I agree with LeBron's personality, that I never cared for him as a person, but come on, you cannot blame him for leaving Cleveland.

First off, "The Decision" was a good thing. ESPN wanted to do it, James wanted to do it, and to announce it all at once is a million times better than everyone finding out at different times through unverified media sources.

As for taking his talents to South Beach, Cleveland wasn't doing it for him. They had a joke of a coach, a no-discipline organization, and while they tried to get supplementary players, they didn't work out in the big picture because nothing changed. If I were a free agent and getting no satisfaction from one city, I'd move too.

What people don't understand is that LeBron owed nothing to Cleveland. They were hit hard by the recession, sure, and he wanted to bring a title to his home town, but seriously, it's a business. If he can make as much money elsewhere and actually play with his friends and win a title, it's his prerogative to jump ship. That's why the rookie scale contract plus first extension is seven years, not a lifetime.

Let me get this straight.

Star athlete takes less money to play for a championship team instead of individual awards.

Sounds like a guy who needs to be commended instead of the media trying to destroy him.

If he was white what do you think the story would be.

It wouldn't be he's selfish or doesn't get it.

That I can guarantee you and they wouldn't be wrong.

He would be heralded as a guy who put championships over money.

A hero in some peoples eyes. So why the hate.

Far as I'm concerned Lebron James is the owner of the greatest feat I have ever seen on a basketball court.

Getting the Cavs to a championship with Boobie Gibson and Delonte West as your starting back court is just insane.

No one else has taken a team with three to four backups that happened to be starting to a championship appearance.


No one. EVER.

Your still goin on about this? Leave the man alone he did what was right for his career...cleveland never did anything to help him win...mo williams? Gimme a break...that team was garbage minus him and you'll find that out this year...he did what was correct for him and I commend him for that as far as the decision he made over 3mill for the boys and girls club that night alone and like he said him self if it takes that to make that much for the kids id do it again...your prolly from cleve...so stop hatin on the man don't hate the player hate the game he will do great things and its gonna suck if they can all learn to play together because he's a GREAT competitor and so is wade and bosh hopefully my celtics can do what they need to to win...this season of nba will be amazing and I can't wait...as for this blog it was a waste of time this was dumb ur just another lebron *****...do what you guy...just don't hate a man because he did what was right for him and his career......1

Personally I think Lebron lost all credibility as a competitor. Cleveland's roster was arguably the best in the league the last two years, as said by ALL the leading analysts and their record. They upgraded with Jamison, O'Neal, Parker and Moon to be role players for Lebron (the players he personally picked).

The thing that every one says about Jordan, Magic and Bird having Pippen, McHale and Worthy is that none of their second best guys were top 5 or top 10 players in the league. Jordan didn't move to Detroit after Isiah smacked him. Bird didn't finish his career in LA after their back to back rings. Dr. J didn't join them. If Lebron joined D. Rose in Chicago or Amare in NY that would make him the #1 guy without question. Joining another top 5 guy has NEVER been done by another top 5 guy, which is why he is getting this backlash.

We'll never know this answer, but I believe Jordan, Magic and Bird MADE Pippen, McHale and Worthy into Hall of Fame players. The truly great ones elevate those around them, which is another reason Lebron doesn't count as a leader.

Skip Bayless had it right. Lebron is the most talented Pippen, McHale or Worthy the league has ever seen, just wasted 7 years trying to be Kobe, Mike, Magic and Bird. He better carry Wade's shoes and spend 100k on dinner after he carries him to a ring.

A few days late... and a couple million dollars short buddy, as well as some common sense and a few other things. I believe the main point for this re-hashing of events that happened months ago was Lebron playing his race card. Good attempt at trying to be Rush Limbaugh, but someone already has that role... there is this lovely topic, delved into in a much deeper and gaming website friendly way, with humor, suspense, facts.... you know, things journalists put in stories? Thats the problem with blogs, any old douche can go saying anything they want when... they probably shouldn't be allowed to steal someone else's thoughts

I read a lot of these opposing arguments and I laugh at some of it. First I'm no journalist nor do I ever want to be. My opinion is my opinion. I can't help if there are others in the media who either share my opinion or deject my opinion. I am not faulting James for leaving Cleveland. Frankly if you ask me abou Clevelands last 2 season, they were way over hyped even though they piled up wins, they reminded me of teams like the Mavs, Kings & Suns; a lot of fan fare, a lot of fun to see, but nothing of substance when it mattered most. The Cleveland teams he played his best ball on (these last 2 seasons would have been destroyed by a better LA team and I'll debate that all day if you want.

