2010 LeBron James Sweepstakes

[Cujo]

Aaaaaand he signed the deal. 2 years, $42.1 million. One year opt out (what?). Says he's there long term, just wants to get that money the new TV deal will free up.

While most are saying the 2-yr deal is a strategic cap move, I believe it's LeBron's way of not getting burned twice by the Cavs front office. If they don't add a "Pippen" or are missing out on the Finals by then, LeBron can just bolt.

But this is amazing news for ESPN. We get to do this all over again soon!

[BBTV]

He said something in his letter that I think a lot of peple don't consider. He never went to college- never got away from home, never had that "freedom" so to speak. The dude grew up in Ohio, went to HS in Ohio, and worked for the first 7 years of his career in Ohio. I think people expected him to work his entire career there, retire there, and die there. That's simply unreasonable - to expect from anyone, let alone someone who has options that the rest of us can only dream about.

He's probably exactly right about needing to get away and do his own thing for a few years. He did a horrible job of communicating that back in 2010 (if that was even a conscious thought in his mind), but I think it's a valid reason to leave.

I don't like how much responsibility for the city's fortunes was put on him back then, and I'm flat out horrified by some of the thigns that are being said now ("he's given everyone in Ohio hope again!") - I mean he's good at basketball - maybe he'll inspire a couple of kids to try and be good at basketball too, but let's get a grip on reality here.

[Nyk33]

Aaaaaand he signed the deal. 2 years, $42.1 million. One year opt out (what?). Says he's there long term, just wants to get that money the new TV deal will free up.

While most are saying the 2-yr deal is a strategic cap move, I believe it's LeBron's way of not getting burned twice by the Cavs front office. If they don't add a "Pippen" or are missing out on the Finals by then, LeBron can just bolt.

But this is amazing news for ESPN. We get to do this all over again soon!

If he bolts from Cleveland two years from now he will be known as the biggest bull :censored: artist in the history of sports.

[Cujo]

Twitter rumors (what, no one misses those yet?) say LeBron will be wearing #32.

Meh. LeBron wearing #32 in Cleveland =

[The_Admiral]

He said something in his letter that I think a lot of peple don't consider. He never went to college- never got away from home, never had that "freedom" so to speak. The dude grew up in Ohio, went to HS in Ohio, and worked for the first 7 years of his career in Ohio. I think people expected him to work his entire career there, retire there, and die there. That's simply unreasonable - to expect from anyone, let alone someone who has options that the rest of us can only dream about.

He's probably exactly right about needing to get away and do his own thing for a few years. He did a horrible job of communicating that back in 2010 (if that was even a conscious thought in his mind), but I think it's a valid reason to leave.

This is a great point. It's what sold me on this letter being honest, or as honest as anything is going to get through the layers and layers of professional management that attend a superstar basketball player.

Part of me is going to miss the Evil Empire Miami Heat now. Something about it felt right. The 2006 team, other than Wade drawing fouls for existing, had a warm and fuzzy feeling about it, like a last hurrah for an Old NBA that was once and for all giving way to the current generation. But hating and envying Miami was way more fun than not minding it.

[Cujo]

While most are saying the 2-yr deal is a strategic cap move, I believe it's LeBron's way of not getting burned twice by the Cavs front office. If they don't add a "Pippen" or are missing out on the Finals by then, LeBron can just bolt.

If he bolts from Cleveland two years from now he will be known as the biggest bull artist in the history of sports.

And after hearing of LeBron's lengthy TWO-YEAR DEAL, of course the usual suspects like the Bulls, Lakers, Knicks and Heat are already preparing for "The Decision III" in 2016.

[DS729]

While most are saying the 2-yr deal is a strategic cap move, I believe it's LeBron's way of not getting burned twice by the Cavs front office. If they don't add a "Pippen" or are missing out on the Finals by then, LeBron can just bolt.

If he bolts from Cleveland two years from now he will be known as the biggest bull artist in the history of sports.

And after hearing of LeBron's lengthy TWO-YEAR DEAL, of course the usual suspects like the Bulls, Lakers, Knicks and Heat are already preparing for "The Decision III" in 2016.

Making the East only easier by getting potential contenders to free up cap space for him, instead of using it to build a championship team. Genius!

[Cujo]

I'd die if he went back to Miami in 2016

Never underestimate the powers of the Oil Slick.

[Drew22]

In two years, the cap is going to be completely different because of the new TV deals. I saw a estimate around possibly $80 million. By doing a 2 year, he's allowing himself to get the true max for like the next 5-7 years.

