earlier today. Other posters also made comments about shortcomings. It was not all love and roses and by watching the games it was evident that problems would arise during the post season. I could care less what the major media outlet in the Clev area has to say or better yet what they are told to say and get paid to say about the franchise. Like I said Gilbert did his window dressing act to fool some fans and also create the debate that we are having right now, he did do some things just not nearly enough or the right things to create a contender and it was obvious to people watching the Cavs closely especially anyone that really understands basketball. They were beaten by better teams in Orlando and Boston and I would bet money that given 10 series with each of those teams in those same years, the Cavs would be lucky to win 2 of the series. They simply weren't as deep in talent even though they had the best player by far. In those series, the player rankings would have to be 1) Lebron 2) - at least 6) guys from the other teams. In fact of the top ten guys in those games some of the bench players for Boston and Orlando were better than the majority of the starters for Clev. On top of that Mike Brown always was one of the worst coaches in the league as far as x and o and teaching.

I don't like baseball for the very reason you stated about big market-farm teams and no parody. However, the NBA has always been that way and these multi team and multi player trades have gone on for as long as I can remember and are nothing new. Guys leaving crappy teams to play in big markets and to play for contenders is nothing new either. I like it better than the way the league was for a short time in the nineties when every good player just wanted the bucks and to be the main man and no focus was placed on winning. I like the attitude of sacrifice a little to gain a lot. That attitude existed with teams of the sixties, seventies, eighties, and has been reborn since about 2002.

[farmer]

LeBron now denies making the Tweet but after the Tweet came out he gave excuses for sending it. LeBron likes to blame others instead of saying he did it. LeBron has great talent but his actions keep him from being even better

[Rebels on 3]

As far as the top 10 of all time it can't be mentioned without Kobe for sure, and LeBron. Kobe IMO is either the best, or close to the best Laker of all time, argue all you want but he has the rings and numbers to prove it. Also LeBron is the most dominate player in NBA history. He is the only player to carry his team to 60 plus wins and to the finals by himself, not even Jordan or Magic could do that.

[gymrat88]

gahs- I don't know what kind of rose colored glasses you looked at the Cavs through for the past 7 years, but any person who is a fan of the game of Basketball and understands the game could tell, like JChipwood pointed out, that they were highly disfunctional in many areas.

- They had a 3rd grade offense. No plays. No movement. No utilization of player strenghts. No adjustments to defenses.
- They had the most overrated defense in the NBA. If you look at stats over time, quick guards such as Tony Parker, Rajon Rondo, and solid big men such as Dwight Howard, and Kevin Garnett destroyed them come playoff time.

The other aspect of your argument that I don't understand is that you act like that when Gilbert, Ferry, and Brown catered to LeBron, that it was LeBron's fault.You talk like LeBron held them hostage. By them catering to his every whim, that shows a lack of management and professionalism on their part, not LeBron's. I would have loved to see Mike Brown sit him on the bench when he was standing around on offense. Part of the problem with Mike Brown is that none of his players respected him, probably because he was a total pushover and on top of that didn't run any kind of offense.

[dazed&confused]

My friend, I do hope this is your last post on this subject. It is not becomming of you. There are many more important upbeat things to post about than this clown. I don't feel any passion for it as I am a Celtics fan and he has been irrelevant to my NBA wishes. Let's discuss other things like the coming of spring (training) and the emergence of our Browns as the powerhouse of the AFC North for the next four decades.

[Rebels on 3]

Yes Wilt, and Russell were dominate player of their time, but players they played against in those days couldnt compare to some of the high school players of today. Athletes have changed alot. If Wilt played todays game he wouldnt be near as good, and thats a fact. Wilt couldnt move Shaq or Howard.

[gymrat88]

Again, don't you think he felt frustrated by the ineptitude of his teammates and the organization? Because I know I did. There were games that I would beg for Brown to call out plays, to let the team get in transition. It never happened. It is a COACHES responsibility to manage the team and the way they play, not LeBron's. The difference between your argument and mine is I blame the people who the blame should properly fall upon to make a team and an organization run effectively, and that is the coaches, GM, and owner, not players. SO IF INDEED LEBRON DID RUN THE TEAM, THEN THAT IS THE CAVALIER ORGANIZATION'S FAULT FOR LETTING THAT HAPPEN! It is a simple concept!!!

I was a Cavs fan because that is where LeBron went to play. I am now a Heat fan because that is where LeBron went to play. I am a fan of LeBron because I feel that NEVER in THE HISTORY OF BASKETBALL has a player combined SUPREME ATHLETICISM with KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO PLAY THE GAME like LeBron James. He is already one of the Top 50 greatest of all time, and IMO he is one of the top 15 greatest of all time. He will win championships with the Heat, and if his legacy is marked by 1 PLAYOFF SERIES and not marked by ALL OF THE INCREDIBLE SEASONS THAT HE GAVE CLEVELAND AND ALL OF THE INCREDIBLE SEASONS THAT HE WILL GIVE THE HEAT AND ANY FUTURE TEAMS HE PLAYS FOR, then that is a TRAVESTY to the game of Basketball, and a TESTEMENT to the truth that people love nothing better than to build someone up, and then tear them down.