For all of you LeBron haters............

[Bleeding Red]

Like I said LBJ is in the top 3 of all time. After he wins two or three rings with MIA it will be forgoten. Just like when Kobe messed around with that girl a few years back, everyone hated on Kobe then he won rings and everybody forgot what happened. And dont say Kobe did it on his own. He had to have Shaq to win the first 3 and when Shaq left they didnt even make the playoffs. Then Gasol came around and Odom, and Kobe won a few more rings. So I guess Kobe couldnt do it by himself either.

Not even comparable. Kobe cheated on 1 person.

LBJ cheated a city and a state....more importantly, HIS state.

He is stupid enough to listen to the sports reporters that said he had to get on a dream team to win a championship, not understanding that IF Miami wins it, they are going to fire more stuff at him. "He couldnt do it without other superstars", "the Heat is the NBA version of the Yankees".....

Of course it was for the money. He brings home more money in Florida!

[gymrat88]

Farmer do you really expect me to respect a guy who wrote a 14 page hate mail fully lacking any kind of class and dignity? Dan Gilbert is a joke, the fans who burned lebrons jersey and filled his twitter with racial slurs are a joke. The way they acted was totally uncalled for.

[Orange and Brown]

Here is the final thing I will say about Lebron James....

I do not agree with the racial slurs and the threats that have been levied against him. Those people are ignorant and they would have found another reason to say those things about him.
..................................

Lebron spent a lot of time biulding his image and all the I love Cleveland ra ra stuff over the years. He left Cleveland because he felt he couldn't win a title there with the players they were putting around him.( I never once heard Mr. James ask to take a pay cut to bring in better players.) Lebron helped build all that "Witness crap and all that other stuff Nike puts on TV, Did he really expect the people of Cleveland to be like " It's okay we still love you Lebron." If Jordan would have left Chicago at the hight of his fame he would still be the most hated person in the city today. Everything he does good or bad, right or wrong, gets his name in the papers and that in turn helps him make money so forgive me if I don't take pitty on poor Lebron James because he pissed off the "Mistake by the Lake" and left them high and dry. Like I have said before I don't care who he plays for. The guy makes Millions of dollars a year and now pays NO state income tax. POOR LEBRON....People are saying mean things about him. I know we are all supposed to love lebron and wet our pants at the mention of his name, but give us all a break.

[farmer]

Farmer do you really expect me to respect a guy who wrote a 14 page hate mail fully lacking any kind of class and dignity? Dan Gilbert is a joke, the fans who burned lebrons jersey and filled his twitter with racial slurs are a joke. The way they acted was totally uncalled for.

How did Dan Gilbert feel about how LaBron treated him? He wrote it down and let everyone know in the 14 pages. Was it politically correct no. But he was being honest. People didn't have to ask him and for him to make up lies. Dan did not quit. In LeBron's last game he didn't even get off the floor when he took his jersey off. Gilbert paid LeBron well and LeBron would not even respond to his calls before he had his 1 hour joke on tv. If Gilbert would have known that there was no way that LeBron was coming back he could have got something in return for him. Miami got rid of the rooster anyway. Michael Beasley and a draft choice would have been better than nothing.

The fans burning LeBron's things well it was theirs to do as they want. The racial slurs is not called for.

[91blue14]

cleveland thrived as a team and city with lebron playing there. he had a contract fullfilled his ticket and chose to go to work for another company once his deal was over. how he left is a whole different story. laying down on the job ie playoffs is a no no.

[dazed&confused]

I was never a Lebron hater. I never "loved" him, either. As a Celtics fan, he was merely an impediment for my team on the way to the title....as he is now. He is a professional athlete; nothing more and nothing less. People need to let it go that he chose to go to Miami. And he needs to get over the fact that a lot of people elect to hate him for it. Both he and the haters are exercising their free speech rights. As for his commercial asking people what they think he should be, he should be a ballplayer. I reserve my regards for true heroes who toil on foreign soil for our freedom! Shut up and play ball!

[bucksfan76]

Like I said LBJ is in the top 3 of all time. After he wins two or three rings with MIA it will be forgoten. Just like when Kobe messed around with that girl a few years back, everyone hated on Kobe then he won rings and everybody forgot what happened. And dont say Kobe did it on his own. He had to have Shaq to win the first 3 and when Shaq left they didnt even make the playoffs. Then Gasol came around and Odom, and Kobe won a few more rings. So I guess Kobe couldnt do it by himself either.

Not even comparable. Kobe cheated on 1 person.

LBJ cheated a city and a state....more importantly, HIS state.

He is stupid enough to listen to the sports reporters that said he had to get on a dream team to win a championship, not understanding that IF Miami wins it, they are going to fire more stuff at him. "He couldnt do it without other superstars", "the Heat is the NBA version of the Yankees".....

