LEBRON'S DECISION: "THE DECISION" LIVE THREAD

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all posts about "the decision" itt

i just want to keep this thread bumped so everyone remembers that we have a separate ile thread for this -- moments like this will not get buried in a rolling thread!

fair enough. cross-referencing:

not possible imo

― ice cr?m, Wednesday, July 7, 2010 3:08 PM

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miami is nowhere near getting 3 doodz stop dreaming

― ice cr?m, Wednesday, July 7, 2010

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theres just not enough money, those three guys no matter what they say are just not gonna take a haircut like that

― ice cr?m, Wednesday, July 7, 2010

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daniel dood, its not miami

― ice cr?m, Wednesday, July 7, 2010

yeah, i'm too lazy right now to find all of joe's posts saying that the pats were gonna murder the giants

altho tbf i thought there was no way that lebron would ever do this either

.... if he does

a separate ilh thread i mean!

otoh,

wallacesports For those who didn't know, LeBron flying to MIA to meet Riles was more BS. And its a lot of it out there. So step carefully.

but that was about 5 hours ago, and there have been a flood of reports since that lebron was (maybe is) here.

Imma start a website called What little do they know.com..l2ms

strange. miami herald heat writer's last tweet says lebron wasn't in miami last night. sun-sentinel heat writer's last tweet implies lebron was in miami last night. so again, who knows? maybe espn is trying to generate drama by falsely-hyping miami's chances?

you'd think it wouldn't be that hard to locate the whereabouts of LEBRON JAMES but what do i know

well, there now are reports of lebron being here last night from a lot of sources. and i get the feeling that much of what you've seen over the past week has been misdirection on the part of players hoping/expecting to play together.

but, obv., i could be wrong. something could come out of left-field:

Then a reporter asked (Doc) Rivers if he knew what James would do.

Rivers smiled.

"Oh, yeah, I already know that, too," Rivers said, chuckling. "When he announces 'Boston' tomorrow you guys are going to be blown away by it! For the minimum!"

To be fair to Joe, I had my share of incredulous "the dream is dead, let go bro" posts over the past few weeks.

i think we all have

we all have

also, while i kid, i don't want to presume too much. i'm guessing we'll see a lot of wild-swings in speculation all day about where lebron james will sign. so . . . we'll see.

everyone is treating this as a done deal, weirdly -- wonder who the sources are right now and why this is being treated as much more solid

both from broussard's sources & the newsday reporters

not a done deal,lebron can change his mind

but broussard say it's miami on his mind right now

tbh probably only 3 people know what lebron is thinking

yeah, all these "sources" might be wrong. but there seems to be a trend in the narrative and stories. not long now for THE ANSWER.

still expect him to choose the clippers tbh

more now:

LeBron James’(notes) inner circle told multiple NBA officials and players Wednesday night that the two-time MVP is leaning toward joining Dwyane Wade(notes) and Chris Bosh(notes) with the Miami Heat, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

James’ representatives spent part of Wednesday calling free agents to assess their interest in helping strengthen the Heat roster. James’ camp, sources said, went so far as to propose scenarios where the Heat would trade forward Michael Beasley(notes) to create additional salary-cap space to sign a complementary player. In those conversations, the representatives spoke only of Miami as the destination for James.

Suspicion lingered in the league whether this was a clear affirmation of James’ intent or a misdirection play designed to generate suspense for his primetime TV announcement. James will announce at 9 p.m. ET Thursday whether he will play for the Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks or New Jersey Nets.

Bosh and Wade decided early Wednesday to sign with the Heat and invited James to join them in forming an All-Star triumvirate that could alter the NBA’s power structure. Sources said Bosh and Wade felt optimistic about their odds of landing the sport’s most celebrated free agent after their conference call with James.

“They think they’ve got a real chance to pull this off with LeBron,” a source with knowledge of the call told Yahoo! Sports Wednesday morning.

One executive whose franchise was among James’ initial suitors said Wednesday morning the Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers were the only teams still being seriously considered by James. James’ representatives did little to quash the Miami speculation when they began helping search for players to fill out the Heat’s roster.

The Heat’s efforts to sign all three players received a boost Wednesday evening when the league announced it had set next season’s salary cap at $58 million, a $2 million increase from what most teams had projected. The Heat can now give James, Wade and Bosh a more modest cut from the maximum salary to fit all three players under the cap. All three are also represented by the same agency, CAA.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Wade said he told the Heat they would have to get a commitment from either Bosh or James to convince him to re-sign.

“It had to be one or the other,” Wade told the AP. “Of course, there’s a lot of talented players in this league. But you want to look at players that complement my game, and Chris and LeBron are two of those guys.”

Even if James decides to sign, the Heat still have significant work to fill out the remainder of their roster. Beasley and point guard Mario Chalmers(notes) are the only two players currently under contract, which, sources said, has been a concern of James.

The Bulls reached agreement with forward Carlos Boozer(notes) on a five-year, $80 million contract later Wednesday in hopes of improving their standing with James. The Knicks previously gave Amar’e Stoudemire(notes) a five-year, $100 million deal while also hoping his presence would help sway James.

Still, the Cavaliers loom as the biggest threat to keeping James from playing alongside Wade and Bosh in Miami. Cleveland is limited to pursuing trades and using its midlevel exception on free agents as ways to improve its roster, but has one significant advantage over James’ other suitors: The Cavs can offer James a six-year, $125 million contract, more than $30 million more than what he stands to receive from the Heat in a five-year deal.

James’ strong ties to Cleveland and Akron have also continued to pull at him, which is why only a few people have characterized his intent to play for the Heat as set in stone. One former confidant said James is often indecisive, and with the announcement not scheduled until late Thursday evening it’s possible James could continue to waver.

“LeBron always waits until the last minute to make a decision,” said Chris Dennis, who used to run James’ foundation. “He always does.”

isn't this adrian wojnarowski a fairly trustworthy, levelheaded, credible nba reporter?

o wait i thought he was def going to the bulls no staying in cleveland no going to mia mi pfftht- bron playing the media

you are right he is a sly fellow

he's going to be a clippers.

btw daniel u a lil bitch

daniel much love as always but bron to miami is a terrible outcome for the league and i hope it doesn't happen.

not sure if you're joking or not, ice. if you're not, fwiw, i wasn't trying to offend; apologies if it had that effect.

yeah, i get that a Big Three might be bad for the league. miami would still have some glaring holes, tho. not sure what we'll do for center (the rookie from texas might develop, but we won't know for a while) or point guard (carlos arroyo, i guess) in the short term.

i know its prob tough thinking clearly after a week of constant masturbation a crying but the classic front runner move wouldve waited til the decision was final before posting that c&p twice, s'alright im sure youll get the hang of it

if lebron does go to miami the appropriate karmic outcome would be for bosh to be chronically injured while lebron and wade play 45mins a night trying to pull along a roster of d leaguers

so sad i will not get to watch "the decision" live--i have essentially 1 irl friend who's way into the nba, and we coincidentally chose tonight to do a nice double date with our girls.

i just emailed him to see if we should dvr the decision and turn off our phones until after dinner.

u will still hear daniel esq's shrieks of joy/disgust from florida

lol. Nah. I'm happy with what we've already got.

i have it on pretty good authority that Lebron will be playing in Greece next year

my wife just asked me who lebron james is

i'm from northeast ohio and i will assure you -- there are bars playing THE DECISION, after which everyone will hug each other and sob for their loss

from what my mom tells me, you can't even stop at cvs for a few things without talking with someone about what lebron will do

'hes a guy who is more famous than he was one week ago' xp

specifically akron, i might add. he may have played for cleveland, but he's from akron and wow is akron proud of that

no one cares about chrissie hynde's vegan restaurant anymore
it's lebron 24/7

regardless where he goes, as far as working toward 'global icon' status, well played lebron

all this "leaning" chat is weird - like, presumably the guy knows by now? He's going on TV in a few hours?

also every above otm that LeBron is suddenly much more famous - think I am gonna stay up and watch this

(100% fine with any of: Cleveland (morally right option), NY (30/10/12 every night), Bulls (Rose/Bron/Booze/Noah wow) and Clips (lol) - don't mind Miami, really really don't want Nets.)

Maybe he wants to be an unselfish creator like Magic or a do-it-all wingman like Pippen. Maybe he has too much Doctor J in him, as I theorized after Game 6. Maybe he believes that if Wade carries the crunch-time load, it will free LeBron to do LeBron things and average a triple-double every game without having that burden of "I've gotta create every shot for us in the final four minutes." Maybe he thinks it's his best chance to win. And if so …

I think it's a cop-out. Any super-competitive person would rather beat Dwyane Wade than play with him. Don't you want to find the Ali to your Frazier and have that rival pull the greatness out of you? That's why I'm holding out hope that LeBron signs with New York or Chicago (or stays in Cleveland), because he'd be saying, "Fine. Kobe, Dwight and Melo all have their teams. Wade and Bosh have their teams. The Celtics are still there. Durant's team is coming. I'm gonna go out and build MY team, and I'm kicking all their asses." That's what Jordan would have done. Hell, that's what Kobe would have done.

In May, after the Cavs were ousted in the conference semifinals, I wrote that LeBron was facing one of the greatest sports decisions ever: "winning (Chicago), loyalty (Cleveland) or a chance at immortality (New York)."

I never thought he would pick "HELP!"

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100708

whole thing pretty otm imo

The whole thing about Cleveland totally and completely otm and depressing.

PDcavsinsider LeBron, as is plain now, has told people he's going to MIA. But as I've said until he or Maverick Carter go on the record it is what it is.

who knows? i'd be happy, of course, to have him in miami, but i kind of think he should resign with cleveland. i suppose him leaving cleveland would be as strange as dan marino or tom brady, in their primes, leaving miami or new england, respectively.

It's like college signing day crossed with JFK's assassination.

^^^nice

only shame is that simmons can't call out his current employer for playing along

doesn't this just guarantee that every nba fan will be rooting against the heat?

It's like college signing day crossed with JFK's assassination.

