LeBron's future
 

Back in Cleveland next season or somewhere else?

he is just like most of the other NBA players, greedy.. "i gots ta get paid"

Reminds me of Latrell Sprewell and he turned down 10 mill a year, cause he "has a family to feed" dumb ass!

I think he's gone. My choice for where he'll end up is Chicago.
Gonna be an expensive summer for someone.....

The Brooklyn Nets !! He really needs to change his attitude or will become a joke who no one wants to play with. I can see why he thinks he is bigger than the NBA but last night should've told him something but when you blame everyone and everything else ignorance is bliss. Good luck to the team he bankrupts, yes he will get paid but tough to get the talent he needs to win when all the money is going to him. I feel bad for Cleveland, they deserve better than what he has given them. Here is a clue Lebron, you can't do it yourself, the Celtics just proved it to you, you might be an MVP but you sure didn't play like it. Dump your $10,000 Lebron RC's before they become like he currently is- WORTHLESS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know what was going on with him in that series.... Did he just not care and completely give up or was he maybe hurt? I think it was a combo of both perhaps, but I don't think he was hurt all that bad.

He's wrong when he says that this won't count against his legacy, it will.

But, he is right that he'd only 25 and has plenty of legacy left to write....

That being said, as a Knicks fan I would love nothing more than to see him come to NYC. Basketball has been all but unwatchable in NY for a long time now. NYC would go nuts over this guy.

This series will be a blemish on his resume but I hope he rights all the wrongs in NY and gives me a team I can have fun watching...

I'd bet
 

he's going to the Knicks. He considers himself far too much a man of the world to go anywhere smaller. He'd be in Jordan's shadow in Chicago--no one will fill those shoes, and why try?

That's actually a tough question. I voted Knicks but I'm not sure I believe that myself. I originally assumed he would stay with the Cavs, but after watching the last three games of the series I think there is something bad going on over there, and he wants out.

I was also thinking Brooklyn is a possibility because of their new multi-billionaire owner, but I doubt the arena will be open by 2012 and LeBron could be looking at at least three years playing in Newark. That's not really appealing. And neither the Nets or Knicks have much of a team to surround him with. If he goes to either one he is likely to retire without ever having won a championship (although it's of course not impossible).

Chicago has the best core players to complement him but the Bulls have never seemed to be on his radar. Bottom line: No team jumps out as a favorite. He will just have to decide where he wants to be. Everybody will offer him a ton of money so that may not be a big issue.

take away lebron from that cadavers team and they would be lucky to win 10 games. he would be crazy to stay in cleveland. jordan, after 6 years with the bulls had good young players surrounding him and some great coaches(collins/jackson). compare the cast of has beens (a 400 lb shaq,ben wallace!!!!!,jamieson,mo williams) and the pathetic coach cleveland puts together year after year and lebron should be on a plane anywhere as soon as he can leave. when jordan had a bad game in the playoffs the bull team kept the score close. when lebron had 1 bad game the team is so lousy that all the cleveland fans can do is cry that lebron quit when the team lost by 30 points at home in a pivitol game.

Oh, nevermind, it's the NBA. :rolleyes:

I picked the Bulls, even though I'd love him to go to the Knicks so they become watchable again.

James/Rose/Noah...put some solid role players and a 3rd scorer around them and they can instantly compete to get to the Finals.

There was like a minute thirty left in game 6 and the deficit was still single digits and the team gave up. Something was/is going on with the organization.

I voted New York, New York. Is that not where everyone goes for fame and to be desired?

My answer is who cares for the simple reason that the NBA Playoffs are in full swing and this is what leads every Sports Center. Every day, it's a new person with an opinion and nobody is correct. James doesn't even know. But that's the way the press is and if I had a guess, I would go with the Nets for the simple reason that the new owner is serious about winning and has way too much money. A cool version of Mark Cuban (IMO) who guaranteed a championship within 5 years.

Larry

If it's about the money, then he should re-sign with the Cavs because they can pay him the most. They can pay more than any other team because of the clause that states a team can pay more to re-sign their own players than any other team.

Now I know the argument will be that if he goes to New York that he will get more endorsements.....really? You think he will get that many more just because he plays for the Knicks? I'm not so sure he would get any more than he already has.

I think I heard the other day that the contract that the Cavs can sign him to would be worth about $12 - $14 million more than any other team can offer.

Therefore, if it's only about the money to him, then he will re-sign with the Cavs.

I have a friend in the business and he has heard that James will probably sign with the Knicks. The hot rumor is that Nike will make him their sole centerpiece if he goes to New York and phase Tiger Woods out. The Nets are a wild card.CN

The latest is Lebron and Chris Bosh are going to the Bulls. One exec said it is a done deal.

If you're a Knick fan...oh lordie.

