The LeBron James Thread

[JaySmooov]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

First off, how you can even ask how LeBron humiliated the city of Cleveland is seriously beyond me. You don't think it's any coincidence at all that he named that abortion of a TV special "The Decision"? The guy grew up in the exact place where The Drive, The Catch, The Fumble, The Shot, etc, all took place. Not to mention that LeBron himself said this:



He absolutely knew just what he was doing. That show wasn't just to tell the world he was "taking his talents to South Beach". It was to take a huge **** on the entire city of Cleveland WHILE he told them and the rest of the world, essentially, "Screw you guys. Oh, AND I'm taking my talents to South Beach".

Let me put it like this: it's bad enough to have your girlfriend cheat on you. It's a million times worse to have your girlfriend cheat on you right before your eyes. That's basically what LeBron did. Well, save for the fact he cheated on Cleveland in front of millions of people instead of just one.

But sure, he didn't know what he was doing when he held a 1 hour TV special on ESPN with a title that was a play on all of the worst moments in Cleveland sports history and knew WELL before then that he was leaving the Cavaliers.

Now how you can say Cleveland WASN'T dedicated to winning is beyond me. Yes, the talent didn't exactly stack up to the likes of what the Lakers had to offer with Gasol, Bynum, Odom, Kobe, Artest, etc, but Dan Gilbert spent every last dime he could to keep LeBron in Cleveland.

You can question how that money was spent, sure, but the fact is they did all they could to bring more talent to the Cavs and build the best team possible. Not to mention that LeBron was treated just like the King he claims himself to be with Gilbert shelling out for new facilities, state of the art renovations to Gund/Quicken Loans Arena, and damn near all of LeBron's boys being employed or having special access to the team in some way shape or form, etc.

But back to the talent part, people forget that Ron Artest was this close to playing for the Cavs and not the Lakers, and only decided against joining them because even he wasn't sure if LeBron was committed to staying in Cleveland. There's no telling how many more possible free agents that could have signed with the Cavs that that affected, but I'd bet Artest wasn't the only one.

So right there Cleveland was already handicapped with what they could do. And considering they were able to turn guys like Eric Snow, Larry Hughes, Cedric Simmons, Drew Gooden, Sasha Pavlovic, etc into Mo Williams, Delonte West, Ben Wallace, Shaq, etc, I'd definitely say they weren't committed to winning.



Right off the bat, LeBron was never picking Cleveland, so that point is irrelevant. The guy ignored every single call from Gilbert, Danny Ferry, and whoever else in Cavs management decided to call him. That right there tells you his mind was already made up.

I have to say I do love your last paragraph. It's not okay to "throw dirt on his name when he made that city relevant", but it's okay for LeBron to turn that same city into the punchline of one of the biggest moments/events/whatever in sports history? Makes sense.

The funny thing about all of this is that I haven't even touched on how he quit in the playoffs, the phantom elbow injury to give himself an easy out, playing the team and the city along to think there was ever a possibility he would return, the tampering by the Heat, and LeBron, Wade, and Bosh most likely having had this all planned out years before it happened.

The funniest part though? LeBron is my favorite player.

Wait, you don't think the hype machine that is ESPN has a DIRECT hand in "The Decision?" I wouldn't be surprised if they PROPOSED the idea of turning the hype into a special, and LeBron decided to donate the proceeds.

But let me ask this, if you don't mind: A) Why is he your favorite player? B) Would you accept sort of a true apology, at least for the special thing, and C) Would you accept him if he decided he wanted to come back?

[SidVish]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

[JaySmooov]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

"New here", meaning that you didn't experience the fallout from the forum's perspective.

Well yeah, in that sense.

Yes, the "new here' was necessary because you registered in mid-2011 so it was more of a "since you're a recent dude, you missed all the **** as it went down". How should I know you've been lurking for 3-4 years? If you were lurking for 3-4 years and post in the NBA forum so much now, I'm sure you kept tabs on the NBA Forum when you were lurking so you definitely knew what was up and what people's stances were.

To be honest, I never knew there were forums when I first found the site. I was only lurking on the articles that came up when you searched a game, which mostly was Madden.

[1Rose]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Exactly. And you shouldn't even have to be a Cleveland resident/fan to be mad.

I used to love LeBron, but the last 3 years or so have turned me off of him COMPLETELY. Absolutely sickening what he's become and what he's been party to.

You don't have to. I felt sick FOR Cleveland.

I think that's why I hate LeBron even more. He grew up there. He knew the tortured history of that city, and all that they have endured, and he did it anyway, and did it so ruthlessly.

