NBA Off-season

[Jaxom 1974]

From Slate Today...

It's like the kids were invited to the Bozo the Clown show and were forced to watch Bozo murder a puppy. With all the proceeds of the puppy-killing going to charity, of course. Also: Drink Vitaminwater.

[Maithanet]

James had solid teams around him. He made the Finals once and was swept by Tim Duncan.

I cannot think of a team that made it to the finals that was more reliant on one player than the Cavs in that series. Their #2 option was Ilgauskas. Calling them solid is a joke.

The last two years they've had a so-so team around him. But everyone they brought it was too flawed to be a real stud anymore. Shaq is too old and Williams/Jamison can't defend. It was still mostly up to Lebron. Don't go trying to rewrite history just because you don't like the guy.

Someone upthread mentioned that they aren't sure this team has a better chance of winning than Lebron did in Chicago, and I agree. No cap space = no depth = a problem. It's a solveable problem, but we'll see. You are going to need some unique roleplayers to sign up who love playing defense and only expect the ball when they aren't covered.

If Lebron had signed with Chicago right away, I think Amare or Bosh would have come along. Failing that, Boozer would have signed for less, and they would have more room to build depth. I still can't believe that Chicago couldn't attract anyone considering they had both plenty of cap room AND two talented young players.

In addition, going to Chicago wouldn't seem like he's relying on other people to win him a championship. Wade has already demonstrated that he can win with a strong #2 man, and if Miami wins a title, I expect it will have that feel. Baffling set of moves by James.

[Former Lord of Winterfell]

I cannot think of a team that made it to the finals that was more reliant on one player than the Cavs in that series. Their #2 option was Ilgauskas. Calling them solid is a joke.

The last two years they've had a so-so team around him. But everyone they brought it was too flawed to be a real stud anymore. Shaq is too old and Williams/Jamison can't defend. It was still mostly up to Lebron. Don't go trying to rewrite history just because you don't like the guy.

The 2007 Finals team was extraordinarily good defensively. The 2010 team was good enough to win it all. They didn't because of injuries and substandard play by LBJ.

Their three best defenders -- and it was a team with a defensive identity -- were LBJ, Varajao, and Delonte West. Varajao had horrible back spasms and was a shadow of himself defensively, which meant they didn't have an answer for KG. West was their best backcourt defender who had a relapse of his depression, and that left them with nobody who could slow down Rondo. And then there was LBJ's Jeckyll/Hyde performances.

Had the Cavs got past Boston, they matched up better against Orlando, and even better against the Lakers, both of which they outplayed during the regular season due to improved post defense. Shaq was limited, but as a defensive answer to Howard and Bynum, he was extremely effective. Essentially, they went all-in for the 2010 playoffs, and didn't pull it off.

[Piper]

Another good column by Simmons today, both for his analysis and the emails that he compiled from his readers. Here's a couple of those:

I think we're realizing that LeBron was never made up of the same stuff as Kobe or MJ. And the things that we saw him doing in the future were things that we wanted for him, because of his transcendent skills. But in the end, he just didn't want those things. He was abandoned as a kid, if you see his high school documentary, you see all he wants to do is be a part of something, not be something. He just wants to be a part of a group and be wanted. We've just all along wished he was wired for greatness. He's not. And it's a shame.

Just watched the LeBron train wreck. Just thought what Kobe is doing right now. Bet you he is in the gym right now. That's why LeBron will never win a title. LeBron does crap like this and Kobe gets better.

[Arakasi]

Since 2006, Lebron had a 272-138 record (.663) and was 42-29 (.592) in the playoffs. These last two years, he had the best record in the NBA and won went a combined 127-37 (.774).

James had solid teams around him. He made the Finals once and was swept by Tim Duncan. Lebron is a loser and a coward.

