Mar 18, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) talks to Cleveland Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson (13) after a 100-96 Heat win at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Take a look at LeBron James and his now new teammate, Tristan Thompson. What do you think Lebron is saying? Maybe he’s saying.
“Dang dog. It’s hard of here for a pimp”.
“Hold me. I’m scared. D-Wade’s knees are bad and he’s not going to bail me out this time.”
“I’m on the run T-Double. It can never go back to the way it was. But I have a way to make it right.”
“You’re in my parking spot. I need it back in July.”
Or how about this conversation…
LeBron James:
“Pat Riley is so demanding. He actually wants me to win a championship every year.”
Tristan Thompson:
“But aren’t you the star of the team? Best in the world? That’s what’s you’re supposed to do.”
LeBron James:
“Oh yeah. I forgot. Hold up! Hush!”
Congratulations LeBron we have a mountain created just for you. You’ll never make Mount Rushmore of NBA players now. How about Mount Hushmore. So you can take those two rings that you haven’t paid for mooching off D-Wade and Pat Riley and take your place.
Seriously folks, not a lot of things stun me. This did. As of this writing, unless you are an unborn child, in a coma or just don’t care, EVERYONE knows about LeBron James going back to Cleveland to play in his “hometown”…again. I can’t lie, I like being right about sports. I’m cocky, unapologetic and brash with my opinions. Some like it, some don’t, but everyone’s got their opinions right? Thanks to LeBron James, I have been DEAD WRONG twice in the course of about a month. Real wrong. Not even close to be right. But I learned something.
LeBron James is all about something all right…LeBron James.
Look, LeBron James has taught me something about the NBA as it stands today compared to 20 years ago. Championships do not matter to him as much as something else…
Power. Quickly. Without sacrifice. LeBron James is power-hungry.
Let’s forget basketball for a second. This is about LeBron James and how he is wired. He will never be compared to Michael Jordan after this. LeBron James shouldn’t be compared to Magic Johnson, from the neck up. These guys were a different time, a different era, different mindset. They got it, they figured it out. They knew that building something from the ground up and working hard will lead to greater things down the road. You know the old school way.
LeBron wants to be the CEO of the company coming out of college. All the perks. Half the work. Don’t even want to invest his own money.
Reminding me of Jason Kidd dog. Different situation. Same principles.
LeBron James hasn’t figured it out yet and he will be very frustrated until he does. Trust me when I say this. Mark it down. Xerox the article and frame it and then wait a couple of years.
I know that 99% of the articles about this subject will be about the love of the city, the love of the stories of the hometown kid (I refuse to say Prodigal Son) finally comes home after going away for four years.
BULL! This is about power.
I’m missing something here. How do you leave an organization that is the best run in the NBA this side of the San Antonio Spurs for a franchise with…
A) A head coach (David Blatt) that has not coached ONE GAME in the NBA.
B) A new general manager (David Griffin) that just showed up recently. Even though he deserves MAJOR credit making moves to get this done in the first place. He had to get Jarrett Jack’s inflated contract of the books or this is not possible.
C) An owner that called him everything outside being a child of God when the man left the first time.
Why? Because now he has COMPLETE CONTROL! Well outside of Dan Gilbert. How many people think LeBron James is going to listen to a rookie coach. From overseas. What’s he going to do? Shove him to the ground when he gets mad? He barely listened to Eric Spoelstra his first year. This coach is going to tell the Fresh Prince of Cleveland how to play basketball? Personnel moves? Oh, he gets to draft people now? Good luck fellas being rubber stamps. Dan Gilbert? He’ll tolerate only so much as long as that proverbial check clears. Believe me, there will be plenty.
Why? The Heat is off (no pun intended). The Cleveland Cavaliers are not better than the team he left in Miami. I saw on ESPN that the bookies in Las Vegas has the Cavaliers at the same odds of winning the NBA title as the Spurs. What in the world are you people smoking? Someone is messing up the puff, puff, pass rotation. The Cavs are not going to win the title next year. Playoffs? Guaranteed. Champs? Grow up.
