We regrettably interrupt these picture posts to bring you my quick thoughts on the LeBron debacle...The LeBacle.
Top Five parties that looked the worst because of this decision:
5) Cleveland fans: Am I being obtuse to think that it is NEVER ok to riot and set things on fire? At least not with regard to sports? I understand it was a terrible night and that your sports heart was ripped out and then spiked like a football. But I think that most of those fans were just looking for an excuse to act like idiots. And this seems to happen all the time, when your team wins, when your team loses, when a coach takes another job, everything seems to become a reason to riot and act like an idiot. I'm not saying that there aren't members of my fanbases that wouldn't do the same thing, but I'm talking more about society than this fanbase vs. that one.
Specifically to Cleveland fans, he didn't owe you anything except to do this with a little understanding. He failed. I'm sorry. But let's not forget that you booed him in Game 5 against Boston, burned his jersey within moments of the decision, and said "good riddance" moments after saying "I hope he stays." There is not a more conditional love than the kind in sports.
4) ESPN: There is another top 5 (really Top 500) here. The list of crimes that ESPN has perpetrated in the last ten years is staggering, but last night was a clear case of "Well there's nowhere else for the fans to turn, we might as well grab the ratings because someone else will." All I really wanted was for someone on the show to admit at some point that this was a terrible show and a terrible idea. I also wouldn't have minded a decent freaking question at some point. How bout, "LeBron, do you regret doing this in this way? Would you like to thank the Cleveland fans? If you 'changed your mind again this morning,' who were the two teams you were alternating between?" Anything. My theory is that ESPN used Stuart Scott (Jim Gray was handpicked by James) because they knew that everyone can't stand him anyway, and they didn't want one of their likeable reporters linked to this mess.
Also, if I'm a reporter at ESPN and I have knowledge of where LeBron is going the morning of the decision that will air on my station that evening, aren't they telling me NOT to report it? And isn't that the antithesis of a reporter's job? But, at the end of the day, they knew we would tune in, so...
3)Anyone who watched (including me): whenever you want your team to fire the coach, the best way to get the message is to stop buying tickets to the games. ESPN, on some level, knew it was an obscene idea to do this. But they said, "Whatever, people are going to watch." I would bet more than half the people who watched "The Decision" felt the same way about it that you do when you eat a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich. "I know this is terrible for me. I know I'm going to feel like crap when this is over. But I have to do it..." And then all of those things came true. I knew going in that it was going to make me ill...and then I tuned in.
2)LeBron James: #2?! Yes, he was smug, unapologetic, clueless, and smug again. It was so sorry to do that to his fans that way. I will say it again, he didn't owe the franchise anything but some base level of manners (a phone call telling them what he was going to do beforehand at least). Some of the blame for this farce on television goes to his management team (all his buddies from growing up), who encouraged him to do it this way. I don't care, he's still an adult who could have said no.
Let me be clear on this though: It was a shrewd basketball move. If he was a greater player, he would have been able to drag Cleveland (and that supporting cast who didn't bother to 'support' him in crunch time) to the Finals again. He knew he couldn't do it (and neither could Kobe when he was in the same situation which is why he asked for a trade on the radio in 2006), and LeBron decided he would never feel this way again.
So, he wants to play with guys he knows he'll always be able to count on, if not defer to in big moments. We all want him to be like Jordan. But he's not. And with this decision he's at least admitting it. People want to talk about his legacy all the time, but can we wait until these guys play together before we decide where to rank them historically? I think Wade will prove to be the more Jordan-like of the two, but let's see first.
I wanted LeBron to leave Cleveland. I felt bad for the fans, but I wanted him to have a better career than the one he was going to have there. I wanted him to go to (in order) Chicago, Miami, Knicks, Nets, and then Cleveland. I wanted to see him in a winning environment, or at least a different one.
So, I liked the decision, just hated the execution of it. Don't go on TV, that's messed up.
1) Dan Gilbert, Cavs owner: Awwww, I feel so sorry for this billionaire who's been "betrayed" by the guy who made his sports franchise increase its revenue by a factor of ten ever since he was lucky enough to win the lottery and draft him #1 overall. That letter was a calculated move by a calculating man to shift the blame from himself for the situation. And this situation was created by......Dan Gilbert. He enabled LeBron. He gave him everything he wanted since he was 18 years old without thinking about how an 18 year old wouldn't know how to contend for a championship. You want new teammates? Ok. You want a new coach? Ok. More money? Sure. You can have anything just stay, please.
How is LeBron going to respect someone who acts this way? Gilbert had one job. Build a winner around this guy that you were lucky to get in the first place. He made the wrong hires, wrong decisions, and the wrong statements all at the wrong times. If LeBron quit in the playoffs, why did you offer him a max contract afterwards? If you hate him so much, why beg him to stay?
LeBron is a spoiled, entitled, 25 year old millionaire...and he acts like it. Where is the maturity from Gilbert? He's a loser. He's as responsible for LeBron thinking he can get away with this with no repercussions as anyone. Why? Because he never held LeBron accountable for anything before. LeBron had one request: get me a team and a coach with some kind of fortitude. Gilbert never could. I wouldn't have stayed either.
Conclusion: I am fascinated to watch Miami games now. I love Dwyane Wade and always have. My hope is that he has the kind of career that makes people say, "See? If Kobe hadn't been such a diva, he could have had all that."