Breaking news: Lebron James has officially announced his retirement from the NBA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0

I don't see it with Reinsdorf. The man spends no money.

money is not a real issue because 1.) most of these teams are going to offer him max. this is not baseball...there's a salary cap. and 2.) he makes so much outside of his salary. i think he wants the best fit that will put him in position to win multiple championships like jordan, bird, magic and kobe did with their respective teams. i truly do think he wants to stay in cleveland, but he is unsure of their chances of being a championship contender given recent playoff failures. if he wants to play on the best currently constructed team, he goes to the bulls because they have a young, all star caliber point guard in rose and a rising big man in noah (along with luol deng, if he isnt traded, and other decent young pieces like taj gibson). the nets (lopez, harris, lee), clippers (griffin, davis, aminu, gordon, kaman) and the mavs (dirk, kidd, the french kid) are other possibilities, with the latter needing to do a sign and trade that will likely involve moving butler. the knicks and heat have nothing on their current roster (knicks basically have amare, the italian guy and douglass and the heat have mario chalmers and beasley). if he wants to go to the team with the greatest potential, he would go with either the bulls or the heat. you can imagine the bulls adding bosh once lebron signs. you can also imagine the heat resigning wade and getting bosh to form a three headed beast. if lebron wants to be loyal, he stays in cleveland and prays that ferry can add a legitimate scoring threat at the all star level to the team. lebron is going to sign a 6 year deal and he's entering the stage of his career where if he wants to achieve michael jordanesque greatness, he'll need to win championships. otherwise, unless he forces the hand of whatever team he signs with (like garnett did with mchale at minnesota and kobe almost did with the lakers a few years ago) to trade him, he'll be stuck in his prime trying to carry a team to the finals. jordan had pippen. kobe had gasol, odom and now artest. magic has worthy and kareem. bird has mchale and parrish. lebron in cleveland has mo williams, antawn jamison and a bag of moldy potatoes.

I'd love to see him in Brooklyn...

I don't blame NBA players for being greedy. They have, what, 15 years to make as much as they can? And then it's living off retirement funds from age 38. Not easy when you don't even have a college degree to fall back on.

It's not like the good old days when baseball players had winter jobs. Athletes are dependent upon their sports income for the rest of their lives.

If you do the math, that's a bad argument. Lets say you start working at 18 and retire at 70. And along the way you make 100K a year. That's 5.2 million earned in a lifetime, and most people would say that 100K is a pretty decent salary. A lot of sports figures make as much in a year as a fairly well paid person will make in a lifetime.

Not that they aren't "worth" that much, an owner would only pay that sort of salary if the player had a good chance of bringing in more by way of ticket sales, improved tv revenue, and souvenir sales.

Steve B

I weep for them, but on the other hand they only make what someone is willing to pay them. None of us would do it any differently if we were in their shoes.

For those who maintain a mangeable lifestyle alot of them can make enough in a year or two to live very comfortably the rest of their lives. If they get into money trouble it is because of lack of financial discipline and not because they only had 10-15 years of peak earning potential. That is laughable.

It's starting to look like LeBron will be joining his friends Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. While it doesn't guarantee a championship, it is hard to recall any team in any sport adding and retaining so many high caliber players in one shot.

And one thing is undeniable: on any given night, these guys are going to put on an amazing show. There will be nights, and many of them, when the opposition will be blown off the court.

Of course it's not a done deal yet, but if James does in fact land in Miami it's really going to be a nightly highlight reel.

If he does end up in Miami, who else do they have around them? Nobody. I know you will have 3 All-Stars, but you also need 5 guys on the court at the same time and you need a bench to win it all in the NBA.

All I know is I'm looking forward to telling my grandchildren where I was on the night LeBron announced his decision. Monumental!!! You know--"kids, Grandpa remembers when JFK was shot, when man landed on the moon, when the USA olympic hockey team beat the big, bad Russians in 1980 AND, most of all, when LeBron took an hour out of his busy and regal day to announce to the great unwashed where he was going to play".


I'm very disappointed that the fete was not reserved for the pagaentry of the silver screen, but am eternally grateful it will not be on pay-per-view, where it could rightfully command a king's ransom to see. Of course, one hour is just a teaser, and can't possibly do justice to such an important subject. Obviously I will record it on the DVR, but will still await the packaged, professionally done "commemorative collector's set", complete with candid and revealing outtakes of the man, the myth, the legend.

I only hope the President will proclaim this LeBron James Day, to be observed annually. Lord knows it's long overdue.

I don't think he is leaving Cleveland...but if he does go to South Beach:

The Heat have no Center worth talking about and Mario Chalmers at PG..He has averaged 8 points and 4 assists in two seasons. Unless they address those 2 positions quicklyThis potential "power trio" will need to all score 25-30 a night to even think of winning 60 games! YES...the highlights would be there...but NO...I don't see them winning a Championship anytime soon!

All of the teams who got themselves into the free agent sweepstakes, with the exception of Chicago, stripped themselves of nearly all their good players. Look at the Knicks, they have only a shell of a team around Stoudemire.

