Other Sports LeBron James Is A one who sucks the penis - Page 2

Hammock Parties · 07-08-2010, 10:06 PM

LOL...gotta love deadspin.

http://deadspin.com/5581889/lebron-james-is-a

Tomorrow is the day LeBron James becomes the most unlikable person in the NBA, and perhaps all of American sports. I used to think he was okay a year ago. No more. He's the villain now.

It doesn't matter where he opts to go. If he goes to Chicago, he's a one who sucks the penis. If he goes to Miami, he's a one who sucks the penis. Even if he goes back to Cleveland, he's a goddamn one who sucks the penis. He's a self-aggrandizing sack of shit, and ESPN is a bunch of pussy-whipped enablers for giving him a free hour of airtime tomorrow night and inevitably using 55 minutes of it to let Stu Scott give him a rimjob.

Look at what Kevin Durant did today. He signed an extension well before he could have filed for free agency, announced the signing, and then went back about his business. He didn't need all this dog-and-pony show bullshit. James does, and that means he's a dipshit. People have been kissing this man's ass SINCE ****ING MIDDLE SCHOOL, and he still needs this hourlong AFI tribute special? Bullshit. BULLSHIT.

And I don't care that he asked ESPN to use the commercial airtime tomorrow night to go to charity. That's the most transparent use of charity for the sake of self-glorification I've seen since I saw some actor do it yesterday. "Hey ESPN, why don't you spend an hour kissing my ass? Oh, don't worry. We'll give the money to AIDS babies. That totally makes me selfless." No, it doesn't.

And **** YOU to ESPN for going along with this "Bonds on Bonds" redux. If an ESPN reporter found concrete proof tomorrow morning that James was going to Cleveland or somewhere else, do you think ESPN would let him run with it? **** AND NO. They'd stick him in a ****ing Lucite box and throw him in the cellar until 10PM. They're the whoringest whores that have ever whored. I heard they offered LeBron's crew free blowjobs if he wins a title next year. Wilbon asked to blow him JUST A LITTLE BIT. Not much. Just a little bit.

LeBron is now the guy you openly root against. If he leaves Cleveland tomorrow night, he'll have needlessly strung along an entire fanbase and given them the middle finger by making their breakup spectacularly public. If he stays, he'll have spent two years cockteasing the rest of the world about going somewhere else when he probably never wanted to leave Ohio to begin with. There's no end result tomorrow that makes LeBron a sympathetic figure. He's already gone past the point of no return. He's a one who sucks the penis. Fitting that his most memorable career moment will come when he doesn't even take a ****ing shot. He's a guy that cares more about the end result of playing basketball – massive, unending adulation – than he does actual basketball.

I don't begrudge him that attitude. I'd be the same way if I were a basketball player. All I'd give a shit about would be what I make and where I'm drinking tonight. And I don't begrudge him the right to play somewhere other than Cleveland. It's Cleveland. It blows. There's nothing to do in that town except masturbate and cry. But there's a normal way of doing things, and there's the dick way of doing things, and making your own free agency a two-year drama capped off with an infomercial directed by Senor Spielbergo falls squarely in the purview of FLAMING ****ING DICK MOVES. James is trying to bullshit the world into believing this whole process is some great entertainment he's lavishing upon you. It's not. It's a con. Right now, a lot of people aren't buying the shit this man is selling. And really, that's all LeBron James is these days: a ****ing salesman.

TrickyNicky · 07-08-2010, 11:47 PM

They liked him last year... sounds like they are jumping from one bandwagon to another.

ClevelandBronco · 07-08-2010, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gonzo

You gotta wonder who cleveland hates more right now, James or Art Modell.
Posted via Mobile Device

They're both businessmen who took care of their own businesses. Not Cleveland's businesses. Their own.

**BigMeatballDave** · 07-08-2010, 11:56 PM

I think the entire city is on suicide watch...

**Mr. Flopnuts** · 07-09-2010, 12:00 AM

I haven't felt this bad for a basketball city since I felt bad for my own.

chiefzilla1501 · 07-09-2010, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClevelandBronco

They're both businessmen who took care of their own businesses. Not Cleveland's businesses. Their own.

Like I said, there are a million Cleveland fans who would have been upset but understanding that he left for what he thought were greener pastures. But to make a public spectacle about leaving when he knew it would be a knife in the back of Cleveland, that was a really, really, really dick move. I used to respect Lebron and would have respected him even after he left.