[Lee Noire]

I don't doubt he never wanted to go back at all. He essentially said in that letter he just needed to get away for awhile. I'm just against the idea that winning a chip in CLE would mean more than the two in MIA. Maybe to the people of CLE but not to Bron. A ring is a ring.

I don't think that's true at all.

I don't think anybody doubts that it's more satisfying to win a ring as a dominant player in the Finals than a benchwarmer who only sees action in garbage time. I don't think anybody doubts that it's more satisfying to win a ring when everyone has already counted you out. So why should we doubt it'd be more satisfying to win a ring for your hometown club, in a region you are still very attached to?

It's a great argument indeed. Other than needing to get away, why not stay and work for that hometown ring in the first place, if it meant so much? Just playing devils advocate here.

LeBron is really playing the cap game well. He has future a GM in this league for sure lol

[dfwabel]

In two years, the cap is going to be completely different because of the new TV deals. I saw a estimate around possibly $80 million. By doing a 2 year, he's allowing himself to get the true max for like the next 5-7 years.

It also allows Rich Paul to get a second and larger commission.

[Gothamite]

Other than needing to get away, why not stay and work for that hometown ring in the first place, if it meant so much? Just playing devils advocate here.

He addressed that in the article - he didn't realize how much it meant to him it until after the fact. Makes perfect sense to me, and I've been a harsh critic of his.

[Lee Noire]

Other than needing to get away, why not stay and work for that hometown ring in the first place, if it meant so much? Just playing devils advocate here.

He addressed that in the article - he didn't realize how much it meant to him it until after the fact. Makes perfect sense to me, and I've been a harsh critic of his.

Yeah your right. It does make sense. I just hate when people suggest that his two rings are tainted somehow because he was in Miami. That's just bonkers to me.

[McCall]

No one said they were tainted, just that one in Cleveland, a city that hasn't won a championship in 50 years and his home area and with a team he's basically gonna be a mentor and leader for, would mean a lot more to him than the two he won in Miami, a popular player destination that won one already in 2006 and a place where he basically had to, at times, carry a team of veterans that may not have always carried their weight.

[dbadefense1990]

Other than needing to get away, why not stay and work for that hometown ring in the first place, if it meant so much? Just playing devils advocate here.

He addressed that in the article - he didn't realize how much it meant to him it until after the fact. Makes perfect sense to me, and I've been a harsh critic of his.

Yeah your right. It does make sense. I just hate when people suggest that his two rings are tainted somehow because he was in Miami. That's just bonkers to me.

Let's all agree that it's not LeBron's decision per-se of going to Miami which "taints" his championship legacy. It's "The Decision" (the way he chose to play for the Heat) which haunts his every prallace until otherwise.

It'll all go away for a lot of people's sake if he wins just one title in Cleveland. Just one sports championship of any kind in that city would be cherished more by that city's fans than a title in a fickle, fairweather sports city like Miami and its people. It would be the ultimate redeeming tale to bookend LeBron's career and supersede the vile and disgust he created when playing for the Heat.

[Lee Noire]

Other than needing to get away, why not stay and work for that hometown ring in the first place, if it meant so much? Just playing devils advocate here.

He addressed that in the article - he didn't realize how much it meant to him it until after the fact. Makes perfect sense to me, and I've been a harsh critic of his.

Yeah your right. It does make sense. I just hate when people suggest that his two rings are tainted somehow because he was in Miami. That's just bonkers to me.

Let's all agree that it's not LeBron's decision per-se of going to Miami which "taints" his championship legacy. It's "The Decision" (the way he chose to play for the Heat) which haunts his every prallace until otherwise.

It'll all go away for a lot of people's sake if he wins just one title in Cleveland. Just one sports championship of any kind in that city would be cherished more by that city's fans than a title in a fickle, fairweather sports city like Miami and its people. It would be the ultimate redeeming tale to bookend LeBron's career and supersede the vile and disgust he created when playing for the Heat.

I'm not trying to beat a dead horse but that last part was my point. It's means everything to a city like Cleveland for Bron to win one there, especially in contrast to Miami, but for LeBron? I don't know that his one ring in CLE would be more satisfying than his first two in MIA.

Which is what bugged me when talking heads would talk about the Heat's championships. That they wouldn't be satisfying. My question was, satisfying to who exactly? The media, the fans, or LeBron? It seemed like a self serving thing to say. Which goes to your first part being folks don't like how he went to miami, so that transfers to his titles not being satisfying or less so. I don't agree, but I don't know him so I'm probably wrong.

