Could LBJ have handled this any worse ???

• killdeer

  

  Let me get this straight...
  
  Mr. James is a fan of his hometown......"he has all the respect in the world for Cavs fans";
  "he just wants to pursue a winner".
  
  ...........Yet, rather than make a brief announcement, there is a 'made for TV movie' about the "ANNOUNCEMENT"...
  possibly just to continuously rub it in the face of the Cav fans......
  
  
  LBJ could not have done this any worse.
  The pressure on the Heat is high.
  It is WIN or go home for them now for 82 games...
  They succeed only if they win the NBA title..........
  not winning the title is a failure of significant proportion....
  
  
  GO Lakers!
• Mooney44Cards

  

  Its like dumping your girlfriend on live tv. It was a bitch move, and I think a big reason why many people are as upset as they are. Most would probably be pissed, but not hate him for it, but he embarrassed the whole city on live tv. basically saying he was too big of a pussy to try to win on his own like Jordan and Kobe (eventually) did.
• Automatik

  

  He could of bashed his teammates like a little bitch on video.
• gut

  He could have dropped his pants to reveal the team of his choosing tattooed on his ass.
  
  However, it's hard to top his choice of a verbal "Cleveland steamer"
• killdeer

  

  He is a little suck-face SOB.....just my opinion...but one which I hope is shared by all living people on the earth except for Mr. L B J
• newarkcatholicfan

  

  I can not believe anyone is shocked he did this.
  
  That is not a shot at anyone. He knew he was leaving and decided to do it on live tv.
  I can see why those who are pissed at him for doing this and I can't blame for you all taking your shots at him.
• gut

  newarkcatholicfan;417291 wrote:I can not believe anyone is shocked he did this.
  
  That is not a shot at anyone. He knew he was leaving and decided to do it on live tv.
  I can see why those who are pissed at him for doing this and I can't blame for you all taking your shots at him.

  I'm not surprised. And I'm not a CLE fan or an LBJ fan. I'm just disgusted by this entire farce, one of the most grotesque, self-entitled egomaniacal displays I've ever seen from a pro athlete. If he does win a title in MIA (and don't know how he won't), I hope he's cursed with everyone always saying "but he had to join an all-star cast to get a ring". Lebron even said "I think championships are championships"....his over-sized ego deserves that expected knock when people refuse to put him on the level the likes of Jordan, Kobe, Magic, Bird... I think he'll one day understand 1 title in CLE > 6 with Wade & Bosh.
• Hulk Smash

  He could have spent the past few months saying things that gave his fans and other teams the impression that he was going to stay in Cleveland then suddenly announced his decision to leave.
  That would have been worse.
  
  I never got the impression he was staying.
  The Cavs front office didn't make any moves to improve a team that has been going backwards, they wanted him to be happy with getting eliminated in the 2nd or 3rd round year after year.
• sjmvsfscs08

  Short answer: no.
  
  Long answer: fuck no.
• I Wear Pants

  I wonder when he will realize how much Ohio hates him now.
• IggyPride00

  

  All I'll say tonite is, he is who I always said he was: Prince. Robin. Yankee-Cowboy fan who always thought he was doing Cleveland a favor.

  Tomorrow, 10 Eastern, ESPN2: I am going to unload.

  That was from Skip Bayless's twitter tonight. He should be phenomenal tomorrow morning on first and 10.
• Mooney44Cards

  

  So, a franchise that is loyal to your and supports you and loves you for 7 years......and you don't even give them a heads up to tell them in person that you're leaving town? Not even a phone call? He let his former employers know what he was doing the same way we all found out.....on fucking ESPN. What a joke. He called himself a man during the interview.....men have the balls to look someone in the eye and tell them they're sorry. But is he? Who knows.
• Hulk Smash

  You're reaching Mooney.
  
  Anyone who didn't have it figured out by this evening either didn't care or is just stupid.
  We found out which team he was leaving Cleveland for................................not whether or not he was leaving Cleveland.
• Mooney44Cards

  

  Reaching? You don't think its a dick move to NOT have the balls to tell your employer you're quitting and going elsewhere? I mean he owes them at least that if he's gonna leave.
• IggyPride00

  

  Mooney44Cards;417443 wrote:Reaching? You don't think its a dick move to NOT have the balls to tell your employer you're quitting and going elsewhere? I mean he owes them at least that if he's gonna leave.

  
  But that would have ruined the surprise, and then he couldn't have donated millions to the charities his program generated.
  
  You see, it was really all about the kids.
• jpake1

  

  He didn't need to build it up two years ago. He didn't need to do a special. He got caught up in the lights, and hurt a lot of people more than he needed to.
• rmolin73

  

  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
• Jughead

  

  Twas a dick move. Not much more that I can say.
• Red_Skin_Pride

  

  It's a fucking game. Guy gets paid to do a job. He did what he thought was best for him GOD FORBID. He signed a contract for a certain length of time, NOT FOREVER. Once again, as we see 6857463542447687987 times in sports, the FANS get THEIR expectations confused with HIS expectations. He never signed a contract saying he was the savior of Cleveland sports, nor did he anoint himself as the the end-all, be-all. The MEDIA and the fans thrust that upon him, and now everyone is mad at him for wanting to go do something HE WOULD NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER do in Cleveland; win a title. Sorry, but Cleveland had him for 7 years, the majority of a DECADE and couldn't get it done. He could see himself rotting in old age losing in the Eastern conference semis and finals year in a year out (if his "supporting cast" of B-level players helped him get that far) like all of the (very few) great athletes that Cleveland sports teams have had in the last 20 or so years, and like so many other players in all sports who have dreamed of bringing the ass crack of the USA a title, it would never have happened. Come on...Z? Varejao? Delonte West? 72 year old Shaq? None of those guys, other than Shaq about 10 years ago, are players that play on great teams. Those are the guys that get beat by great teams. And Shaq's not getting any younger.
  