^^^nice

― call all destroyer, Thursday, July 8, 2010 11:04 AM (31 minutes ago) Bookmark

love this

p sure now that lebron will commit suicide on live tv

ndkllmn Mitch Albom writes a two-page LeBron article containing the sentence "I'm sick of the whole story."

^_^

i hope he retires

I am getting a bit tired of media sportswriters whining about fatigue on the topic. They only helped create it by writing stories two to three years in advance of the Summer of 'Bron, and it gives them exposure and brings readers and viewers by the sackful.

Besides, it promotes excitement in the sport. It is quite excessive and narcissistic, but hardly worthy of the venom some are spouting at 'Bron. It isn't as if he's placed bombs in the arena floors of the losing cities and plans to detonate them at 9 p.m.

Given the hyperbolic reactions I've seen so far, I half expect the next sportswriter to commit seppuku on camera and say Lebron drove them to it.

not from cleveland, are ya?

try being from akron -- it's even worse. people there cling to this like it's their last shred of dignity. devo's back, and that helps, but mothersbaugh is not bron

nopes. illinois. except I ain't a Bulls fan so I couldn't care less!

i live in chicago and i could not care less if he comes here, but i grew up in akron and i feel bad that NE OH has so much invested in this one person. bron is not that powerful; he cannot save an entire blighted region.

in response to spidermark, all i can say is that i don't think anyone would have begrudged lebron his decision in their most honest thoughts, but what he is doing is more or less unprecedented in recent american pro sports, and i don't think anyone can really disagree with the premise that he is devaluing the concept of a basketball team in favor of personal glorificaiton.

I don't disagree there. but...when you see message board threads likening him to Hitler or calling him the death of basketball, that's a little much!

Besides, he's going to the Toronto Argonauts.

I'm really proud that a country facing decades of financial ruin can focus on this

hay morbs this is a hoops thread

cad pretty much otm

morbs i'm really proud that as a fan of a baseball team in financial ruin, you can actually focus on the baseball

My apologies, forgive me for my folly. Due to my excessive focus on basketball I didn't even realize the US is in a financial crisis. I've immediately cancelled all my non-political magazine subscriptions, sold my flat screen television, my season tickets to the Pacers, and all my video game consoles so I can read non-stop about the upcoming depression for 20 hours day, taking only 4 hours to sleep.

nice, a pacers fan!

hey! a pacers fan! josh mcroberts! kenny chessney! basketball!

Detlef Schrempf 4 life

ilh needs a director of diversity outreach to get more obscure fans on board

yes, like fans of the Albany Patroons

Any super-competitive person would rather beat Dwyane Wade than play with him.

^ this is complete horsehsit. Any competitive person will put him or herself in the best position to win. basketball is a team game, and a team w/ bosh/wade/LBJ and two statues gives him the best chance to beat the other 30 teams. He already tried to win a championship by himself and it didn't go so good.

but when they don't win a title with these three dudes then what?

major lulz is what!

there's the rub

jtm i get what you mean, but there is a vast area between suckfest in cleveland and competing with wade for alpha dog status (wade wins every time, btw)--this area is called "chicago"

basically our archetypes for "superstar, best player in the league" would never have made this decision (if this is in fact the decision)

I don't know, I keep thinking about Jordan/Pippen/Rodman

but that was never as contrived as this. jordan and pippen had already won together before rodman came along

the diff being that rodman was an incredible role player who did not score, at all, and pippen was a completely unique player who happily played second fiddle for a really long time.

this scenario is basically lbj becoming the pippen to wade's jordan, which would go against everything his brand has ever tried to get across about him.

i mean let's not understate how it's going to be a long time before we see another rodman or another pippen

plus the gap between jordan and pippen was a lot wider then lebron/wade

true, though i wonder how good pippen would have been in a different situation

but that was never as contrived as this. jordan and pippen had already won together before rodman came along

so in this way of thinking, LBJ's only route to superstar archetype status is to wait in Cleveland and hope that a Pippen shows up?

bulls getting rodman is more akin to lakers getting artest imo

if this happens and miami wins it all people will be saying wades better than lebron, lebron couldnt do it w/out wade etc

no--this situation exists for him, in a place called chicago, where he can play with an excellent point guard, an excellent rebounding/defending center, and a quite good, sweet-shooting power forward, all of whom would defer to him.

xp to lukas

ah yeah icey and cad otm

tbqh I've wondered why a bunch of highly skilled, talented players haven't bothered to try and collude to make a superteam before -- basketball seems to be the easiest situation for this just coz there are only 5 men on the floor, but I honestly believe the desire to win championships should supercede ego. i am also not a preening professional athlete, so what do I know.

also, does anyone have any info re: taxes in other states besides florida? florida has no state income tax iirc, which is why so many old pros live there. And the cocaine and weed.

tbqh I've wondered why a bunch of highly skilled, talented players haven't bothered to try and collude to make a superteam before

salary caps IMO

right, but if you're colluding then you can go all western style and say, '5M/per for you, 5M/per for you 5M/per for you....' That's what I mean by win vs. ego; you forfeit the cash (which is CONSIDERABLE in the first place, nevermind the endorsements, which are MASSIVE paydays) in exchange for the sure win

tbqh I've wondered why a bunch of highly skilled, talented players haven't bothered to try and collude to make a superteam before -- basketball seems to be the easiest situation for this just coz there are only 5 men on the floor, but I honestly believe the desire to win championships should supercede ego. i am also not a preening professional athlete, so what do I know.

― Astronaut Mike Dexter (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Thursday, July 8, 2010 1:54 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark

see that lakers team w/ shaq, payton, malone and kobe

look where it got them

those guys were old though

payton and malone that is

Shaq, 32
Malone 41
Payton 36
Kobe, 26

Plus Shaq was at the start of the fat, immobile stage

xp

i am of the opinion that except in a rare number of cases, the desire/work/ego required to reach the peak of a profession as difficult as playing basketball is not, and should not, be compatible with the concept of a "superteam."

that laker squad would have faired much better in the finales if Malone doesn't go down

sources telling me that t-wolves are making a last minute push...lebron thinks him and darko would play well together

another example of a superteam that looked great on paper was the 00 blazers iirc... stoudamire sheed pippen smith wells and a bunch of others

key dif is heat superteam would have 2 of top 3 players in NBA, plus another top 10, all in their primes. i don't know my pre-80s NBA history well enough to know if there's another comparable squad.

The thing about the "endorsements is all the $$$ for just play for minimum" argument is that playing on a stacked team actually decreases your perceived value - look at what happened to the perceived value of Ray Allen or Rashard Lewis when they started shooting 2-of-5 from three instead of 4-of-10.

couple things from the simmons column if you don't read espn or whatever:

*Multiple teams -- that's right, multiple -- believe Wade went through the free-agency process partly to spy on Miami's competitors for Pat Riley.

*Bosh clearly wanted to emerge from this summer more famous than he was. I know this because he hired his own documentary crew. Because he made an "Entourage" cameo last month. Because someone who attended one of Bosh's free-agent meetings told me that Bosh was considerably more concerned with his camera crew than hearing the team's pitch. Because he asked his Twitter followers where he should play next year -- a slap in the face to everyone in Toronto who supported him these past seven years -- and because I attended two different 2010 Lakers games at which Bosh inexplicably walked a complete lap around the court while holding hands with his girlfriend, like someone who just wanted to be seen. And it worked. You see a 7-foot basketball player strolling 0.02 miles an hour around a basketball court, you're going to notice them.

Bosh clearly wanted to emerge from this summer more famous

Afaics, Toronto is even more of a Siberia than Utah, in terms of publicity. Comparable to Sacramento.

no--this situation exists for him, in a place called chicago, where he can play with an excellent point guard, an excellent rebounding/defending center, and a quite good, sweet-shooting power forward, all of whom would defer to him.

many stories say that d. rose wasn't especially interested in lebron joining the bulls. not sure why, or if true, but that's fwiw.

prob cause he's a douche

is he? i know very little about him, except that he's supposed to be this emerging superstar.

haha no, Lebron is the douche

I meant LeBron, not Lebron. sorry to confuse you a 2nd time.

no worries. i'm easily confused.

meanwhile, espn's chris sheriden keeps saying ny's chance of landing lebron -- even now -- is "50%-ish." if that's so, the knicks sure are taking a lot of curious shots at lebron, and acting shellshocked. if they're still in the hunt, i can't see how their comments help their case.

My question is: who gets the ball in crunch time?

the one who's won a championship obv.

chalmers, no one will expect it

who knows? top-tier scorers have played together before.

btw, apparently lebron rented a bunch of cabanas at a south beach hotel this weekend for a party. and chris bosh plans a party at the same hotel:

IraHeatBeat And the plot thickens, with Bosh said to be planning his own celebratory event at The W. Sure seems like a lot of SoBe plans in place.

I cannot wait to watch those dudes lose to Chicago in the playoffs.

im not so sure, bron and wade are both dudes ppl have to at least use zone or double-team. bosh is a tough one-on-one cover. seems like if you double one guy, someone's going to be open or have tons of space to iso. you can have at least 2 of the big three on the floor at all times without wearing too much on them (i mean assuming they average about 38-40 min per game). chalmers is a capable player, i think they can get just enough rosters spots around them to make it work.

yeah all true, my questions about the superteam would mostly be on the defensive end.

wade's a good defender. not sure about bosh or bron.

bosh is softer than roseanne

bron is a good defender, the wing would be pretty locked down

iirc bosh is a good pick n roll defender but weak for a 4 in post d

sounds right given his body

definitely want to read this story:

Source had knowledge of the conference call between James, Wade, Bosh. Story coming.

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Source: LeBron has already rented spots, in Miami, for party.
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Source: Spoelstra will continue to coach Heat. Plans are to have LeBron play point guard, a la Magic.

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Source: LeBron made decision in call w/Bosh, Wade. All of this was previously planned: Bosh & Wade would announce 1st, then LBJ in show.

