BREAKING: LEBRON chooses Miami

Status
Not open for further replies.
When he comes back and they boo him out of the building, he should not be talking about how he is disapointed this and that. Becouse the fans do not owe him anything as well.

Should be a fun atmposphere that night at the "Q" I am guessing that game will be on TNT or something like that
 
When he comes back and they boo him out of the building, he should not be talking about how he is disapointed this and that. Becouse the fans do not owe him anything as well.

Should be a fun atmposphere that night at the "Q" I am guessing that game will be on TNT or something like that

maybe the game will be blacked out in Cleveland and show a rerun of the last game james played for the cavs :D
 
All I can say is the James Gang will be one of the biggest busts in sports history if they don't win at least one (1) championship. The entire city of Cleveland, who last week were kissing his feet---amongst other things---are now hoping that he falls flat on his face. Too funny! I may actually tune-in for a few minutes during the playoffs to see how this soap opera plays out.
 
was LeBron's heel turn posted?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
ah, the 3 stooges.................odds on which one suffers the season ending injury first? dwade 2=1; lbj 3-1 and bosh 5-1.

i really don't wish ill will on anyone but i am so sick and tired of being force fed lbj's out of control ego day in and day out. what's worse is the guy apparently has no emotion or feelings. he's not a looser. he wasn't in a win win situation so he took the easy way out. i haven't liked the guy since day one and now i detest him. sorry.

WOW!! EVERY time you mention these three guys....the first thing out of your computer is "injury"...as if you WANT it to happen for spiteful reasons....:rolleyes:

And NOW, it's the 3 stooges...??!! Is it safe to say you don't like them? LOL!
 
Don't let a few bad apples spoil the bunch.

FIBA USA has other guys that did no wrong- why root against the whole team?

I am assuming the wrong you are talking about is the BS thing HIS ADVISORS concocted...because everything else he did looking to win championships..and he chose 2 of his best friends and a better opportunity.....plain and simple.

...all of this negative talk about what he has done, is actually getting tired. The Miami Heat did NOTHING WRONG but recruit a free agent. Plain and simple. Suddenly, they are now the most hated team in the NBA....why? Because Lebron did not go where he was HOPED to go or expected to go...:rolleyes:

But I will tell you what, EVERY single stadium they go....it will be BEYOND packed. And EVERY SINGLE owner that host the HEAT, will love them for it.

....Sometimes...it's fun to be the bad guy!:cool:;)
 
EVERY single stadium they go....it will be BEYOND packed. And EVERY SINGLE owner that host the HEAT, will love them for it.

....Sometimes...it's fun to be the bad guy!:cool:;)

That's something you can relate to- see Oakland Raiders and Miami Hurricanes football in their glory years.
 
Heat meet with Derek Fisher Heat meet with Derek Fisher - NBA - Yahoo! Sports if heat could get fisher look out nba i smell dynasty

IF the HEAT can steal Fisher..........WOW!

Wade, James and Bosh have all given names to Riley of various players they would like to see join the Heat.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Saturday that Miami has had contact with forward Juwan Howard. Other free agents who are known to have expressed interest in Miami include Raja Bell, Chris Quinn, Quentin Richardson and Jamaal Magloire, and the Heat still have the rights to restricted center Joel Anthony.

Miami lost out on swingman Dorell Wright. The swingman who spent his first six seasons in Miami agreed in principle to a three-year deal Saturday with Golden State, but the Heat are closing in on a deal with Mike Miller. Miami also expects to keep Udonis Haslem, who has more lucrative offers from other clubs but wants to remain in South Florida -- his lifelong home.

"He's been a part of this with me for seven years. ... We want Udonis back and we're going to do everything we can to make sure Udonis stays home," Wade said Friday night.

Riley said Friday that there "might be some good news" about Haslem's status with the Heat in the coming days.

Los Angeles Lakers free agent Derek Fisher meets with Miami Heat - ESPN Los Angeles
 
Talk about hitting it right on the money!

Now that it's all over, maybe we can return to some semblance of reality.

To help us get there, and before LeBron James becomes Public Enemy No. 2 in the next SportsNation poll -- which seems to be happening in the aftermath of "The Decision" -- let's clear up a few things. It should send us on our way back to our normal existence.

