NEW: CHI currently in talks with JJ Redick.
However, several GM’s report whatever the Bulls offer, the Magic will match and stay in ORL.
Matt Barnes of ORL talking to Heat, have had discussions the past couple of days.
And as mentioned, Derek Fisher in talks with MIA.
Riley is already a pimp for bringing in Bron/Bosh/Wade, but if he gets Fish, he’s officially the NBA Godfather.
Unless MIA doesn’t win any championships, then he looks foolish haha.
I like
[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
NEW: Miami Heat are supposedly after Derek Fisher. Several executives and players have already contacted Fisher and he will be in Miami to hear a pitch by Pat Riley.
Props to Riley and the Heat, they are definitely going all out to build this team up from what was scratch only a week ago. If there’s anyone I’d like to manage a team for me it’d be Pat Riley although I’m not optimistic Fisher would leave LA like that. All those years with the Lakers and his contributions to the team may start getting fuzzy for Laker fans very quickly if he does leave…[/quote]
[quote]tmoney1 wrote:
NEW: CHI currently in talks with JJ Redick.
However, several GM’s report whatever the Bulls offer, the Magic will match and stay in ORL.
Matt Barnes of ORL talking to Heat, have had discussions the past couple of days.
And as mentioned, Derek Fisher in talks with MIA.[/quote]
Gaaaadamnit. Miami looks like it’s gonna start taking role players ffrom the other contenders. Barnes from the Magic, Fish from the Lakers. Damn… just… damn.
Regarding the Bulls and Reddick, if the Magic don’t match, then they’ve really improved their team. Sheeit, take Cleveland out and replace them with Chicago as far as Eastern Conference title contenders go. Bulls got Kyle Korver, too.
Apparently the Miami Heat have $15 million left to sign the 9 players required to have the NBA required minimum of 13 players [this is not counting Miller, Barnes, and Fisher obviously].
The deal for LeBron is a sign and trade with the Cavs for 6 years, $110 million, Bosh through a sign and trade with the Raps for 6 years, $110 million, and Wade resigns for 6 years and $107 million. Wade and LeBron have opt out clauses, and Bosh MIGHT have one as well. This are reported. All of the sign and trades involved draft pics and around $15 million in trade consideration for the both the Cavs and Raps. I don’t completely understand a ‘trade consideration’, but it looks like we got some 2nd round draft pics and nothing else.
Joe Johnson got the best deal out of all the free agents. Amare a close second.
The Suns have aquired Amare Stoudemaire in a sign and trade with NY for draft pics and trade considerations. WTF cold feet. The Suns also got Hakim Warrik, who I thought they were planning on replacing Amare with, but I guess not.
[quote]lavi wrote:
So, which teams MIGHT possibly be a contender next year?
Lakers
Thunder
Heat
Magic
Celtics
Chicago?
Who else?[/quote]
I’m not sure about putting the Thunder and Bulls in there. I’d put them right below Championship Contenders, along with Phoenix. I’m assuming The Thunder will be better, and I hope Warrik makes Phoenix better. But the Thunder, Bulls, and Suns are definitely teams to watch out for.
Contenders: Lakers, Celtics, Heat, Magic.
Almost Contenders: Thunder, Bulls, Suns.
[quote]sardines12 wrote:
[quote]randman wrote:
SO FUCKING What?!? What does this have anything to do with LeBron willing going to another superstar team because he couldn’t do it as the leader of his own team after being in the league 7 years?
Kobe got recruited out of high school and got traded to the Lakers. He didn’t pick Shaq and the Lakers. Nor would he have later on his career if he had the choice.
You ARE the new drewh. Just as retarded.[/quote]
And he’d be 3 championships short.[/quote]
Dude, how the hell did this turn to Kobe? You can’t face the fucking truth that Lebron is a beta male through and through and had to turn to an Alpha Male to try and get it done because he can’t do it on his own. Get the fuck over Kobe. He’s an Alpha Male. MJ is an Alpha Male. LeLoser is a Queen; not a King.
Ok go away troll were talkin bball not who your boyfriend is or your ideal Alpha Male.
Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith said Friday he was surprised James went to Miami because he thought the two-time MVP was â??more of a competitor.â?? He said the â??great onesâ?? do it on their own and â??usually stay in one location.â??
It was rare public criticism from the usually coy Smith and perhaps a move to motivate his Magic. James had announced a day earlier that he was joining Dwyane Wade(notes) and Chris Bosh(notes) in Miami to form an All-Star trio.
Asked if Jamesâ?? move to Miami will cause a power shift in the NBA, Smith responded, â??Is Kobe retiring?â??
â??Heâ??s proven he can do it on his own,â?? Smith said of Lakers star Kobe Bryant(notes), smiling over the comments. â??Oops. My bad.â??
[quote]sardines12 wrote:
Ok go away troll were talkin bball not who your boyfriend is or your ideal Alpha Male.[/quote]
Bitch, I’ve been here on these NBA threads from the get go and you come in now and tell me to leave? Don’t think so. The only trollin being done here is you. Get your lips off Lebron’s dick for long enough so you can see what a bitch he is too.
But what does deciding to play in Miami with a “super team” do to his image as a basketball player and a global icon?
It says that he’s not good enough to win by himself and that he needs other superstars to help put him over the top.
Nobody wins without other good players around them, but until now, nobody ever built their own team together from scratch like LeBron, Wade, and Bosh just did. Other teams were built over time, adding a piece here or there until the right ingredients came together to form a champion.
At 25, James thought the clock was ticking and it was time to win. So the big three of the free agent market conspired together to form an All-Star team.
LeBron seems like the kid on the schoolyard who got bullied and brought in his big brother to fight his battle for him.
Wade is his big brother now, expected to do for him what he couldn’t do for himself.
Part of the joy of winning a championship is working hard to earn it, not having it handed to you. But I guess when everything has been handed to you for most of your life, you come to expect that.
For James, putting in the effort, the sweat, and the work, and building something while he lead the way would be so much more rewarding than this. Instead, he took the easy way out.
…
He didn’t help his image or his legacy with his cowardly move to South Beach. He is now the most despised member of the most hated team in sports.
He had other alternatives.
He could have gone to New York and joined Amar’e Stoudemire as the Knicks tried to rebuild their franchise. He supposedly always wanted to play on the grand stage in New York, and instead of being reviled, he would be revered for taking the initiative in trying to bring a championship back to New York.
He could have joined his buddy Jay-Z in New Jersey for a couple of years before they move to Brooklyn and tried to win something there. The Nets have some nice pieces in place with Devin Harris, Brook Lopez, and 2010 No. 3 overall draft pick Derrick Favors.
Or he could have made the smart, safe bet and gone to Chicago to team up with Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, and Carlos Boozer. The pieces were already in place in the Windy City.
By joining the Bulls, he could have put them over the top, but the bottom line is that he would have been the one credited with leading them to a championship.
That’s not how it will be looked at in Miami. The Heat has been Dwayne Wade’s team, and it still is. Wade is the alpha dog. Bosh is the lap dog, and LeBron is now in a sidekick role.
Perhaps that is the smartest move for him. His former coach Paul Silas commented on a radio show before the signing that LeBron doesn’t have a killer instinct.
All the great ones do. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson would trip their mothers to win a game.
LeBron doesn’t have that in him, and that’s why he will be a loser no matter how many championships he wins. His legacy will never be fulfilled.
He will never be in the conversation as the greatest player to ever lace up sneakers.
Perhaps the Chicago Bulls marketing campaign to get him to come to Chicago best describes the reality that is LeBron James.
In their effort to lure him to town, the Bulls’ ad agency sent him a pair of Michael Jordan’s sneakers along with the question, “Can you fill these shoes?”
His answer yesterday said it allâ??he can’t, and he never will.
Most people think that LeBron is taking the easy route and joining a superteam instead of proving he can lead a team to a championship by himself.
By going to a team that already had three superstars, LeBron basically gave up the ability to be the clear-cut best player on the court. He chose hopeful championships over his own legacy in doing so.
