Obsessedsportsnut's Blog

July 8, 2010

The End of the Lebron James Saga: Part 1

Filed under: basketball — Tags: , , , , , — Jonathan Lee @ 9:33 pm

If you’ve remotely been following the news, you’ll know that something big happened today in basketball…namely Lebron James joined Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade in Miami to play for the Heat in the foreseeable future.

Before I go into what this means for the future of the NBA, I want to say that I’m really disgusted by what Lebron James did tonight. He felt a desire to fuel his already enormous ego by having a 1 hour special on ESPN all to himself where he explained to the entire nation why he decided to choose Miami. In the process, he broke the hearts of thousands of Cleveland fans on national television. Bill Simmons put it best in a tweet tonight,

Totally fine with LBJ switching teams. But doing that to Cleveland via a one-hour TV show was absolutely brutal. An unprecedented Eff You.

Having spent 5 years in Pittsburgh and growing to love the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ive come to develop a “sports hatred” for the cities of Cleveland and Cincinnati, two of the Steelers biggest rivals in the AFC North. However, after seeing what Lebron did on national tv, I cant help but feel the pain of Clevelanders. He pretty much insulted the entire franchise and told the entire country that the team wasnt worthy for him. He talked about having an opportunity to play with some of the best players that he never was able to play with in Cleveland.

The backlash against Lebron is nothing what he expected it to be. However, he brought it upon himself by doing this on national television. He essentially humiliated the entire city of Cleveland, and caused numerous fans to burn his jersey in the streets and caused the owner, Dan Gilbert, to write this insanely scathing open letter to his fans, which I think was the stupidest thing he could have ever done. I stand by my criticism that Gilbert was a horrible owner who never brought in a good player to play with Lebron.

Had Lebron just released a statement and held a press conference in Miami, I dont believe Cleveland would have reacted in this way. It would have been tough for the city to accept, but there wouldnt be cries of betrayal and such.

I love Lebron’s game. Without talking about championships and winning, Lebron James is one of the most special players to have ever played the game of basketball. Any impartial and unbiased fan would readily admit that Lebron James possesses a talent unseen in the league in such a long time. I respect his game, but as of now that’s about it.

Ever since Lebron walked off the court without shaking his opponent’s hands, I started to lose respect for him. Then there was this incident at his camp where he was dunked on and posterized by a college player and immediately had the videos confiscated. Now there this incident. I feel I cant respect him or admire him as a person anymore, only as a basketball player.

Take a look at what Kevin Durant, one of the best young rising stars in the league, did this week. Unlike Lebron, he simply signed a 5-year $85 million deal and released a statement. No press conference. No hoopla. Nothing. Just plain modesty.

Lebron needs to take a page out of Durant’s book.

Coming in a future post: The implications on the NBA championship for years to come….

The Lebron James Fiasco

Filed under: basketball — Tags: , , , , , , — Jonathan Lee @ 12:05 am

Rumors have it this evening that Lebron James will be joining Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami for the near future, combining a trio of players unseen in the NBA since the 1980s. Tomorrow night, on the outside, Lebron James might seem happy about this decision, but on the inside, I have to believe that he’s not thrilled with how everything played out.

All along, we knew the following thing: Lebron James really wanted to play with either Dwayne Wade or Chris Bosh, or both.

However, while he would love to play with Wade, I believe Lebron wanted Wade to join him at a new team, whether it’d be Chicago, New Jersey, or New York. Wade lead Miami to the title in 2006, and this is clearly his team. If Lebron James goes to Miami, he will definitely be 2nd fiddle to Wade in the eyes and hearts of all the fans. If Miami ends up winning titles, the knock on Lebron will be that he had to join Wade in Miami to win a title…he couldnt win it by himself. Wade didnt need Lebron to win it.

All along, analysts and commentators believed that Lebron James would shape the entire free agency picture. He would be the first domino to fall, and everything else would just fall into place after his decision. Deep down inside, I believe Lebron felt that he had complete control over the situation…even going so far as to think that Bosh and Wade would follow his decision and what he did.

Has Lebron James been completely torn over where to go? Who knows? But for the sake of discussion, lets suppose that as of Wednesday morning, he was still unsure where to go. After hearing that Bosh and Wade both decided on Miami, I feel that the decision wasnt his anymore, and that his hands were tied.

He knew that if he went anywhere else, hed have to compete against Bosh, Wade, and a probably very strong Miami team. He knew that if he didnt join them, hed still have to compete against other strong teams like Orlando and Boston. After hearing about Bosh and Wade, Lebron James really has no other choice but to go to Miami if he wants the best chance to winning championships. Had he gone to another team, his life in the Eastern Conference would continue to be a nightmare.

But at the same time, I think he’s taking a big hit, and his brand name will suffer. Again, he’d be going to Miami to a team that already has a beloved player. James would always be 2nd in the eyes of Heat fans. Even if he wins championships, he will still continue to face criticism for not being able to achieve this on his own.

Deep down inside, I think Lebron wished that Bosh or Wade would join him at either Chicago, New Jersey, or even in Cleveland, though Bosh was 100% against that idea. On these teams, he’d have as good as a shot to win the title, but then he’d also be better positioned to be the alpha dog of his team.

For the first time in his life, Lebron didnt get his way. For the first time, he had to base his decision on others. Let’s see how he deals with it.

