2014 NBA Offseason

[Saint Zephyr III]

amazing how egoistic Lebron is all while giving the apperence of " I want to come home, i want the city to win".......while he drags half of his old miami teammates along......AND screws over a young player in wiggins, messing with his head.

1. Miami did win 4 consecutive Eastern Conference titles. Perhaps bringing some of that crew along helps Cleveland win.

2. So Wiggins = Kwame Brown?

Oh crap, I never considered that parable...poor Wiggins.

[OnWis97]

amazing how egoistic Lebron is all while giving the apperence of " I want to come home, i want the city to win".......while he drags half of his old miami teammates along......AND screws over a young player in wiggins, messing with his head.

1. Miami did win 4 consecutive Eastern Conference titles. Perhaps bringing some of that crew along helps Cleveland win.

2. So Wiggins = Kwame Brown?

Oh crap, I never considered that parable...poor Wiggins.

You don't want to think you are playing for a title with LeBron and end up with a franchise that has most likely played its last playoff game ever.

I do feel for him, but I don't know that LeBron is really doing anything "to" him. He's going after a marquis teammate...kinda like a lot of stars do.

[Rays]

they really did it huh ?......I don´t see the cavs winning a chip, do you ?

[Rays]

good comments on espn :

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Kevin Gipson · Follow · Top Commenter · Works at Tractor Supply Co.

It's all about Lebron, not Cleveland.

Reply · Unlike · 152 · Follow Post · 22 hours ago

Josh Williams · Top Commenter

He wants to go through the process apparently, but has Cleveland trade away their potential franchise player to satisfy himself now

Reply · Like · 132 · 22 hours ago

[BengalsJunkie]

they really did it huh ?......I don´t see the cavs winning a chip, do you ?

With Kyrie, Lebron, AND Love?

They could win multiple.

[CS85]

Seeing the tide of non-Cleveland fans transmutate from pity, to happiness, to hatred has been mildly entertaining. It was, in my opinion, a lot easier to hate LeBron when he went to Miami because:

• Obvious ring-chasing
• Phony free agency circus that was ultimately pre-arranged
• Heading to a city with a flaky fanbase that would prefer to root for the Yankees than the Marlins

Whereas now:

• Returns to Cleveland with a decent amount of humility (in comparison)
• The team makes trades to acquire significant pieces to surround their now-aging basketball god
• Their fans actually give a rat's ass

But hey, he's a total dickhead and how dare anyone play for a city that's suffered more than most.

[DS729]

they really did it huh ?......I don´t see the cavs winning a chip, do you ?

With Kyrie, Lebron, AND Love?

They could win the East multiple times.

Fixed.

[Saint Zephyr III]

This other thing to consider is that even without Wiggins and Bennett, they have young bodies like Waiters and Thompson who can develop, or even if they get pushed aside, could be used as trade assets for making the team even stronger.

So, yeah, Cleveland's getting 66 wins and it's going to look easy. God I really want someone to stand up in the East but beyond upstarts like Washington and Charlotte, it seems like a lot of the teams are either tanking or sub-.500.

[IceCap]

We the North!

Anyway I don't get the LeBron James hate. He basically did everything he could have done to make up for the Decision and people are still finding reasons to hate on the guy. I get hating the Miami Heat Superteam but Cleveland seems to be going about this the right way.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Not sure where the LeBron hate is, but it's not automatically invalid. For example, I'm not moved at all by the returning home story. I am totally fine with him seeing a better playing/management scenario in Cleveland and going for it. The Cavs give him way more opportunities than he'd ever have playing under Riley, and I think the homecoming is a nice wrapper on less-than-altruistic motives. Ultimately though, it doesn't change that LeBron is the best, most interesting player in the NBA. I think those kinds of absolutes (that we should all be able to agree on, I hope) help to bring out hate.

Inasmuch as I have one, my beef is with Kyrie Irving. I don't trust PGs in bad conferences that can't lead their teams to the playoffs, especially when the bar is entry was 38 wins. LeBron makes everyone better, of course, but the Cavs had some decent players last year; 33 wins was too low for a supposed marquee player.

[HedleyLamarr]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/the-turnstile/espn-suspends-dan-le-batard-two-days-for-lebron-billboard--stunt-210307698.html

Funny how ESPN took less time in suspending one of their employees for a mocking of LeBron billboard over one of their employees having insensitive remarks about the woman's role in domestic abuse. Say something that may offend women? "We'll wait and see if anything comes out of this." Sort-of anti-LeBron billboard? "We stand for liberty and justice, and we'll see to it that none of our personalities says or does anything that might be a dig on our coveted Mr. James! Oh Mr. LeBron, we love you, will you be our best friend?"

