Longhorns alum Daniel Gibson: On LeBron and his new out-of-Texas home
08:57 PM CDT on Monday, July 19, 2010
Daniel Gibson joined 1560 AM The Game in Houston to talk about why he posted the positive comments about the Cavs on his blog and how surprised he was that LeBron made the choice to join Miami. This interview was transcribed by sportsradiointerviews.com
On why he sent the message to Cleveland fans on his website: “I guess that out of the gate, I had never been out of Texas to live. Then I got drafted 42nd to Cleveland and I had an unbelievable rookie year when I went to the Finals and everything like that. Throughout that whole season I felt comfortable playing in that city because everybody just seemed to be rooting for me just because I was a second round pick, not getting a lot of notoriety and whatever the case may be, everybody in the city just seemed to be rooting for me and hoping that I was successful. I just got a feeling for the city that if you’re a part of the culture, like the Cleveland Browns , Cleveland Indians whatever the case may be, they will go to war for you. I’ve seen guys literally crying after we lose a regular season game. It touched me watching how everything went down with the whole decision. I knew the people of Cleveland needed something positive and I wanted to be the one to reach out, and let them know that they’re kid is still here.”
On whether or not LeBron’s decision surprised him: “I can’t say it did. I actually was in Cleveland with LeBron at his skills camp and I was there with him working out and playing. We never try to talk about those things because everybody tries to relax in the offseason. I didn’t get the feeling at the time that he was leaving. I didn’t think it would be Miami of all places and once I heard it was a big shocker to me.”
On where he thought LeBron was going to go: “I really thought it was going to be Cleveland. I thought that would be where he would end up, but Miami had never came on my radar. I heard a lot about New York, I heard a lot about Chicago, but I never really thought he was going to go to Miami.”
On how much of an opportunity he feels like he has now that LeBron is gone: “Oh yeah. Big time. Everybody knows LeBron probably played 80-90 percent of our plays went through him. Whether it was making a pass or making a shot. With him leaving, basically it’s a whole new ballgame and everybody has to create for themselves, step their game up, and take their game to another level if we wanna be competitive in the way the Eastern Conference has got most of all. If we want to be competitive every night, everybody has to step up and I feel like this is a big opportunity for myself to show everyone what I’m capable of doing. That I’m not just a spot up guy or somebody who just stands around shooting threes. I’m capable of doing other things.”
(BTW can we change this smiley so that ban is over his face?)Like this one..