No loyalty anymore, in really any sport. It makes me want to vomit. I think that's why I'm such a homer for Derrick Rose. He just seems like he gets it. He gets what he means to Chicago, and he embraces it. I could be wrong about him, but I doubt it. The thing is, LeBron never cared. He was going to Indians games rocking Yankees fitted hats. He wasn't even a fan of any of the teams in Ohio. No respect for where he grew up. He's basically a representation of today's athletes and generation. All flash, no substance and follow whatever is popular.

I could probably write 20 pages on this, but there is no point. If you really don't get it now, then you never will.

[RedSceptile]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Sidebar LeBron didn't grow up in Cleveland he grew up in Akron, Akron pretty much hated Cleveland from what I can gather sort of like how Connecticut residents usually either align themself with New York or Boston teams and depending on your location tend to hate other cities or even other parts of the city such as in Bridgeport.

I'd also like to point out there is no rule that says you have to love teams from where you're from, one of my neighbors is from Boston and hates the Patriots. (seriously hates them with a passion)

[OSUFan_88]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Sidebar LeBron didn't grow up in Cleveland he grew up in Akron, Akron pretty much hated Cleveland from what I can gather sort of like how Connecticut residents usually either align themself with New York or Boston teams and depending on your location tend to hate other cities or even other parts of the city such as in Bridgeport.

I'd also like to point out there is no rule that says you have to love teams from where you're from, one of my neighbors is from Boston and hates the Patriots. (seriously hates them with a passion)

Seeing as how I went to the university of Akron, I feel like I can answer this confidently:

People in Akron consider themselves a part of Cleveland and LOVE Cleveland sports.

[1Rose]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Yea, you're right, you can bandwagon jump and cheer for winners like a majority of people do.

[King_B_Mack]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Exactly. And you shouldn't even have to be a Cleveland resident/fan to be mad.

I used to love LeBron, but the last 3 years or so have turned me off of him COMPLETELY. Absolutely sickening what he's become and what he's been party to.

I'm pretty much the same here. I don't know if I'd say I loved LeBron, but i really liked the dude. I was a backer for sure and defended him when guys wanted to get they're Skip Bayless on regarding him all the time. LeBron changed my opinion of him first with that dancing bull**** he pulled against the Bulls. From there the elbow thing, the quitting against Boston and the quote about three bad games and eventually The Decision just completely turned me off of the guy. Most all the hate that comes his way he truly brought on himself.

[RedSceptile]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Right...I'm from Jamaica the first teams I really saw or players I liked I generally latched on to said team(s). Tracy McGrady made me end up liking the Rockets even though I lived in New York for a couple of years (and I love the city but the teams meh not really New York fans, not all tend to be <blanks out>) should I be crucified? Does this make me a bandwagonner or something? Just wondering the only two places in America I've lived in with pro sports are Florida & New York. am I doin it wrong?

[TheMatrix31]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Like who you like, man.

[dramachild11]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

I posted a lot about what lebron did in the past but i heard magic johnson say on xmas that if the heat dont win the chip this year they should be blown up and i had a thought (this is pure "what if" territory)... seeing as how bron is playing better than ever and it seems like bosh plays better when wade isnt there, if they dont win this year would you trade bron or wade? i say wade only cause hes 30 an has a history of injury

[RedSceptile]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Ohhhhh don't get me wrong, I will. I'm just genuinely wondering the sports loyalty situation. Some people believe if you don't love the teams from your city/state then something is wrong with you, while others generally don't care.

I understand all the vitriol directed at LeBron but what I don't get is how him liking certain teams is an issue? That I just can't get. Plenty of dudes (including athletes) were/are fans of teams not from their area.

[King_B_Mack]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

The thing with LeBron wasn't so much that he liked those teams, but that he KNEW people were speculating what he was going to do and looking to grab onto anything they could as an indicator of what he was going to do and showing up rocking Yankee hats to the Indians game just fed those fires for Lin/Tebowesque coverage of LeBron in a Yankee hat. He put Cleveland through hell those last two years or so and knowing what we know now, it's pretty clear that all that stuff was calculated and done for a reason.

[JaySmooov]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

The thing with LeBron wasn't so much that he liked those teams, but that he KNEW people were speculating what he was going to do and looking to grab onto anything they could as an indicator of what he was going to do and showing up rocking Yankee hates to the Indians game just fed those fires for Lin/Tebowesque coverage of LeBron in a Yankee hat. He put Cleveland through hell those last two years or so and knowing what we know now, it's pretty clear that all that stuff was calculated and done for a reason.

Maybe he's a fan of the Yankees? And not a fan of the Indians?

[King_B_Mack]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Maybe he's a fan of the Yankees? And not a fan of the Indians?

I thought that same thing at the time and he may be a Yankee fan, but like I said, knowing what we know now, he was doing that crap to trump up the whole free agency thing that they planned two years prior.