LeBron's future

[FUBAR]

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!

[3-2-count]

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

[ChiefBenderForever]

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 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[yanksfan09]

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...

[nolemmings]

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?

[barrysloate]

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.

[dennis]

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.

[HRBAKER]

Oh, nevermind, it's the NBA.

[abrahamrudy]

Originally Posted by FUBAR

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 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.

[steve B]

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

[HRBAKER]

Originally Posted by abrahamrudy

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.

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.

[barrysloate]

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.

[pgellis]

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.

[nolemmings]

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.

[HRBAKER]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

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.

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.

[k-dog]

Originally Posted by pgellis

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.

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!

[barrysloate]

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.