Woj on how it happened: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/how-lebron-james-forgave-cavs-owner-dan-gilbert-and-returned-to-cleveland-191445831.html
... Broussard and Windhorst just watching.
... Broussard and Windhorst just watching.
Lee Jenkins: LeBron James is returning to Cleveland
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
PBDWake said:
Wonderful. This is going to suck from a Celtics perspective but this has been a really fun day.
MikeAndMike Mike & Mike
You can own a piece of history! Bid on this signed LeBron #Heat jersey now @TheVFoundation#DontEverGiveUp
You can own a piece of history! Bid on this signed LeBron #Heat jersey now @TheVFoundation#DontEverGiveUp
DrewDawg said:
Forget it, he's on a roll.
Hindsight is 20/20, but even if he ends up more Larry Sanders than Dikembe Mutombo, how much better would Nerlens Noel fit the Cavs than Anthony Bennett?
dcmissle said:
The other thing here, and some may disagree, is he's created a dynamic where the owner essentially has to concede the first couple issues Lebron pushes him on, doesn't he? Gilbert will (literally, I suspect) be driven from the city and watch the team go bankrupt (as no one will go and advertisers may boycott the team and the TV coverage) if Gilbert were to, after this, do something like keep a coach Lebron wanted fired or refuse to pay the luxury tax or something right? Agree with HRB---Blatt is on next flight to Europe if Lebron says so and there may not even be a consultation with the coach before it happens (not that I think Lebron will do that, but absolutely believe he could)
There's exceedingly few players who have such stature locally that ownership cannot count on winning the battle. And I think Lebron is now that rare player.
dcmissle said:
"The Decision" was an orgy of tone deafness and self-involvement. What LeBron did today showed an astonishing degree of maturity.
He has made me do a 180 on him. I'm really astounded by it.
This scoop, though outstanding, is still second to this Lee Jenkins masterpiece :http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LkCNJRfSZBU
DrewDawg said:
Mid-80's Celtics never forget!!!!!
Also:
Dan Le Batard Show@LeBatardShow Follow
Good for LeBron. Hugely grateful for last four years. Even the last 10 days have been amazing fun. You won't hear a negative syllable here
12:35 PM - 11 Jul 2014
RedOctober3829 said:
Huh? Are we talking about the same person here?
Or it was bad PR management then (combined with some serious tone deafness of the player) and superb PR management now and we have no idea where LBJ is as a person. Leaving Miami for Cleveland is still self-serving. He's going to a better situation while rehabbing his image.Average Reds said:
wutang112878 said:
As much as Kevin Love would be a great fit next to Lebron, the fact that you can't go small with Love on the court and the prospect of Lebron and Irving setting up Wiggins for open 3's and alley oops makes me think the Cavs might be better off keeping the cost-controlled Wiggins. Especially if Lebron can be a good mentor for him.
DannyDarwinism said:
But the Cavs were going for the playoffs in 2013, and Bennett was going to contribute more than an injured Noel!!!
The only thing that makes me sad about this is that Dan Gilbert -one of the most incompetent owners in sports- has somehow won the Lebron sweepstakes twice and won the lottery three times in four years. Good things happen to stupid people.
I just listened to LeBatard compare James' Heat run to sex with a hot girl you convinced to leave her boyfriend, then saw her cheat on you. All with too much detail.
Brain bleach, please.
Brain bleach, please.
amarshal2 said:
LeBron has been surrounded by advisers (PR; business; personal) both times. But ultimately, the decision (small d) on how to proceed has been his.
I accept that his decision was self-serving. But to dcmissle's point, it still demonstrates a much greater sense of self-awareness and maturity that he decided to come back to Cleveland without feeling the need to extract a public apology from Gilbert.
Question: Does anybody know if Cleveland has to renounce Loul Deng to sign James? What's his status? If they can trade Wiggins for Love and the re-sign Deng, I think they're the favorites pretty instantaneously. However, I haven't heard anybody mention Deng as anything other than sign and trade bait. Not sure if that's because they assume Gilbert wont go that far into the tax, or if they have to renounce him. Anybody know?
ivanvamp said:
I wonder if thats the smartest move though. A lot of it depends on your projection of Wiggins' offensive game, but what you gain in offense from Love you lose in defense from Wiggins. Love is not really a rim protector so you have to go find a C that is really good at that. The Kyrie, Love, Lebron trio has more star power, but thats just not always the most complimentary thing from a basketball standpoint.