Wow, overreact much will ya? Cleveland was never a really good team with James there. It was James and a bunch of scrubs/retreads. There was a couple decent supporting cast members, but no other stars. The team overachieved in the regular season in those two years by destroying the lesser competition. It was a bit less so this last year, but in both years (especially the first) the Cavs were mediocre against elite teams. (as in under .500 against the top 5, over .900 versus the bottom 20)

The Cavs made a bunch of moves that kept bringing in bit players in the hope that James could carry them to a title. The only real impact player they tried to bring in was Shaq, and they did that 2 years too late. Not to mention that their idiot coach kept playing the slowest style of basketball and never used their ability to run the ball. I can't remember the amount of times Barkley bitched about that on TNT. It's like everyone got Tim Duncan disease and felt like the only way to win was through slow methodical basketball. (which is funny because Greg P isn't afraid to run and gun with Parker and Manu at times, and with great success)

James doesn't really care about an individual legacy like Jordan did, so the criticisms of "he can only be taken seriously if he does it alone" is silly, not to mention forgetful of all the players Jordan played with. (including a top 50 player in Pippen)

[Jaxom 1974]

James doesn't really care about an individual legacy like Jordan did, so the criticisms of "he can only be taken seriously if he does it alone" is silly, not to mention forgetful of all the players Jordan played with. (including a top 50 player in Pippen)

I think it's better to say that, with the little circus last night, LBJ has proved that it's not that he doesn't really care about an individual legacy like Jordan (or even Kobe) it's that he's scared of it...of what it entails to get it...

One of the best things I've seen written on this all day so far...

[Arakasi]

Scared of it? Seriously no. This talk of cowardice is silly. It's not like James has to go himself against the world to prove he's a great player. So he's not Jordan, big deal no one will ever be. Apparently what he should have done is continue to play for a crappy organization in the vein hope they'd actually make some rational front office moves regarding the roster.

[SwordoftheMorning]

Sorry Jax, but Roland Martin has written the best, analytical, dispassionate and honest review of the Lebron situation of anyone.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/07/09/martin.lebron.king/index.html?hpt=T2

Forget all the nonsense about him "owing" his hometown and how his legacy could have been cemented had he stayed in the Midwest and continued to try to win a title in Cleveland. LeBron had the absolute right to pick up his things and go where he thought it was best to win, and he did it.

Enough with all of this ridiculous chatter that he's a selfish, spoiled basketball prodigy. LeBron was an employee of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He had no ownership stake and no control. Everyone talks about what his presence meant to the Cleveland economy. Did he own any of those businesses? No. But he made them, and the Cavaliers, richer by his play.

That's why I found the letter written by Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert so pathetic. Here is a man who was enriched by the play of LeBron James; according to Forbes, the value of the franchise increased by $100 million with his on-court performance.

Yet instead of being a gracious owner and simply reaffirming his commitment to the fans to put a winning team on the court, Gilbert ripped LeBron to shreds, calling him "narcissistic" and his decision to leave a "cowardly betrayal" and "a shameful display of selfishness."

Gilbert even went on to trash all athletes by saying, "It's time for people to hold these athletes accountable for their actions. Is this the way you raise your children?"

In an interview, Gilbert later said LeBron quit on the team in the playoffs the past two years.

Really? So if he was all of that, Dan, why did you want to re-sign him? Who wants a quitter on his team? If LeBron had chosen to stay in Cleveland, rich boy Dan would have been all smiles, slapping his back, getting ready to count the money he could make off of the back of LeBron. So who would have been the real selfish, narcissistic individual, Dan?

Gilbert now says it's time to speak out against LeBron, yet as long as James made him richer, he would have kept quiet. Sorry, Dan, you've pimped LeBron long enough.

There it is. As real and plain as can be. Not a SINGLE person that has posted about LBJ being "selfish" or what the fuck ever else would stand for being told THEY have to stay in any fucking job "for the good of the organization" if there was another more desirable offer they wanted to leave for. I've read several stories about how Bosh, Wade and James actually made an agreement to all move to the same team last summer. If so, GREAT. I applaud them for making the hype machine dance and the press build up their decisions. Great to see some of these players treating the NBA as a BUSINESS, and maximizing their limited lifespan in the league.

No one talks about how longterm stars that stay with a team get tossed out like trash when their effectiveness is deemed over. Hasn't been mentioned in a single column I've read. Michael Jordan couldn't even get a front office job from the Bulls when he asked for one. They told him no. So fuck Dan Gilbert, fuck all the jersey burning asshole fans, fuck the hypocritical writers like Rick Telander in the Sun-Times, who would have been orgasmic if Lebron had chosen to come to Chicago. Fuck all the talking heads who continually display their animosity to the LBJ/Bosh/Wades of the world, cause they were the sorry uncoordinated fat kids that got picked last for every sport.

