He could have gotten those options anywhere, right? I dismissed the articles because they are blatantly wrong. The tax amount on $125M is only $6.6M. It's not $25M in savings. He sacrificed $$. It's fine if you aren't impressed with the amount that he gave up, but to say he didn't give any up simply isn't true.
You should have read them then. The first article comes up with $25MM because they count his endorsments in the savings. Whether or not relocatin to Miami gets him those breaks I don't know. If he can show that he is domiciled in Miami he might be getting tons of tax breaks on all of his income. The second article broke down the contract structure for the first five years and got their figure. They used the 6% tax rate from Ohio. I took a few tax classes in law school but I am no expert and don't claim to be but I know it is way too complicated for me to simply point to math based on one rate and say I'm right like you are. Here is some forbes reading for you http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/09/le...-ohio-personal-finance-move-home-miami_2.html
Do you understand what "if you can't beat them, join them" means? Lebron James lost in the playoffs the last three years to the Celtics, the Magic, and the Celtics. He didn't join the Celtics or the Magic. He joined another team that also had nothing but failures in the previous four seasons. That's not the same as joining the team that you can't beat.
Now that's just a ridiculous standard. Lebron James is such a good player that any team he could have gone to in free agency would have become an instant contender regardless of how bad they were previously. So by your definition, he would have "left for a contender" even if he went to play for the Timberwolves with no other star player joining him.
I don't have a limited window of opportunity in which to make a lasting legacy for myself as a fan, so that's not a good comparison.
I like how this thread is called "Dallas vs. Miami" and all anyone is talking about is LeBron. The haters can call LeBron a "Pippen" on the court if it helps them get through their insecurities, but as far as chatter and gossip and obsession goes, he's an MJ. There were two real stories in this game: 1) Dallas continues to have no ability to stop Wade's penetration. The only guy who could possibly check him is Marion, and he's too busy shading LeBron. 2) If the refs continue to call touch fouls one-way like they did in this game, Dallas could win the series. I don't know how Miami overcame a nearly 2:1 foul differential. You almost never see that.
People also forget that the Heat have actually had pretty good teams that couldn't get out of the first round. Last year they had Wade/Beasley/J. O'Neal, the year before that, Marion. I keep hearing how Bosh is a complete scrub so would it be fair to put him on Beasley+O'Neal or Beasley+Marion level? I think so. So basically LeBron joined a 40 win team and turned it into a championship contender. And that makes sense since the Cavs are only a 20 win team without him. That's how good the guy is.
this is hilarious, once again we are criticizing this guy because he isn't selfish. he's a jerk because he admitted he couldn't win on his own and now he's weak because he's deferring to a teamate that's absolutely killing but russell westbrook is a jerk for trying to takeover, blah blah freakin blah its not even worth pointing out the stupidity
This is exactly his point, in case you didn't comprehend. The difference is, you and LeBron only care about what people remember and he cares about what is the right thing to do.
I need to see actual facts to show that his endorsement $$ gets those tax breaks as well, since he still has a residence in Ohio. Because technically, the savings come with him having his domicile in a tax free state. He could have had his domicile in Texas and rented an apartment or house in Cleveland during the season and been covered as far as that tax strategy goes, right? All of these articles try to minimize the hit that he took. He is still taking a hit regardless.
What exactly is the right thing to do? Stay loyal? LMAO. Ok, I guess. So our organization has done a lot of wrong in the last few years. How right were we when we shipped Hakeem out?
No he can't just get a house somwhere else and say that is where he is domiciled. If he is from Ohio, playing basketball in Ohio, and has a home in Ohio they aren't going to let him be domiciled in the state of Texas when he spends a majority of his time in Ohio and grew up there. Playing for the Heat alllows him to easily switch his domicile because it is easy for him to argue that his new year round residence is there. If what you are proposing would work then every athlete would just claim a domicile in an income tax free state.
Boobie Gibson got the Cavs far in 07 not Lebron. Reallyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy? Man I have heard it all on this board now.
I, for one, am enjoying the misery all of the LeBron haters are in right now. It's caused them to come up with some really creative rationalization for his accomplishments!