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Source: Heat has big party planned for season-ticket holders tonight to coincide with LeBron announcement.

all from about an hour ago (sam amico)

contradicts adrian woj's report that wade/bosh were annoyed w/bron

I kinda feel bosh/bron/wade would break the NBA. then david stern would have ridiculous leverage at the CBA negotiations

"Plans are to have LeBron play point guard, a la Magic."

ok i admit this sounds awesome sorry

it does :(

troo ;_;

if that position switch means nothing else, it means their other free agent needs became easier to fill since wing players are errwhere.

i predict this superteam will be better than people predict

btw would be awesome if lebron aired the special from cleveland, announced he was going to new york, then had a party in s beach; evil bron

i think they'd just need one post defender to do nothing else but defend the likes of howard and bynum and they'd be the favorites.

xp

best part is bron does the whole special wearing a big black robe and chanting in latin

yah I hear they're gonna kidnap perkins and threaten to break his other knee if he doesn't play for them

lol now i want shaq to go back to miami for the minimum

and for tim hardaway to come out of retirement and to stop hating gay ppl

injuries could easily derail the whole thing, also cavs fans firing rpgs at the team plane

they are going to sign-and-trade the suns' team doctors and will keep them healthy to endure 6 100-game seasons

i predict this superteam will be better than people predict

― ice cr?m, Thursday, July 8, 2010 4:52 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I'm predicting it will be awesome, so...

in that case it will be super awesome

^_^

when does dwight howard become FA?

yah srsly if they could get howard and cp3 theyd be dece

haha cp3 and howard on the heat would be like NBA All-Stars vs. durant for the next 5 years

nah should be them vs the pacers wearing washington generals jerseys

for 82 games

interesting story:

AKRON, Ohio - Cavaliers forward and back-to-back NBA MVP LeBron James will sign a contract with the Miami Heat, and James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have known that for sometime, said a source close to the situation.
According to the source, the three stars had planned for thefree-agent drama to unfold exactly as it has -- with Bosh and Wade announcing their plans on Wednesday afternoon, and James following by making his own intentions known on a television program Thursday evening. Once the plans were finalized, LeBron's marketing team arranged for the show, which will be broadcast on ESPN tonight at 9.

The source added that Heat officials are holding a special party for season ticket-holders, in which they will watch James' TV announcement stating he will join the organization. Several news outlets are also reporting James has already rented spots for a party in Miami.

It is believed James became sold on the idea of joining the Heat after being told he will play point guard -- or as team president Pat Riley is believed to have explained, a role similar to that of Magic Johnson during Riley's time as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers in the1980s.

Riley also sold James on the idea that the Heat can flourish with three stars, using his Showtime Lakers teams of Johnson, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as an example, the source indicated.

While Riley coached those Lakers teams, he is expected to remain in the front office with the Heat, and leave the coaching to Erik Spoelstra, according to the source.

Newsday first broke the news of James' intentions to leave his home region of Northeast Ohio for Miami, citing multiple sources. ESPN followed with a similar report shortly after.

Also, according to the ESPN and the Cleveland Plain Dealer, several people close to James are hoping he has a change of heart and re-signs with the Cavs, with whom he spent the first seven years of his career. However, according to the source, James believes his chances of winning multiple championships are better in Miami.

When an individual who is close to James was asked if James' signing with the Heat was definite, the individual responded, "No idea. None." The individual also confirmed that many close James, including this individual, were still holding out hope that James will remain in Cleveland.

Unconfirmed reports say the Cavs may be seeking a sign-and-trade to receive something in return for James, with speculation centering around Heat forward Michael Beasley.

from sam amico.

you know dwight wants nothing more than to be the dude who throws confetti on kevin harlan

While Riley coached those Lakers teams, he is expected to remain in the front office with the Heat, and leave the coaching to Erik Spoelstra, according to the source.

lololololol

bearsharktopus could probably coach the team.

i wonder if mike miller will announce his free-agency plans at 9:05PM, stealing lebron's thunder.

bearsharktopus would be a p good center imo

hm.

RicBucher FWIW: disparate opinions among gms, agents, league HQ officials today about where LeBron is going, but consensus on 1 thing: it's not Mia.

wouldn't we have heard more of these "disparate opinions . . . (with the) consensus (that) it's not Mia"?

maybe it's not.

SOURCES

maybe he will invent a new team, of robots

just please don't come to the bulls

heard lebron is cloning 15 bill russells - the extra 1 will be his ring holder

REAL MASTER PLAN: leak that the plan was always to have Bron team up w/Wade & Bosh in Miami...but then SHOCKING TWIST just minutes before announcing this himself, Bron realized he cannot desert his hometown fans and will resign w/Clev. Cause he's such a super guy n shit.

my source: Italy

REAL MASTER PLAN: leak that the plan was always to have Bron team up w/Wade & Bosh in Miami...but then SHOCKING TWIST just minutes before announcing this himself, Bron realized he cannot desert his hometown fans and will resign w/Clev. Cause he's such a super guy n shit.

i know you're kidding but there's apparently a bunch of agents, GMs, and other league-people who think exactly that:

RicBucher In other words: no decision would inspire more head-scratching than the Heat. And Riley goes to straight into hypnotists Hall of Fame.

_____________________________________

RicBucher Reason for skepticism: LBJ wd be 3rd-highest paid, it's Wade's town, brand unquestionably tarnished, still at least a yr away from title.

_____________________________________

RicBucher Unofficial Bucher poll results of those I've spoken to today: 4 for Cle, 3 for NY. Not sure why Chi got no love but it didn't.

_____________________________________

RicBucher FWIW: disparate opinions among gms, agents, league HQ officials today about where LeBron is going, but consensus on 1 thing: it's not Mia.

starting to really believe miami rumors were meant to gauge reaction

starting to really believe lebron is laughing at the world right now

you think lbj would make his final decision based on reaction over the past 12 hours?

i'm really getting the feeling that the whining I'm hearing about lebron from friends and fellow employees is loads worse than the annoyance of the overexposure of lebron. it's as if everyone i've come in contact with thinks it's audacious that anybody cares where LeBron winds up.

it's the offseason, things like this make it more interesting and at least keep our attention. besides teh announcement's gonna happen at the beginning, so we can tune out right after

i got this shiz on dvr

you think lbj would make his final decision based on reaction over the past 12 hours?

― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, July 8, 2010 6:31 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark

yes

going to the heat makes NO SENSE but it also makes TONS OF SENSE

i will say that it's a BIT FISHY for lebron to be reportedly "locked into" a team before his BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

Attention whores like approval as much as they like eyeballs. Of course lebron's gauging reaction.

let's all agree that a wade-bron-bosh team would COMPLETELY PWN -- sorry boston et al, but i pretty much remain unconvinced that that team wouldn't waltz to a title, as long as egos stayed in check

sources say jack ruby jr gonna cap LBJ as he's walking out of the tv studio

LOL AT BUTTHURT KNICKS FANS CALLING INTO TALK RADIO

@jordans--i agree. on one team, you'd have three players who played on the US National Team that won the gold medal...boston's threesome was impressive enough, but the trio was in their 30s, with one or more past their prime.

and they got three conference championship appearances, two Finals appearances, and a title in three years. the Heat could be collecting trophies if this happens...

srsly fuck knick fans...never known such a large group of martyrs

jordan i'll wait and see who the other 9 guys are thx

i am also dvr'ing "the decision;" i'll be here in spirit

we will miss u cad

i honestly don't think it's gonna matter who the other 9 guys are

well we know at least two of them - de'sean butler, dexter pittman

depending on how much of a paycut all the players take... you're looking at maybe mike miller or something... some other players taking discounts

the worst team will be the first year and then they'll get some exceptions and shit

i still think they'll win it all

a team of 3 studs plus scrubs would beat a well-balanced team of 5 good players nearly every time in a pickup game. in the NBA...not so sure about that.

we'll see -- it was pretty brilliant for riles to pitch lebron on being magic johnson -- he really could average 22/12/11 one season if he really wanted, and i'm sure it would be so much more fun and less burdensome than the IT'S ALL ON YOU BRON LET'S GO BRO style in the cavs where he's the whole team for the last quarter and a half of the game, and if he doesn't score 16 points they lose

btw bron is ignoring amare's calls

probably my favorite bron rumor of the past few days was HE PUT A DOWN PAYMENT ON A HOUSE IN MIAMI, which, so many fucking athletes live out here, that that's about as significant as bron waking up and taking a piss

FABOLOUS OTM

myfabolouslife BP #JustOfferedLebron free gas for life if he continues to take all the attention off the oil spill

man if Kobe needed any more motivation to win another ring, he's got it now

lol cuban http://blogmaverick.com/2010/07/08/so-where-is-lebron-going/

HoopsHype

If the Clippers finish sixth in the LeBron standings, do they get the first pick next time he hits free agency?

PDcavsinsider
Still hearing that the teams don't know for sure. None of them. No statement from #LeBron. He has achieved a victory...in drama.
9 minutes ago via web

can i watch teh decision online somewhere i dont have a tv

atdhe maybe?

guys

vuvuzelaz

http://katosblog.com/wp-content/uploads/lcd-soundsystem-this-is-happening.jpg

cant stand listening to broussard talk

yo dudes I have it!! lebron is going to... the moon

there's water there iirc according to I LOVE CRICKET: THE CHINATOWN OF ILX: THE CHINATOWN OF ILX

ban people talking on television

deej on the money

imo hes going to chicago. not wishful thinking, im not even sure i should 'want him'. it just makes the most sense that he would go to chi & everything else is a distraction.

kinda wish the nba got as much attention as lebron tbh

WELL THEN

RT @EthanJSkolnick: Heat pulled its Welcome LeBron ad from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Confirmed.

breaking news: lebron signs with gryffindor for 6/110

i feel like the dickish thing that bron could do at this point would be to go back to the cavs -- to string them along like this and pretty much convince everyone that he was leaving only to come back would be like havting to sleep with a boyfriend that cheated on you for two months straight

http://twitter.com/PDcavsinsider/status/18074868229

would sort of indicate that it's a smokescreen huh

docfunk killin' twitter right now btw

man after 7 years isnt sticking w/ the cavs more like an abusive relationship where lebron is the victim

god that opening sequence felt like the movie mr burns made about himself

i mean seriously, to string this out and play it out like this only to go back to the cavs would pretty much him be saying "i own this franchise, i own all of this, you all are nothing without me, you groveled at my feet" etc

j0rdan so ridiculously otm right now

whatever direction he goes in, bron is officially a world class asshole

thanks espn for the photoshopped jerseys, could have never imagined what he'd look like otherwise

when they first showed the studio crew, mike wilbon looked like he wanted to kill himself

OKAY MY PREDICTION IS THE CAVS, THIS WHOLE THING DOES NOT SEEM RIGHT

everything going on here is fishy

yeah i feel like we're walking into a trap just by watching this

HOLY SHIT LEBRON HAS BEEN DEAD THE HOLY TIME

lol

WHOLE

oh i figured this would take all night.

this is honestly out of control

i'm fucking dying right now

i feel like i'm watching a horror movie. DON'T TELL US LEBRON.

i've rarely been more anxious in my life

DON'T NAME A TEAM.

seriously, DON'T SAY ANYTHING

nice shirt

what's going to happen to us when WE KNOW?

how will i be changed??