But the way he left left a really bad taste in a lot of people's mouths. He used to be a national icon. I think the entire country outside of MIami hates him now.

ClevelandBronco · 07-09-2010, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Like I said, there are a million Cleveland fans who would have been upset but understanding that he left for what he thought were greener pastures. But to make a public spectacle about leaving when he knew it would be a knife in the back of Cleveland, that was a really, really, really dick move. I used to respect Lebron and would have respected him even after he left.

But the way he left left a really bad taste in a lot of people's mouths. He used to be a national icon. I think the entire country outside of MIami hates him now.

Sports fans have to be reminded every now and then that they're only replaceable spectators.

**Tribal Warfare** · 07-09-2010, 12:22 AM

Christ!!!! The guy made a decision to go to Miami to win a championship with Wade that he likes and has some continuity with. It was business decision, and some are trying to make it as if he went on a killing spree, and cited that Cleveland had to to blow him first.

RustShack · 07-09-2010, 12:41 AM

**** you, LeBron James. ****ing **** you. You can't win unless your on an allstar team and have Wade to pick up your slack when you joke in the playoffs.

**007** · 07-09-2010, 01:16 AM

Who the hell is Lebron?

Tiger's Fan · 07-09-2010, 05:22 AM

Cowards way out.

The great ones stay the course and make where they are a winner.

suds79 · 07-09-2010, 06:22 AM

I honestly don't get this new line of thinking by fans and/or media when it comes to basketball players winning championships.

I stated to hear it with Kobe and now it's Lebron.

So those guys get killed if they don't win championships. That's always been there. But now there's the addition that they can't do it with too many other good players.

Kobe? "Well 3 of his were with Shaq"

WTF???

Who cares? Winning is winning. Nobody complains that Magic had Worthy & Kareem. Nobody complains that Bird had Mchale.

Now it's "the easy way out." That take is weak. I commend athletes for putting winning ahead of money.

Is Lebron a glory hog and have his faults? Absolutely. But beyond that, some of these other arguments are weak.

Consistent1 · 07-09-2010, 06:33 AM

I kind of think it's funny when they talk about the shift of the balance of power in the NBA, and all that shit. Hasn't a team without James won the championship every year he has played? I also think they are far from a lock to just roll into a championship series and take the trophy. He got everything he wanted so far, now we will see about all this title talk. I don't really feel sorry for Cleveland, or anything like that, but James did come out looking dumb. The Heat hats and jerseys should sell well, and fans will forget it fast IF the Heat really do just manage to blow up the league.

Mr. Arrowhead · 07-09-2010, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tribal Warfare

Christ!!!! The guy made a decision to go to Miami to win a championship with Wade that he likes and has some continuity with. It was business decision, and some are trying to make it as if he went on a killing spree, and cited that Cleveland had to to blow him first.

And really i have no problem with that at all, but does he really have to have a hour long special on prime time TV, I think thats my biggest issue with this whole mess.

Reerun_KC · 07-09-2010, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buster Hymen

Cowards way out.

The great ones stay the course and make where they are a winner.

Lets hope now that James, Bosh, Wade and Chalmers can win a ring....

Beasley got traded...

Sofa King · 07-09-2010, 08:30 AM

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/column...alebron-100709

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert went old fashioned, then he got medieval on LeBron James.

Gilbert didn't need his own hour-long televised special to make his point. He sat down at the keyboard the way angry people did it back in the day, then did as much to set the tone of the 2010-11 season as any player move, including you-know-whose. On the night "The Decision" became as painful a part of Cleveland sports history as "The Drive," "The Shot" and "The Fumble," northeast Ohio sports fans finally got a two-word title they can associate with victory.

The Letter.

Gilbert unloaded on LeBron. Smacked him with every keystroke. He called the Cavaliers' "former hero" (Gilbert's words) "narcissistic" and "cowardly" and ripped his "shameful display of selfishness and betrayal" and labeled James' decision to flee the banks of Lake Erie for the suddenly star-filled shores of South Beach a "shocking act of disloyalty," a "heartless and callous" action.

Oh, and in case Gilbert didn't make his feelings clear enough, he told an Associated Press reporter that James quit during the playoffs.