Of course it was for the money. He brings home more money in Florida!

REALLY? Kobe commits adultery and Lebron leaves a team when his contract was over,WOW guess whats right and wrong has really changed over the years get real man.

[Charge]

Rebels on 3 , if you think Lebron is top 3 all time, you must be a young boy that hasn't watched basketball for too many years.He would be lucky if he was in the top 3 to wear the number 6 that he wears, I can think of two that is better, off the top of my head to wear that number.

[X8XOHIOLEGENDX7X]

cleveland already did something QUITTER couldnt as a team they just beat boston

[gymrat88]

Farmer how did LeBron have to treat Dan Gilbert? He was a free agent, Dan Gilbert was not his owner at the time of his decision, he didn't have to tell him anything. And if you can honestly sit behind that computer screen and tell me it was ok for Gilbert to write what he did you must be out of your mind. If I was a prospective NBA superstar, I would never join his team just because of what he wrote. The man is a moron.

Cleveland is going to look good for a while because they will be extremely motivated, and Miami is going to struggle some while they get used to playing with each other.

[farmer]

When someone pays you and pays you well like Gilbert did. LeBron could have been a MAN and return a phone call. LeBron or his people never talked to Gilbert or any rep from the Cavs from the last game in which LeBron Quit playing. Was it to much for LeBron to call and say he is thinking over things?
I can care less about you thinking I am out of my mind which I am not. Gilbert put it out there and did not sugar coat it. He did not have to kiss his a$$ anymore. Gilbert put it on the table. What he said was how he felt. As for you being an NBA Superstar you can go ahead and go to sleep and dream. Gilbert was honest and you can not say that about LeBron.

[Dundas]

LeBron promised the city of Cleveland a championship...he bolted town before he delivered. That, in my eyes, is the biggest problem. He gave up on Cleveland. Dan Gilbert said what every true Cav fan was thinking at the time. Sure he shouldnt have said it in public, but I for one think its hilarious. I am a Cavs fan and I like my teams owner standing up for his fans. Nice win tonight Cavs! Hopfully they can ride the emotion into the playoffs at an 8 seed, meet up against Miami at 1 and upset them. That would be greater than any championship LeBron couldve brought to Cleveland.

[biggdowgg]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

:aaaaa59

[gymrat88]

I don't believe I ever mentioned that I was pretending I was an NBA superstar. I am pretty certain that there was a big IF at the beginning of my sentence. And Dundas- you try and beat Kobe, Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher, Ron Artest, and Lamar Odom or KG, Rondo, Allen, and Pierce when you're next best option is Mo Williams, who wouldn't even average 10 points a game for the Lakers, Celtics, or Magic. The Cavs had a good enough group with LeBron to beat the middle of the pack and bad teams. But when it came playoff time, they were overwhelmed by the talent and depth of the contenders. LeBron quit because it was obvious to anyone that it was a futile effort, Boston was just better, as was Orlando the year before. Nobody for Cleveland could hit the broad side of a barn. Therefore, the Defense simply made LeBron go 1 on 5, and I don't care if it was MJ, ONE MAN CANNOT AND WILL NOT EVER BEAT YOU. And that was what the Cavs were- a one man team. As for the past 2 nights- Boston played with a chip on the shoulder against the Heat, and Cleveland will play with a chip on their shoulder until reality sets in and they realize what LeBron meant to their franchise.

[gymrat88]

Bud, just to inform you I have been to Cleveland numerous times over the past seven years. I went to several Cavalier games while he was there. I drove by the larger than life billboard more than once.

Everyone on here acts like LeBron should have kissed the feet of Cleveland. What about what HE GAVE THEM! Without LeBron (btw that is how you spell is name. L-E-B-R-O-N. Not Q-U-I-T-E-R or L-E-R-O-Y or however you want to spell) the Cavs would have been nothing. He is a jerk for leaving to go to another team but you are so holy when you wishes he blows out his knee? Give me a break.

How about you take a trip to the real world? The real world doesn't totally revolve around sports or one man. People in the real world are trying to make a living without defemating a person that they have never met and who has no bearing on their lives. There are people who's lives who have been totally ruined by athletes making terrible choices. Do you really think they care about a stupid NBA championship? I don't think so.

[gymrat88]

The main thing that bothers me about this is it reveals (again here's that phrase that some found confounding) the moral values or lack thereof by a lot of people. I love the idea that people like Kobe and Tiger Woods cheated on one person but LeBron cheated a whole city. We are comparing adultery to free agency. Hmmmmm think there's a difference? I do. I agree Rebels on 3. I hope LeBron comes back to Cleveland so Dan Gilbert can be a "witness" to his "self-titled former king".

