LeBron James

[Soda]

The issue here is that if LeBron doesn't buy in, other guys aren't going to buy in.

And until then, we're going to be playing some .500 level basketball.

Pretty sure it was you who said something along the lines of, "this is the effect of institutionalized tanking."

You couldn't be more dead-on. Tanking should continue to be allowed because it kills organizations. It also makes future attempts by upper management to make the team good seem disingenuous and insulting to the players who had to live with the tank.

 

[jlegg21]

I disagree completely. I think it should be a bigger story...then maybe he'd realize he's being an ass. I heard rumblings a coup was in progress a long time ago. I said as much in the mod room.



I don't think he was nearly as injured as he claimed. All you had to do was look at the Nets game when the Royals walked in and JayZ and Beyonce were on the other side of the court. Suddenly, the effort was there on both ends of the court. I think he was hoping that the vacation to Miami would be the dagger in the Blatt coffin.



Oh he tried in Miami...Riley and Spoe dropped the hammer on him...Wade talked him into eventually buying in too.



Again, i respectfully disagree. Flying to Miami and then the OSU game? How disrespectful is that to his teammates and coaches who are trying to stop the boat from sinking? Is it that much to expect him to hang around his team, do therapy with the team, sit in on film sessions and attend our games? It's tough to build chemistry when you having new coaches, systems, players, trades and injuries. Now your best player isn't buying in and going on vacations...that makes it infinitely harder. He's acting like a spoiled brat. His whole attitude has been "do what i want or i'm not trying...Blatt isn't "La Familia" so I'm not trying". He goes around mgmt when they say no to special requests for family and friends. It's absurd. He's a megalomaniac.

Bottom line is he will never know if Blatt is the next Pop if he doesn't give him a chance. Has Blatt made mistakes? Sure! But work with him, don't sabotage him from day #1. It's disgusting. I'll tell you this, if we fire him, he won't be unemployed long. Kerr loves him, RC and Pop love him too...I could see him replacing Pop someday to be honest.

Are all our problems Lebron's fault? Nope...but he's the source of many. Ownership is responsible to for letting him walk all over them and everyone else, so they are a big part of the problem too by enabling him. Blatt is guilty of coming in starstruck...the first 2 months mgmt begged him to be harder on Lebron and challenge him. Lue is doing Blatt no favors whatsoever...he is in charge of our defense too. Griff? Not sure what to say, he's been forced into overpaying for some of these trades, ownership overrules decisions he makes left and right...i feel bad for him.

I don't know how this will all shake out. Will it click and he starts to buy in? Maybe. Will the trainwreck continue, Lebron finally get his way and have Mark Jackson as the coach in a week or two? Maybe.

Only in Cleveland...

Terrifying, every word. And yet if you take him at his word, Love continues to say he likes it here and wants to stay.

The ownership part is the scariest thing. Nothing will change with a new coach if that whole problem stays the way it is...

 

[David.]

The issue here is that if LeBron doesn't buy in, other guys aren't going to buy in.

And until then, we're going to be playing some .500 level basketball.

Na we were 18-11 before he went out and he's playing better. Plus shump, jr and mozgov.

If nothing else, expect that

 

[Flight479]

I can already see people acting crazy if LeBron has a bad game. Instead of him just having an off night it will conspiracy theories all over the place. Can't wait

 

[Amherstcavsfan]

Again, this is the deal with the devil that everyone *except Blatt I suppose* has made.

This shouldn't be a shock. I understand LeBron was talking the talk and everything, but he wasn't going to come in and not fall back into some bad habits.

The question is how long do we continue to jam this square peg into a round hole Blatt-James marriage, and how long before we simply acquiesce to his demands. Because LeBron isn't going anywhere now.

 

[David.]

I really like blatt and want to defend him over LeBron, but some of the decision making, rotations etc make it very difficult, and they happen every single game.

 

[MirORich]

Stars wielding incredible power in an organization is not new. And while he hasn't done it in Cleveland, LeBron has won 2 titles. And taken teams to 5 finals appearances. So the man is not an ordinary player with ordinary expectations and ego.

Thinking about it, knowing that people don't change too much from who they are, my main issue becomes not that LeBron is like this, but that he is so passive aggressive and "sneaky" about it. If he thinks his way is the best way or just wants to be surrounded by players and coaches he picks, fine. Just freaking say so. Point blank. Pull no punches. Ask for what you want and get it. None of this passive aggressive shit.

And what Max says about Blatt is true. The Warriors and Spurs would jump at the chance to bring them into their organization. How can we judge a head coach who is not only dealing with injury problems, a roster new to each other, and on top of that is being undermined from day 1 by the guy who every other player on the team looks up to and takes his cues from?

 

[DrEnoch]

Again, this is the deal with the devil that everyone *except Blatt I suppose* has made.

This shouldn't be a shock. I understand LeBron was talking the talk and everything, but he wasn't going to come in and not fall back into some bad habits.

The question is how long do we continue to jam this square peg into a round hole Blatt-James marriage, and how long before we simply acquiesce to his demands. Because LeBron isn't going anywhere now.

LeBron isn't going anywhere. So give Blatt the go ahead (and push him to) actually discipline him. He is a player. Blatt is coach. LeBron isn't going anywhere, and at some point, he's going to stop pouting and try what his coach says, even if only to try and get more rings (which he probably wants more thsn Blatt gone). Fuck this bending to his every desire. Lay down SOME semblance of law.

