It's not controversial. It's just widely seen as idiotic. If you love the Rockets, you want the Rockets to succeed. To say you don't want arguably the second best player to ever play the game of basketball representing your team is just flat at stupid. I'm just trying to fathom why you're up on that high horse and happy with not making it past Golden State to reach the Finals, over bringing said arguable second best player on board and having a huge chance to win a couple of championships. You can understand why I'm left stumped, bamboozled, at a complete loss, since that makes no sense whatsoever.
Well yeah I understand he would elevate our chances immensely. I don't think being a fan means you just want a title by whatever means possible. Let's say Les paid Adam Silver to have the refs rig us a championship..or let's say we traded Harden for Durant and we won primarily because of that..or let's say Matt Barnes suddenly becomes a beast and we trade for him. I don't like any of those scenarios. I'm not the GM. I'm not the owner. If I were then I would try to acquire Lebron. As a fan with no power over the organization, I subjectively hope that we win a title without Lebron. For me it's just: Title with Lebron = cool Title without Lebron = much, much better
Why do you think it's much much better? because it's less likely. The difference could be 3 times in next 5 years vs 0 times in next 5 years. If you prefer 0 to 3 it's your preference. I'd rather we win.
Chris Paul vs Steph Curry James Harden vs Klay Thompson Lebron James vs Kevin Durant Carmelo Anthony vs Draymond Green Center vs Center Man that would be an entertaining few years of basketball. Considering this would have to be at least a year away though, they may still hold the advantage. They've got the shooting on us and 3 of our boys would be 33 and up, meanwhile Steph and Durant will just be hitting 30. Crap I got too far ahead of myself. Melo is not coming!
I said I hope we win a title without Lebron. That means I hope we win a title. I don't think getting Lebron is the ONLY way to win a championship. It's that simple
Personally, I think not wanting a player on the team who can help the team immensely is just silly, but I do understand the sentiment. For me, team success will ALWAYS drastically trump personal feelings about a player.
I feel you. To me it's like if your cousin gets married and you're happy for them. You're excited that it happened but you liked their ex a lot better. So yes, the rockets winning is most important to me...but acquiring Lebron feels like hiring Jerry Sloan and becoming the Jazzholes during the rivalry years. Sacrilegious
That's because Rudy is/was better than Sloan. I would take Stockton over Smith in a heartbeat. Same with Malone over Thorpe.
I understand. I know that I sound completely idiotic. Maybe I am, who knows lol. All I know is that plenty of other people strongly dislike Lebron and it would be an adjustment period. I would get used to it if we started stomping GS in the WCF I'm sure
Meh, the phrase "Winning cures all" does exist for a reason. People have strong feelings about all sorts of things, but success can help deal with the majority of them.
No, I get where you are coming from. I actually generally like Lebron, but I still would feel like any success that came after Lebron joined would be cheapened. It doesn't mean I wouldn't enjoy a title, but it definitely wouldn't come with the same feelings. Part of the fun of rooting for a team is those guys being your guys. Imagine how different the USA Hockey Gold medal would have felt if we had just hired the Russians to play for us instead and then beat some random jabronis? If you win a title with Lebron you know that he's never YOUR guy. You just happened to be the team with his friends and the flexibility that he could come and get a quick win. You'll know that anytime he thanks "the fans" or the city he's being completely 100% fake. You'll know that the jersey means nothing to him. You'll know that the city and organization will never hold a special place in his heart, you were just the next available title team for him to add a ring to his finger. And you'll know as a Rockets fan that your team will NEVER get credit for that title. It will always be said of the organization and Harden that "the only way they could win a ring was for Lebron to come camp there for a year or two."
The other way of looking at it is that the NBA is a business and the Rockets are our "company". Getting LBJ would be like signing away a valuable exec from a rival company for the benefit of OUR company. That's just smart business. A guy is never YOUR guy until you make them so. Just because a player (LBJ in this hypothetical situation) joins us, doesn't mean they would always be a mercenary. Look at Mutombo for example. He played most of his career elsewhere, but both Mutombo and us fans consider him ours.
Mutombo embraced us and loved it here. Winning a title with Lebron would be like your company bringing him on contract sales for two years, he gets to keep the money he makes but you get to hold up the "national sales leader" plaque. He'll give a speech at the annual convention and will need to double check his notecards to see which company name he needs to mention when he says "We at [insert company name here] had a great year." Would I like to win a title with Lebron? Yes. Would I prefer to win one without him? Yes.
That's only if he doesn't come to embrace Houston. A lot of players come here to play with us and love it. You never know.
Come on man, we all know the deal with Lebron. If Lebron leaves Cleveland it's either: A) He's jumping onto another horse that someone else has already prepped to win the race B) He's jumping to the Lakers for brand building reasons
Not agreeing or disagreeing; but to put what some of you guys are saying into relevant context, use Kyrie as an example. I'm sure he wants to win a championship just as much on another team. He just doesn't want to win with Lebron. Different ways of winning, and if he ever wins one again (probably won't), I'm sure it'll mean much more to him than the first time.
Or he wants to join an organization that is actually competent and already has his friends who joined for the same reason. It's not WHY he came but rather how he feels and does during his stay. Just my thoughts.
