I wish I wrote this... LeBron hardly a king

[Bch]

You cant blame ppl for upgrading

Lebrons tired of playing with a bunch of community college players trying to compete for a championship... he's even leaving 30 million on the table in order to go compete for a championship.

[7even]

LOL @ people acting as if Kobe was any different than LeBron.

When he was drafted he demanded a trade to the Lakers.
He had Shaq in his prime there.

When the Lakers sucked he demanded to be traded.
He got Gasol for Kwame and Crittenton.


James stuck with a shit coach and shit GM in a boring city for 7 years, and now you torch him for joining a talented team? hahaha get over yourself, I know you're depressed by always getting owned by James for the next 4 Finals, but still, you need to accept that it was a logical move from him

[Halu Sination]

LOL @ people acting as if Kobe was any different than LeBron.

When he was drafted he demanded a trade to the Lakers.
He had Shaq in his prime there.

The hell? No he didnt. First of all, I don't even care for these Kobe arguments, but Shaq didn't even get signed until AFTER the draft, lol. Secondly, it was Jerry West who conned the dumbass Hornets into sending Kobe to LA, you think Kobe WANTED to play on a team, filled with a bunch of veteran All-Stars (thus limiting his playing time), where he would have to be a back-up to Eddie Jones? Taking away the glamor of LA, does that honestly sound like something that somebody with a personality of Kobe's would remotely be interested in doing?

When the Lakers sucked he demanded to be traded.
He got Gasol for Kwame and Crittenton.

Yeah, and Kobe got GRILLED for that. But that said... Kobe, aka the man who already had a ring, wanted to be traded to a young team that had no clear-cut leader (Bulls) where he would clearly still be captain. Now I personally always thought that was a punk-ass move, and if we did trade him, I probably would've never cared about him again. But at least I would have respected the killer instinct and obsession to define his own legacy as a leader. Now if Kobe ever asked to be traded to Dwyane Wade's Miami Heat after they had already signed another All-Star? I would have fucking laughed at Kobe, regardless of how many rings he won out there, just for reverting into someone else's bitch. Like I said, it doesn't matter who's the best player on that team, we all know its Wade's team and the ball will be going in his hands when the game is on the line.

James stuck with a shit coach and shit GM in a boring city for 7 years, and now you torch him for joining a talented team? hahaha get over yourself, I know you're depressed by always getting owned by James for the next 4 Finals, but still, you need to accept that it was a logical move from him

I'll agree with you here, though. I could care less that he's leaving Cleveland, I'm actually cracking the fuck up. This shit is amusing to me, LeBron just made the league that much more interesting for yall. People wanted a reason to hate LeBron, now they're getting that reason on a silver platter. But just for your information, until LeBron actually wins a ring, they're not going to be hating on him for making a team dominant, they're hating on him for the fact that he was supposed to be "The Chosen One" and now "chose" to become someone else's sidekick.

Watch any of those videos on NBA.com or ESPN.com. You think those analysts are "afraid" of Miami? Why would they be? None of them are affiliated with any teams, they just get paid to report. So why are they saying the exact same disappointment that people at this board are saying? Just some food for thought.

[M Dogg™]

I wish I wrote this too...

LeBron is now the king of what, exactly?

By JIM LITKE, AP Sports Columnist
Fri Jul 9, 12:07 am ET

The King?

Of what, exactly?

Hype? Wasting time? Stacking the deck?

Check, check and double-check.

So LeBron James is going to Miami. Man, did he ever pick the right place to win. Just don't forget why people say to be careful what you wish for.

Because when James finally does win it all, chances are good he will be as much a follower as a leader, a bigger, better, badder version of Scottie Pippen, another prince who collected a fistful of rings yet was never really cut out to be king.

He could do worse, of course. The shame is James could have done better.

A real king would have dug in his heels in Cleveland and redoubled his effort to patch the cracks in the foundation of a franchise that's already spent more than seven seasons and hundreds of millions trying to build him a throne. That's what Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant did. Maybe even give the Cavs a hometown discount, taking less money than he was worth to free up cap space down the road, the way Tim Duncan did.

Not LeBron.

