Cavs Owner's Open Letter to Fans... Lol

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Azure

My problem with what Lebron did has everything to do with him, Bosh and Wade running to Miami like a bunch of little girls who can't do anything by themselves.

I don't even care if they took a paycut. Its ridiculous.

It would be like Ovechkin, Iginla, Duchane, Taveres, Hall, Seguin, Toews, Kane, Crosby, Malkin.....2-3 of them signing as free agents all with one team because they want to win the Stanley Cup.

The thing is they didn't tkae a paycut, with Florida's lack of taxes Lebron will earn more there than he would have under the max contract Cleveland could have offered.

Lebron exposed himself as the egomaniac he's always been known to be, and Gilbert exposed himself as a petty billionaire. At least Gilbert's rant will score him points with Cleveland fans, Lebron only scored points with people who value self aggrandizing behavior. Sadly, that seems to be a fairly large percentage of NBA fans from what I've experienced. It'll be interesting to see what this does to his 'brand' long term. He's certainly made it clear that he is not capable of being 'the man' on a championship team.

[Slava]

We've seen this on a lesser level in the NHL when Kariya and Selanne went to Colorado.

The Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics aren't going to roll over either, so the three of them might not have the immediate success that everyone seems to expect.

[BlackEleven]

Originally Posted by Azure

Ray Bourque gave 20 years of service to one team and couldn't win a championship. He choose to be traded to a team where he thought he could win, and even then he only had a part in it.

You can't put a bunch of superstars on one hockey team and expect to win the cup. But you can do that with basketball, and how a MUCH better chance of winning than you would at hockey.

Why is it easier in basketball? Serious question. I know nothing about basketball.

[gargamel]

Because there are only 5 guys on the court at a time and the best guys can consistently be on the court for ~40 minutes of a 48 minute game. You'd need 6 or 7 star hockey players for the stars to take up the majority of the ice time, but you only need 3 basketball players to do that.

[Acey]

Basketball is much less of a team sport. One player can win championships.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by BlackEleven

Why is it easier in basketball? Serious question. I know nothing about basketball.

1. You can't smash players into the boards.

2. There is no goalie.

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by valo403

The thing is they didn't tkae a paycut, with Florida's lack of taxes Lebron will earn more there than he would have under the max contract Cleveland could have offered.

Lebron exposed himself as the egomaniac he's always been known to be, and Gilbert exposed himself as a petty billionaire. At least Gilbert's rant will score him points with Cleveland fans, Lebron only scored points with people who value self aggrandizing behavior. Sadly, that seems to be a fairly large percentage of NBA fans from what I've experienced. It'll be interesting to see what this does to his 'brand' long term. He's certainly made it clear that he is not capable of being 'the man' on a championship team.

This type of thing is starting to happen in hockey as well. I would argue Ovechkin is just like an NBA superstar playing hockey. There's a bit of arrogance built into his game, persona, and marketing. Compare that to Sydney Crosby, who'se image is more in line with the traditional hockey player (humble, more reserved). I'm not saying one way is correct and the other not, just an observation.

Personally I think all the NBA's stars have massive egos and it does get annoying at times. But its also part of the branding and marketing surrounding the sport.

[peter12]

Amazing letter.

[FlamesAddiction]

I never heard of any of this stuff, but it sounds like this James guy is a bit of a dickhead. Good on the Cleveland owners I say... now, they need to really put their money where there mouth is.

[DropIt]

Originally Posted by alltherage

How does one "personally guarantee" this anyways? Lol!

easy... kill Lebron

you need to think outside the hoop

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

1. You can't smash players into the boards.

2. There is no goalie.

3. Games only mean something with 2 minutes left to go.

The first 46 minutes is like warm up.

[flamesrule_kipper34]

I'm torn about this whole thing.

In fairness, Lebron had every right to go where he wanted to go, and after 7 years it was time for him to go elsewhere. People have to realize that sports aren't filled with the Jarome Iginla's and Ray Bourque's of the world who stay committed to the end or almost 'til the end because of being class acts. It's simply not fair to expect sports players to do that, their goal (and rightfully so) is to go where there's a chance to win a championship. Lebron is doing that, in his opinion.