HE'S SO NERVOUS

I AM SO NERVOUS

i feel like im watching a medium-successful job interview

it has to be the cavs

he's gonna kill all those kids omg

http://www.smileysnetwork.com/fatigues/205.gifhttp://www.smileysnetwork.com/fatigues/205.gifhttp://www.smileysnetwork.com/fatigues/205.gif
http://www.smileysnetwork.com/fatigues/205.gifhttp://www.smileysnetwork.com/fatigues/205.gifhttp://www.smileysnetwork.com/fatigues/205.gif
http://www.smileysnetwork.com/fatigues/205.gifhttp://www.smileysnetwork.com/fatigues/205.gifhttp://www.smileysnetwork.com/fatigues/205.gif

lol am0n

get out of here amon

I don't object to you roundball obsessives being insane about this farce, but it's being shoved down everybody else's throats just like that boring Euro feetsball sport.

http://www.relaxedpolitics.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/sleepy-emoticon.gif

it's not as bad as yankees-red sox xp

thx morbs

a++++++m0n

so glad I don't have ESPN

wtf them asking him these high school essay questions

ANY DOUBTS

UghhhH

WHOA

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

fuck me in the ass

this is fucking unbelievable

I don't even OWN a TV

boo

seriously, holy shit

he is kidding no

this is.... weird.

this is fucking bizarre

this is completely surreal

"in many way you're going to Wade's team"

it doesn't even feel possible

it's not about sharing

:)

congratulations to miami sportswriters, all of whom just signed six-figure book deals.

this really feels like a dream

he's so shook

lebron is like breaking up with his girlfriend on national tv.

fuck this guy forreal

wow

heat = 3 men & a buncha scrubs

lebron is like breaking up with his girlfriend on national tv.

― Clay, Thursday, July 8, 2010 8:30 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha

h8 u nba

"i know how loyal i am" lol f u lebron

mom's fault

doing this live interview is a bit much -- but dude needs to do what he wants to do -- cavs tanked for lebron, lucked out, got him, idk, such is life \(o_O)/

they should try to zoom in closer on his
face

are those kids crying

gif of him saying south beach plz

Krolik: "The seven seasons that made up the (1st act of?) the LeBron Era in Cleveland ultimately ended in disappointment, failure, heartbreak, misery, doubt, bitterness, and plenty of suffering for everyone who lived and died with LeBron and the team he led. Personally, I wouldn’t trade those seven years of watching LeBron play for anything in the world."

;_;

(i'm not a Cleveland fan, but poor guy)

http://www.cavfanatic.com/go/thread/view/3816/25322157/The_Decision_Live-ReportParty_Thread_%289:00_PM_EST%29?pg=17

"SAY QUEENSBRIDGE"

- STEPHEN A SMITH

just in case everyone needed reminder that miami is just new york but on the beach

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM

now is the part where ron artest enters to kill lebron w/a table leg

http://i28.tinypic.com/2efst40.png

so wait is there a possibility that lebron just went/will go from widely beloved superstar to kobe-esque villain?

i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the cavs fans aren't going to show lebron respect for blessing them with his talents for 7 years

referring to the cavs as "them" and "their"

http://img2.blogcu.com/images/h/e/a/heatnews/pat_riley_the_takeover_arton25156_290x290.jpghttp://img2.blogcu.com/images/h/e/a/heatnews/pat_riley_the_takeover_arton25156_290x290.jpghttp://img2.blogcu.com/images/h/e/a/heatnews/pat_riley_the_takeover_arton25156_290x290.jpg

genius

is it weird that one of my thoughts is "i wonder what this does for the US men's team"

STOP THE FUCKING PRESSES

chadfordinsider

David Lee has now agreed to a 6 year, $80 mil deal with the Warriors via a sign-and-trade with the Knicks. Link is coming ...

i forgot that we aren't in the FA thread

While Riley coached those Lakers teams, he is expected to remain in the front office with the Heat, and leave the coaching to Erik Spoelstra, according to the source.

preserving this

erik spoelstra sleeps with the fishes tonight

bron just basically sounded like, "cleve, it has been a treat for u 2 watch me but DEEEEEZNUTS"

it was exactly the kind of trainwreck i had hoped

i'm pretty sure spoelstra gets fired the first time the heat relinquish a lead

never thought i'd like and respect kobe more than lebron

^ what i'm sayin'

Hope to not see this shirt ever again.

http://thtsrcst.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/lebron_indians.jpg

god if it's lakers and heat finals the next 3 years, i'm going to have to find a favorite football team or something

hold on

lebron could've taken a shit on his game used cavs jersey and NEVER be as self-involved and egotistical an asshole as kobe in his prime asshole days

every time bron plays at cavs theres a pistons v pacers style melee or clevelands soft

hold on

lebron could've taken a shit on his game used cavs jersey and NEVER be as self-involved and egotistical an asshole as kobe in his prime asshole days

― altered scones (J0rdan S.), Thursday, July 8, 2010 9:47 PM (48 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

j0rdan i want you to remember this post as your first act of florida-native lebron james apologism

i mean AS MUCH FREE BEER AS YOU CAN DRINK SERVED IN HEAVY PROJECTILE SHAPED CUPS is a reasonable promotion right

burning his jersey!

LEBRON JAMES NIGHT - MURDER ALLOWED FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY

cleveland ain't soft

http://www.polichicksonline.com/Drew%20Carey%20Big%20Photo.jpg

clay's right this does have a SHOCKING TURN FROM GOOD-GUY TO BAD-GUY vibe like In pro-wrestling.

lebron could've taken a shit on his game used cavs jersey and NEVER be as self-involved and egotistical an asshole as kobe in his prime asshole days

― altered scones (J0rdan S.), Thursday, July 8, 2010 9:47 PM (48 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

j0rdan i want you to remember this post as your first act of florida-native lebron james apologism

― max, Thursday, July 8, 2010 9:49 PM (19 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

on one hand kobe is worse than hitler, on the other jordan is def talking himself into bron luv starting now

turning a cavs jersey into a heat jersey

OK FIRST OF ALL

i don't care about the heat and also will be on this bandwagon from day 1... i said this months ago

BUT

let's not forget kobe's history

kobe an asshole like jordan or bird, lebron will never that type of guy. kobe didn't tremble and stammer as much as lebron announcing why he's signing w/ the heat when he had his post-rape press conference w/ his hot as fuck/still angry wife sitting beside him. eye of the tiger.

kobe was drafted by the hornets and refused to play there, flirted with the clippers just to get attention from greater LA, played the most bitchy and passive aggressive half of basketball that the nba has ever seen

let's not forget history

this is like when hulk hogan joined nWo

btw

http://i30.tinypic.com/2v9vlox.png

cavs.com should leak the bron's mom/delonte west sex tape now

flirted with the clippers just to get attention from greater LA - HA (also fucking w/ the clippers /= a strike against you)

varejones / jj hickson / jamison / anthony parker / mo williams

cutting delonte, cavs would be 13m under the cap

7th seed, vs 2nd seed, miami heat

4-3 cavs imo

varejon average in 10-11: 19/10/2

kobe had the chance to stay with the equivalent of the cleveland cavs his whole career -- i.e. the charlotte hornets -- and he decided against it before he even played a game -- they're all the same

heat-cavs is gonna be the 1-8

refused to play for george shinn, played mind games w/ donald sterling = good guy in my book!

yeah that is a point in his favor

that cavs team is not making the playoffs in next year's eastern conference

yeah they will -- there's literally 5 good teams in the east now, max

hope okc thunder win the next 10 nba titles

http://i27.tinypic.com/52flfc.png

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVKDQgT_b-Y

any team that wanted to dissuade bron from signing with the heat should've played the video of wade standing on the scorer's table screaming "this is my house"

yeah kobe sucks, blah blah. But it's pretty unprecedented to troll and then hate fuck your former team for an hour on tv.

m bison's first name is max??!? whoa

this actually isn't as bad as i thought it would be -- it's not like the press conference wouldn't have been televised

I just can't get that lebron james line from shine blockas out of my head right now

I don't even know what he's saying, something about lebron james chicken chow mein

MIKE L FROM CALIFORNIA BRINGING THE FIRE

the backpedaling begins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PN2Dyfd7U8

http://ihatelebronjames.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/lebron-loves-anybody-but-cleveland.jpg

WOW WHAT AN AMAZING ANNOUNCEMENT

i can't think of anything that children should be given less than a scholarship to the university of phoenix

seriously just get a job at starbucks and work your way up

could someone explain the outrage to me in 10 words or less?

cleveland's future: lebron jame's foot stomping on cleveland's face forever

could someone explain the outrage to me in 10 words or less?

― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Thursday, July 8, 2010 10:06 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

david wright signs with the yankees

dubious analogy J0rd

lebron mocks the nba by creating superteam, is dick

http://youropenbook.org/?q=lebron+dies&gender=any

*sets cuyahoga on fire*

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/v222/1130/82/n1763810821_1318.jpg

Mike W3nsyel I just hope Lebron James dies in a gutter pennieless and I am there to pee on him before the coroner gets there to scrape him up. Piece of crap

Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel Mike Wensyel

http://www.dcbyers-ohio.com/staff/IMG_0610.JPG

^ hopes to one day pee on a piece of crap

if the coroner doesn't scrape it up first

could someone explain the outrage to me in 10 words or less?

Cleveland hasn't won a title in any sport in ages but finally got a great player who was homegrown. They were happy to add to the payroll to help him build a winner, and instead he chose to leave after a seriously ridiculous free agent courting period, and did so during an hour-long special on live television ... if he didn't want to stay in Cleveland he could have simply said so a long time ago, but instead he let them twist in the wind, and finally let them know in this ridiculously impersonal way. It was a pretty cold thing to do. And know Cleveland is back to irrelevance in all three sports.

And now, rather.

http://twitter.com/buzzbissinger/status/18072463038

win total for the 2010 MIAMI DREAM TEAM GOD TEAM

haha i thought the same thing, MOER LIEK DUKES AND DUCHESSES CLUB AMIRITE

xpost

http://twitter.com/dwadeofficial/status/18083384297

under further review, think david stern has been sitting in his office masturbating for the last 90 minutes

the backlash here would be way not as bad if they all went to chicago/new york right?

breaking news: mario chalmers trending worldwide on twitter.

Trending: Worldwide

* Burning Lebrons Jersey
* NBA 2K11
* Pulpo Paul
* Mario Chalmers
* Lebrons decision
* Involuntary Manslaughter
* Dwayne Wade
* They Burned His Jersey
* Byron Scott
* About Lebron James

looking through FULBJ tweets, i'm actually flabbergasted that any knicks fans thought they had any shot at all to get lebron

omg http://i50.tinypic.com/2rcs591.gif

lol amazing punchline there

haha rip lebron's brand, legacy, etc.

hope wade wins nba mvp next year

bron's beard was hella off point tonight

the backlash here would be way not as bad if they all went to chicago/new york right?

New York would be almost as bad, but not quite. Chicago would have gone over better than the other two.

bold prediction: no one on the heat wins mvp during the 5 years+ they play together

i can't think of anything that children should be given less than a scholarship to the university of phoenix

― altered scones (J0rdan S.), Thursday, July 8, 2010 10:06 PM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol @ this

bold prediction: kevin durant wins mvp every year during the 5+ years wade/james/bosh play together.

bron could average a triple double -- or 23/10/9 -- and still win the mvp, potentially

i'm not sure who i h8 more right now, fans saying fuck you directly to lebron or lebron for indirectly saying it to most of his fans...

RT @PDcavsinsider Multiple police cars are protecting the witness billboard in downtown CLE.

Hard to call a guy "valuable" when he isn't even the top dog on his own team.

oh god i didn;t even think about the billboards!!!! LEBRON U MONSTER

“We believe in this team, this organization, this community, and what we will do to compete at the highest level. We believe in the new coach and leader we have in Byron Scott, and the world class basketball organization and positive and strong culture we've established. Dan Gilbert and our ownership group are firmly committed to reaching our goals and succeeding on the court and in the community, at the highest level.”

“Our fans stepped up and showed their support, to a degree unlike anywhere else. We are fortunate to have the support of the best fans in the NBA. That passion and dedication will be rewarded. We will work relentlessly to continue to build a team that will contend. A team that will win championships. We are all competitors and our one goal is to win, that and Dan Gilbert and our ownership team’s commitment and investment in this organization and community are constants that will not change." -Cavs GM

maybe this is the motivation jj hickson needs to play like a superstar

marlonlwayans Ny knicks have stated "FUCK YOU LEBRON". Period... In other news

in other news the knicks are ineptly run and have very little talent and a coach that thinks defense is icky and were never real contenders for lebron as long as those things held true

pretty good, "but wait, this might not actually work out on the basketball court" take atbdl.

cleveland changing their name to the butthurts

http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports_nba_experts__57/ept_sports_nba_experts-483869942-1278642915.jpg?ymj7BbDDaAMycPVi

i kinda wish many of my social networking friends had the same vitriol for Bush when he tricked the nation into war in '03 that they do for Lebron atm

turk182

Rly, all you raging Cavs guys! This is what the "free" in free agent means. Wanting something very, very badly is no reason why you deserve to get it. Obviously LeBron could only make one set of fans happy. It wasn't Cleveland, turns out. But neither was it Chi or NY, or the Clips.

7 years is more than I thought he'd last in Cleveland...i really had him pegged as pulling a Shaquille O'Neal after his rookie contract expired when he first got drafted

oh yea and http://pinstripebindi.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/haha.jpg

lol remember when this guy rooted 4 tha celtix cuz he thought it would increase chances of elbron coming 2 tha knicks lol

http://blacknoxubee.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/spikelee.gif

i do think it's hilarious how two franchises raped their teams two years in advance for this. and now have to try and sell season tickets to their fanbase by assuring them that Erick Dampier, the franchise savior, may be on the way.

oh well at least the Knicks got Amare, who probably feels very lonely right now

The whole thing about Cleveland totally and completely otm and depressing.

― Mr. Snrub, Thursday, July 8, 2010 10:47 AM

snrub suicide watch -_-

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vY8I5HvOvk8/SWvyWIU-EtI/AAAAAAAABPs/DxxaNF4MaaQ/s400/Hang.jpg

"It's all for you, LeBron!"

really wanted it to be the knicks (i go to school in CT and could catch weekend games poss), but pretty much knew it was ruled out. i still think chicago would have been the most fun team to watch (and they would win >70 games imo), and part of me wanted him to stay just so my stepbrother (world's biggest cavs fan) wouldn't be so bummed. this heat team is going to be...interesting to say the least - i would bet a large sum of money that either lebron or wade is out of miami within 3-4 yrs tho

Rly, all you raging Cavs guys! This is what the "free" in free agent means. Wanting something very, very badly is no reason why you deserve to get it. Obviously LeBron could only make one set of fans happy. It wasn't Cleveland, turns out. But neither was it Chi or NY, or the Clips.

― Aimless, Thursday, July 8, 2010 11:05 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

k thx 4 the talk dad, feel a lil better now *sniffle* lol j/k stfu

Rly, all you raging Cavs guys! This is what the "free" in free agent means. Wanting something very, very badly is no reason why you deserve to get it. Obviously LeBron could only make one set of fans happy. It wasn't Cleveland, turns out. But neither was it Chi or NY, or the Clips.

― Aimless, Friday, July 9, 2010 3:05 AM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

LeBron was the only hope we Clevelanders had for any kind of championship. Yes, fans in Chicago, New York, and L.A. are upset, too, but they've got their White Sox, Giants, Yankees, and Lakers championships to fall back on. We have nothing. I mean, right now I have to look forward to the Browns going 2-14 this year. Good God just kill me now.

i tend to agree with aimless

i would bet a large sum of money that either lebron or wade is out of miami within 3-4 yrs tho

um do u wanna make things interesting? jussayin cos their deals will be minimum 5 years a piece and no one would be dumb enough to trade either of them. only way one would leave after 4 years is if there's an early termination option.

great point jordan, jkstfu

joe u mad again

cleveland's only birthright to lebron was going 17-65 in 2002-2003

joe u like anti-nostradamus man, like opposite of world cup octopus

well then

i mean at least he didn't pull a shaquille o'neal and make cleveland think he was going to sign with em and then text em at 1 am goin 'nah just kiddin bra thanks for the mems k thx bye'

lebron james, complementary player.

i cool w/being mad u cant talk 'sensible' to me, bitch

joe u like anti-nostradamus man, like opposite of world cup octopus

― ••• ▄█▀ █▄ █▄█ ▀█▀ ▄█▀ ••• (m bison), Thursday, July 8, 2010 11:23 PM (50 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

at least i LIVED you know

glad you won't feel all that pressure to score points, shoot a high percentage, and play lots of minutes anymore

the most interesting octopus in the world has lived man

this is a shitty day for the league if you like things such as competitive balance

^^^truefacts, just need to pray 2 basketball god for serious injuries to kobe and bron

yeah i was gonna say, i cant imagine stern is super happy with this

whoh gilbert's letter to cavs fans RIPS lebron

we'll see -- it's still a big risk by the heat -- this isn't the yankees signing albert pujols, ubaldo jiminez and miguel cabrera -- the heat will have tons of unproven/proven shitty players

yeah i was gonna say, i cant imagine stern is super happy with this

― max, Thursday, July 8, 2010 11:28 PM (33 seconds ago) Bookmark

i'm pretty sure stern is ecstatic about having the most famous team in all of american sports in his league

its all too farcical, as were the 21 foul shots the lakers got in the 4th quarter of game 7, jus wanted to add that as i wasnt around when it happened

lol gilbert's letter is in comic sans????

alright, so either someone hacked the nba site, or dan gilbert is throwing the fuck down

http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/gilbert_letter_100708.html

"I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE"

i dunno, it's possible the nba just created a billion new basketball fans who don't give a shit about the game but want to be associated with a guaranteed winner / glitz & glamor that this team is going to attract. a lot of people watch for the stars, and two likable stars just teamed up. it's a new landmark, can't-miss franchise and non-nba fans like that sort of thing, i think?

way xp

really this is the worst kind of cynical reversal and should be beneath everyone except pro wrestling fans

lol comic sans

i'm pretty sure stern is ecstatic about having the most famous team in all of american sports in his league

― altered scones (J0rdan S.), Thursday, July 8, 2010 11:29 PM (50 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

no way are the heat the most famous team in all american sports--they arent the most famous team in basketball and probably wont be till they win 2-3 titles

i mean this isn't real, is it?

i dunno, it's possible the nba just created a billion new basketball fans who don't give a shit about the game but want to be associated with a guaranteed winner / glitz & glamor that this team is going to attract. a lot of people watch for the stars, and two likable stars just teamed up. it's a new landmark, can't-miss franchise and non-nba fans like that sort of thing, i think?

