Originally Posted by
just a lemma
What he did to the people of Cleveland is unconscionable. To say they worshipped him is an understatement. It's okay to leave for Miami to play with your friends and win championships. Free agency is a right. However, by leaving by way of extremely public self-aggrandizing spectacle, he slapped his home town--remember, he is a native of the area--in the face.
Consider the following facts.
Recall that he refused to meet with Tom Izzo when Cleveland was thinking about hiring him. Is that any way to show respect to the franchise and the city?
Recall that he was granted extraordinary privileges by the team. The Cavs built their team practice facility near his home for his benefit. It did not matter how far away the coaches or the other players lived from the practice facility. Only LeBron mattered. His friends road on the team's chartered plane and got the owners' court-side seats during the playoffs. The Cavs even put his friends on the team payroll. It is rumored that Chicago's refusal to grant the same privileges eliminated the Bulls as a contender for the self-proclaimed King's services. Is that any way to show respect to the franchise and the city?
Recall that he started this 2010 talk a long time ago, limiting the Cavs' ability to improve the team. Again, while free agency is his right, by publicly talking about leaving two seasons ago, it became harder for the Cavs' to attract free agents. They were forced to improve by cap-killing trades for older veterans (good young players are usually not available). The team mortgaged its entire future trying to keep LeBron happy.
Recall that LeBron wanted Larry Hughes, Shaq, Mo Williams, et al. on his team. He can't request them and then complain when he can't win with them.
Recall that the Cavs have been the NBA's best regular season team for the last two seasons. Sure, they did not win the championship, but has the best player in the NBA ever left the team with the best record in the NBA via free agency? Is that not a huge slap in the face of his teammates? I think this is an important point to consider if you want to defend LeBron's decision as an unselfish one motivated by the desire to win. He was already on the best team or close to the best team in the NBA. It's one thing to want to leave your team when it barely makes the playoffs or is stuck in the lottery. It's a whole other matter to leave a team that has had the best record in the NBA for the past two seasons. THAT is fear. The kind of fear that true winners would not have. When people say that Jordan, Bird, and Magic would not have done what LeBron did, they are not saying that Jordan, Bird, and Magic would not have wanted good teammates. They are saying that Jordan, Bird, and Magic would never have believed that they could not win the next season with a team that had the best record in the league.
Recall that the Cavs often suffered in crunch time because of Mike Brown's deficiencies as an offensive coach. Was it not LeBron who was instrumental in the hiring of Brown? Didn't the Cavs keep Brown around longer than they should have because they felt that LeBron wanted him to be the coach? Every summer, there were rumblings about the Cavs' coaching situation because Brown would be exposed in the playoffs. Those same stories would always mention that a firing was unlikely because LeBron likes Brown.
The people of Cleveland were angry because they were given false hope. They never thought that he would reject his hometown on national television---not after the team and the city spent the better part of the decade catering to his every whim and need. People still would have been upset if he had left without the TV special, but they would not be nearly as angry as they are now.
In the end, I think that the Cavs should not have given into LeBron's every whim. They should have kept his friends away from the team. They should have fired Brown earlier and hired the best man available. They should have planned for the long run when LeBron signed his extension instead of crippling the team's flexibility by trading for bad contracts to keep LeBron happy every year. They should have kept LeBron's ego from spinning out of control. A lot of should haves...
Recall that Boozer was reviled in Cleveland despite the fact that 1) he was offered significantly more money by Utah 2) his coach Paul Silas publicly displayed his contempt for him--at one point referring to him as a see-you-next-Tuesday to reporters 3) his was told by the team that they expected him to be a role player and nothing more 4) he was not a Cleveland native 5) he was a second rounder who had the reason to want greater financial security 6) the supposed handshake deal he may or may not have had with the Cavs was ILLEGAL under the collective bargaining agreement.
There are simply no such mitigating circumstances for LeBron.