i think the majority of fans cannot root for lbj. im supposed to hate the lakers but i couldnt root for the heat. ever.

lbj is a president

i think the mismatch between promises and actions renders the gratitude you're imagining kind of small in the storm of everything else.


an important element of it is that he was born in ohio, and the people there loved him as a son, and he professed his loyalty to them and the city, etc. and he just kind of bailed after a while in a classless way.

i don't follow basketball at all, but the offenses as i see them are:

1.) making explicit promises to work hard and bring a title to ohio, his home

2.) he's been hailed as the greatest, and he's readily accepted that and reveled in it. but stars like michael jordan, magic johnson, who also had similar praise, delivered on it by staying in their city and building a dynasty around themselves. they did what it took, saw it through with years of hard work and carried the whole thing on their backs as heroes and champions.

contrasted to james, who's arguably more gifted, who decided it was easier to join some other superstars in a different team and get a title that way rather than demonstrate a champion's work ethic and the same belief in his abilities to be a champion that everyone else has professed

3.) the way he went about it was self-absorbed, classless, and perceived as a kick in the teeth by the fans of the cavs. it was a betrayal to them, because rather than announce it first quietly/respectfully to those it impacted very directly, he chose to make a national spectacle around himself, drawing it out as long as he could, making it all about himself. it's as if he's unaware of how self absorbed he is. he sees himself as royalty, because he's been told he is royalty for ages, and doesn't really seem capable of or willing to really consider the perspective of anyone else. he's 25 years old

people in ohio, rightly or wrongly, felt "entitled" to james, and it wasn't something he shied away from. but for someone as talented as he, and someone as confident as he is, he didn't walk the walk, he punked out. that fuck!!!

i feel angry on behalf of ohio! they don't have a lot going for them, but they had the greatest baseketball player in the world, and they feel he betrayed them

here's a decent video:

it's mostly three, man. I really can't blame a guy from Akron who plays for Cleveland wanting to GTFO. But it's all about #3, that's why he's a bad guy.

"i got a goal, and that's a huge goal, and that's to bring the nba championship to cleveland and i won't stop till i get it"

you say shit like that and people are going to take that as a promise or a commitment

oh man i hope they never fucking win

did he just set the expectation of 8 championships? what an idiot. you'd think one of the main lessons to learn from this whole thing would be "think carefully before you run your mouth" it's a pretty basic lesson

contrast this all to how deservedly worshiped he would be if he stayed in ohio and did win a championship there. even if he won it once, made good on his promise, and did whatever he wanted later. he would be like the shining valiant knight of the world. he'd be the ultimate champion of good.

i don't really follow star wars either, but isn't he basically anakin turning into darth vader?

that doesn't actually contradict what i said. you might hate the lakers more, but do you not hate the heat?

and clint said most americans hate the lakers more. you can't sincerely believe that unless you're an idiot or live in a cave.

everybody says that though, it's purely political

yeah and i'm tired of that bs. a gentleman's word is his bond. as winston churchill once said, "whatever happened to personal responsibility"

It just tickles me how upset Lebron gets people

i hate the heat but everyone here hates the lakers more.

any city with a team in the western conference really could give 2 shits about miami. Literally no one care.... the lakers get the title of most hated in NOLA, Dallas, San Antonio, Utah, Denver, etc

yeah but we don't count because we're not on the east coast or the shithole midwest

yeah no one gives a shit about what people in utah and texas think

We don't have to play them but twice. I imagine they hate Miami because it reduces their 38-44 teams chance of getting the 8 seed in the east.

have you both really been reduced to homerism based on conference in the nba

what are you talking about, you have no idea what's going on. you watch ESPN narratives and decide that's what America thinks.

Me too. I for one am going to enjoy watching those two dunk and fastbreak their way on to the greatest dynasty evah.

Coincidence or arcane omen? You be the shaman.
 

Cavs owner on Twitter: 'Words don't express my feelings'
By Dan Devine


After watching prodigal son LeBron James(notes) return Thursday night as a marauding conqueror (or conquering marauder, whichever you prefer) and lead the Miami Heat to an utterly dominant 118-90 throttling over the Cleveland Cavaliers, it's understandable that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert would be a little emotional after the game.

After all, Gilbert had just seen The One Who Got Away tenderize The Ones Who Are Here Now. He watched helplessly as James wiggled his ample talents all around the dance floor to the tune of 38 points, eight assists, five rebounds, a steal and a block, then briskly sashayed out of town with a championship hopeful, leaving behind a busted, rudderless 7-11 Cavs squad.

Plus, he's the guy who feverishly penned a Comic Sans screed decrying James' "cowardly betrayal" in the wee hours of the night after LeBron announced in his widely assailed "Decision" special that he planned to leave the Cavs to join the Heat. Feeling and expressing powerful emotions is kind of Dan Gilbert's forte. (Well, emotion and financial services/mortgages/Fatheads, I guess.)

Likewise, it wasn't too surprising that Gilbert would take to Twitter to share the winter of his discontent with the Cavalier faithful — after-midnight 14-character spleen-venting is well-worn territory for Dan, too. This time around, though, the two-part early morning missive was less "St. Anger" and more "Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness."

Believe in me as I believe in you, fellow Danny Boy:

At 1:38 a.m. ET, Gilbert delivered Part 1:



And then, six minutes later, followed up with Part 2:



First thing's first: You are a liar, Dan Gilbert. In those Tweets, you expressed your feelings with words and through no other form of artistic expression. You may not have expressed exactly what you wanted to express or done so as eloquently as you might have hoped, but you unquestionably used words. You better not pull that kind of tease-and-fail-to-deliver stunt again; next time, we better see a mixed-media collage or hear a straight-to-your-webcam acoustic cover of a Dashboard Confessional song or something.

Also, neat trick there, Dan, borrowing Michael Jordan's words to align yourself and your fans with the greatest of all time — because if God's on your side, and LeBron's against you, then just where does he stand, hmmmm? It's a sneaky rhetorical move, but I kind of dig it.

Of course, I'm sure a lot of Cavs fans wouldn't be particularly psyched at drawing inspiration from MJ because, well, y'know, and referencing a Jordan brand commercial just brings the focus back to Nike, which is aligned with LeBron James, which means AAAAARGH THEY WIN AGAIN WHY DO THEY ALWAYS WIN.

There are probably a lot of Cavs fans out there who appreciate Gilbert's public outreach to ensure that they know he's one of them, that he rises and falls with the team's fortunes just as they do, and that his emotional investment runs as deep as his financial one. Right now, though, I'm sure way more Cavs fans would prefer that Gilbert focused less on emotional alignment, and more on divorcing himself from the vicissitudes of fandom and building a more talented roster that doesn't prominently feature the likes of Joey Graham(notes) and Ryan Hollins(notes) or count Mo Williams(notes) as its go-to offensive option.

Rebuilding takes time, of course, and many Cleveland fans will wait, because they are a resolute bunch, if nothing else. Here's hoping Gilbert rewards their patience.

Related: Mo Williams, LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat

this makes quite some sense, thanks for explaining.

no, i talk to people. you sit in your corner by yourself and decide that whatever you think is the majority opinion.

I thought he was sitting in an ivory tower.

Oh, that was perched. My bad.

...not to mention the fact that he's been booed everywhere.

including places like new orleans. but whatev.

this is why i stopped listening to Jim rome when i turned 20

i've never listened to jim rome. total asshole.