way xp

― Clay, Thursday, July 8, 2010 11:31 PM (39 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah i guess i can see this argument, not really a great way to build a lasting & sustainable fan base though

they arent the most famous team in basketball

lol okay get back to me when lebron's heat jersey breaks the nba record for sales and the ratings for their first game blows out any basketball game in the history of the sport

dan gilbert is obviously a massive hypocrite but w/e

theyre still behind the yankees, cowboys, lakers and probably a handful others, but they're going to be the jordan-bulls level ubiquitous in short order

tell me that letter is a hack

it reads like an angry fan letter

HOW COULD LEBRON JAMES HAVE SUCH AN EGO? YOU WOULD ALMOST THINK THAT THE OWNER OF HIS PREVIOUS TEAM HAD GIVEN OUT T-SHIRTS THAT SAID "WITNESS" TO EVERY SINGLE FAN IN THE STADIUM DURING A PAST REGULAR SEASON GAME

http://i27.tinypic.com/671op5.png

yeah that letter, if real, is just about the only thing that could make me sympathetic to lbj

but really fuck him--i don't think he is "malicious" or even "selfish"--he's just lost all perspective which is its own circle of hell i suppose

guys tom brady is the most famous team in american sports, be serious

lol

letter is breathtakingly vicious

i would say it's breathtakingly insane, but ymmv

"I GAHRONTEE"

holy shit that letter

lol okay get back to me when lebron's heat jersey breaks the nba record for sales and the ratings for their first game blows out any basketball game in the history of the sport

― altered scones (J0rdan S.), Thursday, July 8, 2010 11:33 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol dude ppl who dont give a shit about basketball will still be able to name the lakers and prob. the bulls before they can name the heat, for a few years to come... "get back to me" when the heat win enough championships to be that ubiquitous--also jersey sales is meaningless in this discussion? my mom isnt buying nba jerseys, ppl who are already fans are

can we temp-reinst8 aidsy? we need his perspective in these turbulent times more than ever

that letter is OOOOOOOOOOOOO_OOOOOOOOOOOOO jesus christ

letter is missing: ps delonte fucked yr moms!

the nba has become the wwe

letter is missing: ps delonte fucked yr moms!

(see attached .mpg)

this is like when hulk hogan joined nWo

― ••• ▄█▀ █▄ █▄█ ▀█▀ ▄█▀ ••• (m bison), Thursday, July 8, 2010 8:53 PM (1 hour ago)

OMG THAT LETTER

this is like when hulk hogan joined nWo

― ••• ▄█▀ █▄ █▄█ ▀█▀ ▄█▀ ••• (m bison), Thursday, July 8, 2010 8:53 PM (1 hour ago)

― ••• ▄█▀ █▄ █▄█ ▀█▀ ▄█▀ ••• (m bison), Thursday, July 8, 2010 11:43 PM (13 seconds ago)

waiting for cage match b/w lebron and gilbert

that letter is such beyond hypocrisy and insanity that i wonder if dan gilbert can actually see straight

lebron is obviously free to go wherever he wants, and if he and wade and bosh are all buddies then cool for them.

the whole dramatic televised 'fuck you' to his (essentially) hometown is pretty distasteful, that's all.

(also i hate florida as a rule, sorry j0rd/alfred/esq)

beasley dealt to wolves

goes in the offseason thread brah, this is the king's coronation thread

i like imagining gilbert walking into a room, asking his secretary to type out his dictations, and calmly speaking those sentences into an otherwise empty office. Then after the "read that back to me" he's like "yes, yes, that's about right."

hahaha, i'm still trying to wrap my mind around that being real

like everything from the font to the tone to the butthurtedness to the fact that he's not mark cuban all say "a grown ass man and super rich nba owner would not cry to his live journal like this"

I WANT TO BELIEVE

the font!

THIS IS STILL ON THE INTERNET

like im tempted to save as HTML file for posterity

so many "scare" quotes

maybe dan gilbert is carles

Dear Cleveland, All Of Northeast Ohio and Cleveland Cavaliers Supporters Wherever You May Be Tonight;

As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier.

This was announced with a several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his "decision" unlike anything ever "witnessed" in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.

Clearly, this is bitterly disappointing to all of us.

The good news is that the ownership team and the rest of the hard-working, loyal, and driven staff over here at your hometown Cavaliers have not betrayed you nor NEVER will betray you.

There is so much more to tell you about the events of the recent past and our more than exciting future. Over the next several days and weeks, we will be communicating much of that to you.

You simply don't deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal.

You have given so much and deserve so much more.

In the meantime, I want to make one statement to you tonight:

"I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE"

You can take it to the bank.

If you thought we were motivated before tonight to bring the hardware to Cleveland, I can tell you that this shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own has shifted our "motivation" to previously unknown and previously never experienced levels.

Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there.

Sorry, but that's simply not how it works.

This shocking act of disloyalty from our home grown "chosen one" sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn. And "who" we would want them to grow-up to become.

But the good news is that this heartless and callous action can only serve as the antidote to the so-called "curse" on Cleveland, Ohio.

The self-declared former "King" will be taking the "curse" with him down south. And until he does "right" by Cleveland and Ohio, James (and the town where he plays) will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma.

Just watch.

Sleep well, Cleveland.

Tomorrow is a new and much brighter day....

I PROMISE you that our energy, focus, capital, knowledge and experience will be directed at one thing and one thing only:

DELIVERING YOU the championship you have long deserved and is long overdue....

Dan Gilbert
Majority Owner
Cleveland Cavaliers

the history of entertainment.

it really doesn't have the same ring without comic sans ms 24 point font

not real

Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there.

wait am0n it's a fake?

this is really one for the entertainment history books

no it's not fake

ctrl-s

Gilbert's other past and current investments include: 1-800 Contacts, Red Envelope, ePrize, Fathead (brand), Xeko, FlashSeats / Veritix, Xenith, Guffly and StyleCaster.

ComicSans

LeBron

King James (brand)

Chad Ford chadfordinsider I understand Dan Gilbert's anger, but if he really wants to win, he better look in the mirror.

i think i understand what chad is getting at, but i interpret this to mean that dan gilbert will feel awesome from seeing his own reflection

In phoner w/ AP, Gilbert says "People have covered up for (James) for way too long. Tonight we saw who he really is." People like...Gilbert.

wow espn hates the heat

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWXZ0_FWTPA/St4UrCIRIkI/AAAAAAAABiY/T_guj-2_G_4/s320/R-848121-1188467604.jpg

that letter is mindboggling

THROW IT DOWN, OLD MAN

he just told AP that lebron ''quit'' in this year's playoff series v. Celtics

he could not have done all this in a suckier way but i wont pretend indignation will keep me from being AGOG at the spectacle of a team this stacked

laker fans care not about fairness :)

this is for the other thread but keep yr eye on mike miller

(re: rounding out the team)

"We knew 'Bron would take some backlash," Wade added in his interview with AP. "I told him he's a strong man for it."

Gilbert said James never returned a single phone message or text since the end of the season and that the Cavs were not informed of James' decision until he went on the air.

the front of the cleveland plain dealer goes so hard

xp "if it's major hit me on my pager" iirc

from 'ring it' fwiw :(
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWctgggCa94

"Cmon cavs fans don't do that. That man went hard for y'all for 7 yrs. He doin what's best for him burning his jersey is messed up." -- Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard on Twitter

"They (the Cavaliers) had the best record in the league the last two seasons and didn't make it out of the Eastern Conference. I can understand LeBron's frustration." -- former player Reggie Miller on NBA TV

"In fairness, if I was 25 I'd try to win it by myself. Not technically by myself, but I would want to be the guy. ... LeBron is never going to be the guy." -- former player Charles Barkley on NBA TV

someone should ask lebron if he ever compared himself to michael jordan

cuz everyone else always has, and it seems from his actions at least that he hasn't really, aside from wearing #23, but tons of guys do that

lol at this

Chad Ford, ESPN Insider:
Honestly, if Kobe really wants to show up LeBron. He should demand a trade from the super stacked Lakers to the Cavs and then win a championship with the squad LeBron had for the past several years. Kobe does that ... and he wins the war.

haha

hasn't kobe already won the war, tho?

yes

btw, based on dan gilbert's letter to cleveland fans, i think lebron had A FEW REALLY GOOD REASONS not to call gilbert up personally and break the news

http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss51/tr_fudge/The%20Los%20Angeles%20Lakers/kobe-ring-02.jpg

oh you said won the war

the same situation happened with my brother recently and this college baseball coach just chewed my father out on the phone for like 10 minutes straight and said some real awful shit, people don't react well or respectful or reasonable in those situations

yeah happened with my brother too

my brother... LEBRON JAMES

this is an amazing tweet

http://twitter.com/PDcavsinsider/status/18088700131

max i've seen your brother, and your brother is no lebron james

LeStoned James morelike

i have two brothers

lestoned and lebron

and me, the eldest

'the james brothers'

our mom had sex with delonte west

that explains your vertical leap

for the record, everyone is well within their rights for hating all sports fans from miami -- a truly and utterly despicable group of humans

generally this is what i'm running with here

Chad Ford, ESPN Insider:
I agree. I just don't understand how the play on this is these guys have huge egos or that they're selfish. They are sharing the spotlight, sharing the money and they'll be sharing their fate. Basketball is a team game and they chose teammates over money or even hometown loyalty. LeBron did this knowing that he'd be hated in his city ... a city that he loves. Guy wants to win.

this one quote from bron is so weird

"i gave a lot to that franchise, my talents for 7 years, and i tried to take them places that they've never been" -- it's such an oddly detached way of speaking, abandoning the "we" that early, referring to himself almost like he was on loan there, or he had a half-life or something

To some extent, James was doomed all along. If he stayed with the Cavaliers, he would have been criticized for letting the process drag out this long. If he went to New York, it meant he cared more about money than winning. Signing with the Bulls would have meant being criticized as a lesser Michael Jordan, and as we’ve seen joining a super-team in Miami means James is bowling with the assistance of bumpers.

