Dan Gilbert Basically Telling LeBron... F U

• Automatik

  

  Maybe it will fail like Boston's was supposed to.
• Lovejoy1984

  

  Or Maybe it will succeed just like the 04 Lakers were supposed too.
• mucalum49

  

  Full AP release
  
  http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=11122893
• Automatik

  

  HighRoller74;417312 wrote:Or Maybe it will succeed just like the 04 Lakers were supposed too.

  
  We will find out.
  
  Within 2 seasons, maybe 3 I think Miami has it.
• hoops23

  

  From the AP:
  
  Gilbert, who has owned the Cavs for five years, said he was most disappointed by James' behavior in the months leading up to the superstar's announcement that he is going to Miami to play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Gilbert said James never returned a single phone message or text since the end of the season and that the Cavs were not informed of James' decision until he went on the air.

  I love Dan Gilbert, this just further establishes that.
  
  Somebody gets it.. Somebody wears their emotions on their sleeve like us Cleveland fans..
  
  I can totally relate to this guy speaking out of emotional frustration now.
  
  I can't believe LeBron would totally slap us in the face like that on national tv...
  
  Oh well though, it is what it is.
  
  We'll have 13 million in cap space, and I'm guessing we'll tank for a couple years until Jamisons contract comes off.
  
  We obviously have to try and mold the OKC way of building a team... A COMPLETE team..
• Lovejoy1984

  

  Too me it all depends on who else signs down there. They don't have enough pieces around them atm.
• ts1227

  

  hoops23;417320 wrote:I love Dan Gilbert, this just further establishes that.
  
  Somebody gets it.. Somebody wears their emotions on their sleeve like us Cleveland fans..

  
  This is where I'll give Goldhammer some credit tonight...
  Is it "wearing emotion on the sleeve", or is it "not having that filter between the brain and the mouth to keep from saying something stupid"?
  
  Could something like this make star players NOT want to sign here, knowing if they don't succeed and move on that this is what will happen?
• Automatik

  

  ts1227;417326 wrote: Could something like this make star players NOT want to sign here, knowing if they don't succeed and move on that this is what will happen?

  
  Exactly. Gilbert is a straight tard. I can't believe people are defending this. I can understand an angry letter, but he went over the line.
• newarkcatholicfan

  

  As funny as the letter was I too think it was not a smart thing to do.
• Footwedge

  Gilbert over the line? He didn't go far enough. But what really, really pisses me off. I lost 100 vbookie points. I will never recover.
• Curly J

  

  I had to laugh when I read it. Sounds like he's got his panties in a bunch. If LeBron would have stayed it would have been about how great he is and all the bla bla.
  
  two words...sour grapes.
• ZombieKiller

  I'm suprised no one brought this up. Where was Gilbert's passion, the past 7 years? He has had the best player on his team and he filled it with a bunch of scabs. Delonte? Mo.Williams? Moon? Anthony Parker? This was the best they couldv'e got? Now he thinks Cleveland will win a NBA Title with this jv team. It will never happen.
• hoops23

  

  Listening to WKNR.. Gilbert is going ham. Says LBJ threw Games 2,4,5 and 6..
• dave

  ZombieKiller;417337 wrote:I'm suprised no one brought this up. Where was Gilbert's passion, the past 7 years? He has had the best player on his team and he filled it with a bunch of scabs. Delonte? Mo.Williams? Moon? Anthony Parker? This was the best they couldv'e got? Now he thinks Cleveland will win a NBA Title with this jv team. It will never happen.

  
  This is an ignorant post, Gilbert has always shown passion and has done everything he could.
• hoops23

  

  ts1227;417326 wrote:This is where I'll give Goldhammer some credit tonight...
  Is it "wearing emotion on the sleeve", or is it "not having that filter between the brain and the mouth to keep from saying something stupid"?
  
  Could something like this make star players NOT want to sign here, knowing if they don't succeed and move on that this is what will happen?

  
  
  News flash, Star players DON'T SIGN in Cleveland anyway.
  
  And no, even if we did have the shot, as long as we had the $$$$$ people will sign.
• lhslep134

  

  Damn man. I'm so disappointed. I'm very interested in the moves the Cavs will make now. I will still support this team, regardless of Lebron's absence. I will also watch the Heat play because 3 of the top 10 players in the NBA on one team is exciting from a pure basketball standpoint.
  
  However, I will forever be disappointed in Lebron and ashamed that we allowed ourselves to get this invested in this whole ordeal.
  
