I read recently that he would proclaim to his fans around town that he loved them. I'm sure they loved him back. The fans have every right to act like the spurned lover that James' turned them into.
If 12 stars decide to take the vets minimum, then I can see someone complaining about how they got together to create a never before seen and unfair advantage. Considering that in my short lifetime I have watched title winning combos like Kareem/Magic/Worthy/Scott, Bird/McHale/Parish/DJ/Walton/Ainge, Zeke/Dumars/Rodman/Aguirre, Moses/Doc/Cheeks, Jordan/Pippen/Rodman/Kukoc, Shaq/Kobe (in an era of no centers), Duncan/Robinson, Duncan/Parker/Manu, Pierce/KG/Allen, Kobe/Gasol/Odom/Bynum (in an era of no bigs).....then I don't exactly see how Lebron/Wade/Bosh/Miller/8 scrubs is unfair. Please enlighten me on how that's unfair. This "a little help" argument is the biggest crock I have ever heard. I just detailed the last champions over the past 30 years and only two dudes had "a little help". Everyone else had a lot of help.
Dr. J was 32, he was 3rd in MVP voting the prior year (76ers won 58 games), and the MVP the year before that (76ers won 62 games). He was All-NBA 1st team from 80-83. Demanding help doesn't make you a b****. Listening to another's call for help and going over to provide it does make you a b****. What gritty, raw insight you provide. Look, this was a joint decision and they are helping each other out. Clearly, Miami needed more help than Cleveland did, and Miami is the one with the cap space. That Wade won a championship 4 years before on a different team doesn't mean jack. The rest of your post is rehashing the same stuff and continues to ignore the privileged setting in which Kobe's career was born and flourished. It ignores that Kobe's toughed it out in Los Angeles surrounded by all-stars, a HOF coach, and actually demanded to be traded when he didn't have those stars around him, while LeBron was asked to tough it out in Cleveland surrounded by no-stars. If you want call LeBron a pansy, fine. But don't try to sell this as a "this is why Kobe is superior" thing, because that comparison doesn't fly. Totally different situations.
Yes, you want the players to be loyal but the team doesn't have to be. You want him to stay loyal but it's ok for us to ship out some of our loyal players to upgrade to Bosh. I get the hypocritical argument. LOL....
Madmax, i got love for you, but i don't understand. You want lebron to be compared to the best of all time and he still will. He's the fastest to like everything seems like, but it has gotten him nowhere. Now if you want to argue the espn thing was overboard, so be it, you have a point, but he owes cleveland nothing at all. They are the 4th most valuable franchise because of who? Lebron, thats right. They have spent money trying to patchwork a squad vs true building and it started before they got lebron when they tanked and gave away miller. To push it even further, go find the first round picks that have panned out. Remember Luke Jackson? Sasha Pavolic? Wally S in 2002 is cool, but not in 07. Teams like cleveland,milwaukee, and those other cold weather,small cities need to get on the spurs train. Get the international players because they don't care about the weather and the nightlife as much. When the season is over, they go back home.
the best example I can give you is Craig Biggio. it's the one i know best because it was local and i followed it so closely. St. Louis and Colorado offered him more than Houston could pay him. The Astros were on the ropes here as a franchise, generally....trying to save the team for the city...."step up to the plate" campaign, etc. He turned down that money to stick here. He talked about it when he retired...how he rode through all that and how the experience of saying goodbye to his fans here at his last game was so gratifying because of the relationships he'd built along the way. that wasn't THAT long ago. there is loyalty out there...you just have to look for it. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2881640 You want a guy who begs for a pay cut? Hold on now. Who ever expected anybody to follow that advice? But Biggio came as close as any big-time player you'll run across. Four times in his career, he took less money one season than he'd made the year before. And in January 2003, he even signed a two-year extension which deflated him from a $9.75 million salary in 2003 to $3 million in each of the next two years. Sheez, not only has this guy done all that to stay with the only team he's ever played for. But in his two decades, you know how many times he even went so far as to file for free agency? How about once (in 1995)? Not even bothering to flirt with the Yankees may not have done much to pump up his checking-account balance. But it definitely did wonders for his underratedness rankings.
again...you're talking about alpha dog type players here. bit pieces get moved around. alpha dogs say, "this is MY team." or at least you want them to say that. that was the whole point of the article comparing this to MJ.
Lebron loved them because he loved the attention, and he is desperate to be idolized. They loved him because they made their city and their team relevant. The personal, emotional bond that people have fabricated in their minds between themselves, their city, and Lebron is infinitely amusing. Even more so for those who have no connection to either party. Watching them react as if somehow Lebron personally insulted them is even better. God this is so funny. I absolutely loved the fact he did that show last night and created this absurd spectacle for everyone to cry over. I don't know if I'm more amused at the reactions of all the butthurt people, or at the fact Lebron, in a hilarious miscalculation, probably thought his special was going to go over really well with everyone. I think he's my favorite non-Rocket now. He just brings the funny too much for him not to be.
Yes Pippen won 6 titles but no one considers him an all-time great. Top 50 maybe. I have no problem with LBJ being considered a top 50 player, but don't compare him to the best to ever play after this. You have no evidence that he put his ego aside here. It's just as likely that he got scared and couldn't handle the responsibility of leading a team. That's certainly not what anyone should be teaching their kids to do.
There is a HUGE difference between sub-par games from role players and LeTravel showing no effort....
Madmax, do you think if clyde was a free agent in 1987 and houston had cap room, he would've stayed in Portland?
to be clear here...i'm not a cleveland fan...i dont feel hurt. i just think he acted like a little b****.
i have no idea but i don't put clyde in the GOAT discussion, either. he doesn't get a ring but for Dream.
There's a reason people measure success by championships. BC no matter how stacked your team is, you still have to put in work to win it. Somebody will still have to hit the last shot, play defense throughout the playoffs, etc. Lebron knows the history of the nba, and there's many great players that their one regret after being inducted into the hall of fame, was never winning it all. I don't blame him one bit for not wanting to have that ****ty feeling the rest of your life.[/QUOTE] Ditto. I'd rep you if I could.
No offense, but much of this is awful. Gasol as good as Wade? Gasol was Boozer before he joined the Lakers. Now everyone thinks he's a stud. Pippen as good as Wade? Rodman better than Bosh? Horace Grant close to Bosh? Terrible.
Sorry, I meant basketball. I don't care for baseball and know little about it. I suppose I should've been more specific.
Then the city of Cleveland should be happy, I mean they and their owner all thought he was a quitter.
I would argue the vast majority of those players stay with their teams because the NBA is structured to make that the best financial decision for them through the cap limiting how many options they tend to have, and the larger contracts the "home team" can give. In the MLB, where there is no financial incentive to stay with your initial team, there's no real sense of staying with "my team". Very few players end up staying with their teams their whole careers.
well in the current structure of hoops, i don't know how i could show it to you. the team you play for is the one that can pay you the most.