Gilbert torched LeBron, like one of those James No. 23 jerseys burning in the streets of Cleveland. LeBron lost the night he tried to sculpt as his own with the unprecedented show he used as the vehicle to announce his long-awaited free-agency decision, the one that confirmed earlier reports he'd be joining the Miami Heat.

Oh, he and Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade and the Heat are the winners of the free-agency frenzy. They managed to assemble the three most desirable players on the market in one place. They've got a two-time MVP, a Finals MVP and an All-Star. That's just about all they've got right now, but it's the type of foundation you need to win multiple championships, something akin to the draft lotteries that brought Tim Duncan and David Robinson to San Antonio, or Jerry West's wizardry that brought Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant to the Lakers.

But LeBron lost something in the process. James had alienated so many fans with the way he had representatives of six teams trek to Cleveland to play out the entire process, even though, as one of the general managers said, "We knew only two or three teams had a chance to get these guys." He lost even more people by choosing to announce his decision on ESPN in an elaborate show. How could any non-Heat fan watch this thing play out and think, "I wanna root for this guy?"

Sports like to see talent flow strictly to leagues' glamour cities. Most fans didn't even see Bosh play that much while he was in Toronto, but they won't like him, either. Just because he's part of this.

Everyone's going to want to beat "that team down there" as Chicago Bulls big man and LeBron antagonist Joakim Noah called the Heat, unwilling to even say the name. "It's gonna be real Hollywood down there."

Could it be possible that Cavs fans are actually sharing the same sentiments as Noah, who trashed the city of Cleveland repeatedly during the teams' first-round playoff series? That has to be the way they're feeling now. LeBron's gone Hollywood (even if he's physically closer to Hollywood, Fla.).

The funny thing is how Cleveland people still claim Drew Carey and Halle Berry as their own, even though they left for Hollywood. But LeBron? Done.

It speaks to the unnatural, proprietary feelings fans have about their players, that just because they wear their town's jersey they forfeit all of their rights. LeBron is free to go wherever he wants, whatever suits him best. Just because he's always lived in Akron and Cleveland doesn't mean he should always stay there. Everyone leaves home sometime, even if it's only for college. Athletes have an even smaller window than the rest of us. He has perhaps 10 more years to be one of the elite basketball players in the world, and he has a mandate to win championships if he wants to be included in the discussion of the game's all-time greats. It was apparent that wasn't going to happen in Cleveland.

People want loyalty, as if that's going to cover things. Just imagine if LeBron spent an entire, title-free career in Cleveland. In 25 years, when the greats are gathered for a tribute to the all-time legends, the chatter could go like this:

"Hey, it's Tim Duncan, four-time champion."
"Look, it's Kobe, wearing all five of his rings."
"There's LeBron ... he was ... loyal."
Awkward silence.
"Have you seen KG?"

Don't ask James to be loyal if you won't grant him an exception to the ring rule. (As in Jordan, Magic and Bird on one side of the tee at the charity golf tournament, Ewing, Barkley and Malone on the other).

But it's not too much to ask him to be respectful on the way out. In this case promotion took precedence over protocol. He strung everyone along, tried to build the drama at the expense of the common courtesy of notifying teams of his plans so they could get about constructing their teams.

Everyone associated with this looks bad.

We in the media looked bad because sources we trusted kept changing their opinion, and none of those sources was James himself. Even he probably changed his opinion. The public -- not just sports fans -- that got drawn into it were suckers, too. I've had so many "where's LeBron going?" texts from people who haven't bothered to ask me a single other question in months that I just stopped answering. I also stopped because I didn't have a firm answer. No one did. We got sent on a wild ride with a constantly shifting destination.

We got played, but in reality the people in James' camp played themselves. They came off as disrespectful not just to Cleveland, but to New York, Chicago, New Jersey and especially the Los Angeles Clippers (who had nothing more than frequent flier miles to show for their trip to Cleveland).

They were brought in, then shut out as the process entered its final hours. And the boss who had tailored his franchise to LeBron's every whim, whether it be granting his wishes to let members of his circle fly on the team charter or sit behind the bench, or whatever suited the star player, wasn't repaid with a little courtesy on the way out.

Of course, James had already given Gilbert plenty. Gilbert was repaid nightly in the form of fans occupying every seat in Quicken Loans Arena. According to Forbes, the franchise's value increased by $100 million during Gilbert's ownership -- and you know that wasn't because of Boobie Gibson.