One: This has been done before in other sports. (And no one had a problem with it.)

Two: We've seen this happen before in the NBA. (And no one had a problem with it.)

Three: Michael Jordan might have done the exact same thing. (But we'll never know.)

So the question is this: What's the difference with LeBron? Where is the profound difference between what A-Rod did in 2004 and what LeBron did Thursday night?

Here's the answer: Other than LeBron's personal connection to the city he left, nothing.

Again, this has been done before.

In 1982, Moses Malone was considered by many to be the best player in basketball, certainly one of the best of his generation, and he was still in his prime. But just after he collected the second of his three MVP awards and only one year removed from playing in the NBA Finals with the Houston Rockets, he became a restricted free agent. With his team apparently regressing (the Rockets went from their Finals appearance in '81 to out in the first round the next season), Moses decided to leave Houston and go play for the Philadelphia 76ers, a team that already had one of the other best players in the game and of his generation. A guy named Julius Erving.

See where this is going?

Dwyane Wade is Dr. J, LeBron is Moses and Chris Bosh is Andrew Toney in this analogy. The Sixers went on to win the chip the season Moses joined them, going down in history as one of the greatest teams of all time. And no one said anything about damage to Malone's legacy.

Again, we've seen this happen before.

Too many times since Thursday night, I've heard people express some form of the following sentiment about LeBron: Real ballers don't join the best; they try to beat the best. More than that, I've heard people (including on "SportsCenter") use MJ as an analogy, suggesting that LeBron just did what MJ would have never done: leave the Bulls back in the day to play for the Pistons because, at least before 1990, he couldn't beat Detroit. They're calling LeBron's decision a "punk" move.

That notion needs to be squashed right here. Fact is, Jordan never had the opportunity to test the free-agent market the way LeBron did. Jordan signed his rookie contract, then, three years into it, the Bulls put an eight-year, $25 million deal on the table that he signed and rode out until well after he'd been stacking rings on his fingers.

Bottom line: Jordan was never in the same position LeBron was. Never. And if MJ's long career in Chicago is going to be used to make a point about LeBron's decision to leave Cleveland, that not-so-little factor can't be ignored.

We'll never really know.

So before anybody else goes all Dan Gilbert on LeBron, take all that into consideration. And we can carry on with our lives.

Scoop Jackson is a columnist for ESPN.com

LeBron James stunned NBA by leaving Cleveland Cavaliers for Miami Heat, but overreaction to move is out of line - ESPN
 
Inside 'The Decision': Miami's coup was a 'surprise' built on long-coveted goal of James, Wade and Bosh
Brian Windhorst

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- During a rally for Miami Heat fans Friday night, Chris Bosh said he'd been talking with new teammates LeBron James and Dwyane Wade about the moment for months.

It was a slip, which some -- including Bosh -- quickly noticed. Bosh's statement hinted there was a long-standing plan in place to gather in Miami. That potentially would not only be against NBA rules, but also poor taste -- considering Bosh and James were supposedly completely focused on the task at hand with teams in Toronto and Cleveland.

Bosh quickly revised the statement and said they'd been talking about it for "days." But it was hardly correct. The truth is James, Bosh and Wade had been plotting this for years.

That won't be comforting for Cavaliers fans who are still reeling from what many considered James' stunning departure. For those deep in the process, however, it was hardly stunning. It was part of a complex master plan that was never guaranteed, but the trio's heartfelt desire for much of the past four years.

Now that the move has been made, the veil of secrecy is being lifted to a degree as people begin to talk. Or, in some cases, brag. The Plain Dealer talked to numerous sources to piece together a picture of how James ended up in Miami.

It is still a somewhat fuzzy image; James and his close friends and business associates may never tell the whole story. But here are the broad strokes:

The seeds of the massive move were planted back the summer of 2006 after Bosh, James and Wade finished up their third seasons. Established all-stars and clearly the future of the league, the three were part of a bonding effort led by USA Basketball to revamp and re-energize the national team after the disappointing 2004 bronze medal.

