Thread Bomber;417624 wrote: If he was the Franchise player that everyone knows he is, The Cavs shwould have done anything to keep him... Up to and includeing an ownership option

THIS

There is nothing more the Cavs could have done. What would you have them do? Sign better free agents? Well maybe if #6 showed a little more commitment to the franchise free agents would not have been scared to sign with Cleveland. And what exactly is an ownership option? Let him be part owner? Is that even allowed? Didn't Jordan have to sell his portion of the Wizards before he could play for them?

thedynasty1998;417619 wrote:No I mean taking the team to the Finals. Making them relevant. Bringing an excitement.

No one is dumb enough to deny what Lebron did for Cleveland. If you are, then you will see how badly it affects the economy next year.

I absolutely hate statements like this. Imagine your significant other breaking up with you after 7 years and saying "well I gave you 7 great years, you should be happy with that. I'm moving on to better things". Would you say "oh you're right, thanks for those 7 years". NO, you would tell them to shove those 7 years where the sun don't shine.

BCBulldog;417673 wrote:Sure it doesn't sound like long, but who is the best available free agent left? He screwed the Cavs and everyone with at least half a brain knows it.

Oh, so he should have decided the first day and not completely explored his options? Yeah, that is great advice to live by.

He could have let the FO know his intentions thereby not leaving the Cavs, the city and its fans high and dry.

lhs07;417674 wrote: There is nothing more the Cavs could have done. What would you have them do? Sign better free agents? Well maybe if #6 showed a little more commitment to the franchise free agents would not have been scared to sign with Cleveland.

You act as though the Cavs window of opportunity to build a team was this off season. LeBron was there for SEVEN YEARS. Cleveland didn't put the pieces in place to win a title in that time, but now it is LeBron's fault it never happened because he left?

lhs07;417674 wrote:I absolutely hate statements like this. Imagine your significant other breaking up with you after 7 years and saying "well I gave you 7 great years, you should be happy with that. I'm moving on to better things". Would you say "oh you're right, thanks for those 7 years". NO, you would tell them to shove those 7 years where the sun don't shine.

Seriously? The fact that you would handle a break up that way is a pretty good indicator of what type of person you are. Some people are looking for different things in life. You can accept that or you can be the same immature, egomaniac and react like a two year old. You know, the same types of things that people say LeBron is, and the same EXACT way that fans and Dan Gilbert are acting.

Al Bundy;417526 wrote:Maybe he doesn't owe Cleveland, but he certainly doesn't need to have a one hour special on national TV where he says "fuck you" to northeast Ohio and the Cavs. It was one of the most classless things I have ever seen.

First of all, he said a lot of good things about Cleveland. He explained his thought process, defined his goals, provided insight into his decision. There was no "fuck you".

You do realize this is probably the biggest NBA announcement in at least the 15 or so years since Jordan retired. It WAS worthy of special on national TV. If he had announced he was staying in Cleveland all his haters would've been talking about how the one hour special was ridiculous and Clevelanders would be defending it. Just say it, you're shitty because your team lost its best player and basketball for you is going to suck for awhile. You don't have make up bullshit rules about class to make yourself feel better because it isn't going to work anyway.

This CLE fan wouldn't be defending it. The whole process handcuffed the Cavs. If he stayed, all the big names were gone. If he went all the big names were gone. He's known where he was going for a long time and put the kabosh on the organization for years by not letting them know. I understand it's his decision, but if he were as loyal as he claims he wouldn't have done things the way he did.

This is why, (reasonable fans, I guess) are so upset.

enigmaax;417761 wrote:First of all, he said a lot of good things about Cleveland. He explained his thought process, defined his goals, provided insight into his decision. There was no "fuck you".

You do realize this is probably the biggest NBA announcement in at least the 15 or so years since Jordan retired. It WAS worthy of special on national TV. If he had announced he was staying in Cleveland all his haters would've been talking about how the one hour special was ridiculous and Clevelanders would be defending it. Just say it, you're shitty because your team lost its best player and basketball for you is going to suck for awhile. You don't have make up bullshit rules about class to make yourself feel better because it isn't going to work anyway.

Not at all man.

Read this:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=jalebron-100709


Will basically underline everything I want to say, so I don't have to repeat it here. It's fine Lebron left, just not how.

What Gilbert did to Brown, is worse than what Lebron did to the Cavs.

Lebron is a coward plain and simple. When things are tough, he bails. If you don't think he quit/gave up during the Boston Series, you are delusional. I have been a Cavs fan my whole life and Lebron was my favorite player and I could see he quit. Since that point, I lost any respect I had for him. He has all the talent in the world but no heart and obviously now no class.

He took the easy way out, made Cleveland look like a joke and will never achieve the legacy of the GOAT. He will be lucky to be Top 5 when its all said and done.

thedynasty1998;417793 wrote:What Gilbert did to Brown, is worse than what Lebron did to the Cavs.

Strictly from a straight basketball standpoint its arguable which is worse.

From a classiness perspective, what Lebron did was much worse.

lhslep134;417810 wrote:Strictly from a straight basketball standpoint its arguable which is worse.

From a classiness perspective, what Lebron did was much worse.

Gilbert waits until the last minute to fire Brown, when he knew immediately after the playoffs. Although I don't believe it, Lebron said he didn't decide until yesterday.

Al Bundy;417526 wrote:Maybe he doesn't owe Cleveland, but he certainly doesn't need to have a one hour special on national TV where he says "fuck you" to northeast Ohio and the Cavs. It was one of the most classless things I have ever seen.

Were you under some legal obligation to watch it?