I wonder if a minority ownership of the team was discussed or promised to Lebron after his playing career is over.
Yes, they have to renounce Deng's Bird Rights. His cap hold is over 20 million.
http://data.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/cavaliers.jsp
http://data.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/cavaliers.jsp
Bailey10 said:
When the Bible spoke about the Second Coming, maybe they were referring to today . . . .
Wait, if Gilbert felt so bad about the letter, why was it on the Cavs website up until like 3 days ago?
If I understood it correctly, I think the link was taken down when the website was updated, but it remained on the server and was still accessible.ElcaballitoMVP said:
http://deadspin.com/the-cavaliers-finally-took-down-dan-gilberts-insane-com-1601145301/1601343360/+barryap
Broussard saying that the Cavs have told Wiggins that he will not be traded for Love (or money).
TheRooster said:
So 3 other guys out of the thousands of NBA players since 1979 (Magic's rookie year). I'm thinking that's kinda rare by definition.
I'd say Jordan was easily in that category as well, but still. What are you arguing here, that 5 individuals over 35 years of the NBA don't qualify as rare?
From my understanding Cleveland took it down years ago, the NBA still had it archived somewhere where it could be found.ElcaballitoMVP said:
Anthony Bennett's clearly lost a lot of weight, and is playing aggressively right now in this summer league game. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him have a good season this year as a second unit scorer.
Unless he's in a Love trade. If that happens, he's doomed.
Unless he's in a Love trade. If that happens, he's doomed.
Laser Show said:
Speaking of them, I am enjoying a bit that at least Deadspin, for one, aren't having any of this lovey-dovey shit: http://deadspin.com/lebron-james-tells-the-sports-world-exactly-what-it-wan-1603746132/1603846485/+barryap.
While I agree that the sports media is falling all over themselves, it was to be expected. Deadspin/Magary, whom I like, are fine in pointing out that the media chose a line and stuck with it.
However the people criticizing LeBron for the SI piece and its content are missing the point. Of course it was carefully orchestrated PR. He is the best player in basketball who is now taking a risk in returning to an organization which essentially pursued a scorched-earth policy with him after he left. He is leaving the comfort of a team where he, at the very least, knows his teammates and coaching staff for a much younger squad and a brand new coach.. And he is also returning to where he grew up and where people, until perhaps this week, felt as if he had betrayed them. Furthermore, he is the most important player in the NBA and an global icon.
The fact that James learned from past mistakes and handled this so deftly, even if it was in the form of a highly polished announcement, should be celebrated rather than picked apart. This is a masterstroke in how to handle what was an extremely tricky situation. We will get more backlash on this in the coming days from other media types. But if you want to question motives, I would look at those authors/reporters rather than LeBron James. He controlled his own narrative - and most people including me think the meat of it was sincere - and the press did not. In this case, aside from Lee Jenkins, the media was fantastically irrelevant and that has to sting even an eye-poker like Drew Magary.
However the people criticizing LeBron for the SI piece and its content are missing the point. Of course it was carefully orchestrated PR. He is the best player in basketball who is now taking a risk in returning to an organization which essentially pursued a scorched-earth policy with him after he left. He is leaving the comfort of a team where he, at the very least, knows his teammates and coaching staff for a much younger squad and a brand new coach.. And he is also returning to where he grew up and where people, until perhaps this week, felt as if he had betrayed them. Furthermore, he is the most important player in the NBA and an global icon.
The fact that James learned from past mistakes and handled this so deftly, even if it was in the form of a highly polished announcement, should be celebrated rather than picked apart. This is a masterstroke in how to handle what was an extremely tricky situation. We will get more backlash on this in the coming days from other media types. But if you want to question motives, I would look at those authors/reporters rather than LeBron James. He controlled his own narrative - and most people including me think the meat of it was sincere - and the press did not. In this case, aside from Lee Jenkins, the media was fantastically irrelevant and that has to sting even an eye-poker like Drew Magary.