The LeBron James Thread

[ProfessaPackMan]

Quote: Originally Posted by jbrew2411

I'm not saying he is not a fault but he did stay for 7 years. I thought the night they drafted him he would be gone after his rookie contract runs out. A big name free agent could have signed a shorter deal in those 7 years to play with him. Players knew they could not win there like James found out. We will see how much Dan Gilbert wants to win now. The ownership of teams in Cleveland are to blame. They don't spend money and have nothing to offer free agents. You can't make me beleive that no free agent wanted to play with LeBron. I think they did just not in Cleveland.

Why would any FA set themselves up to sign to play with Lebron when Lebron himself wasn't even sure if he'd be on the team? Makes no sense, especially when there are possibly better options out there. Obviously playing along side Lebron was the only thing they could tell any other FAs but again why would anyone commit there if he wasn't committed? It's a two way street and James had just as much a hand in that as Gilbert, Ferry and Brown had.

[Kashanova]

Also this kobe crap is abusrd, He's not a true competitor like kobe.... Well if i remember correctly he asked to be traded... because the team wasn't up to par with his standards

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baske...analysis_x.htm

I'm pretty sure if a team had the cap space to do it Kobe would of done the same thing... if he knew he weren't going to win with out help

[jmood88]

Quote: Originally Posted by BrianFifaFan

The older mindset is that rings aren't everything. All thoise things you mentioned, including the Bulls stuff are about the old way. Jerry got Pippen through drafting. All these teams back in the day were built, not manufactured. It took Jordan 7 years, and there was some of the best Basketball the NBA has ever seen. Every year it was a battle. Even when Jordan was losing to the Pistons, you knew it was gonna be his time, at some point sooner than later. The younger generation doesn't get that. It's not sweet to just get the ring, it's how you get that ring that builds the legacy..... I would have to say that Kobe understands it. Of course he had a dad that made him see the bigger picture and Kobe really understands the larger world. He speaks Italian fluently. He likes soccer! LeBron has Gloria and the posse'....... Read what you will into it, but LBJ has showed himself to far less worldly, wise or classy. Pepsi met Coke, and LBJ came out with new Coke. He blinked. We saw Kobe named player of the Generation last night.... Wait and see.......

Kobe got Shaq and Phil Jackson in his 4th year, Lebron in his 7th year with the Cavs had Mike Brown and a Shaq who played on a pitcher's schedule with the Suns and didn't even play for most of the year with the Cavs. Please stop trying to make Kobe some kind of standard bearer for the mythical old school NBA. Michael Jordan got an improved Pippen and Phil Jackson before he was able to win championships with the Bulls. Lebron would've had to play for Byron Scott.

[phenom1990]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kashanova

Also this kobe crap is abusrd, He's not a true competitor like kobe.... Well if i remember correctly he asked to be traded... because the team wasn't up to par with his standards http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baske...analysis_x.htm I'm pretty sure if a team had the cap space to do it Kobe would of done the same thing... if he knew he weren't going to win with out help

As much as I haven't liked Kobe in the past. My feeling is that the major difference was Kobe competitively would have wanted to compete against anyone that was in the same conversation with him ( Lebron, Wade and maybe like 2 or 3 other guys) instead of playing with them because he would want to play against the very best and probably also for his legacy.

[jbrew2411]

Quote: Originally Posted by BrianFifaFan

And that's where we'll have to agree to disagree. It was never what sports were meant to be, that's what sports have become. Even in the college ranks. LBJ sold himself as something different and when the chips were down, he balked. He hid behind the supposedly selfless things he was doing by taking less money and trying to build something special. He just became a mercenary, like many pros really are. He became an Albert Haynesworth in my book. I do find it ironic that the Celtics "Big 3" strategy didn't work this year. Instead, the Lakers prevailed. The Lakers, who were built through trades and the draft, not guys colluding to make a Dream Team. Even with the Celts, it was a totally different situation. Like others have said exhaustively, they were all older. This is nothing more than a giant ego stroke, by all three kids who didn't have the heart to do things the old fashioned way. I do hope they fail. Not in that I'm trying to be a *****, but in that I like to see a league based on superior teams that grow up together through adversity. Not teams that are "ringers", like I used to see them all pile out of the car at the rec center so they could run the floor all day and never lose. I guess I'm just a fan of fair play. Go Kobe! Go old school!