It will be much harder for LeBron to win MVP awards and scoring titles when he will be expected to share the load with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Finally, LeBron and the Heat have already been deemed NBA champions by virtually everyone when they don’t even have enough players to sport a team.
Expectations for this team will be through the roof, and if they don’t deliver, it will all fall on the shoulders on King James.
Any way you look at it, LeBron lost with his decision. He went from one of the most loved players in the NBA to one of the most hated in one night.
This decision will tarnish his legacy and any chance of him ending up the greatest player to play the game are all but out the door.
What will this move mean to James’s reputation?
It won’t enhance his image, no matter what happens. James showed he was not capable of winning the championship in Cleveland without a powerful supporting cast. Now, if he does lead the Heat to the title, he will have to share the glory with his fellow all-star players. If he flops, James will get all of the blame. Personally, he will look like a selfish opportunist everywhere in the NBA – except, of course, in Miami. He will be the town’s biggest hero since Dan Marino was flinging touchdown passes for the Dolphins.
By choosing to go to Miami, LeBron James has decided to try to become one of the great winners in NBA history instead of one of the most heroic. Had he gone to almost any other team he wouldâ??ve had a shot at both, but by joining the Heat heâ??ll have lost his shot at heroism.
The almost immediate backlash across the country (except again, presumably in Miami) against LeBronâ??s decision has been staggering. TrueHoopâ??s lead writer, Henry Abbot, was shocked by all the negativity and felt if anything we should applaud an athlete for choosing winning over money, because shouldnâ??t that be what matters most? He should be correct, but hereâ??s the dirty little truth in America: we care more about greatness than winning. And that misunderstanding lies at the heart of the Five Tragedies Of LeBronâ??s Decision:
So when a player like LeBron sets himself up as a King, trying to project perfection, encourage adulation, then we fall all over ourselves viewing him as a hero and his career as an idyllic great story. (and by selling out going to the Miami heat, he will never achieve greatness now)
Yup, in terms of getting the most interest in the story, he played this perfectly, so okay, it was great for the NBA. However, in terms of his personal brand, it was a misstep of staggering proportions. Fans of all teams thought it was horrendous that he â??broke upâ?? with his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers on a televised show.
We want our stars to be kind, benevolent, considerate beings. Not only did he keep Cleveland in the dark, he held the other teams involved hijacked too.
However, joining Miami 9 (a team that already has a player in Dwayne Wade whoâ??s proven he can be the alpha dog who brings home a championship), sorta feels like LeBron wonâ??t really be pushing himself as much as he could. Thatâ??s not to say I think the Heatâ??ll be instant contenders whoâ??ll win it all easily, itâ??s just that we wonâ??t get to see two of the NBAâ??s best battle against each other, and neither of those two guys will have to be great all the time for them to win.
Right after â??The Decision,â?? analyst Jon Barry said as much, that basically the LeBron and Wade we saw the last few years, theyâ??re gone. No, they wonâ??t suck.
However, every Heat game you watch, you wonâ??t necessarily be assured that youâ??ll see at least a few amazing things from LeBron like you could while he was with the Cavs (or if he went anywhere but the Heat).
The thing is, you can be assured that every game youâ??ll see Kobe do something damn impressive. Again, not because heâ??s being a ball hog, but because the team is designed for him to be the alpha dog. Versus Pau, as good as he is, was never someone you couldnâ??t take your eyes off of, so itâ??s fine for him to be a number two that disappears now and then. Now when Wade has another one of those nights where heâ??s shooting so well that he starts talking to his hand, will a kid in a LeBron jersey want Wade to keep going to see how insane Wade can be IF it means turning LBJ into a disappearing Lamar Odom?
Legacy-wise, even if LeBron does win say three championships, in Miami it will add the least luster to his resume. Sure, if he never won a ring it wouldâ??ve hurt his legacy even more, but the guyâ??s come so close without any true star-power by his side that itâ??s hard to imagine that wouldnâ??t have happened eventually with the Cavs (plus each year Cleveland seemed to add another piece, always improving the team). Simply winning doesnâ??t necessarily improve your reputation if youâ??re on what will be a stacked team. Thereâ??s a reason All-Star Games arenâ??t that exciting. You can argue thatâ??s â??cuz no one plays defense and they arenâ??t two true teams.