The three played together for the first time that summer at the World Championships. For the first week they were sequestered without family or friends in Sapporo, Japan, in an attempt to build chemistry. But it wasn't just the players -- working as an intern for Team USA and getting to know the players was Nick Arison, the son of Heat billionaire owner Micky Arison.

Now, not ironically, Nick Arison is a rising executive with the Heat. He was part of the team that recruited all three players this summer.

Already close as members of the same draft class, the Team USA experience strengthened the relationship. Even before the team gathered in Las Vegas to prepare for the World Championships that summer, the three had talked at length about playing for that team. After a poor experience at the Olympics in 2004, they had to recruit each other to get the top players to try the process again.

That same July, the co-op took on another role when all three decided to extend their contracts with their teams. They couldn't all become unrestricted free agents until 2007 anyway under the rules, so the smart play was for them to extend with the Raptors, Cavs and Heat respectively.

But with some of the league's high-profile older stars perceived as stuck in long-term contracts with struggling teams -- Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett eventually demanded trades out of unhappy situations around that time -- the three decided to go for a shorter contract.

Olympics, sources say Chris Bosh and LeBron James had frequently shared their common desire to play together with Dwyane Wade for an NBA franchise. There were already several teams -- most notably the New York Knicks but including the Miami Heat -- gutting their rosters in order to free up salary cap money for the summer of 2010.

After talking amongst themselves, James, Bosh and Wade decided to accept three-year extensions. It would make them all unrestricted free agents at the same time in 2010. For players on maximum contracts, becoming an unrestricted free agent after just seven years in the NBA is rare. But it would put them all in position to potentially team up that year, a fact that was not lost on them.

In the ensuing years, four important events happened that were major contributors leading to their union in 2010.

One was a very positive and emotional summer in 2008 in China, where the trio were part of the gold medal-winning Team USA. They proved they could play effectively together. For the most part, they checked their egos, with Wade even deciding to come off the bench.

Second, Los Angeles-based management company Creative Artists Agency decided to get into the basketball agent business. Seeing how influential they could be in the summer of 2010, CAA bought the agencies that represented James, Bosh and Wade. Bringing them all under one roof gave CAA huge control of the market and took down any barriers the three would have with negotiations.

Third, the recession hit and NBA owners started tightening their spending, a trend that would last for two years. The result was a bubble of salary cap space that would eventually result in giving numerous teams large blocks of cash in 2010.

Fourth, the struggling New York Knicks launched a plan in the fall of 2008 to clear off enough cap space to sign two maximum level free agents in an effort to recruit James to New York. Though he never said so directly, James began openly flirting with the thought. Other teams, many of whom where struggling, saw the opening and hatched the same plan.

That included the Heat, who were in the midst of a large-scale rebuilding process after a 15-win season. They had won the title in 2006, but made several trades that eventually caught up with them. With Wade already on the team, team president Pat Riley decided to begin his own cap manipulation, even if it limited what the Heat could do with Wade during two of his prime years.

The Knicks got most of the attention for positioning themselves for James, especially when they traded away their best players for pennies on the dollar in an effort to clear the books. But Riley was just as passively aggressive in not spending, at one point last summer getting into a public battle with Wade, who was frustrated at the lack of roster additions.

It was a risk to mess with Wade as he headed for his own free agency, but Riley had been watching and doing background research. He knew the three wanted to play together and he knew he had a glamour destination to offer, a history of success and Wade already on the team. He crunched the numbers over and over and thought he could get close to clearing three maximum salary spots -- or at least get close.

He didn't quite get there, but close enough to pull off the major score. In addition to the weather and the city's attractions for young rich athletes, Riley knew the lack of a state income tax in Florida could help him sell it.

Riley really put the plan into action last November. During a Cavs visit to Miami, Riley arranged a get together with Michael Jordan and James. Jordan, who was in town to do some Nike work with Wade, at the time did not own a majority of the Bobcats.

During the meeting, Riley talked to James about how more modern players should pay homage to Jordan. Riley had always led this effort, retiring Jordan's No. 23 in the rafters at AmericanAirlines Arena even though Jordan -- of course -- never played in Miami.

The Cavs knew about it and while it seemed like it could be classic tampering, they decided not to make an issue of it. The meeting -- technically -- wasn't about free agency. Only, of course it was.

