LeBron, the best basketball player on the planet, switched teams last night. If I am the first person bringing that to your attention, congratulations for coming out of that coma. I don't believe he handled the whole ordeal very well, but how do you handle something of that magnitude perfectly? After the decision, my Facebook was buzzing about the decision. Almost every post and comment pertained to LeBron, which got annoying after a while. Then, someone would have a completely random status like, "Pamela Waters interesting article for those of you interested in gender/sexuality issues..." That pissed me off even more. Why doesn't she give LeBron the attention he so desperately wanted for himself? I was kind of assuming my news feed was like a LeBron James exclusive channel and then I get my focus broken by that bit of random information. Pissing me off!
I live in Northeastern Ohio and I assumed all along Lebron was going to stay in Cleveland. I figured, he just wants everyone to talk about and salivate over him for a few months, then he can return to his goal of winning a championship in Cleveland. I got information from newspapers, blogs, ESPN, LeBron related tweets, and blogs about LeBron related tweets. I became so immersed in LeBron rumors that I couldn't determine any kind of accurate reporting from something a guy with his own blog (like me) could make up with his wildest imagination. So my judgment was clouded. I read stories with my heart. I rationalized everything from the perspective that he wouldn't ever leave. I wholeheartedly believed he was staying. My first bit of doubt came when the ESPN poll showed that 47 states believed LeBron was going to the Heat (hmmmmm, maybe something is up). Still, at that point it wasn't a done deal to me. Not until I heard it from The Kings mouth.
Then he dropped the bomb. I wondered, "was I the last person to know this was about to happen?" The answer to that is a resounding 'yes'. I predetermined LeBron's decision based on emotions, mine and his perceived emotions. However, LeBron made his decision without his emotions. This was a decision where less research was actually more. The more I read and the more I thought, the more I got confused.
But I can't hate on the way this guy plays basketball. I can't hate on the way he promoted himself and captured peoples attention that would have otherwise refused to care. I can't hate on him because he left - Cleveland doesn't own him. But I can hate on how poor of a speaker he is. With as much respect for LeBron as I have (a hell of a lot), he is terrible at expressing himself and even using words correctly. Let's take a look:
LeBron says this to start the interview, "This whole free-agent experience, I'm looking forward to it."
I was assuming the whole free agent experience was ending in four minutes with his decision? Oh, there are other players in the league aside from LeBron? Ok, I get it now
"The last time I changed my mind was probably in my dreams, and when I woke up this morning I knew it was the right decision."
Mark my words: dream interpretation is going to become vogue. Sometimes I have dreams when I sleep, too. Sometimes I even follow my dreams. However, my dreams don't determine an entire state's economy and the landscape of any professional sports leagues. I can picture LeBron's dream now. He, Bosh and Wade are all giant centaurs, riding from NBA city to NBA city, destroying everything in their path. They crush The Pringles guy, Mike D'Antoni, and his wizardry in New York before heading to Detroit to fight with the Gargoyle Charlie Villanueva, only stopping in Cleveland to pillage all the women and children and to relieve themselves. LeBron wakes up, and the decision is made.
When asked about the Cleveland fans feelings, LeBron says, "They can have mixed emotions, of course."
Now that we have your permission, Mr. King, our emotions are becoming extremely mixed
"Put the shoe on the other foot. If the Cavs would have got rid of me at one point, would my family burn down the organization? Of course not."
Umm, this one is debatable...
"If I draw a guy and Joel Anthony is under the rim, he has to make plays."
Spoiler alert: LeBron's first move as GM of Heat is to resign Joel Anthony
"One thing that you can't control is you never know. You never know"
Not if you learn, LeBron. If you learn what you don't know, you can control it
When asked if he had any doubts about his decision, his reply was, "No. I don't have any doubts at all."
So you just decided the morning of the interview to go to Miami after deliberating for months, and you have no doubts? I had doubts about what I ate for breakfast yesterday morning and the only consequence to that was the 350 calories I put in my body. Maybe once they go 82-0 next season I will believe that.
"It's been a huge -- it's been heavy on me a lot."
I think he was looking for the word burden, couldn't find it, and abandoned it mid analogy. But, hey, it happens to us all. However, In my dream (that led me to make this post) I nailed every question asked to me by Bill Simmons on the special programming show about me that was aired by ESPN The Ocho. Every stinking one!
"And like I said before, I just thank all those teams that have come to Cleveland and us have those interviews and have that process"
Problem 1: You never thanked all the teams before
Problem 2: That doesn't make sense
With all the poking fun and bitterness out of the way, I would like to point out one more thing. The trio of James-Wade-Bosh, if they play as a team and focus solely on wins, will be very, very good. I could see LeBron averaging 22-11-10 on a team that doesn't lose too often. And I really think Wade will lead them in scoring.
John Hollinger of ESPN estimated their win total at 61. Dave Berri of The Wages of Wins Journal estimates them at 55 - playing teams 3 against 5. Neil Paine of Basketball-Reference says the statistical plus/minus suggests they could win 68 games. My prediction, assuming they add a few solid role players, is that they break the linear equation of efficiency and win OVER 100% of their games. You heard it here first.
I'll be interested to see how they fill in the Heat roster. Do they add a point guard or just let James and Wade split the duties? Do they get a big center or run like hell with Bosh in the middle? Maybe they fill their open spots by bringing Mark Price and Brad Daugherty out of retirement, because the knife could go even deeper in Cleveland's back.
Closing Thoughts
What is Cleveland's next course of actions? Is Wally Szczerbiak still available?
Gilbert's open letter? He will regret that but I'm glad he called James out
Did they really think that involving the Boys and Girls Club would mitigate the damage? That's like trying to stop a freight train by throwing a new born baby at it. Sorry for that imagery.
Now I feel a lot better. Whew