LeBron knows this so he can carry on the façade of being the best in the world without the pressure of “Championship or Bust” he faced if he had stayed in Miami. When LeBron James all of a sudden wanted the max deal, Pat Riley would have made it happen. BUT BOY, LeBron would have been under the gun to get a title. Period. No excuses. No matter what. LeBron knew that and bailed out. Dwayne Wade could have played on a Hoveround because of his knees next year and it wouldn’t have mattered. The spotlight would have been on James to get that title. James can’t handle that pressure.
LeBron has been anointed as the Chosen One, the King, the best basketball player in the world. I’m going to anoint him too. He’s the greatest marketing push since Michael Jordan.
See LeBron, you can be compared to Jordan now. It’s just not because of you did, but what we, the media did. We built you up when you won. We made excuses when you got smacked.
LeBron James wants all of the power. Think I’m wrong? This was ridiculous. Look at the picture above. Head down, walking toward the exit. This is what this man does people. When it’s time for him to lead, he calls the moving company.
Oh, you thought he was a leader in the locker room? This was Dwayne Wade’s team. Period. Who has more rings? I’ll wait. How about Udonis Haslem? It’s common knowledge that he is one of the most respected and revered in the Heat locker room. Why? He was there when the Heat rebuilt the team from the 2006 squad during the lean years. You know, the time players really work hard. No commercials. No endorsements. Just being ready to play every night.
I don’t think we all realize what this man goes through being called the “alleged” best player in the world. Sure we see all the glitz and glamour that goes with it. The money, the fancy cars, the big houses. The celebrity. It’s a beautiful thing to see…on TV.
But as a guy that claims to be a businessman. There are costs. We all know the phrase.
“You have to pay the cost to be the boss.”
What we don’t see is what goes on backstage. We don’t see how he deals with all the pressure to live up to the hype so to speak. The basketball purists see it. The old school players of past eras see it. That’s why LeBron is not going to be in the upper echelon of the best and most respected players of all time where he REALLY wants to be. Why do you think the legends had snide remarks about James when he left Cleveland the first time?
People eventually will look at Pat Riley’s rant at the season ending press conference and blame what he said for the reason that LeBron left. Pffft! Please! He probably knew that LeBron was bailing then. How long has that man been in the league? Who is Lebron fooling? That man forgot more basketball than ALL of us know combined. It’s hard for Riley to understand how someone can go to the Finals four years in a row, win back to back titles and still look for life boats at the first sign of trouble. The Miami Heat is not the Titanic! The ship wasn’t sinking. Maybe the ship needed to go to the garage for newer parts, but broke down? Stop it!
Pat Riley coached Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Byron Scott of the Showtime days. You don’t think they had philosophical issues? Especially after the Finals loss in 1984? Who do you know wants to practice in marathon sessions in Hawaii for mini camp? They knew Pat Riley was in charge. Tow the line and shut up! He wasn’t even an executive back then. He was the coach! Five titles in the 80’s including EIGHT Finals appearances overall means the man knows something.
Mike Miller was a symbol of the Miami hierarchy issues Lebron faced. LeBron did not want to see Mike Miller go even though at the time it looked like the man was on his last leg, that is if could stand because of his bad back at the time. His salary would have put the Heat above the luxury tax threshold. The Arison family wasn’t willing to pay it. Done deal. It was a basketball decision. The Miami Mafia had a chain of command.
The Arison family.
Pat Riley.
Eric Spoelstra (by way of Pat Riley)
LeBron James.
Reportedly this made LeBron a little upset. Okay, it happens. Michael Jordan ripped the Chicago Bulls for trading his buddy Charles Oakley to the Knicks for Bill Cartwright. Even Jordan had to admit it was good move, when the titles were rolling in.
Some may think this is a bash session. Okay so what? If LeBron legitimately wants to go to Cleveland because he missed the city. Cool. No problem. If LeBron’s wife wanted to go home to Cleveland. There were rumblings over her being upset moving from Cleveland in the first place. No problem. Happy wife, happy life. But don’t spout garbage about wanting to win championships. Not two, not three, not four, five.there’s my problem.
Here’s some advice LeBron. If the Cleveland Cavaliers trade and get Kevin Love, look out. Fans for some ridiculous reason are going to want a title in Cleveland. The pressure will be back. You may not play for Miami anymore, but you play in a different KIND of heat uniform.
Just sayin!