June 9, 2010

a short conversation about Lebron James

Filed under: basketball — Tags: , , — Jonathan Lee @ 2:08 pm

Karen: so Tom Izzo to the cavaliers?
Me: yeah, though he has no guarantee that lebron is staying.
Karen: if lebron wants to stay, who would it be to make that decision?
me: his decision?
Karen: i mean. let’s say he wanted to stay but the cavs didnt want him anymore?
me: uhhhh…
Karen: could they technically reject him?
me: yes but they wouldn’t. they’re dying for him to stay.
Karen: im saying hypothetically…b/c he’s incapable of winning a championship.

she DOES have a point you know…

May 14, 2010

Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavs

Filed under: basketball — Tags: , , , , — Jonathan Lee @ 10:33 am

What happened to the Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers? Best record in the NBA for the past two years, and then ultimate chokers in the NBA playoffs. Are they the “San Jose Sharks” of the NBA?…yeah ok, that was brutal.

But really what happened to the team? Why couldn’t they get by Orlando last year and Boston this year? Is it fair that Lebron James is taking all the scrutiny for the failures of the Cavs?

Before I start, I really dont have a favorite team or player in the NBA, though I would say that I’m more inclined to root for the LA Lakers every year. I feel that out of all the sports, I follow the NBA with the most objective point of view that I can possibly take, and I’m not really biased for or against any particular player or team.

That said, while Lebron James is arguably the best player in the league, I feel I have to blame the management and ownership for failing to give Lebron a decent team to compete with.

Take a look at some players and their recent championship fortunes.

1. Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics – For the longest time, Paul Pierce was the lone man in Boston and was surrounded by terrible talent. As good as he was, the Boston Celtics were TERRIBLE. What did Danny Ainge do? He then brought in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, two perenially all stars, and they won the championship the very next year.

2. Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers – Kobe Bryant has 4 titles, but three of those titles came early on in his career with Shaquille Oneal. As good as Kobe was in his early years, this was Oneal’s team, and Oneal was the most important and best player on the team. When Shaq left for Miami, the Lakers went into a downspin. They had players like Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Chris Mihm, Kwame Brown, and a young Andrew Bynum. As GREAT as Kobe was (and is), you just can’t win with a team like these players. Finally, Bryant made some threats and the Lakers made a move for Pau Gasol, again arguable the best Power Forward in the world. They made the NBA Finals that year, losing to Boston (see above), but after a full year of playing together, the Lakers finally won the title in 2009.

3. Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls – Like Lebron James, Michael Jordan was a beast when he arrived in the NBA. However, for the first 7 years of his career, he had to carry the team on his back. His teams did well, but always came up short in the playoffs, and never won a championship. He even won a MVP award during this time as well. But management surrounded Jordan with great talent. They drafted Scottie Pippen, and surrounded Jordan with great talent like Horace Grant, Luc Longley, Steve Kerr, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc, and Dennis Rodman. With these additions, Jordan was finally able to win 6 championships in the 1990s.

4. San Antonio Spurs – Champions in 2003, 2005, and 2007 had an amazing trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili with great role players such as Bruce Bowen and Robert Horry.

What’s my point?

My point is that a superstar can’t win a title all by himself. He needs a team that can play with him. He needs a team with a deep bench.

I’m sorry, but the Cleveland Cavs are not that team. Who was their starting 4 other than Lebron in the playoffs?

Mo Williams – 1 time All-Star in 2009, but that’s because he made it as an alternate because of injuries. He’s a serviceable point guard…in no way a star. I can probably name at least 6-7 pgs better than him
Anthony Parker – He was great in the Euroleague, but really shouldn’t be a starting SG on a team with championship aspirations. Never been an allstar in the NBA
Shaquille O’Neal – Probably goes down as one of the best Centers in NBA history, but is at least 3-4 years past his prime. While he’s still effective, he’s no way near the player he used to be.
Antwan Jamison – Two time allstar, good scorer. can’t play defense. inconsistent. dont know what you’re going to get.

That’s just the starting 4 other than Lebron. Don’t even get me started on the bench: Varejao, Ilgasuskas, West, Moon? yeah…not that good.

This just wasn’t a good team. Their starting 4 other than Lebron James was suspect and their bench just wasnt that good.

But then you might throw the “they had the best record in the NBA the past two season” argument at me. Sure, but out of their 21 losses this year, 16 of them came against playoff teams. Good teams are SUPPOSED to beat the bad teams. How you play against the great teams is what matters.

Also, the regular season is completely different than the postseason. It’s a whole new ball game. Great teams elevate their game to a whole new level. There was so much uncertainty about the Boston Celtics coming into the playoffs. The “Big 3” just weren’t playing well together at the end of the season. They looked tired and out of sync. Come playoff time though, Pierce, Garnett, and Allen turned it on and stunned pretty much everyone. They brought their game to a whole new level.

The Cavs as a whole didnt elevate their game. Actually, only one player did…Shaq. The best center in history played actually a pretty good series against the Celtics. He’s the only one that knows that it takes to win, and he really didnt disappoint.

Which brings me to the next obvious question? Is Lebron staying in Cleveland next year?

It depends. He has to be realistic and realize that he can not win a championship with this team. If ownership shows a commitment to bring in an actual STAR, and some good role players to fill out the bench, I think Lebron stays. Else he’s gone.

But while a lot of the blame should rest on the shoulders of management, I do believe Lebron needs to shoulder a lot of the responsibility as well. He still has a ton to learn about maturity, focus, and how to actually lead a team…which I dont want to get into now, but will save for a future post. He is still miles behind Kobe, Duncan, Nash, and the Big 3 in Boston in terms of how to be a leader.

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