 

[Amherstcavsfan]

LeBron isn't going anywhere. So give Blatt the go ahead (and push him to) actually discipline him. He is a player. Blatt is coach. LeBron isn't going anywhere, and at some point, he's going to stop pouting and try what his coach says, even if only to try and get more rings (which he probably wants more thsn Blatt gone). Fuck this bending to his every desire. Lay down SOME semblance of law.

Blatt had his chances to do so, and passed on them. Typical rookie coach mistake, and now he has a full revolt on his hands.

Blatt is being sabotaged, but he's twisted the knife a few times too.

 

[Maximus]

He doesn't like David Blatt. That much is clear.

And still he's played harder than anyone else on the team the last two games, better than anyone else on the team the last two games (by a lot) and is pretty much the only reason we won the last game and were even close in the Suns game (along with Smith).

Meanwhile, Blatt's coaching these last two games has been pretty damn pathetic. So even though LeBron may not like Blatt, he's been bringing it at a high level and Blatt has not.

I wonder how much credit Kobe deserves for last night. Lebron had 2 pts in the first quarter, bricked 4 free throws to start the 2nd. Kobe made a couple friendly cracks about him getting old from the bench, Lebron engaged. Sometimes that's all it takes for Lebron to make it Lebron v Kobe, instead of Lebron v Blatt.

 

[crabbyshark]

Blatt had his chances to do so, and passed on them. Typical rookie coach mistake, and now he has a full revolt on his hands.

This full revolt stuff is total bullsh*t. Who on the team besides LeBron desires a coaching change or has problems playing for Coach Blatt? Provide evidence.

 

[MirORich]

I wonder how much credit Kobe deserves for last night. Lebron had 2 pts in the first quarter, bricked 4 free throws to start the 2nd. Kobe made a couple friendly cracks about him getting old from the bench, Lebron engaged. Sometimes that's all it takes for Lebron to make it Lebron v Kobe, instead of Lebron v Blatt.

So does LeBron not like Blatt the person or does he not like that Blatt came in with a system that isn't predicated on LeBron initiating all of the decisions on the court?

Is he protesting Blatt or or just not participating in Blatt's offense?

It seems silly because Blatt seems more than willing to create a hybrid system where sometimes its his plays(like the great one Crabbyshark posted in the Blatt thread) and the other times its LeBron initiating from the top of the guy.

The whole thing is just dumb because they are both extremely intelligent basketball minds.

 

[Maximus]

So does LeBron not like Blatt the person or does he not like that Blatt came in with a system that isn't predicated on LeBron initiating all of the decisions on the court?

It's not a personal issue with Blatt or the system...Blatt just isn't his guy.

Within 2 weeks of Lebron signing with Cleveland, Mark Jackson signed with Rich Paul's Klutch Sports. Connect the dots...

 

[Triumph36]

Stars wielding incredible power in an organization is not new. And while he hasn't done it in Cleveland, LeBron has won 2 titles. And taken teams to 5 finals appearances. So the man is not an ordinary player with ordinary expectations and ego.

Thinking about it, knowing that people don't change too much from who they are, my main issue becomes not that LeBron is like this, but that he is so passive aggressive and "sneaky" about it. If he thinks his way is the best way or just wants to be surrounded by players and coaches he picks, fine. Just freaking say so. Point blank. Pull no punches. Ask for what you want and get it. None of this passive aggressive shit.

And what Max says about Blatt is true. The Warriors and Spurs would jump at the chance to bring them into their organization. How can we judge a head coach who is not only dealing with injury problems, a roster new to each other, and on top of that is being undermined from day 1 by the guy who every other player on the team looks up to and takes his cues from?

well of course he's going to be sneaky; if he comes out trying to make demands about this or that, it'll tarnish his image and make him look like a diva. that's the last thing he wants because 'the decision' backlash is 100% gone and now everyone loves him again and respects that he went to win a title for his title-hungry hometown. with what he's doing now, a very limited minority of the public "gets it" but by and large they don't consider him to be the root cause of all this nonsense. he's going to do whatever he can to keep the blood off his hands.

if blatt is fired and jackson is hired (going to guess he's almost a guarantee if blatt is let go), the narrative isn't going to be "lebron handpicked a head coach." it's going to be "coach brand new to the nba couldn't cut it, so they're going for a relatively young coach that had recent success with a young team and was unjustly fired." lebron still appears scot-free while getting what he ultimately wants.

This full revolt stuff is total bullsh*t. Who on the team besides LeBron desires a coaching change or has problems playing for Coach Blatt? Provide evidence.

it isn't so much they have problems playing for him. it's that attitude, motivation, emotion, etc etc come from the top down. lebron is the leader here. he's been to the finals a bunch. he's won titles. he's won season and finals mvps. he's won gold medals. he's going down as one of the best to ever play the game. nobody else on the team can say anything remotely close to that, so they're going to look to him to lead.

when it comes to winning and team success, there is no "big 3." it's lebron and two guys that have been losers their entire careers. if they can't rely on him to completely buy in to the coach, system, and organization as a whole, how can you expect them to? it completely changes the dynamic of the locker room.

it's not a "revolt" per se, but they aren't buying into the coach because the superstar isn't buying in either. they aren't pushing for him to get fired like lebron is, but they are following his lead.

 

[Amherstcavsfan]

This full revolt stuff is total bullsh*t. Who on the team besides LeBron desires a coaching change or has problems playing for Coach Blatt? Provide evidence.

Yes, well I'm not an insider so I cannot provide anything. Proof is on the court.