Cleveland is pretty pissed

Yellow Ledbelly

neilybabes86 wrote:

win a championship b4 miami !!!!


ok mr. owner ..stop smoking the crack

Ain't that the truth...that guy is nuts.
Obviously the whole grandstanding tv show hyped up bullshit was all disgusting and totally ridiculous, but I don't see how lebron OWED Cleveland anything. The guy has been there seven years and at no point in those seven years did crazy Gilbert do anything to get lebron the help he needed to win a title or two. And now he's mad because lebron left??? Give me a break. If anything the Cavalier organization let Lebron down.
And again..the whole process being the circus that it was, Lebron actually made the move for the right reason....in hopes of winning....it obviously wasn't about money and certainly not about his gigantic ego (not as far as on the court anyway)
The whole thing was a PR disaster completely and totally but frankly I can't imagine anyone in Cleveland having the gall to say they have been betrayed. I don't know the guy, but I'll bet he would have loved to have stayed in Cleveland and won several championships....but he and every other realist knows that simply isn't going to happen whether he's there or not

polaris_x

Mr Rocko wrote:

And I thought Chris Bosh would be the most hated by his Raptor Fans!

i'm sure a lot of fans are disappointed but i'm glad he left ... he doesn't deserve max money ... he is seriously overrated ... like stan van said - i think he realized he is NOT the man and that he is a role player ... we have serious problems at the pg position which ultimately was the death of us last year ...

as for lebron and cleveland ... i got no problem with him leaving ... but this grand spectacle to stick it to his fans in cleveland lacked any semblance of class ... and it's that narcissistic nature that shows that these guys are so full of themselves and they really aren't the kind of people you want as role models ...

fife

Mr Rocko wrote:

And I thought Chris Bosh would be the most hated by his Raptor Fans!

why would we hate Bosh. when he was here we didn't make the playoffs and now that he is gone we won't make the playoffs. Bosh is overrated.

JonnyPistachio

Am I the only one who thought that Cavs owners rant was childish and extremely unporfessional?
I'm surprised Lebron even stayed in Cleveland as long as he did. On another note though, (as much as I despise Kobe), I can applaude players like Kobe, Jeter, and others who stay with one team to try to build on.

Jason P

JonnyPistachio wrote:

Am I the only one who thought that Cavs owners rant was childish and extremely unporfessional?
I'm surprised Lebron even stayed in Cleveland as long as he did. On another note though, (as much as I despise Kobe), I can applaude players like Kobe, Jeter, and others who stay with one team to try to build on.

Most of the time I would agree with you that his letter should be considered unprofessional . . . but I think this case deserves an exception. Lebron's ego was the size of one of those Macy's parade floats and he deserves to be ripped for the way he handled his exit.

If the Colts don't somehow extend Peyton Manning's contract and he ends up pulling off some long drawn-out stunt where he holds a 1-hour special to announce he's joining the Dolphins . . . . I don't know what I would do. That would be plain cruel. But I don't have to worry about that happening because Peyton Manning isn't a fucking idiot.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

JonnyPistachio wrote:

Am I the only one who thought that Cavs owners rant was childish and extremely unporfessional?
I'm surprised Lebron even stayed in Cleveland as long as he did. On another note though, (as much as I despise Kobe), I can applaude players like Kobe, Jeter, and others who stay with one team to try to build on.

People in Cleveland burning Lebron jerseys is childish......
People losing their minds over pro athletes is childish.....
Lebron is childish....
The Cavs owner is childish........

A gazillionaire athlete chose to play in Miami.....Thats all..