That night James and Wade staged an another strong individual battle. But the Cavs won when the Heat didn't have enough down the stretch, a common problem with Miami's roster last season. After the game, and after seeing Jordan and Riley sitting together courtside, James made an emotional statement right on the court that he was going to ditch jersey No. 23 out of respect to Jordan. In fact, he felt all players should stop wearing No. 23.

It was controversial and got headlines. Riley didn't care so much about the statement but how his conversation obviously influenced James. Without much doubt, it gave Riley confidence that he could win James over by playing to his emotions when it came time for free agency. Riley became more dedicated than ever before to trying his grand plan of getting all three stars to South Florida with the poaching of James being the grand prize.

That was why he was so amped up before his presentation to James in Cleveland a week ago. He packed up his seven championship rings, had his salary cap specialists create displays to show how Florida taxes could save James money and brought along Alonzo Mourning to make an emotional pitch about how the team backed him up as he recovered from a kidney transplant.

It was also made known to James that the Heat would take care of his friends much in the same way as the Cavs. There would be special treatment at the arena, changing practice and travel schedules to allow for moneymaking late-night parties in various cities and perhaps even hiring a James associate for a high-paying position in the organization.

This was nothing knew for Riley, he made the same accommodations for Shaquille O'Neal and, to a lesser extent, Wade in recent years.

Riley was so focused that he paced the halls outside James' offices while waiting for James to arrive for the meeting. The meeting went so well and so long that the Heat took up some of the Los Angeles Clippers' scheduled time with James.

But Riley may not have even needed to slam dunk the presentation. He already had a huge advantage working long before he even got to Cleveland.

As was their plan four years earlier and was discussed more deeply in 2008, Bosh, Wade and James had been talking. Unlike Bosh or James, Wade took the step of actually recruiting free agents to his team. Riley's efforts were more successful than the Knicks, and Miami had the most salary cap space.

Getting all three together was only really possible in Miami. Wade pushed the topic. Despite being discouraged by Commissioner David Stern and perhaps breaking tampering rules again, Wade flew with Bosh to Akron to meet at James' house in the last week of June. Still under contract with the Heat, Wade got the other two to the brink of a deal to join up.

All the players still met with teams just to make sure they wanted Miami. Both Wade and James were interested also in Chicago, where there was a chance two of them could match up and play with rising star Derrick Rose. But Wade stayed strong to Riley's plan and kept tugging on James and Bosh.

Though many thought James would seriously consider Knicks and Nets, part-owned by friend Jay-Z, they were never in his top two. The way it looks now, the Cavs may not have been in the top two for much of the process. James did talk with Bosh about the chance of playing in Cleveland, but Bosh resisted and James was intrigued by teaming up with his friends even more than he was attracted to staying home.

The Bulls' chances for James were diminished for two central reasons. One was that Wade wasn't willing to go to his own hometown. The other was the Bulls made it clear that James' friends would not be given the privileges they were given in Cleveland, or the high-paying jobs.

Chicago didn't give Jordan special treatment when he was leading them to six titles, and owner Jerry Reinsdorf wasn't about to give it to James. In addition, Rose -- who often talked to the media about his respect for James -- did not openly welcome his arrival and instead campaigned for other free agents, especially Joe Johnson. Soon, the Bulls were out.

With the weather, his friends and South Florida's glamour pulling him to Miami and Cleveland offering just his hometown and hope for that much-coveted title, James was gone.

Despite his comments that he went back-and-forth on the decision, it appears the Heat were always the leaders in his mind. That's what he chose, after four years of buildup, breaking Cavs fans' hearts.
Inside 'The Decision': Miami's coup was a 'surprise' built on long-coveted goal of James, Wade and Bosh | cleveland.com
 
I was just going to post that article from the PD. :)

If it's true. Huge if. Then Miami may be in a hell of a lot of trouble. We're talking forfeiture of draft picks as well as fines. I'm thinking Stern is going to sit back and wait for more details to surface before making a decision
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

The New York Islanders have their own team cupcakes

Lou Piniella to retire at the end of the 2010 MLB season.

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 0, Members: 0, Guests: 0)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)