He's lighting out for South Beach to hang with superfriends Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, while the rest of us recover from an hour-long infomercial that was conceived and choreographed by his advisers, then aided and abetted by ESPN. The announcement was expected to draw in audiences rivaling Tiger Woods' apology and the O.J. verdict — the two biggest non-sports sports stories ever. And just like those two, James is probably the only guy coming out of it who actually believed what he was saying.

Even the kids from the local Boys & Girls Club stuck in the background as props — who would have guessed that wealthy Greenwich, Conn., even had a chapter? — knew that just because James has a tattoo that says "Loyalty" doesn't make it so.

The most telling moment came when he was asked whether it would have been "sweeter" winning a championship in Cleveland, just down the interstate from Akron, the town James grew up in.

"I think championships are championships, and you can't look at it as saying, 'Well, if I would have did it somewhere else, it would have been sweeter,'" he replied. "Because, I mean, it's a championship. A lot of people don't get there.

"When you get to that point and you win a championship, you can't say, 'Wow, I wish I would have did it somewhere else.' That makes no sense to me, because you put a lot of hard work into it to get to that point and I have not got there yet.

"But I'm going to do everything in my power," he added, "to lead that Miami franchise to a second one."

If nothing about the announcement surprised Wade, that last part should qualify as news. He'd never admit viewing Bosh and even James as sidekicks — officially they're equals, for the moment anyway — but it's telling that they wound up coming to him. Plus, Wade was the man in Miami when the Heat won their first title, although he had plenty of help from Shaquille O'Neal.

Yet that arrangement worked precisely because Shaq had already won three championships in Los Angeles. Deferring to Wade at crunch time was not only smart — the kid was just hitting his stride — it made Shaq look like an even bigger man. Contrast that with James, who brings the same outsized ego but zero championships to the table. There will never be enough credit to go around.

Russian billionaire and new Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov may not be an NBA insider yet, but he already knows how the game is played off the court. Getting in what is among the first of a thousand expected digs at the move, he predicted even before the announcement that joining the bona fide All-Stars awaiting James in Miami would "diminish his brand."

Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy was even more pointed.

"Come on, an hour long? OK, it takes 15 seconds to say, 'I've decided to stay in Cleveland.' But we've got another 59 minutes and 45 seconds to, what, promote LeBron James? As if," Van Gundy told the local newspaper, "we don't do that enough"

Frankly, that's about all anybody remotely connected to the NBA did for the last two years. Attention hound that he's become, James milked every last drop. He wore a New York Yankees hat to a playoff game against the Indians in Cleveland and a Dallas Cowboys cap to a Browns' season opener.

James said that he'll always consider Akron home, which is convenient, since he also has it's area code, 330, tattooed on another part of his hide. But outside his house, he's likely to be viewed with the same kind of disdain that northeast Ohioans reserved for Art Modell, the NFL owner who ripped the Browns franchise out of Cleveland and ran all the way to Baltimore with it.

"You simply don't deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal," Cavs owner Dan Gilbert said in an open letter to fans on the team's website. He went on to guarantee the Cavaliers would win a championship before James did: "You can take it to the bank."

Maybe it hurts more because James is one of their own, maybe the best athlete most of them will ever see, and now even he doesn't want to be there.
Some king he turned out to be.
___

Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke@ap.org

[theremedy360]

LMAO @ alll the Cavs fans crying over this shit, and all the sympathy they're being given by the media. Man up you fucking pussies. Yeah it sucks that LeBron left his home town,but they sure as hell didn't get their franchise STOLEN by a market that's worse than theirs. The NBA and the media fuckin disgust me.

[7even]

@Halu: If you think LeBron is Wade's sidekick, I literally don't know what to say to you. He's younger and better. I'm not even getting into an argument here. LeBron is clearly the better player with the greater future. You're acting as if Pippen was as good as LeBron and Wade is as good as Jordan. STOP THAT, IT IS JUST WRONG!

@MDogg: Lakerfans like you are just mad cause you have no chance to win titles anymore. I'm not feeling sad for you, cause youre some spoiled asses who got Shaq as a FA, Bryant for Divac and Gasol for Kwame. So fuck you. Get a taste of your own medicine, you spoiled fucks.


@Remedy: 100% agree

[.:DaYg0sTyLz:.]