So yes, Gilbert was being petulant when he posted that letter on the Cavaliers' website in cartoonish script. But he was expressing the feeling of all the Cleveland fans -- and a number of non-invested observers who were put off by James' whole display.

And he was firing the first shot of next season and beyond. He guaranteed the Cavaliers would win a championship before LeBron does.

LeBron's just ramped up. Now it's not just a quest for a championship, it's a race. He got called out by the man who used to sign his checks.

Gilbert is leading the anti-LeBron brigade, which after Thursday night is the largest sub-group of the National Basketball Association.

07-08-2010, 10:06 PM
Hammock Parties I'll be back. Join Date: Nov 2002 Casino cash: $1060478	LeBron James Is A one who sucks the penis LOL...gotta love deadspin. http://deadspin.com/5581889/lebron-james-is-a Tomorrow is the day LeBron James becomes the most unlikable person in the NBA, and perhaps all of American sports. I used to think he was okay a year ago. No more. He's the villain now. It doesn't matter where he opts to go. If he goes to Chicago, he's a one who sucks the penis. If he goes to Miami, he's a one who sucks the penis. Even if he goes back to Cleveland, he's a goddamn one who sucks the penis. He's a self-aggrandizing sack of shit, and ESPN is a bunch of pussy-whipped enablers for giving him a free hour of airtime tomorrow night and inevitably using 55 minutes of it to let Stu Scott give him a rimjob. Look at what Kevin Durant did today. He signed an extension well before he could have filed for free agency, announced the signing, and then went back about his business. He didn't need all this dog-and-pony show bullshit. James does, and that means he's a dipshit. People have been kissing this man's ass SINCE **ING MIDDLE SCHOOL, and he still needs this hourlong AFI tribute special? Bullshit. BULLSHIT. And I don't care that he asked ESPN to use the commercial airtime tomorrow night to go to charity. That's the most transparent use of charity for the sake of self-glorification I've seen since I saw some actor do it yesterday. "Hey ESPN, why don't you spend an hour kissing my ass? Oh, don't worry. We'll give the money to AIDS babies. That totally makes me selfless." No, it doesn't. And YOU to ESPN for going along with this "Bonds on Bonds" redux. If an ESPN reporter found concrete proof tomorrow morning that James was going to Cleveland or somewhere else, do you think ESPN would let him run with it? AND NO. They'd stick him in a ing Lucite box and throw him in the cellar until 10PM. They're the whoringest whores that have ever whored. I heard they offered LeBron's crew free blowjobs if he wins a title next year. Wilbon asked to blow him JUST A LITTLE BIT. Not much. Just a little bit. LeBron is now the guy you openly root against. If he leaves Cleveland tomorrow night, he'll have needlessly strung along an entire fanbase and given them the middle finger by making their breakup spectacularly public. If he stays, he'll have spent two years cockteasing the rest of the world about going somewhere else when he probably never wanted to leave Ohio to begin with. There's no end result tomorrow that makes LeBron a sympathetic figure. He's already gone past the point of no return. He's a one who sucks the penis. Fitting that his most memorable career moment will come when he doesn't even take a ing shot. He's a guy that cares more about the end result of playing basketball – massive, unending adulation – than he does actual basketball. I don't begrudge him that attitude. I'd be the same way if I were a basketball player. All I'd give a shit about would be what I make and where I'm drinking tonight. And I don't begrudge him the right to play somewhere other than Cleveland. It's Cleveland. It blows. There's nothing to do in that town except masturbate and cry. But there's a normal way of doing things, and there's the dick way of doing things, and making your own free agency a two-year drama capped off with an infomercial directed by Senor Spielbergo falls squarely in the purview of FLAMING ING DICK MOVES. James is trying to bullshit the world into believing this whole process is some great entertainment he's lavishing upon you. It's not. It's a con. Right now, a lot of people aren't buying the shit this man is selling. And really, that's all LeBron James is these days: a **ing salesman.
Posts: 296,648

07-08-2010, 11:47 PM	#16
TrickyNicky My Black Friend, Alan Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Manhattan Casino cash: $10007047	They liked him last year... sounds like they are jumping from one bandwagon to another. __________________ *Adopt-a-Chief: David Mims #70* Dammit Mimsy!!!
Posts: 3,648

07-08-2010, 11:56 PM	#18
BigMeatballDave GBM 8-12-15 Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Dayton, Oh. Casino cash: $10052154	I think the entire city is on suicide watch...
Posts: 59,997