What LeBron did was not classless. It was money motivated. Like every person who grew up in a city has to play in that city their whole career or at all for that matter. Who cares that he held a TV show to announce it. It's egotistical but ESPN was willing to air it and millions were willing to watch. It's so funny to me that because LeBron chose not to stay on a team that will never wiln anything he is a trader. I revel in the misery of Cleveland fans. LeBron didn't owe Cleveland squat. If they hadn't had won the lottery 7 years ago they would have never had him at all. Would all you Cleveland fans be calling him classless if he had said on that show that he was staying in cleveland? Ripping the hearts out of the fans of the 5 teams that thought they may land him.

Scarlet_Fever;418027 wrote:Would all you Cleveland fans be calling him classless if he had said on that show that he was staying in cleveland? Ripping the hearts out of the fans of the 5 teams that thought they may land him.

Not even close to a valid comparison. Those fans didn't invest 7 years worth of money, time and emotions in him. The poor Chicago fans aren't feeling anything compared to Clevelanders.

thedynasty1998;417793 wrote:What Gilbert did to Brown, is worse than what Lebron did to the Cavs.

No way. Coaches get fired all the time in bad ways most of the time (see Avery Johnson,Vinnie DelNegro,Flip Saunders on and on and on)
Reigning MVP's have only left their teams 3 times in the History of the NBA the following season.

Even I think James handled this as poorly as any athlete has handled anything that the public has knowledge of. He basically bitched slapped all of his fans, the city and I would go as far as say the entire fan base of the Cavs.

enigmaax;417752 wrote: Seriously? The fact that you would handle a break up that way is a pretty good indicator of what type of person you are. Some people are looking for different things in life. You can accept that or you can be the same immature, egomaniac and react like a two year old. You know, the same types of things that people say LeBron is, and the same EXACT way that fans and Dan Gilbert are acting.

You must have been dumped a lot in your lifetime if you could shrug off a breakup that's on par with #6 and the Cavs. You're probably just be a better person than me.

Skyhook79;418060 wrote:No way. Coaches get fired all the time in bad ways most of the time (see Avery Johnson,Vinnie DelNegro,Flip Saunders on and on and on)
Reigning MVP's have only left their teams 3 times in the History of the NBA the following season.

That doesn't even make any sense. There is one MVP every year and how many times in history do they become free agents that year. There are what, 30 something teams in the NBA with coaches. Of course there are more coaches fired.

That doesn't make what Mike Brown did any better if he is going to take the high road and claim loyalty and family values.

I've been thinking about this all morning: Do you think that this entire thing was strictly a money grab? I know he will be taking a less than max deal, but with Florida having no state income tax, that comes out to a wash at worst for him. I think the real money grab is that he may (I don't know this for a fact, just speculating) not have to pay state taxes on any of his endorsements. Considering that, his tax savings alone could amount to millions a year. Additionally, he won't have to play as many minutes, thus prolonging his career. And certainly the hype surrounding the Heat should generate more attention, thus endorsements. It all really seems like this was in fact strictly about money if his endorsements aren't subject to any other states' taxes.

His endorsements, I'm sure, are attached to his permanent residence. So unless he moves that to Miami, which he said he will keep his home in Akron, he'll be paying taxes on it.

I dont think Lebron owes the Cavs anything as far as a basketball standpoint goes. He was a free agent and he is allowed to go wherever he wants.

I do think that he owes the fans a little more. I lost alot of respect for him in the way that he handled the situation.........thats just not something you do to the fans that have supported you.
I also dont like the way he ignroed Gilberts attempts to contact him. Least Lebron can do it return a mans phone call.

BCBulldog;418090 wrote:I've been thinking about this all morning: Do you think that this entire thing was strictly a money grab?

No

lhs07;418079 wrote:You must have been dumped a lot in your lifetime if you could shrug off a breakup that's on par with #6 and the Cavs. You're probably just be a better person than me.

Um, not really. Was dumped by a high school girlfriend and acted like a tard because I was 18 years old and stupid. Went through a divorce after 8 years and had plenty to feel burned about, but took it like a man and am on good terms with the ex.

I understand Dan Gilbert's feelings, it is just the simple matter that most of us have learned to deal with our emotions by the time we're that age (or in such a leadership position). As for the rest of the fans, if you are personally insulted by a dude basketball player (who you don't even know) for taking another job or *gasp* announcing his decision on national television, you have either lived a golden life free of real problems/travesties/injustices/tragedies or you don't have much a life to begin with.

Fab4Runner;418048 wrote:Not even close to a valid comparison. Those fans didn't invest 7 years worth of money, time and emotions in him. The poor Chicago fans aren't feeling anything compared to Clevelanders.

And LeBron fufilled his duties during those seven years. He decided to move on. Nothing else. Yeah he didn't win a championship there. It not that easy. He fullfilled two contracts with them and chose to leave. What Boozer did to Cleveland a few years ago was worse. I just don't get the theory that LeBron owed Cleveland anything.

Cleveland and its fans should be THANKING Lebron James. He put that franchise on his back and brought back from the dead. He did everything he could to win them a championship. It's not his fault his teammates flat out sucked. He lead Cleveland to their only NBA finals trip in 07 and that team was horrible. Then what does Dan Gilbert and Danny Ferry do to help improve them? Mo Williams (great season player, horrible in playoffs). Shaq (he is no where near what he used to be). Delonte West (what has he ever done), Anthony Parker (role player only), Jamison (best player they got, not a superstar like they wanted). Those players weren't the answer.

The fans should be thankful that Lebron James made Cleveland a name in sports. The Cavs never had a good history and he changed that. The attendance and value of the team went sky high right when he was draft. He basically made the franchise.

The way the fans are acting now, proves Cleveland is a horrible sports city. You don't deserve a championship in anything.