Based on the way the Cavs owner acted after the announcement, I can hardly blame LeBron for leaving. Dan Gilbert is pretty fuckin classless and Im sure this wasnt an isolated incident. He's mad cus LeBron wouldnt take his calls or texts after the season ended. As if LeBron needed to. He bashed his ONLY superstar during the playoffs and you think he is supposed to give a shit about your texts? lol I probably would have left too. Not because its Cleveland (well...yeah...Cleveland sucks and all), but because that shows a complete lack of loyalty, respect, and class on the part of the owner.

Im not a big fan of Lebron going to Miami. Id like to see him win a championship without Wade and Bosh. Or at least without Wade. But so be it.

[M Dogg™]

@Halu: If you think LeBron is Wade's sidekick, I literally don't know what to say to you. He's younger and better. I'm not even getting into an argument here. LeBron is clearly the better player with the greater future. You're acting as if Pippen was as good as LeBron and Wade is as good as Jordan. STOP THAT, IT IS JUST WRONG!

@MDogg: Lakerfans like you are just mad cause you have no chance to win titles anymore. I'm not feeling sad for you, cause youre some spoiled asses who got Shaq as a FA, Bryant for Divac and Gasol for Kwame. So fuck you. Get a taste of your own medicine, you spoiled fucks.


@Remedy: 100% agree

hahaha

Okay, the Shaq as a FA thing, he was going to re-sign with Orlando but Orlando had a poll and most said Shaq was not worth the money, so he left for LA. Originally Orlando offered Shaq 54million to stay, then Alonzo Mourning got 100million, Shaq wanted that, LA offered him 120million, Orlando offered 115million, and a poll was ran to see if the people thought Shaq was worth 115million, and the majority said no. Shaq himself said he was willing to take less money to stay, after all Orlando had a better supporting cast with Penny over Nick Van Exel or Eddie Jones, and Horace Grant over Elden Campell. But Shaq was angry and hurt, and we all found out later in his career that Shaq wears his feelings very poorly. There were no rallies to keep Shaq, but a lot of, good, he was too expensive anyways.

Kobe Bryant for Vlade Divac. This actually had nothing to do with Kobe at all. It was about dumping money to get Shaq, and Vlade was very expensive. Charlotte was wanting Vlade to fill the whole Alonzo Mourning left when he was traded in 1995. The Hornets were built to win now, and had no time to waste on a high school kid, which at that time high school players were usually benched because it only happened once in a great while. The Hornets had Anthony Mason and Glen Rice up front, and they wanted a dominate center to help up front, not a high school guard to ride the bench for 2 years. In the long run, worst mistake ever, but at the time, it was an even trade because Kobe could have either been Kobe, or Kwame Brown, the big high school bust.

Gasol for Kwame, Kobe said build around me, or trade me. Lakers choice to build around, and the Memphis Grizzlies are in danger of going bankrupted traded their highest paid player for expiring contracts and future cap room. They used all that cap room on Rudy Guy, so obviously the people running that team are not smart.

If LA does win during Wade's career, that's still 5 titles in 11 years, that's a number most any fan will take. Still, the match ups look good against the current Heat roster. Still they need to fill holes, but Kobe on Wade, Artest on LeBron and Bynum and Gasol on Bosh with Odom playing the wild card, I like our chances.

[wcsoldier]

LOL at thinking Lakers have no chance at winning titles anymore because of the Heat ... next season is going to be great 

[7even]

LOL at thinking Lakers have no chance at winning titles anymore because of the Heat ... next season is going to be great 

The Lakers aren't a GREAT team. Kobe is getting very old and needed to be bailed the fuck out in a Game 7 of the Finals. Even though he is the most competitive motherfucker on earth, he's skipping the World Championships because he realizes how damn old he is getting and how his body REALLY REALLY needs a rest to regenerate and heal itself. Fisher? Lol. Artest? He had some very important lucky 3s in the last game, but he is still a head case. Bynum? Always hurt in the playoffs. Very hit and miss. Odom? Most inconsistent player in the game. The Lakers are not GREAT. The 2001 Lakers were. The 87 Lakers were. The 2011 Lakers? :X

[wcsoldier]

Kobe was HURT ... and he's still had some great playoffs , how many players would achieve (hell would even play) what he did with a broken index finger on his shooting hand ... your favorite player sat out a couple years with a pinky injury on his NON SHOOTING Hand

May I remind you that Kobe was averaging 30 on 50% FG shooting until he broke his finger in December

I agree that we were not a great team this year but you have to take the injuries factor in consideration ...