  Fuck. You.
• dave

  gilbert letter after 2007 season
  http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/gilbert_letter_070616.html
• ZombieKiller

  Cleveland was fucked no matter what happened. If Lebron stayed with the Cavs, they would be behind Magic, Heat, Bulls, and Celtics. They had no cap space to sign anyone. Their roster doesn't really scream excellent talent to get other great players.
• hoops23

  

  Let the flood gates open! Yes!
  
  http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201.../lebron.event/
  
  Michael Rosenberg>INSIDE THE NBA
  
  LeBron hardly a king for taking the easy way out with star-laden Heat
  Story Highlights
  LeBron's quotes on ESPN exposed his willingness to no longer be top dog
  Jordan, Bird, Magic and Russell would've never left a challenge for an all-star team
  There will be no excuses for the Heat, should they fail to win multiple titles
  PRINT EMAIL BUZZ UP! FACEBOOK DIGG TWITTER RSS SHARE
  
  
  Fans in New York, Chicago and Cleveland were none too pleased to see LeBron join forces with the Heat.
  AP
  
  GREENWICH, Conn., July 8, 1990 -- Michael Jordan announced on national television leaving Chicago to join the Detroit Pistons. Jordan said it was tough to bolt Chicago, where he was the most popular athlete in many years, because he thinks he has a better chance to win a championship if he plays with Pistons star Isiah Thomas. Jordan said by playing together, he and Thomas "won't have the pressure of going out and scoring 30 every night."
  That would have sounded absurd, right? Well, it is no more absurd than what LeBron James is doing. Jordan was 27 years old in 1990, slightly older than James is now. He had never been to the NBA Finals. He had been beaten up by the Celtics and Pistons for years. He doubted his supporting cast was good enough.
  But he never doubted himself.
  And it became very clear Thursday night that LeBron James does doubt himself. James will be a champion in Miami -- if not next year, then sometime after that. If you put James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh together and give Pat RIley five years to find the complementary pieces, that team will win a championship.
  But James does not have the heart of a champion. He does not have the competitive fire of Jordan, the bull-headed determination of Kobe Bryant, the quiet self-confidence of Tim Duncan, the willful defiance of Isiah or the winning-is-everything hunger of Magic Johnson.
  He is an extremely gifted player who wants the easy way out.
  And how do we know this?
  James said so himself.
  Oh, not in so many words. But once ESPN was done ESPN-izing its LeBron coverage -- filling it with babbling experts, needless hype and Jim Gray submitting his top six entries in the Stupidest Question Ever contest -- the self-proclaimed King said everything you need to know about him.
  
  1. "You have to do what's best for you, and what's going to make you happy."
  This is what's going to make him happy? Sharing a stage with two other stars? Really?
  I guess that's all LeBron is: A complementary player with superstar talent. We should have figured this out before: He got that giant CHOSEN 1 tattoo on his back and calls himself King James because he is desperate for reassurance.
  There is no greater challenge in sports getting drafted by a godawful team, planting your flag in a city and working like crazy until you have turned that team into a champion.
  LeBron James didn't want the challenge. He wanted to play with his buddies.
  
  2. "We don't have the pressure of going out and scoring 30 every night or shooting a high percentage."
  Whoa. Hold on there. Scoring 30 a night is too much pressure for one of the five most talented players ever?
  Find me another all-time NBA great who would utter those words. Jordan would rather do an adidas commercial than say that. Bryant must have laughed as he heard the so-called "King" say that. Larry Bird? The next time he complains about pressure will be the first. Magic was the greatest team player of the last 40 years, but he was also so competitive that he wanted to play Jordan one-on-one in a promotional event -- and this was when Magic had won titles and Jordan had not, so Magic had more to lose.
  
  3. "I know how loyal I am."
  The man just dumped his hometown(s) on national television. Cleveland (and, by extension, Akron) happens to be the most tortured sports city in America. To do that, then say "I know how loyal I am" ... wow, wow, wow.
  I wish I could sit in on one of LeBron's meetings with his advisers. Does he make them all wear mirrored sunglasses, so that when he looks at them he sees himself?
  We really don't ask that much of our sports stars. Try not to get arrested for anything big. Don't curse at the fans. You know, small stuff. We even understand that 95 percent of the time, they will make career decisions based on money -- we might not love it, but we understand it.
  But see, the biggest thing that we ask of our sports stars is this: Take the competition as seriously as we do.
  When LeBron James loses to Boston in the playoffs, we want him to take the heat, not take the Heat's offer. We want him to spend the summer adding to his game, calling and texting his teammates, plotting to do better next season.
  Instead, well ...
  