I can’t imagine in a scenario where James came out and said at the beginning of the process that he was ruling out the Cavaliers that someone would have written, ‘Yeah, that sucks for Cleveland, but at least the process wasn’t dragged out.’ There is no right way to leave your hometown team as a superstar athlete

oottttmmm

there is a very wrong way tho obv. tbh no one outside of cleveland is going to be up in arms a week from now, or a few games into the season at the most, but he shoulda taken more care to frame his decision a la wade, laid some emotional groundwork and let the cavs' hodgepodge 7yr attempts at building a team around him become at least part of the conversation. with all the theatrics he didn't give the legit *reasons to leave*, which actually exist!, room to breathe, so to speak.

if it's true that wade never was gonna leave miami, he wasn't exactly a saint himself

hey guys i'm taking a second meeting with the bulls! whoops! but it's my kids! i love my kids! i gotta see my kids! i'm STRONGLY leaning towards the bulls! my kids! oh hey! i'm back! i'm back baby! just kidding!

i think the condemnation of lebron james applies to wade, bosh, bron -- only difference is that lebron was important enough to get his own tv "special"

absolutely, from what i saw wade was far more machiavellian, which can help to keep you from being hated sometimes!

i like the theory that wade was spying

maybe lebron was spying too, a seven-year double-agent gathering info in cleveland, finally called back to the motherland

Thanks

i find it amusing that Dan Gilbert accused LeBron of quitting in the Finals. so basically, you put in a hefty effort to resign a guy who you claim didn't give max effort in the Finals to a long term max deal?

SOUR GRAPES ASSHOLE.

srsly Dan Gilbert=the Todd Van Poppel of owners....

http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2010/07/08/the-lebron-decision/

so anticipating this column

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa84/Osiris1084/nwoheat-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/tracerhand/THEDECISION-1.png

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v640/jdl22/miamidouche.gif

for the record, everyone is well within their rights for hating all sports fans from miami -- a truly and utterly despicable group of humans

― altered scones (J0rdan S.), Friday, July 9, 2010 2:02 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

you know I've been thinking about this and I really like the decision.

-shows bron is not really interested in continuing the 'next michael jordan narrative' but more interested in the 'next magic johnson narrative'
-the 'next michael jordan' narrative is tiring and has ruined the last 15 years of NBA basketball
-bron took less money and possibly less endorsement money to do this
-bron has always seemed less of a crunch time guy and more interested in being a distributor
-gonna start an over/under on how many days left spoelstra has to live

-bron took less money and possibly less endorsement money to do this

i dunno

but 100% w/ u on the MJ thing

and again, I realize this is more for the other thread, but for those who immediately said can't work, no money for good complimentary players, this team is starved for shooters and can't afford any: late last night, heat sign mike miller to 30M contract (basically swapping beasley for miller). Miller is a 9th year, 6'8 guard-forward who has a roughly 14 PPG career average and is 28th all-time as a three-point shooter. He is a great addition, and he'll get a lot more open looks here then he did with the wizards last year. BTW, miller turned down a much bigger offer from the clippers to sign with miami.

I mean, maybe it won't work, but miami looks like it's making some smart acquisitions/has a sensible plan to round out the team.

what about the center daniel

haslem will resign?

-shows bron is not really interested in continuing the 'next michael jordan narrative' but more interested in the 'next magic johnson narrative'
-the 'next michael jordan' narrative is tiring and has ruined the last 15 years of NBA basketball
-bron took less money and possibly less endorsement money to do this
-bron has always seemed less of a crunch time guy and more interested in being a distributor
-gonna start an over/under on how many days left spoelstra has to live

hey this is great and all but maybe if lbj is more interested in being a "distributor" he should not approve a 1-hour tv special about how he's the best player and we should all wait to see see where he goes.

wow, so the heat signing miller indicates all of wade/bron/bosh is taking a good amount less--this is getting into some weird territory and i wonder what the player's union has to say.

not sure about center (joel anthony?)

mike miller is the defitnive signal that lebron will be a point guard IM SUPER HAPPY

miller's salary equals beasley's.

why would it be a union issue? Players can (and have) taken less to surround themselves with better talent.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Hey-LEBRON-JAMES-T-SHIRT-jersey-basketball-cavs-LARGE-/120593701907?cmd=ViewItem&pt=US_CSA_MC_Shirts&hash=item1c13f1dc13

I'd seriously LOL at anybody I saw wearing this.

that letter is still on the internet. like how has david stern not fined him $50,000 already and yelled at an intern to take it off the site?

even tho i wake this morning hating the nba a little more than i did b4, i take some comfort in the fact that a lot of knicks fans feel fucked over for not getting lebron.

Man, I feel bad for the Bulls, if MJ's shadow is so long that no superstar wants the pressure of playing for the team 10+ years after he retired.

http://trueslant.com/level/files/2010/07/lebron-gonejpg-d7728841873976bb_large.jpg

sabes que, one risible media special aside, i can't hate lebron at all. i mean if i had a chance to play on a potentially all-time team with my buds and be like magic johnson, who wouldn't do that? feel like either this or chicago woulda been obvious title picks had he gone there. from the whole alpha dog angle, a little surprised bulls weren't a bigger player for him considering he can step in and be the clear-cut #1 and possibly take the bulls to a celtics-lakers level of all-time franchises.

tambien, i should be used to the venom of internet trolls, but i'm legit actually a little disgusted with the amount of vitriol he's getting. i can understand cavs fans feeling gutted because their team is now at minimum 20 wins worse, but they can only rly blame cavs management for not putting the right pieces around him. i mean at no point in his career did bron ever have a top 20-25 player with him and it's p much a prerequisite to have a secondary/tertiary star to win the title in the nba. knicks fans being pissed is just lols 4 me.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd120/hipsterrunoff/photographs/hro/0a00d75e.jpg

i don't think you can overestimate how much good will was destroyed by "one risible media special"

oh it's definitely a dick move, potentially all-time dick move, i just don't think he should be forced to wear a scarlet D (for "Dick" obv) 4 the rest of his life (until he starts slapping strippers in south beach or something god i don't know).

cleves a shit org who couldnt find a legit allstar in 7 years, leave absolutely; but this miami move/team/tv special is just no cool, brons a pussy DRAMA KING JAMES

if he were real wouldve gone to chi or ny

if he were real wouldve gone to olympiacos

bron has 'european style' -charles oakley

It will be interesting to see how these guys hold themselves on the court when they're blowing out teams like the Wizards, Bobcats, etc. If it's more of the choreographed bullshit celebrations that Lebron's famous for then they will be rightly hated. But if Wade's influence wins out and they go out and play some beautiful basketball with workman-like attitudes, then they should win a lot of folks back.

all heat games will be televised in SAP and sweet georgia brown-o-vision with 3d red white and blue ball effects

wade is older than bosh/lebron no? and he is a champ

i'm expecting him not being the ALPHA DOG. but i SEE IN MY DREAMS he sometimes coming from nowhere and slapping lebron or bosh "hey moron, pay attention" attitude

Man, I feel bad for the Bulls, if MJ's shadow is so long that no superstar wants the pressure of playing for the team 10+ years after he retired.

― jaymc, Friday, July 9, 2010 9:48 AM

http://www.andrerieutranslations.com/images/violin123.jpg

man I am all aboard this traveling wilburys band super jet express streamlined wagon it is pulling away from the space station get on while you still can next stop the MOON

i think the biggest question around all of this....will hipsters be the first ones to get bosh miami jerseys??

jadande LeBron in 07 Finals got a 6.2 RT @slmandel LeBron's decision got a higher TV rating (7.3) than 95% of actual NBA games (via @chengelis)

sabes que, one risible media special aside, i can't hate lebron at all. i mean if i had a chance to play on a potentially all-time team with my buds and be like magic johnson, who wouldn't do that? feel like either this or chicago woulda been obvious title picks had he gone there. from the whole alpha dog angle, a little surprised bulls weren't a bigger player for him considering he can step in and be the clear-cut #1 and possibly take the bulls to a celtics-lakers level of all-time franchises.

tambien, i should be used to the venom of internet trolls, but i'm legit actually a little disgusted with the amount of vitriol he's getting. i can understand cavs fans feeling gutted because their team is now at minimum 20 wins worse, but they can only rly blame cavs management for not putting the right pieces around him. i mean at no point in his career did bron ever have a top 20-25 player with him and it's p much a prerequisite to have a secondary/tertiary star to win the title in the nba. knicks fans being pissed is just lols 4 me.

m bison with the truthbomb

one of the best players in the game is supposed to magically forge a championship out of a team that can't put it together with him? let the man get a damn ring imo

and yeah the espn thing is gauce but newsflash we live in a time when the more gauche you are the more paid you get

anybody here trying to get less paid than they can't, beside sad indie rock fuckers? ok then

OTM^billion

the levels of LeBron hate circulating amongst my Boston-based Facebook friends is really, really hilarious, because basically it's all just early capitulation

i think the anger is far less about the decision itself and far more about the way he conducted himself through the process, culminating with last night's embarrassing spectacle.

I don't think it's particularly fair to blame a dude who has been told for his entire professional career and for several years leading up to it while he was in high school that he was the most important, critical and vital basketball player in the league for behaving as if he was the most important, critical and vital player in the league.

it's not the decision itself but they way he did it that makes him a dick. newsflash just cause things are how they are doesn't mean people shouldn't find it unseemly.

xps

at any rate, all dude did was talk to some teams and schedule a press conference; the sports media were the ones who went on an insane LEBRONWATCH 2010 and COUNTDOWN TO LEBRON NEVAR FORGET )07/08/10 bender

no he didn't. he let his hometown team twist in the wind, plus a few others. he by all accounts lied about when he made his decision, and didn't let the cavs know until minutes before telling the world. he didn't schedule a press conference; he scheduled an hour long prime time special.