Did we need an hour long TV special to listen to him announce his decision??? NO we didnt.....

tcaporale

Yellow Ledbelly wrote:

neilybabes86 wrote:

win a championship b4 miami !!!!


ok mr. owner ..stop smoking the crack

Ain't that the truth...that guy is nuts.
Obviously the whole grandstanding tv show hyped up bullshit was all disgusting and totally ridiculous, but I don't see how lebron OWED Cleveland anything. The guy has been there seven years and at no point in those seven years did crazy Gilbert do anything to get lebron the help he needed to win a title or two. And now he's mad because lebron left??? Give me a break. If anything the Cavalier organization let Lebron down.
And again..the whole process being the circus that it was, Lebron actually made the move for the right reason....in hopes of winning....it obviously wasn't about money and certainly not about his gigantic ego (not as far as on the court anyway)
The whole thing was a PR disaster completely and totally but frankly I can't imagine anyone in Cleveland having the gall to say they have been betrayed. I don't know the guy, but I'll bet he would have loved to have stayed in Cleveland and won several championships....but he and every other realist knows that simply isn't going to happen whether he's there or not

You do realize that Gilbert gave LeBron basically anything he wanted, right?

Here's an excerpt from an article on ESPN:

In every trade Gilbert made, he took on more money than he sent out, his payroll spiraling into the luxury tax and then more deeply into the tax. Each, whether it was for Ben Wallace or Mo Williams or Shaquille O'Neal or Antawn Jamison, came only as James signed off. Yet when it was time to sign free agents, James would not commit to the future.

It left the team being forced to improve mostly through trades, deals they often made with the short term in mind that required them to give up future assets in the form of draft picks and prospects. Largely it worked, as the Cavs became one of the league's most successful teams.

Gilbert hired one of James' friends and paid him more than some assistant coaches to hang out with the team so James would be comfortable. Gilbert allowed members of James' management team to fly on the team jet. He spent $25 million to construct a practice facility that was located 20 minutes closer to James' home than the old one. He rebuilt the locker room. He hired a masseur to travel on the road because James likes massages.

He even fired his head coach, somewhat on spec, with the belief that James wanted a change.

It is because of all of that James' decision to walk was such a gut punch to the owner. It wasn't that he didn't see it coming, it was he didn't know what he could do to stop it.

I don't think Gilbert says any of those things if LeBron handles the situation respectfully. But he didn't even receive a phone call. This entire situation was played out horribly, and I think it symbolizes all that's wrong with the NBA. I used to be a big LeBron defender, but now you can be damned sure I'll be rooting against him.

polaris_x

JonnyPistachio wrote:

Am I the only one who thought that Cavs owners rant was childish and extremely unporfessional?
I'm surprised Lebron even stayed in Cleveland as long as he did. On another note though, (as much as I despise Kobe), I can applaude players like Kobe, Jeter, and others who stay with one team to try to build on.

i don't know if childish is the word ... definitely reactionary ... but ya gotta understand ... gilbert coddled lebron in every way while he was in cleveland ... his entourage would fly on team charters and sit behind the bench ... he catered to his every desires and to be strung along and then shunned on national tv ... that's cold to say the least ... it's like breaking up with your fiance on national tv ...

if lebron had any semblance of class - he would have let all the teams know his decision as soon as he knew starting with cleveland ... judging by simmons article on espn - this has been in the works for a while now and it was just a matter of time ... both bosh and wade have had film crews following them all summer ...

Pearl Drummer

fife wrote:

Mr Rocko wrote:

And I thought Chris Bosh would be the most hated by his Raptor Fans!

why would we hate Bosh. when he was here we didn't make the playoffs and now that he is gone we won't make the playoffs. Bosh is overrated.

I do this bosh is an overrated player..
but hes still an excellent role player

Kilgore_Trout

polaris_x wrote:

these guys are so full of themselves and they really aren't the kind of people you want as role models ...

thats the saddest part of the whole thing... where was the disclaimer that this behavior may not be acceptable??? EVERYONE just fed into it!

as someone whose taught inner city kids in the past i can tell you that those kids look up to these guys like CRAZY... a lot of them may not have anyone else worth looking up to... and between athletes and musicians behaving like this i truly fear for how this generations young black men will turn out

but hey... at least theres obama

polaris_x

Kilgore_Trout wrote:

thats the saddest part of the whole thing... where was the disclaimer that this behavior may not be acceptable??? EVERYONE just fed into it!

as someone whose taught inner city kids in the past i can tell you that those kids look up to these guys like CRAZY... a lot of them may not have anyone else worth looking up to... and between athletes and musicians behaving like this i truly fear for how this generations young black men will turn out

but hey... at least theres obama

uhhh ... well, i would say that across the board for most athletes of all colour ...

