Lebron James (Los Angeles Lakers)

[NJ-Buckeye]

...He will always be dead to Cleveland but if he wins multiple titles this all goes away.

Modell won a Super Bowl... do we hate him less? or more? because we feel that was OUR Superbowl victory he took away...

If King Vag wins... we'll see it same way... that will be OUR title he stold from us

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Lebron better win in Miami. He will always be dead to Cleveland but if he wins multiple titles this all goes away.

See I disagree with this...It will just open him up for more criticism, because of the way he had to go about doing it to win...

Look at Kobe, he was always looked down on till he got Shaq out of town and won on his own...

People criticized Wade because he had to win one with Shaq...

He will never be looked as the man...Robert Horry won too, but he isn't the man...

 

[buckeyesin07]

I don't have a dog in this fight. Cleveland fans are [censored]ed and they have a right to be [censored]ed. But it isn't nearly as bad as some in this thread indicate.

Sure you have a dog in this fight. You're trying (poorly, I might add) to trash Cleveland fans and act like what LBJ did was OK. Please don't even begin to try to act like you're unbiased.

 

[cincibuck]

umm actually he did. he could have not signed a contract after being picked, right?

And played where?

 

[cincibuck]

just for the record... I'd LOVE to have this problem... get paid millions of dollars to play a kids game for a living... I'd even play in tsun..

Yeah, and Pete Rose would have played just for the pure pleasure of the game. Bull shit.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

And played where?

he was a restricted free agent once. so that option was available.

he could have gone back into the draft, played in europe/asia, etc.

 

[cincibuck]

For starters, no one outside of about two or three people probably cares about the city in which you or I work. Millions care about where LBJ works. Beyond that, there's the whole school of thought that he used the cities of Cleveland and Akron as a stepping stone to build his public persona--he was the hometown kid who said he loved his city and would bring it a championship. Those statements made people adore him in Ohio (at least certain parts of it), and likely made impartial people outside of Ohio at least respect him more. And then he did what he did last night. I think that kind of background, among other things, are why it's not a good argument to say that this isn't any different from me leaving my job.

In short you're saying he met his end of the contract. He made people care about the Cavaliers -- remember all those years they were called the cadavers?-- He put them in the playoffs, he got their highlights on TV. And only then was he allowed the right to pick his own team. What people care about which city I work in or chose to work in is not a part of the argument, the principal at work is that workers with skills that other people value should be free to chose.

 

[Poe McKnoe]

News Headlines - Reporter Jim Gray Paid By LeBron Entity, Not ESPN
Boy, I can't imagine this going any worse LeBron...and deservedly so.

Chances are, no matter his decision, the vast majority of the media was looking to crucify him. Any way you slice it, some markets (and fans) were going to feel slighted. Some writers probably had premade templates to run with. James and Gang built this up so big, that everyone wanted see it explode and it did. Lebron's jersey's being burned, weak product placement, strange charity arrangement, fluffer questions between Gray and LeBron, etc. The spectacle blowed up and it serves as a lesson: You're never as invincible as you think you are.

The problem is...there's not 'feel good' ending to this story. If he would have picked Cleveland (or even the Knicks or Clippers), there'd be some sympathy for his choice. Instead he goes to Wade's team. No other teams felt bad for LeBron and his whining on the court and fouls that would only be called when he was driving to the lane. Now the fans of that team don't like him. He's a villian. Ooh great, you're a superstar on the Heat! South Florida residents love their sports teams. Ask the Marlins and Hurricanes what it's like.

I know Evan Turner is now in the league, but maybe Lebron should get the nickname he earned: 'Villian'.

 

[redbenn]

PDcavsinsider‎: According to a source, Raptors and Heat have agreed on structure of sign-and-trade for Bosh. Heat are trying to get the Cavs to do it w/LBJ.
Twitter - seconds ago

 

[cincibuck]

You do realize that you're just about the only one defending LBJ's actions in the last month or so, right? Well, I guess you and all the other people with an anti-Cleveland agenda. I love how people who dislike opposing cities and/or teams always come out of the woodwork at times like this and try to defend the indefensible.

Oh please -- "... if you don't agree with me you must have an anti-Cleveland agenda..."

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

If he doesn't get his ring in the next year or two--and he still has to get through talented Boston and Chicago teams only to find Kobe's Lakers waiting for him--I can really see some kind of sad, spiral into being a B player. He might be young, but his body still will have a decade's worth of wear and tear on it, combined with the hatred in his hometown and the gnawing fear that this whole thing was for nothing.

 

[cincibuck]

he was a restricted free agent once. so that option was available.

he could have gone back into the draft, played in europe/asia, etc.

And after doing that he would be back to the same system... in a nation that prides itself on free enterprise we have allowed a handful of extremely wealthy men to create a monopoly that limits the right of their workers to play where they want -- period.

 

[WolverineMike]

Um, what? Are you actually saying that they "betrayed" Mike Brown? Mike Brown was an incompetent boob. He had the job a year longer than he should have to redeem himself for being played like a fiddle in the '09 playoffs. Incompetence gets you relieved of your duties pretty much everywhere...

so you're saying Gilbert made a business decision to try and win a championship?

huh, sounds familiar.

 

[jlb1705]

This thread is certainly bring out the best of what the internet has to offer:

Trolls, sophists and people who want to call somebody else "bitchmade".

 

[jimotis4heisman]

And after doing that he would be back to the same system... in a nation that prides itself on free enterprise we have allowed a handful of extremely wealthy men to create a monopoly that limits the right of their workers to play where they want -- period.

Forty Million Dollar Slaves by William C. Rhoden - Hardcover - Random House

dont take the job, thats my advice. thats the reason i dont belong nor have i ever belonged to a union shop. he along with the union have made that choice. further, their are numerous options available to him-other north american leagues, euro leagues, asian leagues, the globe trotters, the washington generals, hell form your own team the lebrons. nobody held a gun to his head and made him play in cleveland, the nba or anywhere else...