I dunno, I'm bummed that he left Cleveland. He represented the best chance to win a championship. I'll be rooting against him now but I'm a pretty homer though.

and yeah the espn thing is gauce but newsflash we live in a time when the more gauche you are the more paid you get

thought you wouldn't take this kind of position tbqh.

i think it's ok to blame people for losing all perspective. i think it's also ok to blame people for causing an entire city to gather and watch primetime television so they can hear him say "fuck you"

also btw that wasn't a "press conference" because those usually include more members of the press than jim fucking gray

pretty BIG homer (although the original post is true)

I don't think it's particularly fair to blame a dude who has been told for his entire professional career and for several years leading up to it while he was in high school that he was the most important, critical and vital basketball player in the league for behaving as if he was the most important, critical and vital player in the league.

let me just say this once more: what he did last night was LITERALLY UNPRECEDENTED in the history of american pro sports.

I didn't watch it but you guys are actually cementing my opinion that the entire thing was super funny

So, who is more hated after the initial wave of "FUCK YOU LEBRONIDICT ARNOLD!" dies down:

Kobe,
LeBron, or
Mark Cuban?

yeah dan it's funny if you don't care about:

1) the cavs
2) the knicks
3) the bulls
4) the nba

which is fine!

i understand why ppl find it funny, as long as they can understand why other ppl don't really find it funny

yeah. he certainly "has been told for his entire professional career and for several years leading up to it while he was in high school that he was the most important, critical and vital basketball player in the league," but he had a life -- and, presumably, a sense of propriety and manners -- before all that fawning.

btw, the notion that "the more gauce you are the more you get paid" has its limits. i think it will be a looonnnngggg time before lebron james can restore his image (if ever, i kind of hope he embraces the "bad guy" role), and get the kind of endorsements he expected to get.

at the end of the day, the "point" is that there are plenty of ways he could have let himself out of cleveland with some semblance of class, and he didn't care enough to employ any of them.

honestly do you guys think that Man On The Street bball fan is as ~shocked~ by this as you all are? pretty sure most ppl just don't give a fuck

kobe bryant RAPED SOMEONE btw

oh thx, i didn't know that

also note that not once during his hour-long special did he thank the fans of NE Ohio
honestly don't care about Man On The Street unless he's selling corn dogs.

i think it's less he didn't care and more that he didn't realize how badly this would appear.

i am fully aware that most people don't give a fuck yet i will continue setting the record straight

CAD, i'll be fascinated by heat v. celtics this year (i love both teams, btw)

i'll be fascinated by heat vs. everybody!

lol. yeah, heat v. cavs, bulls, celtics, lakers, orlando and maybe knicks will be dynamite.

i actually think this will breathe new life and vigor into the NBA. all these storylines!

dude spent 7 years trying to win with Cleveland with little-to-no support, I can see why someone would succumb to the urge of generating a gigantic "fuck you" response and the fact that everyone everywhere kept feeding into it and giving up-to-the-minute updates on who he was talking to and which teams had just met with him and all of that other nonsense... it was all really really funny!

yeah dan it's funny if you don't care about:

1) the cavs
2) the knicks
3) the bulls
4) the nba

I haven't followed basketball much in the past 10 years but I do care about the NBA and I was rooting for the Cavs when they picked up LeBron because I was born in that area and I'm 2 degrees of separation away from him, plus the Bulls were my favorite team before the T-Wolves started getting their act together. Nowadays it's hard for me to root for a team because my sentimental favorite has been taken over by assholes (Lakers), my home team is a shambles (T-Wolves) and the team where I live is likable but I am required by upbringing to hate them (Celtics ;_; still <3 Garnett tho), plus Miami is a team I've felt lingering affection towards since the days of Alonzo Mourning so ultimately I am pretty much "yay" on this and basically fuck your assumptions in the eye with a knife.

cleveland did try (jamison, shaq, mo williams, return of z). it isn't easy to put a top-notch team in place.

so who do the heat play on xmas? the cavs or lakers?

LAKERS.

Miami is a team I've felt lingering affection towards since the days of Alonzo Mourning so ultimately I am pretty much "yay" on this and basically fuck your assumptions in the eye with a knife.

love this.

dude spent 7 years trying to win with Cleveland with little-to-no support, I can see why someone would succumb to the urge of generating a gigantic "fuck you"

Cavs did just about all they could to try to build a winning team around him. LeBron was consulted about and approved all roster moves. They basically allowed his "team" of advisors to have free rein within the organization. Don't really think a "fuck you" was what they had coming to them. More like "thank you".

Despite my sadness about the whole thing it will be fun to watch how the Cavs and Heat go about building their teams for next season now that Dan Gilbert has officially gone mental.

ok, this reminds me why I shouldn't read facebook. warning, the language is raw. from LB's facebook page.

Danny Isaac YOU NIGGERS DONT HAVE A SOUL THIS IS A LESSON TO ALL OF THE WHITE PEOPLE FORCE THEM BACK INTO SLAVERY

hope he gets shitcanned for that one

sorry not trying to make assumptions; if you're cool with superstars calling their shots in such an over-the-top way and if you don't think that having two of the top three players on the same team will adversely affect the competitive balance of the league (once the novelty wears off), then yeah cool that's fine.

he didn't realize how badly this would appear

He knew. This was supposed to be addressed by his "I'm going to give some of the money to charity" gambit. But, of course, he was vague about any and all details of this piece, and everyone rightly saw it was a clumsy bit of whitewashing and ignored it. If he had been serious, then he would have been tirelessly deflecting attention from himself to whatever the fuck charity he had chosen, making sure the organization got maximum benefit out of it.

Cavs did just about all they could to try to build a winning team around him. LeBron was consulted about and approved all roster moves. They basically allowed his "team" of advisors to have free rein within the organization. Don't really think a "fuck you" was what they had coming to them. More like "thank you".

― hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Friday, July 9, 2010 11:59 AM (3 minutes ago)

whose fault is this btw? (a: cavs mgmt) i mean rly he's a goddamn kid who is rly talented but he's not the fucking basketball dalai lama, they shoulda acted like grown folks instead acting like lebron was head of their AAU team. and also i don't think ne1 faults the cavs for effort b/c they were pro-active and everything, they were just STUPID in who they went after. consider title-winning players who changed teams via trade 2003-10:
garnett
allen
shaq (good shaq)
gasol
chauncey
artest

pick two guys and put them on the cavs at some point during bron's run they win a title.

sure, they were stupid, but like you said they should be criticized for giving LeBron TOO MUCH coddling, which doesn't deserve a FUCK YOU from the coddlee.

thing is that bugs me about this is that the incensed masses who are attacking LeBron aren't even focusing right now on the pretentious one hour special. He's being called out simply because he left the Cavs in the circles i've been in.

there doesn't even have to be a right and wrong side in free agency. LeBron didn't choose the team that drafted him, so why should they bitch when he chooses to leave.

yes--it goes without saying that being pissed at him just for leaving is retarded sports talk radio mouthbreathing bullshit, apologies to yr circles spidermark

i totally think this whole build up and tv special shit was lame as fuck. but i watched it, i'll watch this freaky team down there too, as will so many others. the NBA as a whole has been sorta a joke for awhile now, so non of this surprises me. the NBA where lame shit happens and we still watch it.

i mean fuck , the refs fix games in this league

kobe bryant RAPED SOMEONE btw

Yeah, but LeBron raped a city. A city.

thought you wouldn't take this kind of position tbqh.

my position is "if you're a fan of the sport, you care about what takes place on the court/on the field/in the ring." how an athlete goes about his business of making as much money as he possibly can during the pretty damn brief window of time he has to make that money seems like an area in which I want to give any player as much slack as possible. Owners and coaches, they can have thirty year careers if they want. More, even. Lebron James's ankles and knees, fifteen years from now, will not allow him to beat underrated aerosmith albums I have loved in a quarter-mile sprint. He is an idiot if he does anything less than get as much money and glory as he can possibly get. If teams including his home team want to be the places where he does that, they need to get serious about it instead of appealing to bullshit ideas like loyalty and where-you-come-from tropes. If "where you come from" can't be bothered to put together a championship team for a player that literally every team in the league would kill to get, what's that tell you about the team that's asking for your "loyalty"? That they think you're a sucker, that's what. Fans aren't loyal in the abstract; they stop showing up when you suck, unless they're Cub fans; loyalty's a great quality but dumb loyalty is just dumb.

he's taking less money

the NBA where lame shit happens and we still watch it.

― Aerosol, Friday, July 9, 2010 1:34 PM

new board title

description rather

look as much as i think the Heat are favorites now, I don't think they're going to waltz to an 8-peat. the lakers are still the incumbents and well they're going to be tough to beat.

others may disagree, but i find professional sports more entertaining when there's a team with a target on their back. some of the most parity-driven years (while i love parity) lacked the dominant, fun to watch teams, and the 'god why won't someone just beat them teams'.

it just feels like a bigger payoff when someone else pulls off teh upset.

nba to go to "NBA Jam" 2 on 2 format, require players to go through head-expansion surgery...

is ur spidey sense tingling

knicks need to find a way to pick up cp3 and melo next year

If "where you come from" can't be bothered to put together a championship team

^not an accurate statement by any means

they tried, shit is not easy. it's no wonder that a small percentage of nba teams hold most of the titles

man knicks were really left holding the bag of shit

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CqDk4jAv_Y4/TDUYgAwCU4I/AAAAAAAAEr8/ah-fvjFbcpU/s1600/04.jpg

knicks nets and clippers should merge so they can become... the next indiana pacers

he's taking less money

not if he ends up getting a championship - lots of $$$ comes along w/that

"if"

then comes the pussy xp

also not really sure about that. salary-wise, the most money was in cleveland. endorsement/media-wise, the most money was in nyc. he's already gonna be so stuffed to the gills with that shit that i'm not sure what $$$ become directly attributable to "winning"

anyway underrated aerosmith, no one begrudges his right to leave, many are questioning the way he left.

I agree w aerosmith about taking money and running if you're a pro athlete, so I respect lbj even more for not locking himself into a max contract before stern collectively rips the players association a new asshole

xxxpost is he gonna major in it like michael phelps

I agree w aerosmith about dude looking like a lady

lol

i still think this move is for Bron. Wade already has his ring. and he couldn't get another one after that team was broken apart. he needs Bron as much as Bron needs Wade. it's a romance.