07-09-2010, 12:22 AM	#22
Tribal Warfare Man of Culture Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Far Beyond Comprehension Casino cash: $-2737187	Christ!!!! The guy made a decision to go to Miami to win a championship with Wade that he likes and has some continuity with. It was business decision, and some are trying to make it as if he went on a killing spree, and cited that Cleveland had to to blow him first. __________________
Posts: 43,414

07-09-2010, 12:41 AM	#23
RustShack **** That Noise Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Jack Trice Casino cash: $3146954	** you, LeBron James. ing ** you. You can't win unless your on an allstar team and have Wade to pick up your slack when you joke in the playoffs. __________________
Posts: 15,118

07-09-2010, 01:16 AM	#24
007 Shaken. Not stirred. Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: London Casino cash: $12240126 VARSITY	Who the hell is Lebron? __________________ My dear girl, there are some things that just aren’t done. Such as, drinking Dom Perignon ’53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs.
Posts: 65,732

07-09-2010, 05:22 AM	#25
Tiger's Fan Veteran Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Ks Casino cash: $10004900	Cowards way out. The great ones stay the course and make where they are a winner. __________________ Rock Chalk! The San Diego SuperChokers! DaneMcCloud: where cowardice meets dishonesty
Posts: 1,832

07-09-2010, 06:22 AM	#26
suds79 MVP Join Date: Sep 2000 Casino cash: $10005036	I honestly don't get this new line of thinking by fans and/or media when it comes to basketball players winning championships. I stated to hear it with Kobe and now it's Lebron. So those guys get killed if they don't win championships. That's always been there. But now there's the addition that they can't do it with too many other good players. Kobe? "Well 3 of his were with Shaq" WTF??? Who cares? Winning is winning. Nobody complains that Magic had Worthy & Kareem. Nobody complains that Bird had Mchale. Now it's "the easy way out." That take is weak. I commend athletes for putting winning ahead of money. Is Lebron a glory hog and have his faults? Absolutely. But beyond that, some of these other arguments are weak.
Posts: 5,747

07-09-2010, 06:33 AM	#27
Consistent1 _____________ Join Date: Aug 2005 Casino cash: $10004900	I kind of think it's funny when they talk about the shift of the balance of power in the NBA, and all that shit. Hasn't a team without James won the championship every year he has played? I also think they are far from a lock to just roll into a championship series and take the trophy. He got everything he wanted so far, now we will see about all this title talk. I don't really feel sorry for Cleveland, or anything like that, but James did come out looking dumb. The Heat hats and jerseys should sell well, and fans will forget it fast IF the Heat really do just manage to blow up the league.
Posts: 3,096