U go Lebron.

[Trebla]

OMG...The comparison that Bill Simmons and his readers have made between the new Miami Heat and the N.W.O...PRICELESS!!!! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

NWO

Perfect. Three superstars. 3 guys once heroes now villains. And one the KING!

Welcome to the New World Order of Basketball, BROTHER!!

[Jaime L]

Sorry Jax, but Roland Martin has written the best, analytical, dispassionate and honest review of the Lebron situation of anyone.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/07/09/martin.lebron.king/index.html?hpt=T2

There it is. As real and plain as can be. Not a SINGLE person that has posted about LBJ being "selfish" or what the fuck ever else would stand for being told THEY have to stay in any fucking job "for the good of the organization" if there was another more desirable offer they wanted to leave for. I've read several stories about how Bosh, Wade and James actually made an agreement to all move to the same team last summer. If so, GREAT. I applaud them for making the hype machine dance and the press build up their decisions. Great to see some of these players treating the NBA as a BUSINESS, and maximizing their limited lifespan in the league.

Nothing pumps me up like a national article which completely misses the point or a post coming in after the fact that failed to read all the discussion that came before which explained in detail why everyone has a problem with it. Again, it's not that he left Cleveland, it's how.

But hey, I actually kinda love it when people defend classless athletes for being classless just to take the adverserial viewpoint. I wonder if it makes them feel like they are the star athlete they are defending when they do so rather than the fans he spit in the face of.

Anyway, I think Simmons take on this hit it right on the head because he addresses the exact point SOTM raises:

One of my first ESPN.com columns was titled, "Is Clemens the Antichrist?" It covered how my relationship changed with Roger Clemens as a Red Sox fan -- in five years, he went from my favorite baseball player to my least favorite athlete in any sport -- and how the turning point happened in 1996, when Clemens signed with Toronto and showed no remorse at the ensuing news conference.

I still remember seeing that Blue Jays cap squeezed on his fat stupid face for 45 solid minutes, waiting for him to throw Red Sox fans a bone, waiting for him to say anything that would make me think, "Regardless of how this turned out, the past 12 years meant something to me," or "Just know that this happened because of Boston's front office, not their great fans." He only threw us a couple of canned comments, the same way someone would throw table scraps to a dog. I remember how angry it made me. I remember wanting to whip my remote control through the television, then realizing that I couldn't afford a new one. I remember taking down my autographed photo of Clemens' 20th strikeout against Seattle and sticking it in a closet. I remember thinking that I would never like sports quite as much ever again.

So when Clemens went to Toronto, got in shape, won two straight Cy Youngs and forced a trade to the Yankees, really, a column called "Is Clemens the Antichrist?" became inevitable as soon as I found a bigger forum to write it. I hated that guy as much as you could hate a professional athlete without things getting creepy.

And you know what? What LeBron did to Cleveland last night was worse. Much worse.

It's one thing to leave. I get it. You're 25. You don't know any better. You're tired of carrying mediocre teams. You want help. You want the luxury of not having to play a remarkable game every single night for eight straight months. You want to live in South Beach. You want to play with your buddies. I get it. I get it. But turning that decision into a one-hour special, pretending that it hadn't been decided weeks ago, using a charity as your cover-up and ramming a pitchfork in Cleveland's back like you were at the end of a Friday the 13th movie and Cleveland was Jason ... there just had to be a better way.

I blame the people around him. I blame the lack of a father figure in his life. I blame us for feeding his narcissism to the point that he referred to himself in the third person five times in 45 minutes. I blame local and national writers (including myself) for apparently not doing a good enough job explaining to athletes like LeBron what sports mean to us, and how it IS a marriage, for better and worse, and that we're much more attached to these players and teams than they realize. I blame David Stern for not throwing his body in front of that show. I blame everyone.

We are already fools for caring about athletes considerably more than they care about us. We know this, and we do it anyway. We just like sports. We keep watching for moments like Donovan's goal against Algeria, and we keep caring through thick and thin for moments like Roberts' Steal and Tracy Porter's interception. We put up with all the sobering stuff because that's the price you pay -- for every Gordon Hayward half-court shot, or USA-Canada gold-medal game, there are 20 Michael Vicks and Ben Roethlisbergers. Last night didn't make me like sports any less -- my guard has been up since 1996 -- it just reinforced all the things I already didn't like.

