Cavs a championship team? The only reason it was near a championship team, was because of him. Bron played one bad game in that series, Game 5, and he played great the rest. I'm sure he would of quit in game 1,2,3,4 if he wanted to let the celtics win. In the last game of the series, Bron finished with 27 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists. That doesn't look like a player who was quitting on his team. Wade says James 'didn't quit' on Cavs' playoff run http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j4BtmnzIRztpAQWdUrbGouoCCkMQD9GVOU9G1 MIAMI — They've been teammates for only a week, and Dwyane Wade is already standing up for LeBron James. Wade defended the NBA's two-time reigning MVP on Thursday, telling The Associated Press that James "didn't quit" on Cleveland during the playoffs. That was the accusation made by Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert last week, not long after James went on television to reveal he was leaving Cleveland for Miami. "He's not a quitter," Wade said. "He didn't quit." In an interview with The AP on July 8, Gilbert not only levied the quitting charge, but said James got "a free pass" for too long. The NBA fined Gilbert $100,000 earlier this week for some of his comments, with commissioner David Stern saying they were too extreme for the league's liking. Wade said he watched every game in Cleveland's second-round series against Boston, the team that eliminated the Heat in the opening round of the postseason. The Celtics used a similar defensive scheme against James as they did against Wade to open the playoffs, throwing a slew of challenges in the way of both. "LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, guys like that understand what Boston's defense was about," Wade said. "Their defense was built on not letting one player beat them. You either settle for the outside shot or you pass to your teammates. LeBron had one bad game in the playoffs. Other than that, he did what he could do with the defense all watching him."
Of course Wade would say James didn't quit. He isn't going to throw his newest teammate under the bus. And they may have talked to each other, sure, but I bet this was planned the moment each of them extended their contracts (James with the Cavs, Bosh with the Raps, and Wade with the Heat) only for all three to become UNrestricted FAs. Bad monopoly is bad.
Since no one has any proof of this, it all just rumours that are untrue. As on most forums, if you say the same lie over and over again, people tend to believe the lie, and not the truth.
I read the article. Before you believe every word written, consider the following: 1. This is an opinion piece, a column, it is not reporting. It is being passed off as reporting because of it's style, but do not forget that it is written in the author's opinion and has a vast amount of bias. 2. This author has been gunning for James for quite some time. I'm not sure why, maybe someone in Lebron's entourage did something in the past, maybe his best sources are enemies of LRMR. This guy is not a fan of Lebron James and has written numerous hack jobs before Lebron decided to take his talents to South Beach. 3. This is the same Author that was championing TMAC's cause back at the trade deadline. Just remember how you felt about his writing back then and know that he likes to take sides when 'reporting'. 4. 75% of this article is very similar to the ESPN article written by Windhorst. The only new material in this article are: stuff about team USA (going to be quickly denied by everyone involved), Chris Paul's birthday party, and some speculated in fighting between Lebron's posse. It's pretty easy to get some pissed off source somewhere to bad mouth a player, which is what happened here with Lebron. 5. The ESPN Windhorst article about how Cleveland lost Lebron is a better written version of this article. Windhorst has sources all over Cleveland. I guarantee that he's heard all the negative Lebron stuff that got out in this article. Why did he not rush to put it on ESPN? Because he was a diligent reporter and has a high standards for checking sources and doesn't put together character assassination pieces just for the page hits. (See what I did in the last sentence, that was my own opinion, but I passed it off as fact.)
if LeBron is so me me me, diva, pampered, has to be courted by other players etc etc, then why doesnt any article clearly explain why he'd put himself in a situation where he knows he wont get all the credit if they win? he put himself in a situation where his legacy is much more limited, instead of being special by himself, at best he's just part of something special.
Being a me me, diva personality can be very different from an alpha dog, killer instinct personality. Look at Tracy vs Kobe for a good example.
I agree this is an opinion piece where quotes can be skewed to paint a picture that is slightly off the truth. However, he does provide some explicit quotes from high positioned NBA officials and a lot of content about the background wheeling and dealing of William Wesley and Maverick Carter that has not been exposed by the mass media. You are right. A lot of this article coincides with what others have been writing as well, for example Brian Windhorts', which would lead one to believe that the main gist of what he is writing has to hold some credibility. Another thing to consider, this is not Stephen A Smith or Sam Smith we're talking about, who just spews unsubstantiated articles. This is Adrian Wojnarowski who has historically been always one of the first, if not the first, to be on top of every major NBA story. He covered the Tmac trade, the Yao injury well before anybody else did. This guy has great sources, let's not discount that.
If Lebron James was so impossible to deal with why did Cleveland work so hard to keep him and act like a jilted 15 year old schoolgirl when he left. Why credit Mike Brown for those 66 wins but suggest the league MVP is a cancer. So much of it is clearly a hatchet job without balance it sinks any confidence in claims that might have some truth to them.
It takes 5. The Cavs were a perennial 60+ win team for a helluva lot more reasons than one guy. Arguing that he was their MVP is one thing, but saying he's the only reason they were close is
Woj is pretty well respected and he owes nothing to the Cavs. The media has treated LeBron like a prince for many years -- have no idea why -- and now they're finally starting to do some reporting.
That's just how good lebron is, he is easily the best player in the league. We will see just how good he is with decent players around him very soon. I like so many others cannot wait to watch him and the heat.
It's amazing that of all forums, and of all NBA fans, only we have decided to criticize Lebr-yawn. Oh wait.
How's the LeBron bandwagon? **** Cleveland right? LeBron is the best so he shouldn't take **** from anyone else. Even if that means ****ing over your hometown and all your family and friends on NATIONAL TV. It's all cool though. Cuz he's LeBron James.
I have one for you, Oh lebrons despicable act of egotism in fall of 2004 raised red flags all over the nba, and in june of 2006 lebron showed his true unprofessional colors. Maverick Carter and Lebron really showed what they were truly about in spring of 2005, lebron sucks!! Ohhhhhh! This explains everything doesnt it?
The fact that lebron won 66 games with almost a 10 point lead avg with mo williams as his number 2 tells me that with wade and bosh, they can win 75 games.
Well LeHour does deserve credit for recognizing he cannot win a title without the help of Wade and LapDog.
No, it is funny that pretty much the whole fanbases outside of South Florida have skewed him. For taking less money to play with two of the other best team basketball players on the planet to make the best possible basketball team on the planet. Maybe the league should have blown up the Showtime Lakers and Russell's Celts, or taken away the best 6ers and Laker teams, because, you know, those great players wanted to play with other great players and thrived. The shame. Cleveland has a right to be sad and mad, and more. Everyone is else acting like a jilted bachlorette. What would be said here Yao had stayed healthy, the Rockets had cap room, Lebron said he wanted to play with the most offensively skill big man in the league for the 1st Chinese & American empire. He would be the greatest thing since slice bread to everyone here.