  4. "It's about joining forces with the other two guys."
  He sounds like a nine-year-old playing Star Wars games with his buddies at a sleepover. And again: I do believe this Miami team will win a title. But it won't be as easy as he wants it to be. Miami will have the weakest bench of any contender next season After that, the NBA will have a lockout, and the league could eliminate the mid-level exception, which would be Miami's best tool for adding talent.
  So this is a cop-out, but it's not as easy of a cop-out as it appears. And that brings us to ...
  
  5. "This is the greatest challenge for me."
  LeBron James just jumped into an elevator and wants us to think he can fly. Sorry, but we know better. We know that he did something Michael, Magic, Bird and Bill Russell never would have done. We know he ditched Cleveland for an All-Star team.
  But you know what? In Miami, anything short of a title will be a failure. Nobody outside of Miami will root for this team, and nobody in Miami roots for anybody. They're too busy enjoying the weather.
  I thought he would stay in Cleveland, because I thought all he cared about was adoration. I was wrong about Cleveland, but he is wrong about adoration. He thinks he'll get it by winning a title. He has insulated himself from the world, surrounded himself with yes men. He has no idea how much backlash he is about to get.
  That's one of the great ironies of this -- James is trying to flee pressure, but he will just face more of it. He is trying to maximize his "brand," but he just damaged it.
  The first time I watched LeBron James live, I thought he could be the greatest player ever. The sad truth for us, for him, and for the NBA is that he never really believed it himself.

  
  Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz0t9gjPe00
  ____________
• hoops23

  

  I for one, can't believe a kid who insists he's all about "loyalty and family" could go on ESPN, a station who jabs at Cleveland EVERY chance they get and do us like this.
  
  This was a low blow, a cop out, and quite frankly, the easy way out.
  
  If you can't win as the man, go to somebody else's team and ring chase.
  
  You'll never be MJ, you'll never even be Kobe..
  
  No wonder he didn't go to Chicago, the shoes were to big to fill for his bitch ass.
• IggyPride00

  

  I understand Dan Gilbert's anger, but if he really wants to win, he better look in the mirror.

  Gilbert entrusted LeBron's legacy to a rookie coach and a rookie GM. Lots of mistakes were made. Hard to fault LeBron for not winning title

  Those were a couple of tweets from ESPN's Chad Ford tonight.
  
  I have to say I do somewhat agree with the second one and had never really thought about that before.
  
  In retrospect, why in the world as a rookie owner new to the game did he bring in a pair of guys who had no prior experience at 2 of the most important functions of a pro team, coach and GM?
  
  It's easy to play Monday Morning QB, but this situation has been fucked up all along.
  
  Now he brings back another rookie GM who has shown himself to be impotent when it come to acquiring players, and you do have to question why he didn't pull a Randy Lerner and bring in a "credible basketball man" to run the organization.
  
  I think the Izzo thing was a monumental unforced error that kind of showed its amateur hour among Cavs management, and while it in no way absolves Lebron from the mess he made of this, I am beginning to question the competence of the owner. He has alot of passion which is great, but he is erratic and not surrounded by the type of people needed to reign him in to control his impulses.
• Heretic

  

  What Rosenburg said in that column was right. He talked A LOT about how winning was the key for him. Unlike the true greats, he cared more about being placed in a great opportunity to be the winner he wanted to be...as opposed to forging his path and earning that status. All the people who were busting on Kobe for not winning w/o Shaq until he did...will be going crazy on LeBron for not winning w/o Wade if the Heat win a title. It isn't just Ohio backlash, he'll get it EVERYWHERE but from his buddies.
• jpake1

  

  Someday, you Chatters will realize that this team was needed to beat the Lakers.
• mucalum49

  

  jpake1;417406 wrote:Someday, you Chatters will realize that this team was needed to beat the Lakers.

  
  
• Mooney44Cards

  

  Umm lets not forget this team had the best record in the NBA for 2 seasons in a row. Oh yeah and the season before that they reached the NBA Finals. Lets not act like this team was some wounded duck that barely limped along despite incompetent coaches and GMs. They soared in the regular season, they just floundered in the playoffs. Every year....at some point. Is that the GMs fault? Maybe partially....but how can you rip him when the team won SO MUCH.