[DCarp1231]

Kevin Durant withdraws from the USA men's basketball team...

His future teammates (Wall and Beal) were cut earlier this week...

[alxy8s]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/the-turnstile/espn-suspends-dan-le-batard-two-days-for-lebron-billboard--stunt-210307698.html

Funny how ESPN took less time in suspending one of their employees for a mocking of LeBron billboard over one of their employees having insensitive remarks about the woman's role in domestic abuse. Say something that may offend women? "We'll wait and see if anything comes out of this." Sort-of anti-LeBron billboard? "We stand for liberty and justice, and we'll see to it that none of our personalities says or does anything that might be a dig on our coveted Mr. James! Oh Mr. LeBron, we love you, will you be our best friend?"

Saying LeBatard's behavior "does not reflect ESPN’s standards and brand" is probably the highest praise he has ever received. Saying they were not made aware of his actions ahead of time is an absolute lie. He's been talking about it for a week on the radio show that they own.

Btw, we still blowing LeBron for "The Return?" Swap a TV show for a ghost written essay, and it's no different from 2010.

[BBTV]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/the-turnstile/espn-suspends-dan-le-batard-two-days-for-lebron-billboard--stunt-210307698.html

Funny how ESPN took less time in suspending one of their employees for a mocking of LeBron billboard over one of their employees having insensitive remarks about the woman's role in domestic abuse. Say something that may offend women? "We'll wait and see if anything comes out of this." Sort-of anti-LeBron billboard? "We stand for liberty and justice, and we'll see to it that none of our personalities says or does anything that might be a dig on our coveted Mr. James! Oh Mr. LeBron, we love you, will you be our best friend?"

I didn't read the link, but people need to realize that ESPN is not a news channel. Their entire mission for existing is to sell programming and gain viewers. I think it's silly to expect ESPN to be impartial to anything and to cover sports with the same journalistic integrity and be held to the same standards as legitimate news outlets.

Criticizing LeBron is "bad for business". Saying it's a woman's fault for being beaten is "bad for business". Trashing some athlete or irresponsibility reporting some kind of controversial story that keeps people tuning in to hear the latest is "good for business".

I get criticized for making this point over and over, but sports isn't "real". It's just a TV show, not much different than WWE. Vince McMahon would probably suspend or fire an announcer that went on a radio interview and trashed John Cena, even if what he was saying was true. This is no different*.

*again I didn't read the link so maybe I've missed the point.

[HedleyLamarr]

I'm well aware with how ESPN butters their bread. Aside from live events, I don't watch them (or any sports channel, really).

I just find it humorous that a guy got suspended because of billboard that's not insulting anyone in the first place. And that a billboard mocking LeBron got swifter action than some comments about domestic violence.

[Saint Zephyr III]

We the North!

Anyway I don't get the LeBron James hate. He basically did everything he could have done to make up for the Decision and people are still finding reasons to hate on the guy. I get hating the Miami Heat Superteam but Cleveland seems to be going about this the right way.

I think it's the sense where this doesn't really seem like a humble homecoming as much as LeBron going to a place where he can practically micromanage the entire organization. I wouldn't be surprised if a year or two from now that if they don't have a championship, LeBron may pull the old hoodwink on the Cavaliers of "oh I'll stay, but I wish we had *marquee head coach" , fire Blatt, and hire someone that he approves of.

Now look, micromanagement isn't a sin, per say, but it rings untrue with the whole "I'm coming home" narrative. Which is more annoying than anything. It's like if a friend decided to move away from the big city to a lakehouse to "get away from it all" but still brings a giant UHDTV out there. An HDTV is great but it makes his motive insincere.

[dbadefense1990]

Looks like Lights Out has some competition in the "bending over for LeBron" contest.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/the-turnstile/espn-suspends-dan-le-batard-two-days-for-lebron-billboard--stunt-210307698.html

Funny how ESPN took less time in suspending one of their employees for a mocking of LeBron billboard over one of their employees having insensitive remarks about the woman's role in domestic abuse. Say something that may offend women? "We'll wait and see if anything comes out of this." Sort-of anti-LeBron billboard? "We stand for liberty and justice, and we'll see to it that none of our personalities says or does anything that might be a dig on our coveted Mr. James! Oh Mr. LeBron, we love you, will you be our best friend?"

It's funny how the younger LeBatard gets suspended for a stunt like this, yet the network virtually encourages Gonzalo "Papi" to rant viciously about LeBron on "Highly Questionable."

[wonderbread]

Buying a billboard that hurts the tv stations brand is different than an old man playing a character

[Nyk33]

[Lights Out]

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