I know I concentrate my efforts here on this blog on the hapless and virtually unwatchable Chicago Cubs, but I wanted to throw my two cents in to the cesspool of comments coming out following LeBron James’ decision to sign with the Miami Heat. And what better place to share those thoughts than here, where nobody will see them.
First, let’s start with the basics. The one-hour long primetime special in which James announced his decision to join the Heat was an unsavory spectacle and served to reinforce James reputation as a narcissistic, self-important athlete. Okay, fair enough. Nothing surprising about that. James acted pretty much the way we would expect the self-proclaimed “King” to act. And ESPN didn’t disappoint either. Anything to make a buck.
Even so, I have to admit that I felt dirty watching the spectacle. It was uncomfortable to watch. The fact that the money raised from advertising revenue for the show (courtesy mostly of the University of Phoenix) went to the Boys and Girls Clubs really didn’t relieve the discomfort much. It was a nice touch, about equal to having the knowledge that Adolph Hitler liked dogs. It’s nice, but really doesn’t change anything.
When James finally announced that he was leaving Cleveland to join Miami, the announcement felt anticlimactic to me. Honestly, I don’t think there was anything he could say that would have lived up to the hype. A really good basketball player was leaving his hometown team to sign with a different team. So what? It’s happened before. It will happen again. Nothing special here. It was a waste of an hour of TV viewing and I’m hopeful that nothing like this will ever happen again, although it probably will.
As for the decision itself, okay, it makes some sense. James will be teaming up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh to form one of the best 1-2-3 punches in all of basketball. But let’s not hand the championship to the Heat just yet. Other teams have done this exact same thing and championships have not been the automatic result. Just ask the Boston Celtics. One could argue that the Celtics big three (Kevin Garrnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen or Rajon Rondo) are not as good as James, Wade and Bosh, but I would argue that the Celtics are much more balanced than the Heat are likely to be. In fact, one could make a convincing argument that the Heat are far too top heavy to win an NBA championship.
On a personal level, I can somewhat understand James’ desire to leave Cleveland. Sure, the Cavs are his hometown team, but James has never worked/lived outside of the Cleveland area. My guess is that it is difficult for one of the most recognizable, marketable players in all of pro sports to have his life confined to one town, especially one as parochial as Cleveland. I can understand James desire to try something new, especially if that something new can improve his chances of winning a championship and also increase his worldwide brand. Miami may not be the “big city” like New York, but it is much more international than Cleveland.
The part of the story that really intrigues me is not so much LeBron’s decision to sign with the Heat, but rather Cavs owner Dan Gilbert’s reaction to LeBron turning his back on Cleveland. In an open letter to Cavs fans that he posted on the Cavs website, Gilbert took several swipes at James. He called the days leading up to James decision a “several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build up” and called James decision a “cowardly betrayal.” He also promised Cavs fans that he would be communicating more dirt about LeBron over the next several days and weeks. Gilbert then closed his letter by guaranteeing that the Cavs would win an NBA championship before James does. I can only assume Gilbert had been drinking when he made this guarantee.
One of the lines that struck me as a particularly ridiculous was when Gilbert said, “[T]his shocking act of disloyalty from our homegrown ‘chosen one’ sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn. And ‘who’ we want them to grow up to become.” Right. As always, it’s about the children. And of course, rather than being “disloyal,” we want them to grow up to be whiney bitches like Gilbert. If you don’t get what you want, just complain about it and call other people names. Good lesson.
As if this foolish letter wasn’t enough, Gilbert then gave an interview in which he claimed that James completely gave up during the 2010 playoffs. ”He has gotten a free pass,” Gilbert said in a phone interview with the AP. “People have covered up for [James] for too long. Tonight we saw who he really is.”
Talking about the 2010 NBA playoffs, Gilbert said, “He quit. Not just in game 5, but in games 2, 4 and 6. Watch the tape. The Boston series was unlike anything in the history of sports for a superstar.” Later in the interview, Gilbert claimed that James also quit on the team during the Cavs playoff series with Orlando in 2009.
Of course, these accusations beg the question, why did Cleveland want James back and why are they so crushed that he is leaving? If Gilbert really believes what he is saying, it seems logical that he would be happy to see James go. Instead, he sounds like a teenage girl whose boyfriend has just broken up with her. Real classy, Gilbert.
Gilbert’s actions make me believe that maybe James wasn’t coddled as much in Cleveland as we have been led to believe. With the owner of the team feeling so much resentment toward James at least since 2009, would it be surprising to learn that the team wasn’t treating James very well?
Keep in mind, LeBron James almost single-handedly put Cleveland back on the NBA map. He gave the team seven years of his life and the Cavs rode him for all he was worth. He was the face of the franchise and Cleveland marketed him in every possible way they could. It seems to me that Gilbert would have been much better off simply saying “Thanks for your time and good luck in Miami,” rather than throwing a hissy fit and calling James names.
Of course, one of the problems that Cleveland had even before James left was that free agents by-and-large did not want to sign with the Cavs. Considering all of the towns that have NBA teams, Cleveland is not particularly attractive. James new teammate, Chris Bosh, was the latest free agent to voice his reluctance to sign with Cleveland. Now, with James gone and the owner publically lambasting the best player in franchise history within minutes of him signing elsewhere, I don’t think free agents are going to be knocking down the door in Cleveland to join the Cavs.
Without James and without other high profile free agents, it’s going to be very difficult for the Cavs to do good on Gilbert’s promise that Cleveland would win an NBA championship before LeBron does. After Gilbert’s self-deluded tirade, the smart money is on LeBron.