  And Dan Gilbert is one dumbass whiny little bitch. You bet that if the Cavs organization thought they could get an ungodly amout of swag for LeBron they would have traded his ass in a heartbeat...but when the shoe's on the other foot, he wants to cry and talk 'betrayal'. You betrayed LeBron the day you hired Mike Brown's dumbass to coach him. Pat Riley, Phil Jackson hell even Doc Rivers and...Mike Brown? You tell me who's the odd man out. You want to build a filet mignon organization, you don't go get rump roast to coach it.
  
  Bottom line is this: the Cavs knew 8 years ago they were gonna get LBJ out of HS...MORE THAN ENOUGH time to get the pieces in place to win AT LEAST 1 title, if not many. And the ORGANIZATION failed to give him enough help. They gave him a shit coach, a shit "team" and supporting cast, and expected him, despite all that to go out and beat teams like the Pistons (early in his career), Magic, Celtics, Lakers etc. who all have good-great coaches AND 10x's the supporting cast he had. He gave them all the time he felt like they needed, and instead of trying, they just sat back and said "win it for us LeBron". He got sick of that shit, and can you blame him? He gave everything to that organization and city, and the organization gave about 10% effort back to him. The Cavs broke the cardinal rule of pro sports since it IS a buisiness: KEEP THE STAR PLAYER HAPPY AT ALL COSTS. Because if you don't, there are always about 31 other teams that would LOVE to have that player on their team. In this case, the Heat cleared enough cap AND had Dwade and Bosh to draw him in. It's everything Cleveland couldn't give him, and you fans wanna cry about that?? Pathetic. I can see you being UPSET that he left, but cursing him and acting like he never did anything for you? Please. The only thing all of you AND Dan Gilbert are going to wake up to for your "much brighter tomorrow" is the realization that you're still Cleveland, and you are about to go back to joining the Indians and the Browns and drown in mediocrity because you didn't listen to your star player for the last 7 years. The fault lies with the organization for not helping LBJ do what he gets paid to do. WIN. So he went somewhere that will help him do that.
• ohiotiger33

  

  Guys, everyone already knows Cleveland isn't a winning place. He said nothing that surprised anyone.
• Curly J

  

  Let's see he was on ESPN playing ball in High School and then when Magically Cleveland had the number one choice in 2003, only to choose the top player from their back yard....kinda like the old 1985 draft with Patrick Ewing. Freakin amazing. No Way !!!
  
  Let's just say that the NBA gave both team their chances and what happened ?
  
  But now I guess it's who cares.
• Con_Alma

  Mooney44Cards;417443 wrote:Reaching? You don't think its a dick move to NOT have the balls to tell your employer you're quitting and going elsewhere? I mean he owes them at least that if he's gonna leave.

  
  He hasn't been employed by the Cavaliers since he got beat by Boston. If you want to be mad be mad at his effort against Boston.
• Tiernan

  Boston played defense against this POS poseur and exposed him for what he is..."a regular season superstar". Hope he gets a third degree sunburn on South Beach and it turns into melanoma.
• j_crazy

  

  hindsight is 20/20, but not having it in cleveland should have tipped us all off that he was leaving. i think he made his mind up at least 1 week before this fiasco last night. he handled this badly, but i don't think he could have done what he did much better. the only thing would have been to just leave with your head up after making an announcement in cleveland or akron. this makes it seem like he's slinking away and holding a self aggrandizing 1hr long love fest for himself on national TV is just salt in the wound. and maybe ESPN would have done the special anyway, but at least they would be villified by the city of cleveland, since LBJ asked for it, it really doesn't sit right with a lot of people.
  
  bottom line, i'm disappointed that (probably) my favorite player is not on my favorite team anymore, but i'm not mad at him for doing what he thinks is best. i do hope that gilbert delivers on his letter, but don't wish LBJ or Wade or Bosh ill, and would certainly be okay with watching them create a dynasty for the ages, just like i watched in awe of the MJ years and the Shaq/Kobe era. the cavs will always be first, and it's going to be painful watching them be mediocre since we've been spoiled as a fanbase for the last 5-6 years but the fans have to move on. LBJ didn't want to be here, so why would we want him to be unhappy?
• Hulk Smash

  Mooney44Cards;417443 wrote:Reaching? You don't think its a dick move to NOT have the balls to tell your employer you're quitting and going elsewhere? I mean he owes them at least that if he's gonna leave.

  No, it is not a dick move at all.
  
  An employer can lay-off or dismiss an employee any time they want with no notice there is no reason at all for an employee to give a notice that they are leaving.