One more thought- I never said Cleveland didn't try to get better players, because Antawn Jamison and Mo are sure as heck better than Drew Gooden and Damon Jones. But when you look at any game the Cavs played against the Lakers, Magic, or Celtics- try ranking the best players on the court not worrying about their respective teams. For the Celtics as an example: 1. L-E-B-R-O-N 2. Rondo 3. KG 4. Pierce 5. Allen. 1/5 are from Cleveland, 4/5 are from Boston. And you wonder why LeBron couldn't deliver a championship? MJ wouldn't have delivered championships without Scotty, Kobe without Shaq and Gasol, Magic without Kareem, Larry without McHale.

[bucksfan76]

gymrat: You need to get out of the gym and live in the real world.

Have you even been to Cleveland the past seven years? That franchise literally bent over backwards to give him everything he asked for. Mike Brown and Danny Ferry answered to him for his input. They had a larger than life picture of him on a building downtown. Everyone in the city bought into his act with the "We are witnesses," and yet you say he owed the franchise nothing?

Not even so much as thankf for the memories but Im leaving? Not even the courtesy of letting them know what he was going to do so that they could move in a different direction with the money they were going to have under the cap that they wouldnt be paying him? Way to give back to a city and franchise that bought into you and everything you were supposed to stand for, you egotistical jerk!

Im not a Cavalier fan and not much of an NBA fan anymore, but I hope he blows a knee and Miami has to pay him for a year or more for nothing he does on the floor. What goes around comes around, and Dan Gilbert was as much within his rights to say what he did as Leroy James had to say what he did.

WOW!!! I mean its ok to have your opinion on the situation but hoping for someone to blow his knee out is a little uncalled for and should not be tolerated on this site in my opinion(which does not mean anything since I have no power over the site) but seriously grow up.I dont think they gave him everything he asked for,Look at the talent on the cavaliers roster I dont think anyone in the league last year could have done what lebron did leading them to 61 wins and leading them to a NBA finals with even less talent a few years prior.So IMO Lebron done plenty enough for that franchise.And about all the money well before lebron arrived the team was worth 258 million and with lebron it was 476 million and the average team is worth 367 million. The annual revenue has went up from 72 million to 160 million and all this about no state tax in florida,is that going to save him about 30 million over 6 years cause thats what he would have earned by signing with the cavs.

[dazed&confused]

What happened to this thread? It's basketball folks. No one lost their life. The sun still comes up. Take a walk, eat a cookie, sleep in late! Life is really good when we don't totally define ourselves by sports figures.

[bucksfan76]

bucksfan: there is a difference in high school 15-17 year old and professional athletes. I would never, under any circumstances bash a high school kid or coach. But pro athletes are under a microscope of the papparazzi into every minute detail of their professional and private lives; ie see Tiger, Favre, Roethlisberger, and abusers of chemistry and women in all areas of sports.

It goes with the territory of being a pro and is the trade off they make when they sign on the dotted line. Thus, I am not only entitled to my opinion, but the freedom to express that opinion on this site and it be "tolerated."

If indeed James built up the net worth of the franchise (and I believe he did), he also reduced it significantly by at least the same amount.

Regarding them giving him everything he asked for; I doubt that any player move was made without his expressed approval or disapproval.

And to my good friend D&C: having an opinion about an issue in no way suggests that my life revolves around any professional athlete or team. I can take you to within a few miles of where I was that Sunday evening on I77 heading south after a Browns game when after listening to another of Michael Dean Perry's diatribe about him not playing for the Browns or the city but only for himself, I made a very deliberate and conscious decision not to waste one more dollare of my hard earned money supporting spoiled rotten jerks who didnt even care; much less appreciate said support.

I then decided to invest my time, effort and finances into our high school athletes and sports and I have never looked back nor regretted the decision.

You can Bash The man all you want but what I am getting at is hoping for someone to blow a knee I dont care if he is a professional athlete or not its just not the right way to go about it.I mean did this man directly impact your life so much that you have to wish bad happenings among him to get satisfaction its just stupid.

[gymrat88]

If it is such a non issue thread, then why do you insist on posting so strongly on it? And I am not disrespecting your opinion in any way, I am just arguing it. This is America, and I am allowed to voice my pro-LeBron opinion, you are allowed to voice your anti-LeBron opinion whether we agree or not. Also, it doesn't take an expert to realize that wanting someone to break their leg isn't high on the moral todem pole.

I started this thread not to analyze what LBJ did this offseason, I don't need a history lesson I saw it. I started this post because I didn't and still don't understand all of the hate that has been centered towards this guy for doing something totally legal. But if you want to gahs, that is your right and privelege.