Kilgore_Trout

polaris_x wrote:

Kilgore_Trout wrote:

thats the saddest part of the whole thing... where was the disclaimer that this behavior may not be acceptable??? EVERYONE just fed into it!

as someone whose taught inner city kids in the past i can tell you that those kids look up to these guys like CRAZY... a lot of them may not have anyone else worth looking up to... and between athletes and musicians behaving like this i truly fear for how this generations young black men will turn out

but hey... at least theres obama

uhhh ... well, i would say that across the board for most athletes of all colour ...

no need to get all defensively PC...

i was just sharing a legit concern based on personal experience and an obviously broken system

polaris_x

Kilgore_Trout wrote:

no need to get all defensively PC...

i was just sharing a legit concern based on personal experience and an obviously broken system

i get that but i'm just saying that white kids who look up to ben roethlisberger or nascar drivers are in similar boats ... athletes in general shouldn't be role models often ...

Kilgore_Trout

polaris_x wrote:

i get that but i'm just saying that white kids who look up to ben roethlisberger or nascar drivers are in similar boats ... athletes in general shouldn't be role models often ...

ah gotcha... yes... agreed

that time seems to have passed... not that athletes weren't dicks before... but you didn't hear about it like you do today... i'd rather ESPN just play the same episode of sportscenter 12 times a day than fill their empty space with gossip and crime reports

Dissidentman

Is it fair to say Cleveland is "steamed"?

polaris_x

Kilgore_Trout wrote:

ah gotcha... yes... agreed

that time seems to have passed... not that athletes weren't dicks before... but you didn't hear about it like you do today... i'd rather ESPN just play the same episode of sportscenter 12 times a day than fill their empty space with gossip and crime reports

i think its definitely gotten worse because of all the inflated salaries and the pop culture aspect of it ... before, people cared only about how well a guy did ... now, they wanna know who they are sleeping with and what kind of toothpaste they use ... it's ridiculous and we only have ourselves to blame ... and to echo your sentiments when you have underprivileged kids looking to move up in life and look at athletes who were in similar positions - they aren't really getting much except how to be a douchebag ...

Dissidentman

polaris_x wrote:

Kilgore_Trout wrote:

ah gotcha... yes... agreed

that time seems to have passed... not that athletes weren't dicks before... but you didn't hear about it like you do today... i'd rather ESPN just play the same episode of sportscenter 12 times a day than fill their empty space with gossip and crime reports

i think its definitely gotten worse because of all the inflated salaries and the pop culture aspect of it ... before, people cared only about how well a guy did ... now, they wanna know who they are sleeping with and what kind of toothpaste they use ... it's ridiculous and we only have ourselves to blame ... and to echo your sentiments when you have underprivileged kids looking to move up in life and look at athletes who were in similar positions - they aren't really getting much except how to be a douchebag ...

Wait, what is Lebron's favorite toothpaste???!!!

stuckinline

Polaris x, I absolutely agree! Lebron is a bad role model. I'm glad he is gone.

polaris_x wrote:

Mr Rocko wrote:

And I thought Chris Bosh would be the most hated by his Raptor Fans!

i'm sure a lot of fans are disappointed but i'm glad he left ... he doesn't deserve max money ... he is seriously overrated ... like stan van said - i think he realized he is NOT the man and that he is a role player ... we have serious problems at the pg position which ultimately was the death of us last year ...

as for lebron and cleveland ... i got no problem with him leaving ... but this grand spectacle to stick it to his fans in cleveland lacked any semblance of class ... and it's that narcissistic nature that shows that these guys are so full of themselves and they really aren't the kind of people you want as role models ...

stuckinline

There is a HUGE mural of this (minus the dbag) hanging on a building in downtown Cleveland. I can not wait until someone removes it.

FenwayFaithful wrote:

polaris_x

Dissidentman wrote:

Wait, what is Lebron's favorite toothpaste???!!!

C avaliers
R eally
E xpected
S omeone
T rue

sorry ... best i got right now ...