As for how he went about it with all the hype, "the decision" on TV and all, yes it probably did come across as a slap in the face to Cavs fans and self-ego driven. However, basketball unlike traditional hockey is fuelled by that kind of promotional element, so I'm not surprised. Lebron is an amazing basketball, his talent is overshadowed only by his antics on and off the court and up until this moment most Cavs fans loved that he brought that to the game. But now after the Cavs organization cultivating that sort of attitude and having it thrown back in their face so to speak, well that's just unfortunate because there's no reason he should have to change who he is for their sake.

As for Cav's owner, that was classless, regardless of how he felt and how betrayed he was, he could have easily taken the high road and gone about his business and come across as the good guy, the "better" person and still held his opinions.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by Komskies

Talk about bitter.

Talk about immature.

If I'm born in Calgary, get drafted by the Flames, play a few years for them and become a UFA . . . . . . am I automatically their slave for the rest of my career by point of birth?

Maybe he's trying to get the fans worked up into a "us against them" kind of thing to keep the season ticket count up.

But he sounds like it came from the heart. Which would be stupid.

Cowperson

[Azure]

If Jarome Iginla became a free agent, and Calgary offered him league max, and he declined and instead went to Florida, who had just signed Toews and Crosby to UFA deals, I'd be pissed too.

If its not about the money, its about the championship, and Lebron basically just told Cleveland that they suck, and have no chance of winning anything while he is there.

Instead he's going to act like a little girl and run with his buddies to Miami, only proving to the whole world that he's not good enough to win anything by himself.

[MickMcGeough]

Punk move doing it on national TV.

Other than that - I don't see what the big deal is.

That letter is awesome. It's even more awesome that it's in Comic Sans.

[Bertuzzied]

^ I think thats the point. I sure wouldn't have had a problem if i just read that Lebron was Miami bound on tsn.ca.

I'm just more disappointed in myself that i wasted an hour of my life watching that crap yesterday.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I never heard of any of this stuff, but it sounds like this James guy is a bit of a dickhead. Good on the Cleveland owners I say... now, they need to really put their money where there mouth is.

You've never heard of Lebron James?

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Azure

If Jarome Iginla became a free agent, and Calgary offered him league max, and he declined and instead went to Florida, who had just signed Toews and Crosby to UFA deals, I'd be pissed too.

If its not about the money, its about the championship, and Lebron basically just told Cleveland that they suck, and have no chance of winning anything while he is there.

Instead he's going to act like a little girl and run with his buddies to Miami, only proving to the whole world that he's not good enough to win anything by himself.

And I'd say that scenario doesn't even cover the magnitude of it. He is one of the best FAs ever.

Could have have convinced Bosh and Wade to sign in Cleveland? Maybe. Naw, but Sunny Miami who just won a championship needs another one.

He came off horrible at the press conference as well. Showed close to zero remorse for ripping the heart out of his former team - "Lebron James has to do what is best for Lebron James".

Ugh.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

You've never heard of Lebron James?

Yeah, I heard of him. I just never heard any of this hoopla about him being a free agent and making a spectacle of it like that. I didn't realize he was this big of a deal either.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

Talk about immature.

If I'm born in Calgary, get drafted by the Flames, play a few years for them and become a UFA . . . . . . am I automatically their slave for the rest of my career by point of birth?

Maybe he's trying to get the fans worked up into a "us against them" kind of thing to keep the season ticket count up.

But he sounds like it came from the heart. Which would be stupid.

Cowperson

I think he is more upset by the fact that the player that he has payed millions of dollars to. Not to mention the extra pampering and ego stroking over the last seven years. Did not have the decency to tell him that he was leaving the organization. The owner of the Cavs had to wait and watch TV like every other single person in the world. At the very least Lebron could have called the owner of the Cavs and given him his decision prior to announcing it to everyone else. It would have only taken a minute or two. According to media reports the owner tried to call Lebron four times yesterday, along with three text messages with no response.