I don't care that he went to Miami. I really don't. I don't care that Miami has 3/5's of the Eastern Conference All Star starters. I don't. I was hoping he would find a better team for himself. Anyone with his talent level deserves to play when it matters most. However, I deject the notion that this guy is real competitor. This dude, with his sorry teammates in Cleveland, would high step up and down the sidelines, having won nothing. The routines, the shenanigans were for me as a pure basketball fan, embarrassing to see. Kobe he is not, Wade he not, of course LBJ is his own man and does his own thing; but dude win something that matters before you do all this showboating.

My beef is this with his attitude more than his decision to play in Miami. The media has help create the monster of a persona that allows him to behave in a way that to me is unsportsmanlike. And now he wants a chip on his shoulder because everything he has done since the decision has been scrutinized to the utmost. I mean dude, enjoy what you have around, very few teams, players, get to play with a group like the one you have.

I've seen this "all business" approach before talk about LBJ in the past and I know how this story ends for him. Just play ball man as Joakim Noah once said.

I understand where mostly everyone is coming from (Stickz24, IV THA UNITY) and I hope you can understand where I'm coming from. Again, I am not saying it's bad he went to Miami, I am not saying he shouldn't have left Cleveland. All I'm saying is get rid of the bravado and play ball. Yes no one talks about him giving back to the boy & girls club and its kind of upsetting that it doesn't get more coverage. However, the self proclaimed "King" brought this on himself. As @poloelite said, no 2 top 5 talents have ever joined forces in this fashion. If D. Wade is 6'6'' and not 6'4'', they damn near play the same position.

@ AMYO & @nickjamesm7: where does this kind of character assasination come from fellas lol. Rush Limbaugh....don't think I ever been mentioned in a sentence with him before but ok. Let me holla you both for a min youngstas': I don't hate the player. I don't hate his game. I don't. I hate his attitude, I hate the media coverage he gets. Let me rephrase that; I hate that the media covers him as if he has already done something in this league when he hasn't done ****.

Lebron is a great talent and will go down as one of the most talented players to ever play in this league when all is said and done for him. However, pretending like you have something to prove, acting as if you have this huge competitive drive when really, you want to build this global Lebron brand. And the more rings you get along the way only solidifies the perpetuation that your great is horse crap.

Good for him making sacrifices for the better of the team. Never doubted he wouldn't make that sacrifice if he could. Just don't feed me or anyone else about being competitive because I see it as being fake. Whether you guys agree or not, the honest truth is that if this team he is on with the talent they have, does not win at least 3 rings in 6 years, it's a bust. 2 rings in 6 years will not be viewed as a success in my book. I guess I measure success differently than everyone else given I'm a Yankee fan and a Laker fan. I'm also a Jets fan but thats for another conversation. But with the talent level of the Miami as it now and the players they will be able to bring in, theoretically these guys shouldn't need much to get a ring. So I don't buy this rhetoric about him being a competitor when he, who is one of the top 5 players in the league regardless of position, joins another top 5 player in D. Wade and a top 20 player in Bosh. Your suppose to be considered the best and your joining a guy is already established as a MVP typer player? I understand the sacrificing oneself part of it but I don't get, why would you join Wade and take the easy way out. Seriously if Miami doesn't win, what will be the story then?

He isn't a real competitor, he couldn't handle the challenge of being a true leader. I never viewed in that light anyway but again thats my opinion. He could've went to any other team or stayed in Cleveland and earned that ring the right way. Playing with D. Wade, I guess he will be the greatest sidekick we have ever seen.

@ Black Rome
Allen Iverson 2001? And they actually won a game.

@ Poloelite -- Jordan to Detroit? Bird to La? How many times have Cle and Mia played in the playoffs? Lebron to Boston .. that's probably what u meant? Dude .. Pippen, Worthy, Mchale ... you forget Adbul Jabbar, all the other great Celts .. lol. Man - I'll be careful not to preach to you fam .. but read up on it .. at least - before you make those emotional declarations. However you feel though man - remember though -- Bill Russell - was a key part of the first big 3. How is that even relevant here? You know how Russell left Boston? If you have no idea what I'm talking about .. find out.

@ Scat -- do you understand that Lebron could retire now and still make the hall of fame? C'mon dog. Tell me you know your basketball better than that .. he's Cleveland leading all-time most things .. that alone .. puts him in Barkley territory. C'mon Scat -- you have more than that brother .. right?

Last comment direction at that ...
"Let me rephrase that; I hate that the media covers him as if he has already done something in this league when he hasn't done ****."

