Akron Marketing Firm Tells LeBron He Can't Come Home Again

Cleveland is becoming a Cleavageland.

 

One of those things is not like the others. Rape, drugs, guns, and LeDouche are nothing like Magic getting AIDS.

 

lebron took "screwing your fans over" to a whole new level.

not because he left, but HOW he left

 

Well he is working out at his old high school gym.

 

I would say that being a douche is also quite different from rape, drugs, and guns.

 

sure, he didnt have to have a 1hr special on where he's going next but it's time to let go cleveland fans

honestly, i dont see it as a big deal.

fans dont care about the player's feelings when the organization trades a him and doesnt even have the courtesy to tell that person that he is moving to a new city. rather, the player has to wake up the next morning to find out via text messages and bball websites.

yet, when a player, lebron, pulls a stunt like that on the organization, fans are rabid. "omg, this player just screwed over my organization"

the NBA is a business and im ok with either sides, organization or player, 'screwing' each other over.

fans need to stop being so sensitive

 

Honestly, I haven't look at it from the players side on how they are dealt by the team organizations. Way to put it to "The Man" Lebron.

 

How would you feel if Hakeem had left us?

 

does it matter? THE ROCKETS let hakeem go to the raptors. he shouldve retired with us

 

is big z still welcome?

 

you think cleveland fans should let go already? it's not even been a month.

here I am saying these things stay with you forever and you think the fans should say "oh well" already??

this isn't true, generally. do players get traded? yes. do they get trade unexpectedly? sure, sometimes. do they often get traded in the middle of the night where the organization doesn't tell them about it? no. do organizations routinely leave it up to the media or text messages to let players know they've been traded? no. sometimes it happens, but that's just how fast things happen these days.

in either case, it's a pretty bad analogy for Lebron. we'll never know, because it isn't possible and even if it was, didn't happened, but my guess is, the Lakers could have offered their whole team for Lebron last offseason and the Cavs would have said no. They were not and never planned on treating Lebron like your typical professional athlete...as an asset part of the business.

try not to gloss over the part where these guys are getting millions and millions of dollars because the fans are paying attention. if we're going with the business analogy, the fan is the customer here. And the customer got screwed. Maybe the owners have some blame in creating an environment of player movement and personnel evaluation over the last 20 years whereby someone like Lebron thought to himself, "hey, it's just a business, how about I not tell Cleveland my real plans, lead them on, host a 1 hour special and let the organization and fans find out then what my plans have been the whole time." so maybe there is some blame to be placed on the owner, David Stern and the system as a whole.

but overall, Lebron is the one who screwed Cleveland fans. and they absolutely have every right to care less about players when they are traded if it betters their team and simultaneously be pissed about FA's leaving their team surprisingly...and in such a way. cause that's the whole point of being the fan and the customer.

this billboard isn't really that big of a whine...

 

do players routinely have a 1hr special? no. it rarely happens. dont really get your point here because i can play devil's advocate here with a valid point. nba teams rarely, if ever, get slack for making a business decision (aka a trade) but players have to remain loyal to one organization or else theyre deemed a douchebag?

the point isnt specifically about lebron, like youre making it out to be. it's about organizations treating the NBA as a business but, somehow, players are vilified for doing the same.

try not to gloss over the fact that the NBA IS a business. players arent assets that have no say in what they want. they are the product here and they can choose how they want to sell themselves. lebron/wade/bosh all signed contracts that gave them freedom in 2010. they played by the rules that was given to them so that they can control what they want to do with their careers.

lebron didnt screw anyone over, he broke some hearts but he didnt screw them over. he didnt pull a boozer and promised he'd be back.

 

it'll blow over everywhere else you are 100% correct.

and soon. probably this very year if Lebron wins.

but not in Cleveland he has scarred the psyche of the city, like Buckner and Boston or the Browns leaving (which Cleveland is still cant let go of, despite the fact they have a ****ing team now) it could take decades...

 

im still pissed that artest left houston so y wont cavs fan forget that LBJ left this will be something they will remember 4 a long time

 

To be fair, it IS specifically about Lebron. Stoudemire is not being villified for his decision. Nor is Bosh. Nor were any previous players - at least not to this extent. Everything about this situation is specific to Lebron. The organization didn't treat him as just another player. He didn't leave just like any other player. You can't use his vilification as an example of how fans treat players in general.

 

this is a thread about lebron and about his actions, i agree. im just arguing that lebron is a player, like any other player (in the sense that he plays bball), and the nba organizations treat players like assets and make decisions based on how much that asset is worth to them.

why cant players do the same? treat nba teams in the same manner... based on how well theyve managed their salary, their location, or their amenities.

many fans agree that cleveland set themselves up for this disappointment. giving lebron too much control was their own fault, a bad business decision, and now their organization and city are crying about it.

 

I hope the Cavs somehow (on some miracle) are the eighth seed against the Heat's 1 seed. That would be AWESOME.

 

Yeah, aren't you special.

 

Cleveland had plenty of chances to build a dynasty around Lebron but the kept on making mistakes. Most notably the 04 draft when they had the 10th pick. They could have got him a Pippen like player in Josh Smith, a big man in Al Jefferson or even a point like Jameer Nelson. Instead would did they select? Luke Jackson. Yeah I don't feel sorry for them. They had their shot.

 

Big deal, its Cleveland. Its like telling someone your not welcomed to jail anymore