Miami will be able to put together enough middling players to complement the three superstars. Again, no championship is being handed to them. But they won't have any trouble putting on a show every night.

Not much of a basketball fan but because I live in the North-East Ohio area this is of interest to me. I really don't care one way or another if he goes or he stays but what I'm really wondering is if he leaves how he thinks he can still live in the Akron area and be treated the same way that he was when he played for the Cavs. In my opinion, if he goes on national TV and announces in an hour long show that he's abanonding his home town team / area, he moves immediately to human "turd" status in this area. I can't imagine that he's not smart enough to realize that "The Decision" also affects his kids, family and friends that are left in Ohio.

Going to Miami is such a cop out....Miami is Dwyane Wade's team. Wouldn't his legacy be better served if he went somewhere he can call his team and beat a guy like Wade or Bryant in the playoffs/finals? Do you think Michael Jordan would ever go play with Kobe Bryant because he was afraid of never winning a championship?

Sorry for the rant!! :)

Edited to add: These are the rantings of a frustrated Knick fan that misses the days of Ewing, Oakley, Mason, etc...

Rob I see your point but look at it some what differently.

Lebron doesn't have to win a title virtually by himself to be viewed as one of the greatest players of all time IMO, he already has that coming his way. With that said I can understand his not wanting to be included in the "Best Player To Never Win A Championship" conversation no matter how he has to get it done. He's very young and if he can win a championship in Miami in the next few years he will be able to cross that off his list and move on to other more personal goals if he chooses. I also think it speaks volumes to his desire to win a championship as opposed to being the star and not having anyone else take away from his shine.

One thing to keep in mind is Lebron is a brand and not just a player. At this point winning a championship is more important to elevating the brand than anything else.

I hear ya Tim. I am just not so sure that his brand will thrive if he isn't the main focal point on a championship team. If his numbers go down to 22 pts a game with maybe 8 asissts, I am not sure his brand will soar.

He was totally wrong about some of the things he spoke about as well. He mentioned how Jordan had Pippen/Grant/Kukoc. Those guys were good role players, just like most of the guys Kobe has with the exception of maybe Gasol. It is easy to say how unselfish he is going to be and how they will all play together in harmony, but we have all seen situations where there are not enough basketballs on the court.

I remember Sprewell and Houston after one season couldn't play together because they both needed the ball to succeed. I am not saying it will be the same, but I would not be ready to hand them the championship or even the East title. I still think Orlando has the edge.

I also think Bosh is a tad overrated. I am always weary of guys who put up big numbers on bad teams, i.e, Charles Smith.

I guess we shall see...should be very interesting.

PS - Over/under on how many games before Riley takes over the team? I say 15...that guy is a snake.

Rob I agree with everything you had to say and I look at it this way. Sports are using the same philosophy as movie companies. If something is a success, copy it and you too will have success. What Boston did in the last couple of years IMO is the model that Lebron and Miami are banking on being successful for them. With that said I think they are certainly poised to be a power house but all involved will suffer if they are not successful.

I'm with you on that statement Tim, totally agree.

I feel bad for the fans of Cleveland. Miami will win multiple championships with these guys, if they can stay healthy. I wouldn't worry about them getting the other players to fill out the roster. Guys will be lining up to play with them in Miami.

The guys lining up to play in Miami will have to do so at the minimum salary. So that's going to rule out most of the league. I would guess that the other nine men on the team are going to be a pretty weak group.

I of course sound like a biast Knick fan, but I don't think they will win multiple championships. If you look at Boston, they won 1 championship and the talent that surrounds their big 3 is much better than anything Miami will probably put out there.

I just think it will be extremely tough with Wade and James being ultimately the same kind of player. Pierce/Allen/Garnett all brought something different to the table, plus they had an emerging superstar in Rondo and a very good defensive cranky center in Perkins. They only won 1 championship...it won't be easy for them to beat Orlando in the East, and the Lakers in the West. Also don't sleep on Atlanta, they seem to be getting better every year.

The team will be exciting, put on a great show, and win a lot of regular season games. But a championship will have to be earned. Nobody can predict whether or not they will have what it takes to do it.

AMEN Brother Todd! That's the problem with 24 hour sports and news channels, sometimes they have to create news to fill the time. Now at least I can hopefully get back to a regular sleep cycle since this cataclysmic event has played itself out. Maybe one day I'll find a reason to be a NBA fan.

I think he's going to the Heat
 

at least he didn't ruin baseball.
:D

By the way, the Cleveland owner's comments showed EXACTLY why that city has hosted nothing but losers for 50 years.
No offense to the individuals that live and hail from there, as no city is perfect, and this was just one guy, but boy, did his rant ever provide a "See, I told you so" for anyone who is offended by the whine of those who choose to be victims. He wasn't wronged. He just failed. It's so tired.