Not buying this not being about basketball. LeBron's ego is way too big. Sure, it's a better spot for business and likely preferred by his family, but LeBron absolutely thought guys would flock to him in LA. The writing was on the wall that Kawhi and AD were going to be available and PG was a free agent.
The master plan wasn't to sign every knucklehead available and then nab Muscala at the deadline. This was a gross miscalculation by LeBron and Magic.
It's pretty interesting. I think becoming a mercenary really changes the way fans view you. Durant is dealing with this in the worst way. He is the best player on the best team, but no one would call him the best in the game. It's amazing the way the GS fans hold him at arms length.
Lebron erased his defection to Miami with the return and calling it "college" for him. That was smart, but this latest move makes everything about him ring hollow now. I even think back to Pat Riley saying "You can't give up and leave when things get tough", and that seems even more applicable today.
He has done lasting damage to his legacy and joined an incredibly capricious fan base. What happens when he realizes it wasn't just Cleveland that made other stars reluctant to join him?
Kobe isn't better, but that's gotta hurt. That was always one of the potential nasty narratives if he went to L.A. and didn't bring them a championship. And it might actually get pretty ugly there if he manages to beat Kareem's record while still playing for the Lakers.
But it's the bed he made, so he's gotta lie in it. No way I'd support bringing him here at the end of his career just so he could break that record somewhere other than in L.A..
Crazy to think of the roster we could have built if he'd of just signed long term. I actually prefer not to think about it. We'd at least have PG and who knows who else. Instead we're stuck with the remnants of the "squad" and total irrelevancy.The Hawks and Pacers have been LOL-bait with their fans chanting during free throws.
Hopefully this wakes LeBron up, since I still like him as a basketball player and want to see him do well
But yeah... no sympathy for those who wanted LeBron in a "MaJoR mArKeT" and out of Cleveland.
And especially not for those He-At fans who are like "but we like Cleveland better" now that they have to deal with Lakers fandom/entitlement
I'm on the fence with LeBron himself. I don't like that he straight up signed a 4-year deal there, still.
The East has gotten more entertaining with him gone, for sure. But that sucks that the Lakers get the benefit of "not worrying about LeBron leaving".
Crazy to think of the roster we could have built if he'd of just signed long term. I actually prefer not to think about it. We'd at least have PG and who knows who else. Instead we're stuck with the remnants of the "squad" and total irrelevancy.
Barring that, I see the Lakers majorly overpaying for some free agents who won't put them over the top.
Of course he didn't. People actually believed that?Bosh just said on skip and Shannon today that Lebron never tried to get him in Cleveland
I never did but some people still believed that bs its just good Bosh nipped it in the bud 9 years laterOf course he didn't. People actually believed that?