Well, now it’s official. LeBron James stuck it to the city of Cleveland, northeast Ohio, and Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert. He’s decided that he would rather be part of an ensemble cast than the star of the show.
Too bad he didn’t let everyone know that before he left.
Really, Gilbert did everything he could to build a championship team around James. He brought in players he wanted like Larry Hughes, Shaquille O’Neal and Antawn Jamison to help bring a title to the city and to the man formally known as The King. In return, James gave him the back of his hand.
And, we understand the media of today and the globalization of ESPN, but the way James handled the situation was wrong. He didn’t need to have a one hour special to tell everyone he was leaving Cleveland. A simple press conference would have done. He showed up the whole area, including his beloved Akron. He’s entitled to make his decision, but he didn’t need to rub our nose in it.
Also, the ESPN commentators made the Heat the instant favorites to win next year. Those of you who are my age will recall the Los Angeles Lakers of the late 1960’s, who teamed a triumverate of superstars in Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and Wilt Chamberlain. Guess what? They didn’t win, and the hope here is James, Wade, and Bosh have a similar fate.
The NBA puts too much emphasis on rings. Remember that guys like Robert Horry and Steve Kerr have a handful of jewelry, while Charles Barkley and Karl Malone do not. Does anyone really think those guys aren’t great players?
In the end, this mentality got to James, and he didn’t want to wait to win a championship. He’s no better than a Vince Carter, who when the going got little tough, he got going tough, decided to bail.
It was nice of James to mention loyalty as he was bolting out of town. Also, how he threw his Cavalier teammates under the bus too.
People will compare his departure to Art Modell taking the Browns out of Cleveland. This is worse. In the past decade we have watched players like Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome leave for more money. This time that wasn’t an issue, and the great player still left. And it is not as though the Cavaliers are a losing team, either. He left for a team that was eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Cleveland is a strong city, and will get over this jilting one day. However, LeBron James deserves the villain status he will have in this city. He publicly humiliated the area he grew up.
Instead of the king, he’s the backstabber.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 