Sardines, you have your collective head in the sand. Listen to what the rest of the country is saying about your Beta male, Lebron, who can’t be the Alpha Male on his own team to win. Bitch.
One of my first ESPN.com columns was titled, “Is Clemens the Antichrist?” It covered how my relationship changed with Roger Clemens as a Red Sox fan – in five years, he went from my favorite baseball player to my least favorite athlete in any sport – and how the turning point happened in 1996, when Clemens signed with Toronto and showed no remorse at the ensuing news conference.
And you know what? What LeBron did to Cleveland last night was worse. Much worse.
It’s one thing to leave. I get it. You’re 25. You don’t know any better. You’re tired of carrying mediocre teams. You want help. You want the luxury of not having to play a remarkable game every single night for eight straight months. You want to live in South Beach. You want to play with your buddies. I get it. I get it. But turning that decision into a one-hour special, pretending that it hadn’t been decided weeks ago, using a charity as your cover-up and ramming a pitchfork in Cleveland’s back like you were at the end of a Friday the 13th movie and Cleveland was Jason … there just had to be a better way.
Never in my life can I remember someone swinging from likable to unlikable that quickly.
Michael Jordan would have wanted to kick Dwyane Wade’s butt every spring, not play with him. This should be mentioned every day for the rest of LeBron’s career. It’s also the kryptonite for any “Some day we’ll remember LeBron James as the best basketball player ever” argument. We will not. Jordan and Russell were the greatest players of all time. Neither of them would have made the choice that LeBron did. That should tell you something.
Michael Jordan would have wanted to kick Dwyane Wade’s butt every spring, not play with him. This should be mentioned every day for the rest of LeBron’s career. It’s also the kryptonite for any “Some day we’ll remember LeBron James as the best basketball player ever” argument. We will not. Jordan and Russell were the greatest players of all time. Neither of them would have made the choice that LeBron did. That should tell you something.
Yeah neither of these guys played on good teams. Jordan only had some dude named Pippen and one of the best rebounders of all time in Rodman.
[quote]sardines12 wrote:
Yeah neither of these guys played on good teams. Jordan only had some dude named Pippen and one of the best rebounders of all time in Rodman.[/quote]
You’re fucking dense, sardines, you know that? Pippen was a ROBIN, Rodman was an excellent piece to a supporting cast. There was only one BATMAN: Michael Jordan.
Jordan would have never gone to another team that had their Batman after 7 years of not winning a championship in Chicago. He wasn’t a pussy. He stayed, got better, one 6 championships and became GOAT in the process. Even if he went to another team, he wouldn’t have went to a team like Miami where there was already a batman on the team, Wade, whose already wom a championship.
The only time in recent history were there 2 Batmans were Shaq and Kobe. And neither one could stand each other after a few years.
Jordan or Bryant would have never joined Wade. They would want to rip his throat out. That’s why Lebron showed his true colors. He was always a Robin. He couldn’t handle the pressure as a Batman. If he could (and he thought he had enough of Cleveland), he would have went to Chicago as the Alpha Male, the BATMAN. But he didn’t do that either cuz he was afraid of Jordan’s shadow.
He’s a pussy and everyone in the sports world is calling out. There’s dozens and dozens of articles already generated on the subject but you’d rather sit here and look like a dipshit trying to defend the indefensible.
Lebron will never EVER be considered GOAT; not even close. He’s a pussy. Plain and simple.
Let me post it for a fourth time, numbnuts, I mean sardines. Read closely fucker…
Michael Jordan would have wanted to kick Dwyane Wade’s butt every spring, not play with him. This should be mentioned every day for the rest of LeBron’s career. It’s also the kryptonite for any “Some day we’ll remember LeBron James as the best basketball player ever” argument. We will not. Jordan and Russell were the greatest players of all time. Neither of them would have made the choice that LeBron did. That should tell you something.