07-09-2010, 08:30 AM	#30
Sofa King Bump it Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: South Dakota Casino cash: $-180000 VARSITY	http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/column...alebron-100709 Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert went old fashioned, then he got medieval on LeBron James. Gilbert didn't need his own hour-long televised special to make his point. He sat down at the keyboard the way angry people did it back in the day, then did as much to set the tone of the 2010-11 season as any player move, including you-know-whose. On the night "The Decision" became as painful a part of Cleveland sports history as "The Drive," "The Shot" and "The Fumble," northeast Ohio sports fans finally got a two-word title they can associate with victory. The Letter. Gilbert unloaded on LeBron. Smacked him with every keystroke. He called the Cavaliers' "former hero" (Gilbert's words) "narcissistic" and "cowardly" and ripped his "shameful display of selfishness and betrayal" and labeled James' decision to flee the banks of Lake Erie for the suddenly star-filled shores of South Beach a "shocking act of disloyalty," a "heartless and callous" action. Oh, and in case Gilbert didn't make his feelings clear enough, he told an Associated Press reporter that James quit during the playoffs. Gilbert torched LeBron, like one of those James No. 23 jerseys burning in the streets of Cleveland. LeBron lost the night he tried to sculpt as his own with the unprecedented show he used as the vehicle to announce his long-awaited free-agency decision, the one that confirmed earlier reports he'd be joining the Miami Heat. Oh, he and Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade and the Heat are the winners of the free-agency frenzy. They managed to assemble the three most desirable players on the market in one place. They've got a two-time MVP, a Finals MVP and an All-Star. That's just about all they've got right now, but it's the type of foundation you need to win multiple championships, something akin to the draft lotteries that brought Tim Duncan and David Robinson to San Antonio, or Jerry West's wizardry that brought Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant to the Lakers. But LeBron lost something in the process. James had alienated so many fans with the way he had representatives of six teams trek to Cleveland to play out the entire process, even though, as one of the general managers said, "We knew only two or three teams had a chance to get these guys." He lost even more people by choosing to announce his decision on ESPN in an elaborate show. How could any non-Heat fan watch this thing play out and think, "I wanna root for this guy?" Sports like to see talent flow strictly to leagues' glamour cities. Most fans didn't even see Bosh play that much while he was in Toronto, but they won't like him, either. Just because he's part of this. Everyone's going to want to beat "that team down there" as Chicago Bulls big man and LeBron antagonist Joakim Noah called the Heat, unwilling to even say the name. "It's gonna be real Hollywood down there." Could it be possible that Cavs fans are actually sharing the same sentiments as Noah, who trashed the city of Cleveland repeatedly during the teams' first-round playoff series? That has to be the way they're feeling now. LeBron's gone Hollywood (even if he's physically closer to Hollywood, Fla.). The funny thing is how Cleveland people still claim Drew Carey and Halle Berry as their own, even though they left for Hollywood. But LeBron? Done. It speaks to the unnatural, proprietary feelings fans have about their players, that just because they wear their town's jersey they forfeit all of their rights. LeBron is free to go wherever he wants, whatever suits him best. Just because he's always lived in Akron and Cleveland doesn't mean he should always stay there. Everyone leaves home sometime, even if it's only for college. Athletes have an even smaller window than the rest of us. He has perhaps 10 more years to be one of the elite basketball players in the world, and he has a mandate to win championships if he wants to be included in the discussion of the game's all-time greats. It was apparent that wasn't going to happen in Cleveland. People want loyalty, as if that's going to cover things. Just imagine if LeBron spent an entire, title-free career in Cleveland. In 25 years, when the greats are gathered for a tribute to the all-time legends, the chatter could go like this: "Hey, it's Tim Duncan, four-time champion." "Look, it's Kobe, wearing all five of his rings." "There's LeBron ... he was ... loyal." Awkward silence. "Have you seen KG?" Don't ask James to be loyal if you won't grant him an exception to the ring rule. (As in Jordan, Magic and Bird on one side of the tee at the charity golf tournament, Ewing, Barkley and Malone on the other). But it's not too much to ask him to be respectful on the way out. In this case promotion took precedence over protocol. He strung everyone along, tried to build the drama at the expense of the common courtesy of notifying teams of his plans so they could get about constructing their teams. Everyone associated with this looks bad. We in the media looked bad because sources we trusted kept changing their opinion, and none of those sources was James himself. Even he probably changed his opinion. The public -- not just sports fans -- that got drawn into it were suckers, too. I've had so many "where's LeBron going?" texts from people who haven't bothered to ask me a single other question in months that I just stopped answering. I also stopped because I didn't have a firm answer. No one did. We got sent on a wild ride with a constantly shifting destination. We got played, but in reality the people in James' camp played themselves. They came off as disrespectful not just to Cleveland, but to New York, Chicago, New Jersey and especially the Los Angeles Clippers (who had nothing more than frequent flier miles to show for their trip to Cleveland). They were brought in, then shut out as the process entered its final hours. And the boss who had tailored his franchise to LeBron's every whim, whether it be granting his wishes to let members of his circle fly on the team charter or sit behind the bench, or whatever suited the star player, wasn't repaid with a little courtesy on the way out. Of course, James had already given Gilbert plenty. Gilbert was repaid nightly in the form of fans occupying every seat in Quicken Loans Arena. According to Forbes, the franchise's value increased by $100 million during Gilbert's ownership -- and you know that wasn't because of Boobie Gibson. So yes, Gilbert was being petulant when he posted that letter on the Cavaliers' website in cartoonish script. But he was expressing the feeling of all the Cleveland fans -- and a number of non-invested observers who were put off by James' whole display. And he was firing the first shot of next season and beyond. He guaranteed the Cavaliers would win a championship before LeBron does. LeBron's just ramped up. Now it's not just a quest for a championship, it's a race. He got called out by the man who used to sign his checks. Gilbert is leading the anti-LeBron brigade, which after Thursday night is the largest sub-group of the National Basketball Association.
Posts: 23,454