For LeBron not to understand what he was doing -- or even worse, not to care -- made me quickly turn off the television, find my kids, give them their nightly bath and try to forget the sports atrocity that I had just witnessed. He just couldn't have handled it worse. Never in my life can I remember someone swinging from likable to unlikable that quickly. I will forgive him some day because I like watching him play basketball, and whether you're rooting for or against him, his alliance with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami created one the greatest "Holy s---, how is this going to play out?????" scenarios in recent sports history. Sports are supposed to be fun, and eventually, this will become fun -- for everyone but people in Cleveland -- because we finally have a Yankees of basketball.

But I will never, ever, not in a million years, understand why it had to play out that way. If LeBron James is the future of sports, then I shudder for the future.

'Nuff said.

[SwordoftheMorning]

Nothing pumps me up like a national article which completely misses the point or a post coming in after the fact that failed to read all the discussion that came before which explained in detail why everyone has a problem with it. Again, it's not that he left Cleveland, it's how.

But hey, I actually kinda love it when people defend classless athletes for being classless just to take the adverserial viewpoint. I wonder if it makes them feel like they are the star athlete they are defending when they do so rather than the fans he spit in the face of.

Anyway, I think Simmons take on this hit it right on the head because he addresses the exact point SOTM raises:

'Nuff said.

In a word, hooie.

How ? That makes his "crime" be completely subjective to the feelings of the somehow aggrieved. No need to qualify or quantify, ya'll just didn't like it. Too bad. Classless ? what was classless was as Martin points out, the base, cowardly AND hypocritical attack by Dan Gilbert. Against the athlete he'd have given anything to sign. Hypocrisy is actually too mild a word. And his call to treat athletes like "children". Pointed reminder that all these NBA athletes are good for in his eyes is enriching the value of his franchise and lining his pockets. Pretty much that way across the board for most of the owners.

The mindset that professional athletes are somehow "privileged" to play in the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB or even MSL is a bunch of contrived bullshit used by owners to attempt to manipulate fans into castigatinh those who won't play that part of the game. I shake my head sadly when I see it working. The press is entirely in collusion with the owners and leagues on this point. They love nothing more than using a multi-millionaire young athlete as a whipping boy. I was ambivilent in regards to this whole goat rodeo, until the vicious attacks just ticked me off. Now ? I'm the biggest Miami Heat fan in the fucking building.

[aeu]

Apparently what he should have done is continue to play for a crappy organization in the vein hope they'd actually make some rational front office moves regarding the roster.

Come on now, Arak. You know that's not the issue here. I don't know if SOTM bothered to read the thread, but if he did, he should know it too.

Jaime + Simmons said it all, I couldn't agree more.

eta:

The press is entirely in collusion with the owners and leagues on this point. They love nothing more than using a multi-millionaire young athlete as a whipping boy.

You cannot be serious...

[awesome possum]

The press is entirely in collusion with the owners and leagues on this point. They love nothing more than using a multi-millionaire young athlete as a whipping boy.

Yeah, that's why the biggest sporting press in the country and arguably the world gave the young multi-millionaire athlete an hour of their time for free. To use him as a whipping boy.

[Jaxom 1974]

Scared of it? Seriously no. This talk of cowardice is silly. It's not like James has to go himself against the world to prove he's a great player. So he's not Jordan, big deal no one will ever be. Apparently what he should have done is continue to play for a crappy organization in the vein hope they'd actually make some rational front office moves regarding the roster.

Great players want to be the man. Great players want the ball at the end of the game. Great players are driven to drive those with them to get every ounce out of them that they possess and drive the other teams into the ground. LeBron James came out last night and said it was (and I'm paraphrasing here), "It's a relief to know that we won't have to score 30 a night..." (and I really wish I could find the exact quote, but I'm pressed for time right now, but it was brought up a couple times on the radio). LeBron James simply proved last night that he's soft.

Sorry Jax, but Roland Martin has written the best, analytical, dispassionate and honest review of the Lebron situation of anyone.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/07/09/martin.lebron.king/index.html?hpt=T2

I think Jaime answered this better than I could.