@ Stickz24, I'm not discounting the statistics. The dude is a beast. I mean lets look at it this way. Jordan came up in an era where Magic and Bird were the main guys and Jordan, with all his skill and the stats he was accumulating is kind of in the same position James finds himself in now. Only difference is that even though Jordan publicly complained about wanting better teammates, he never stop trying to get it done and eventually as he matured, and his teammates got better, everything fell into place.

When I say the media cover him as if he has already done something, I'm speaking in terms of compared to guys like Duncan, Kobe & Shaq. KG is Minnesota's all time leader in darn near everything and I believe at his best was pretty comparable in terms of talent to LBJ, never got the love that LBJ gets. LBJ is the prototypical video game player come to life with skills to do just about anything he wants. But you have to admit that the guy is the most over hyped athlete of our time when you think about his accomplishments compared to a guy like a Tim Duncan, LBJ can't hold a candle to him. Kobe, please, LBJ would love to have a career like his. KG, has done almost all he can in basketball. These guys, while yes deeper into their careers, haven't enjoyed the media coverage or admiration like LBJ.

I understand he burst on to the scene as stud, no one can take away what LBJ has accomplished, but when compared to those guys I have mentioned, he hasn't done much. Basically, Kobe, Wade, Shaq & Duncan had already enjoyed the same amount of success by this point in there careers (going into their 8th years of pro ball) and didn't have this same kind of media adoration.

@ Stickz24 I totally see where your coming from bro and I get it, but I guess the media's affection for LBJ, coupled with his attitude about things and his actions doing something different from what he talks about; it all just rubs me the wrong way, you know what I mean?

I love this post man
D-Wade gets pimp of the year cause Lebron is his ho for the next 6 years
Lebitch is a bitch thats it
Kobe wasnt going to join anyone on his level or close just to win MJ wasnt doing it or Bird or Magic or even Reggie "3 points in your face" Miller
If i had talent like Bron Bron i would wanna dunk on the nicest player on every team just to show yall aint on my level
I dont want to pass them the ball unless its for Team USA

@ Scatman - see this:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/4...soledad-obrien
-------
What happens when a professional reporter asks a 25 yr old kid a very loaded question? His problem .. he's not articulate enough to deflect the question. But his answer was real as hell. Race does play a factor in everything in America .. Its part of America's soul (good or bad). For example, anyone that tells you race had nothing to do with Obama's win is a fool. Stop listening to them immediately. It may not be the whole thing (maybe even 5-10% - at the least) but its, no doubt, a factor. So why would a professional reporter put a young man like that in such a tight spot? Race maybe? Even subconsciously?

I get your point Scat -- I reserve judgement on this guy cause he's a kid. Growing up and learning like we all do. Except its in front of the whole world. The pouting, no hand shakes, in-game raps on TV, ... you need to go thru, watch yourself in video doing it and grow. And we all grow at our own pace ..
Obviously man, you can see that I'm not the judgemental type -- cause until you are that man .. lived his life and been through everything he's been through .. it's crazy to judge him. But that's a very strict standard of looking at people ..but I'm using the same standard of critique for Lebron James that I'll use for my brother or the neighborhood crackhead. Maybe its a little too grounded -- too real - where's the fun in that. If you just wanna be a fan and enjoy hating the enemy .. enjoy it. But recognize what you're doing so that it's not soo emotional that you sound like you dislike a man - you've never even met. Remember that Jigga track .. How can you fairly assess something from the outside looking it? A thousand n one times you'll be wrong -- yah mean. How can a mother****er go around and hate a ***** he's never even met ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ53S5ZJKnc

Fan or man Scat ..? Take your pick and enjoy playboy.

KG only won 1 championship .. most of his fame came before he won that chip. Kinda like Lebron James. Tim and Kobe stepped into classic NBA teams. Even though they both came straight out of high school - Kobe mostly came of the bench his first year - won the dunk contest - but took some time to fully mature. Kevin and Duncan were a little better .. but none came out the gate with the hype .. subsequently to meet and exceeded the hype LBJ came in with. LBJ was easily the most hyped basketball player in the modern era .. bigger than even Magic and Bird. I'd go as far as saying his **** was close to what Jackie Robinson did .. in terms of meeting and exceeding hype. Jackie is the only one I can think of that overcame more in terms of hype and situational expectations .. hmmm -- And Ali too. But you get my point. How the **** do you MEET AND EXCEED that type of extreme hype .. in these youtube days ..and not get sensationalized ? Not be made legendary ? or WITNESSED? Fan or Man Scat?
Enjoy if it's fan bro .. but if it's man -- you have to -- have to .. just let that young boy do him.
Remember man - I'm far from a fan of Lebron James .. but these attacks on the kid are definitely making me favor him more .. cause we as a people man .. they way we think ... ****ing amazing to me man..
Stay up Scat .. good chats man.