I have some things to say about LeBron James

Kush15 wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

I was thinking about this and I'm no Bob Woodward, but something struck me as odd. Why would New York strike a deal with Amare if they didn't think they had a chance at another max free agent. It doesn't make sense. You'd sign Amare only after you had the big fish on board, right?

Maybe that max free agent they are now looking at comes out next year, I've heard rumors the backup plan is going to be Carmelo Anthony, who played college BBall in upstate NY at Syracuse.

BTW, don't kill me if he's a FA in 2012, I'm only slightly sure he's a FA next year. And of course, with that said, that isn't even a gaurentee that the Knicks will get him.

Why would he go? He's an actual elite player (Stoudemire's at minimum one tier down, if not two, and without Steve Nash feeding him the ball he's not going to be vaguely the same), and why would anyone who really wants to be good go to the Knicks? They're owned by a moron who can't take a dump without making a bad decision. The Knicks are now like the Clippers East, with the whole bad owner, big city, overpaid second-tier free agent thing going.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Why would he go? He's an actual elite player (Stoudemire's at minimum one tier down, if not two, and without Steve Nash feeding him the ball he's not going to be vaguely the same), and why would anyone who really wants to be good go to the Knicks? They're owned by a moron who can't take a dump without making a bad decision. The Knicks are now like the Clippers East, with the whole bad owner, big city, overpaid second-tier free agent thing going.

No doubt, Dolan's a giant idiot. But plenty of money to be had in NY. Unfortunately, this franchise has been in the sh*tter since the day they traded away Patrick Ewing.

ESPN is now reporting that the James and Bosh signings were both sign and trades, sending two first round picks to the Raps and Cavs each, as well as two second rounders to the Cavs.

Granted, you figure the team won't be sniffing anything before the 25th pick, but still.

Also Milkman, the Knicks have been making much better decisions since Donnie Walsh took over basketball operations.

Kush15 wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Why would he go? He's an actual elite player (Stoudemire's at minimum one tier down, if not two, and without Steve Nash feeding him the ball he's not going to be vaguely the same), and why would anyone who really wants to be good go to the Knicks? They're owned by a moron who can't take a dump without making a bad decision. The Knicks are now like the Clippers East, with the whole bad owner, big city, overpaid second-tier free agent thing going.

No doubt, Dolan's a giant idiot. But plenty of money to be had in NY. Unfortunately, this franchise has been in the sh*tter since the day they traded away Patrick Ewing.

I don't really see the "more money in NY" angle anymore. This isn't the 50s; it's a global economy. You don't make your money on little local endorsements, you get them from Nike and Gatorade. LeBron made a killing in Cleveland from endorsements, and it's not like being in NYC would make much of a difference to the bottom line. People might want to live in New York because it's New York and all. That, or they'll just move to Miami. Hey, wait a minute . . .

Bill Simmons has a fan reaction column.

Some hilarious emails in there.

City: Cleveland
Name: Jeff
I've figured out the moral of the story: Stay in school.

Wade: 3 years at Marquette
Bosh: 1 year at Georgia Tech
The kid from Akron: no college

The most educated guy convinced his dumber friends to come play on his team for less money.

Also some great comparisons to wrestling heel turns... notably Hulk Hogan's

Kush15 wrote:

No doubt, Dolan's a giant idiot.

This. THIS. [size=30]THIS.[/size]

No current NYC franchise playing at MSG is going to be well-run until someone finally gets the Dolans to sell up.

What I can't get over is that LeBron's stated goal is not about how many rings he wants, but to become a billionaire. How is that ever going to happen now? None of his fans from home are still fans. Almost every NBA fan from elsewhere now has a poorer opinion of him. Who in the world cooked up the idea to have that terrible special on TV?

That is the opinion now Fed, but just wait until they start winning and it will all turn around. Look at Kobe, remember the popular opinion back right after that rape stuff in Colorado and him allegedly pushing Shaq out? Look at it now that he has one won two championships. It is sports, people just want to have fun and see winners. They don't want to think about seedy back stories, so they don't.