And anyways how do you know this HEAT team is going to THAT great considering :

- Wade and Lebron have similar games which is going to bring pbs , especially during the playoffs when the majority of the game is played on halfcourt sets

- Bosh is a TERRIBLE defensive player, he better pray the Heat will sign a good defensive center to do the dirty work in the paint (pb there are very few available )

[M Dogg™]

LOL at thinking Lakers have no chance at winning titles anymore because of the Heat ... next season is going to be great 

The Lakers aren't a GREAT team. Kobe is getting very old and needed to be bailed the fuck out in a Game 7 of the Finals. Even though he is the most competitive motherfucker on earth, he's skipping the World Championships because he realizes how damn old he is getting and how his body REALLY REALLY needs a rest to regenerate and heal itself. Fisher? Lol. Artest? He had some very important lucky 3s in the last game, but he is still a head case. Bynum? Always hurt in the playoffs. Very hit and miss. Odom? Most inconsistent player in the game. The Lakers are not GREAT. The 2001 Lakers were. The 87 Lakers were. The 2011 Lakers? :X

Usually great teams win back to back. They beat the Big 3 of Boston in a 7 game war, they suppressed Kevin Durant's coming out party, they steam rolled Utah, they scored over 100 points in 11 plus games, they lead the NBA is scoring for the season, they won 8 playoff games in a row, and other than game 7 when he was valuably fatigued, Kobe was talked about as Finals MVP, even if the Lakers possibly lost. So well you say they ain't great, the Lakers did something great teams do. Win back to back and beat a great team who's starting 5 never lost a playoff series and will more than likely have their Big 3 members in the Hall of Fame. What more do you want to prove greatness. They win 3 in a row, if you don't think the team is great, then you'd have to admit Kobe is great and deserves the title best in the world. After all, his winning without a great team.

[LooN3y]

LOL at thinking Lakers have no chance at winning titles anymore because of the Heat ... next season is going to be great 

The Lakers aren't a GREAT team. Kobe is getting very old and needed to be bailed the fuck out in a Game 7 of the Finals. Even though he is the most competitive motherfucker on earth, he's skipping the World Championships because he realizes how damn old he is getting and how his body REALLY REALLY needs a rest to regenerate and heal itself. Fisher? Lol. Artest? He had some very important lucky 3s in the last game, but he is still a head case. Bynum? Always hurt in the playoffs. Very hit and miss. Odom? Most inconsistent player in the game. The Lakers are not GREAT. The 2001 Lakers were. The 87 Lakers were. The 2011 Lakers? :X

Usually great teams win back to back. They beat the Big 3 of Boston in a 7 game war, they suppressed Kevin Durant's coming out party, they steam rolled Utah, they scored over 100 points in 11 plus games, they lead the NBA is scoring for the season, they won 8 playoff games in a row, and other than game 7 when he was valuably fatigued, Kobe was talked about as Finals MVP, even if the Lakers possibly lost. So well you say they ain't great, the Lakers did something great teams do. Win back to back and beat a great team who's starting 5 never lost a playoff series and will more than likely have their Big 3 members in the Hall of Fame. What more do you want to prove greatness. They win 3 in a row, if you don't think the team is great, then you'd have to admit Kobe is great and deserves the title best in the world. After all, his winning without a great team.

lebron moved himself from the discussion "best in the world" when he signed with miami. remember him complaining about the elbow? lmfao

[7even]

Saying LeBron can't become the greatest cause he's got great teammates is just being talk of frustrated and scared fans. I'd be the same if the Mavs were still contenders. I'd fucking HATE this. Because I'd fucking knew that my team gon get stomped on by the Heat, and it will not even be fair. Thank God the Mavs will only have to play the Heat 2 times a year.

[Shallow]

You mad?

Why? I'm sad for the actual city of Cleveland. I think that once LeBron would have won a title in Cleveland, that the city would have so much more pride. But me, I'm a western conference guy, and looking at the team, I'd take Fisher, Kobe, Artest, Gasol, Bynum and Odom over those three any day.

Don't worry. Mike Holmgren plans to make Cleveland not give a damn about Lebron. One Superbowl rings will mean more than 10 straight NBA titles.