[Piper]

That makes his "crime" be completely subjective to the feelings of the somehow aggrieved. No need to qualify or quantify, ya'll just didn't like it. Too bad.

Of course its subjective; the entire basis of rooting for or against any athlete or franchise is subjective. Why were fans rooting for him in the first place? Because they liked him, liked watching him, liked what he represented, liked the idea of an athlete giving it his all for the hometown team every night, and/or any other reason of their choosing. Why are they turning on him now? For reasons no more and no less legitimate than the ones that caused them to support him for the last seven years. Public opinion giveth, and public opinion taketh away. He made a tens of millions of dollars selling shoes to people who liked him for subjective reasons, so it shouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for people to be burning him in effigy for reasons that are also subjective.

[Swordfish]

Malone was 40 when he went to the Lakers, after Stockton retired.

Before that, his tries at a championship all involved working with the Jazz, taking pay cuts, negotiating deals, trying to bring over a big man, etc.

And how did that work out for him?

[add-on]

I cannot believe people are defending LeBron's behavior.

As many people have already said, I don't care that he left Cleveland. It makes sense. Winning in that situation would've been incredibly difficult, and you could tell from his listless demeanor in the last two games of the Celtics series that he was just plain tired of putting that team on his back. Especially when it didn't work the very first time he tried it (07).

Fine. Leave. Go put yourself in a better position to win. I don't really like Cleveland either. I think it's a shit town.

But please do it with some feeling.

I mean, people from Cleveland are still people. And it's no secret that regular people care way, waaayyyy to much about the sports they follow. I know I couldn't sleep the night before the US-Algeria game...and that was just for soccer!

Read some of the e-mails Simmons got from Clevelanders. They're sad, they're angry, they're resigned, they're devastated, they're fucking lost.

And after ruining Cleveland's chances to salvage some bit of their off season by dragging the entire country through this unforgivable farce, James gets on national tv and announces he's leaving like it's nothing.

Then, in the interview after the announcement, he's got the audacity to say that he doesn't think his Cleveland fans will turn against him, that the true fans will still follow him.

Yes, LeBron, I suppose you're right. True LeBron fans will still support you. But any fan of the team that will now languish in mediocrity for the next five seasons will justifiably revile you for making small the pain they've felt as sports fans for the past 50 years.

Fuck LeBron. What a fucking joke.

[BLU-RAY]

Yeah, add-on pretty much nailed my feelings with regard to the actual "Decision" (both the choice and the ludicrous ESPN special). I thought he should leave, I just think he went about it in the most ham-fisted, bridge-burning, narcissistic way possible. Look at Durant's contract extension the other day vs. the three-ring LeBron circus.

Now, on the point that he's scared or whatever... I think it's more that he doesn't care. At this point in his life, I think he's given up on being an all-time basketball great, and is willing to settle for a massive amount of fame, money, and fun playing hoops with his buddies in Party Central, USA. And that's fine. It's his prerogative.

BUT it's not what we've been led to believe about him for the past seven years: the nickname, the Chosen One tattoo, the Global Icon nonsense, the number 23. If he'd cared at all about entering the all-time great players argument with Jordan and Russell and Bird and Johnson and Kobe, he'd have gone to Chicago, or he would have bludgeoned Cleveland into making some moves this summer and gone back. But he either doesn't have or didn't want to expend the force of will necessary to bend both the Cavs and Bosh or an equivalent FA to his will, and so he's gone off to Miami. He'll be happy there, for the most part. He might win a ring or two (though I have serious, serious doubts about this; all three will play insane minutes, and they won't have a supporting cast), he'll be with friends, and this is probably a decision that's healthful in a mental sense. But, from the perspective of someone who's not a Heat or a Knicks or a Bulls or a Cavs or a LeBron fan, this is way less interesting. So I can't really flame the dude for doing what feels best for him, but greatness is infinitely more interesting than what we're going to see instead.

Fuck me, I think I started about three or four sentences there with "But". My middle-school English teacher would eviscerate me.

[Week]

Is there a sports superstar with less charisma than LeBron? Christ, his awkward nodding and clearly nervous facial ticks are distracting as fuck.

[Darkostar]

We're all missing the important thing, people.

Michael Beasley is going to the worst team in the league.

I'm excited.

Who's gonna grab Jefferson from us?