Jordan responds:

There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry, called up Magic and said, "Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team," But that's ... things are different. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys.

more hilarity from a Bill Simmons reader:

"The Nazgul were the characters in "Lord of the Rings" that were former kings who turned into demons that were constantly chasing the ring. It completely consumed them and robbed them of their humanity. I think this sums up the situation in Miami."

/slow clap

Interesting and at least partially correct response to Jordan from Scoop Jackson:

http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?story...

Sorry for uggo link but I'm on my phone.

Blind_Evil wrote:

Interesting and at least partially correct response to Jordan from Scoop Jackson:

http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?story...

Sorry for uggo link but I'm on my phone.

Terrible article. Seems like he's making excuses for poor Lebron.

Bottom line: Lebron just doesn't have the mean streak that a guy like MJ or maybe even Kobe has.

The ESPN Ombudsman just put up an article about the implications of The Decision on ESPN's credibility.

Rat Boy, great vid.

ESPN = TMZ

Blind_Evil wrote:

Interesting and at least partially correct response to Jordan from Scoop Jackson:

http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?story...

Sorry for uggo link but I'm on my phone.

"Reek" of something different, Scoop, not "wreak".

W.T.H?

This was an article originally published by ESPN then immediately taken down again. Some people still managed to catch it.

Read the article and believe in what MJ had to say. I understand Mr. Scoop Jackson was trying to make a point that might endear him to LBJ but to not admit that basketball in the 80's and part of the early 90's was a different time with a different player mindset is ridiculous. I think if MJ had the opportunity to be a free agent at the same time as a Clyde Drexler, and say any pretty good power forward from that era (Bosh is just pretty good) he would have declined on pure principle. His competitive nature was and is still perhaps the greatest in the sports history. Here is a guy who went underpaid, as underpaid as a rich athlete can be, for most of his career to allow Chicago management to build and maintain a team around him. James simply doesnt have the competitive nature to desire winning on his own and simply showed his cowardice by running to Miami.

Not to mention, making a comparison between Bosh, Wade, and James to the "What if" team of MJ, Bird, and Magic, is utter idiocy. Had MJ been given the opportunity to play with Bird and Magic, I believe anyone would have understood the shear magnitude of having aruguably the three greatest players of all time together on one team and even applauded his decision. This generations version of a "Dream Team" pales in comparison and should not even be mentioned in the same discussion.

oilypenguin wrote:

W.T.H?

This was an article originally published by ESPN then immediately taken down again. Some people still managed to catch it.

nice snag

Oily's article is behind a login. Is it a reference to the rumor about Delonte West and Lebron's mom?

I'm not prompted for a login. It is about Lebron partying basically.

No, no, the delonte thing is dead and gone. I'm sad we traded him, actually, because I had big plans for the next cavs/ heat game >.>

Here's the story on deadspin. I love the blog but I don't normally link stories to it on here because gawker is normally nsfw-ish. This one should be ok, though.

The world-wide leader in sports response and why it's crap.

Welcome to Cleveland:

I saw this story last night. What exactly was he kicked out for?

Jayhawker wrote:

I saw this story last night. What exactly was he kicked out for?

Wild guess, his own personal safety. Whoever this guy is, he's a moron of biblical proportions.

Posted here because LeBron has a feature role:

Hm. PTI is opening today's show discussing the article.

Did ESPN republish it? This is odd, for ESPN to be discussing ESPN's pulled article...

Okay, I read the article. I'm not prompted for a login anymore, either. I think I saw it linked on Ball Don't Lie.

I don't see what's inflammatory other than the comment about preferring girls with no panties to dudes. Which, really, is common sense to the heterosexual male.

Also, Press Hop 2 is very impressive, but it can't compete for Press Hop 1 when it comes to the quality of the song itself. "We talkin' 'bout PRACTICE."

Oh, I didn't think there was anything really inflammatory in there either, just a dude with a ton of money in vegas being a dude with a ton of money in vegas.

I think that's why it's so amusing that espn killed the story.

Average Dude: Hey look, this article says LeBron is a douche in vegas

ESPN: Well, we can't have any more of that, can we? No no, quite enough douchiness already.

It's just silly. I think ESPN pulled it for fear of offending him, which is ridiculous.