Bosh clearly wanted to live in the glamour and glitz lifestyle. Unfortunately, Cleveland probably isn't the most exciting place in the world for a 20-something year old multimillionaire. I don't think that reflects on Lebron. I think if you asked Allen/Garnett/Pierce, they'd love the opportunity to play together in their primes rather than just towards their last years. Lebron & company got a unique opportunity that very few athletes get - a chance to build a team with historic star talent. I think that team is not going to be nearly as good as others do, but they probably look at it as an opportunity to five-peat or more. If they did pull that off, they'd not only be winning rings, but they'd be talked about as one of the greatest teams ever. I think a lot of athletes, even the selfish GOAT types, would love the opportunity to play on that kind of team and build that kind of legacy. Most just never have that opportunity. Going forward, he could always opt out in a few years and go to another team and be the man. But due to free agency, cap complications and all that, he may never have the opportunity to team up with this kind of talent again.
I'm glad your honest about it, and I totally agree with your band-aid assessment. We're stuck with a bunch of mediocre assets and I didn't see many major moves to make in the near future. Being a pragmatic observer, even *I* said Lebron should go to Chicago. I think it would further his legacy more, but then again that MJ shadow is always looming.
i'm with the OP..it's a b**** move. if he wins a ring, it will be Wade's. the same way Pippen's were Jordan's rings. Pip won a lot of regular season games without Jordan, too. I just can't imagine the guys who LeBron is compared to historically doing something like this. Like Bill Simmons said....Jordan would have said, "fine...you guys load up...i can't wait to beat you." I can't stand Kobe Bryant....i hope he destroys this group, assuming they get out of the East.
Chicago I could respect...had he gone that route...cool...I get that. His team. He's the man. This is different.
Its fine to not like Lebron or disagree with his press conference or marketing but lets not pretend he wasnt the entire reason the Cavs were succesful and pretend his play was the reason the Cavs lost to the Celtics. To call his performance against the Celtics a disappearance act is LUDICROUS. How anyone can call his elimination game of 27 19 10 or his avg of 27 7 and 9 disappearing is beyond common sense. The man had one bad game in 6, one as in SINGULAR... Lebron was the reason the cavs obtained the best record 2 years running, not danny ferry and dan gilberts rosters of supporting players. Substitute Ilgalskus, hickson, williams, gibson, west with the starting 4 of the majority of other nba teams and Lebron would probably still had the best record.
I think it depends on who produces what on the court. It's not like Wade just won a championship last year - the team that he won it with is no longer there. Wade and his scrubs have been mediocre the last few years, while Lebron and his scrubs have been pretty good. If Lebron averages 30/10 and Wade averages 22/6, I don't think anyone will say it was Wade's ring and Lebron was just there for the ride. If the stats are flipped, then they probably do. Pippen's ring were Jordan's because he actually played 2nd fiddle to Jordan - not simply because he joined Jordan.
WojYahooNBA In phoner w/ AP, Gilbert says "People have covered up for [James] for way too long. Tonight we saw who he really is." People like...Gilbert.
i'm not pretending he wasn't the entire reason for their success.... but i'm also not pretending that he had enough to get that group over the top. i've seen lesser teams win titles. a 66 win team should be playing in the Finals...and the "MVP" of that group needs to get them there. like it or not, if you want to be compared to the caliber of player that LeBron is compared to when he calls himself, "KING," that's how you're judged.
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He's still going to be the best player on his team. Its not like the Heat have been title contenders, LeBron has been stuck on mediocre teams, and he decided to jump ship and ride Wade's coattails. Wade needed LeBron at least as much as LeBron needs him.
Wade pulled these guys to HIS team. This is Wade putting this together. It's his team. He's already got a ring.
Well that's why the the thread title. He wants to be called the best but jumped ship to be with his dream team buddies. Sounds like a guy who gave in to the pressure; "can't beat them, join them". (I don't mean that literally of course. It means if he can't win a title on his own, he'll just sidle up with his superstar buddies.) The ultimate dream legacy of any superstar is to have a team built around you that drafted you, and eventually win titles that way. Those players are revered more IMO. Lebron can't have that anymore. He'll just settle for winning titles and the legacy thing will take a step back.
To me, that's irrelevant. The Heat had the capspace, and Miami is a more attractive destination than Cleveland. That has nothing to do with Wade's superiority as a player or competitor.
Miami, not Cleveland or Toronto, had the caproom. Still, I agree with the Chicago sentiment. Fewer people would be this upset if he went there.
That has more to do with the fact that they had cap space, an exciting city, and a great GM than anything else. No one's going to look at the NBA finals if Lebron is the dominant player and say "oh, it's all about Wade".