Sports are for fun when we are kids but when money moves in it becomes a business. Like I have said before I'm a high school coach and I keep my job year to year by winning not because I teach the kids life lessions. If I win and make the school some money then I get to do what I love if not I'm gone. In the end the Cavs have made business decisions since James showed up so now he makes one and gets bashed for it.
I like you miss the days of guys playing with one team but that is a thing of the past. If James had come out and said all he cared for was making the most money then I would hate him. But he has said for years all he wants is rings and like a lot of good players have found out you may have to make a choice that does not set well with others. I like players that stand up and say all I care about is winning. You can't fault that.
I do love what the Lakers have done and think Kobe is far better then LeBron. But don't forget Kobe forced the Lakers to make some moves a few years back. He was taking 60 shoots a game because they had no one. He told them he was going to leave and they did the right thing and went out and built a team. If its done by trades are by signing players the result is the same. They built a team that could win.

[da ThRONe]

Quote: Originally Posted by BrianFifaFan

The older mindset is that rings aren't everything. All thoise things you mentioned, including the Bulls stuff are about the old way. Jerry got Pippen through drafting. All these teams back in the day were built, not manufactured. It took Jordan 7 years, and there was some of the best Basketball the NBA has ever seen. Every year it was a battle. Even when Jordan was losing to the Pistons, you knew it was gonna be his time, at some point sooner than later. The younger generation doesn't get that. It's not sweet to just get the ring, it's how you get that ring that builds the legacy..... I would have to say that Kobe understands it. Of course he had a dad that made him see the bigger picture and Kobe really understands the larger world. He speaks Italian fluently. He likes soccer! LeBron has Gloria and the posse'....... Read what you will into it, but LBJ has showed himself to far less worldly, wise or classy. Pepsi met Coke, and LBJ came out with new Coke. He blinked. We saw Kobe named player of the Generation last night.... Wait and see....... P.S. I'll be 44 this month, so I fit your profile.

You mean the same Kobe Bryant that was crying for a trade until they pulled off the biggest steal in basketball?

[Rocky]

Quote: Originally Posted by BrianFifaFan

The older mindset is that rings aren't everything. All thoise things you mentioned, including the Bulls stuff are about the old way. Jerry got Pippen through drafting. All these teams back in the day were built, not manufactured. It took Jordan 7 years, and there was some of the best Basketball the NBA has ever seen. Every year it was a battle. Even when Jordan was losing to the Pistons, you knew it was gonna be his time, at some point sooner than later. The younger generation doesn't get that. It's not sweet to just get the ring, it's how you get that ring that builds the legacy..... I would have to say that Kobe understands it. Of course he had a dad that made him see the bigger picture and Kobe really understands the larger world. He speaks Italian fluently. He likes soccer! LeBron has Gloria and the posse'....... Read what you will into it, but LBJ has showed himself to far less worldly, wise or classy. Pepsi met Coke, and LBJ came out with new Coke. He blinked. We saw Kobe named player of the Generation last night.... Wait and see....... P.S. I'll be 44 this month, so I fit your profile.

Not to get this thread too off track, but I find it mind-boggling that people now speak of Kobe Bryant as a symbol of everything that's right with the NBA.

Seriously?

Back to the topic, the Cavs messed up when they gave in to Lebron's every whim. They also apparently played the loyalty card as number one. If I was a high ranking member in the Cavs organization, I would have:

1-First let him know straight up that his career will always have a blackmark if he leaves us now, at 25, without a ring. Russell did it. Kareem did it. MJ, Bird, Magic all did it. Duncan and Kobe did it. Do you deserve to be in that class, if you bail now? It might crush his ego a bit, but you gotta let him know that.

2-Give him a two to three year plan on how you plan to turn the organization around. This means doing everything in your power to get rid of bad contracts, draft/acquire good cheap players that fit our system.

[BrianFifaFan]

Quote: Originally Posted by jmood88

Albert Haynesworth signed a contract and then tried to force a trade because he didn't get what he wanted. Lebron honored his contract and left. The two situations are completely different. The biggest winner in all this is Kobe since now Lebron is public enemy #1

I 'm talking about the mindset. IMO, LeBron took his ball and went home, or to his Wet-Dream Team, more to the point. You might have bought the media circus, and agree with the "me" mindset, it's the prevailing mindset of most people. I don't, team rules. But I really thought he was a throwback to the old days of the NBA, where team was "king," with the Superstars being the identity of the city they played for, not a glorified mercenary. All he proved is that he's a greater talker. He has the lingo down of a champ, but not the heart. I do agree with you about Kobe being the winner. I used to think that it was LBJ over Kobe in the character department. I was so wrong. Kobe's had some really public mistakes and came off as real aloof and arrogant for a long time. But the guy has heart and is a winner. LBJ, paper champ who is really starting to look like he views himself as the "King" with us all as "Witnesses" to his greatness. Problem, no rings. No legacy of his own now. He's starting to look like Mike Tyson after Buster Douglas. Lost heart, lost faith. Another paper champion exposed. D Wade's sidekick? Weak sauce.....