[OnWis97]

I don't doubt he never wanted to go back at all. He essentially said in that letter he just needed to get away for awhile. I'm just against the idea that winning a chip in CLE would mean more than the two in MIA. Maybe to the people of CLE but not to Bron. A ring is a ring.

I don't think that's true at all.

I don't think anybody doubts that it's more satisfying to win a ring as a dominant player in the Finals than a benchwarmer who only sees action in garbage time. I don't think anybody doubts that it's more satisfying to win a ring when everyone has already counted you out. So why should we doubt it'd be more satisfying to win a ring for your hometown club, in a region you are still very attached to?

I'd say that for just about anyone, the ideal situation is to win a ring with your original team that you were part of for a long time and helped build. For example, I think Ray Bourque may have preferred a Stanley Cup in Boston as opposed to Colorado...but at that stage of his career he did not have that luxury. Similarly, Karl Malone did not go to the Lakers because that would have been better than winning in Utah but because it was really the only chance he had.

LeBron went "title-chasing" in his prime. And who can blame him? He got to do it as "the man," as opposed to how Malone tried it. He was under intense pressure to win a ring. He was in Cleveland, who still had a hard time signing free agents even with him there and was therefore probably afraid it may never happen. So he went someplace to make it happen. Maybe he would not have done that had "how many titles" not been the key measure.

Now he has two titles. He knows what it's like to win one on a super team. So what else does he need to do? Take some "little franchise that could" to the promised land. And, since he pulled a Bourque/Malone in his prime, he can try to do it with a diminished level of pressure. And if he retires with four titles and two are with the Cavaliers, that's pretty impressive and it's not necessarily the case that 6 with the Bulls or 5 with the Lakers is better than that.

Sure there are other factors (most notably the breaking down of D-Wade's body and the hope that the youthful Cavs can give him a bit more bench time), but I think he 1) recognizes the potential for more satisfaction winning a title in Cleveland and 2) wants to bring a title "home." I think it's commendable. Superstars never go to small markets.

Of course, he found a way out of the whole "what if nobody wants to sign with the Cavs" problem and that's the two-year deal. So who knows. Maybe two years from now he's chasing titles in New York, Chicago, or Texas. He's smart enough to know that it may not happen in Cleveland and that he may one day need to chase more titles because two is not good enough for his legacy, a belief that is not his doing and not entirely accurate. I think it was smart and I don't blame him...but the whole ESPN/Decision III factor is a disappointment.

[OnWis97]

Other than needing to get away, why not stay and work for that hometown ring in the first place, if it meant so much? Just playing devils advocate here.

He addressed that in the article - he didn't realize how much it meant to him it until after the fact. Makes perfect sense to me, and I've been a harsh critic of his.

Yeah your right. It does make sense. I just hate when people suggest that his two rings are tainted somehow because he was in Miami. That's just bonkers to me.

Let's all agree that it's not LeBron's decision per-se of going to Miami which "taints" his championship legacy. It's "The Decision" (the way he chose to play for the Heat) which haunts his every prallace until otherwise.

I don't agree. "The Decision" taints his reputation as a "guy." That is, it's why people hate him.

The perceived "taint" in the championships is that he needed to form a "super team" to win them (and that he's 2-3 in finals). Sure, every star has good teammates but this is the star core ever to say "let's play together."

[Mac the Knife]

I don't agree. "The Decision" taints his reputation as a "guy." That is, it's why people hate him.

The perceived "taint" in the championships is that he needed to form a "super team" to win them (and that he's 2-3 in finals). Sure, every star has good teammates but this is the star core ever to say "let's play together."

"The Decision" tainted him as a person, and it's understandable why people would dislike him based on how his signing with Miami was handled. "The Return" won't absolve that entirely, but in the eyes of some it's now justified, forgiven.

As I see it there's no "taint" in winning a championship, no matter how it's done. The New York Yankees allegedly 'buy' championships. The Miami Heat allegedly 'assembled' their last two. But ultimately these guys have to perform better than their peers, working together to do so. That's not a given in any sport.

I think that if LeBron James (sorry, when I see "LBJ" I think of Lyndon Johnson) stays in Cleveland for the rest of his career, regardless of how the Cavaliers play, "The Decision" will be put in the same vein as the Karl Malone, Ray Borque cases, etc. If he ever leaves Cleveland again though, no matter the rationale behind it (save a franchise relocation), his reputation will be permanently damaged.

[Lights Out]

I don't agree. "The Decision" taints his reputation as a "guy." That is, it's why people hate him.

I disagree that "The Decision" is why people hate him, since he was already hated before he even left Cleveland.