LeBron James

[oracio]

LeBron had to be bullied into playing in the post, banging down low, and approaching the game the right way while in Miami. He lost them a title in his first year there with his poor demeanor and not buying in completely. Eventually, Miami used their leverage to strong-arm him into ascending into the guy who carried them the next three seasons. The Cavs, at an ownership level, are playing with kid gloves. They're doing the SAME THING that cost us LeBron in the first place. I love Gilbert's wallet but he's turned LeBron back into an unchecked egomaniac and if it doesn't change we are not going to accomplish what we set out to accomplish with putting this team together.

This team desperately needs Kyrie to go out there and be great tonight, and to buy in to Blatt, because the only thing that can check LeBron now is if someone makes him look stupid. If ownership won't let it happen from management, players need to make it happen so that the media can run with it and thus (hopefully) grant some power back to management.

Hell, a wild-card could be Dion. If he comes out, drops 30 in a Cavs win and starts screaming crazy Dion-esque shit like "KING DION BABY" and "THIS IS MY SHOW", I bet LeBron comes back and puts up 45 in a blowout win the next game.

Should be there an option to triple rep this?

 

[AZCavs]

I wish I could just fast-forward to the playoffs and avoid all of this nonsense.

 

[Cayman13]

Hell, a wild-card could be Dion. If he comes out, drops 30 in a Cavs win and starts screaming crazy Dion-esque shit like "KING DION BABY" and "THIS IS MY SHOW", I bet LeBron comes back and puts up 45 in a blowout win the next game.

Best post of all-time.

 

[OptimusPrime]

Hell, a wild-card could be Dion. If he comes out, drops 30 in a Cavs win and starts screaming crazy Dion-esque shit like "KING DION BABY" and "THIS IS MY SHOW", I bet LeBron comes back and puts up 45 in a blowout win the next game.

If Dion did that he would forever be my favorite Cavalier, even if it would probably be his last game as one.

Anyway, this is turning into what I figured it would when LeBron announced he was coming back. I have to figure out how to root for my team while despising the piece of shit that is the best player on it.

It's why winning a title like this would mean less than it would doing it without him. But winning one with him is still better than never winning one. But not keeping him in line might prevent us from that anyway. What a fucking mess.

 

[westsidebob]

The simple answer is that LeBron, for as smart as he is, backed himself into a corner.

He chose Cleveland for PR. To fix the one black mark on his career. To put right what once went wrong.

He can't back out without destroying his legacy.

The Cavs know this and yet they're STILL letting him drive the bus.

This is where Gilbert and Griffin should know that they control how LeBron will be remembered. LeBron gave that up when he decided to come home.

Put the pieces in place that make sense, not the pieces that satisfy LBJ's ego.

LBJ can't leave. He needs to buy in, he needs to win, or this ruins what he's achieved.

 

[Kypus]

I wonder if the Tobias incident combined with the obvious losing-Andy situation has got into his head. Wonder if he is realizing there is no true enforcer to protect his back on this team?

Yes, I'm an armchair psychologist.

 

[Kypus]

The Cavs know this and yet they're STILL letting him drive the bus.

This is why I never bought into the whole "point forward" mentality of him over Kyrie running plays. It's not going to work into the playoffs, just like when he was here before and tried to carry the team on his back. That whole "didn't have the players around him" shtick was BS- it's a superiority complex that David Blatt is or isn't going to be able to force him to buy around.

 

[westsidebob]

This is why I never bought into the whole "point forward" mentality of him over Kyrie running plays. It's not going to work into the playoffs, just like when he was here before and tried to carry the team on his back. That whole "didn't have the players around him" shtick was BS- it's a superiority complex that David Blatt is or isn't going to be able to force him to buy around.

Yep. Riley forced him to buy in. So far, Gilbert's been an enabler. He's a businessman. He sees dollar signs first, championships second. If he wants a ring, he needs to man up and play a lot bigger than 5'5.

 

[Sebastian]

Well, I guess we know it isn't just LeBron.

 

[roozy]

Yep this shitty small nonathletic roster is being exposed.

 

[Flight479]

Well we got our answer tonight

 

[scopedog]

I have to figure out how to root for my team while despising the piece of shit that is the best player on it.

Definitely not on board with that. LeBron hasn't really done anything worthy of being "despised" for. Those are strong hateful feelings and its hard to take anyone who feels that way seriously. He's not Michael Vick or someone. He's just another superstar and its gone to his head, just like ever other "superstar" who's ever existed. Our society pretty much made who he is as a person today.

 

[Birdy89]

The Cavs know this and yet they're STILL letting him drive the bus.

Lebron is the only player on this team that has ever won anything in the NBA besides another trip to the lottery after a piss poor season.

Dan Gilbert has assembled an entire organization of people who have never had any success in the NBA at their current job.

The includes the players, coach, and front office.

None of them have any credibility with Lebron, so naturally he is going to run this ship until someone else proves to him they aren't going to shit down their leg when the going gets tough.

Kevin Love is a poor mans Melo when it comes to filling the sheet and taking your team no where.

Griffin was poisoned by too much time around Chris Grant, the worst GM in Cavs history.

Blatt had never even coached a game in the league.

By the way, Lebron just turned 30 and needs to win NOW. He has no interest/patience for guys that aren't cutting it right now.

This is on Dan for creating a situation in which there are newbs all over the place in vital positions when we needed guys who have a track record of getting it done.

Lebron is going to continue doing what he wants because in his mind he's the only one who has a clue how to actually win anything more than a lottery in that organization.

 

[Cavatt]

One thing that bothers me is that Max contract. Not that he isn't worth it, but we had to give up a lot to make room.

He wanted the flexibility of a one year contract, but we wasted our assets including a 7 footer we could really use right now. He got all the flexibility he wanted, we were locked in at that point.

We could have gotten rid of Jack at some later date and given him the raise he wanted later.

 

[NasstyNate]

Definitely not on board with that. LeBron hasn't really done anything worthy of being "despised" for. Those are strong hateful feelings and its hard to take anyone who feels that way seriously. He's not Michael Vick or someone. He's just another superstar and its gone to his head, just like ever other "superstar" who's ever existed. Our society pretty much made who he is as a person today.

Despise is too strong a word. Maybe dislike? That might be too strong as well. How about not given me a reason to like him?

Now, I certainly respect his basketball talent, which is up there with Duncan as the best of this generation. But he has never really given me a reason to like him. It's the constant frontrunning, lack of recruiting the first go round, openly cheering for the Yankees and cowboys, never taking responsibility when things go badly, giving up against Boston, the decision, pretending that going to play with Love and Kyrie was about going home, and a bunch of other things that I could list that really make it hard to like the guy.

He put his friends on in the business world and reps Akron all the time. He should be applauded for that. And he didn't have the best upbringing, so I don't want to shit on him too much. But his circle made him a national figure at the expense of Cleveland. And, frankly, Lebron is just a man, while Cleveland is home. So my good will toward him is pretty much burned out for good. I'll be cheering like crazy if we ever win the championship, but it sure as hell won't be for him.

I don't expect people from around the country to get that, and some from here may disagree, but that's just the perspective of one Clevelander.