NBA Free Agency/Offseason

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741

[quote]jtrinsey wrote:
Jesus man, just link to the Simmons article, you don’t have to quote the whole thing.

I think Lebron seems like an egotistical tool, but then again, so are a lot of athletes. I can’t stand the whole Skip Bayless, “I feel the need to tell an athlete what to do and/or cry about how he’s not fitting into what I think he should want his legacy to be.”

The ESPN announcement thing: ridiculous and foolish and I had no interest in watching- I just waited to read where he ended up. I think ESPN should share a fairly equal blame in this because it wouldn’t have happened without their hype machine and let’s also not forget that a substantial amount of money was donated to charity so at least some good came of it.

Wanting to play with two of your best friends for a legendary coach and compete for the Championship for the next 5 years: sounds awesome to me and I’d like to think it’s exactly what I would have done.

I agree that Lebron came out of this looking like an egotistical jack-off. The way he made this choice certainly showed his lack of class. But I don’t get why everybody is killing him for wanting to play in Miami. It’s ridiculous to say, “no way Jordan would have done this.” How do you know? Jordan was gift-wrapped one of the 50 (probably top-30) greatest players of all-time, who may have been the greatest complimentary player in the history of the game, as well as the greatest (or 2nd-greatest) coach of all time, as well as a revolving door of solid supporting pieces. He didn’t need to go anywhere, he had all the pieces he needed to win. I bet if Jordan spent another 3 or 4 years without Pippen, playing for an overmatched coach and weak management, that he would have bounced too. And Russell? He only played on the most ridiculously stacked teams of all-time.

I think most of the backlash stems from the classless Lebron handled the situation. If he had a more low-key announcement that said, “I want to thank all of the Cleveland fans for all of their support, and this decision was agonizing, but ultimately I didn’t think that the Cavs management shared my dedication to winning a title and I thought Miami gave me the best chance to do that,” people would be all over his nuts for sacrificing the money for a desire to win.

Until they put the rest of the pieces together, I’m not sure the Heat are the favorites to win yet, because the Lakers actually have the defensive pieces to guard all three of them. I’m not a Lebron fan by any means and as a (somewhat estranged) Sixers fan, I don’t want the Heat to win, but part of me hopes they go like 78-3 and Lebron averages 40 a game, just to see how fast everybody backpedals and starts fellating him again.
[/quote]
Couldn’t have said it better.

742

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:

[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]

They acquired Rodman, drafted Pippen. The three didn’t conspire 5 years ago contractually, and then all decide to head to a certain team. And neither did Jordan decide to run away to Detroit when Detroit kept kicking their ass in the playoffs. They built, and he lead. And then the prospered. And you wouldn’t even remember players like Cartright, Paxon, et als., if not for Jordan and company making them better than they were.[/quote]

For all the talk of James being unselfish and his passing and yadayadayada… He didn’t make his teammates better. Like you mentioned, Jordan enhanced careers. Kobe makes those around him better. James turned his teammates into spectators for 20 seconds and last second shooters for the other 4. It’s a little weird that I’m enjoying this so much, but I am legitimately getting a kick out of James being roasted by everyone. No matter what happens, he’ll never be able to fully recover from this.[/quote]
This is bullshit and you know it. You CANNOT build in Cleveland nobody wants to go there.
Some simple facts
Kobe has never even had a winning record on a team without a dominanat big man.
Kobe was not the alpha dog on the 3 peat Lakers team it was Shaq’s.
Kobe’s biggest problem is he is SELFISH but when he does play team ball which he has been recently though he has relapses.
Lebron is way more team oriented than either Jordan or Kobe.
How else does he average so many assists, you really think he couldn’t avg 35 plus a game.
You all are haters and are part of the old generation of basketball welcome to the new one.

And why no hate for the Celts they did the same fucking thing?

743

NEW: MIA offers Fish 2 yrs/$5M. Fish wants 2yrs/$10M from LAL (which he made $5M last year, so it makes sense).

Offer is on table. No word yet.

744

sardines=Drew… I’m almost sure of it!

Ok i’ve missed a lot but I hope the Heat get Fisher! I hope kobe, phill jackson and Fish workout a plan… They let Fish sign with the Heat and then fish sabotages the Heat so that they self-destruct in the playoffs! That would be awesome! Fish is an undercover laker spy! Mwwwaaahahahahahah! Diabolical!

.greg.

745

[quote]jtrinsey wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
It’s a little weird that I’m enjoying this so much, but I am legitimately getting a kick out of James being roasted by everyone.[/quote]

I am too. I imagine him and his boys gleefully returning home to watch Sportscenter expecting everybody to praise him and then staring blankly as he is literally burned in effigy.

I am also thoroughly enjoying the “Chris Bosh suddenly thinks he is really, really relevant,” era. He has the same look on his face that Turtle did when the girl told him she’d blow him if he showed her where Vince ate breakfast.[/quote]
No he new this would happen.

746

Just want to say I really enjoy all the NBA banter going on here since the playoffs. We all may not agree with each other all the time, but it’s good to disagree for the sake of talking shop.

747

[quote]jtrinsey wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
It’s a little weird that I’m enjoying this so much, but I am legitimately getting a kick out of James being roasted by everyone.[/quote]

I am too. I imagine him and his boys gleefully returning home to watch Sportscenter expecting everybody to praise him and then staring blankly as he is literally burned in effigy.

I am also thoroughly enjoying the “Chris Bosh suddenly thinks he is really, really relevant,” era. He has the same look on his face that Turtle did when the girl told him she’d blow him if he showed her where Vince ate breakfast.[/quote]

Ha. I stand by my statement that this was a decision made by a bunch of kids who don’t fully understand what they’ve done. The more I think about it, the more I think this wil be an utter failure. And it’s gonna be awesome to watch.

748

[quote]tmoney1 wrote:
Just want to say I really enjoy all the NBA banter going on here since the playoffs. We all may not agree with each other all the time, but it’s good to disagree for the sake of talking shop.[/quote]

Agreed. It’s been cool to shoot the shit about ball with y’all these past couple of months.

749

[quote]jtrinsey wrote:
Jesus man, just link to the Simmons article, you don’t have to quote the whole thing.

I think Lebron seems like an egotistical tool, but then again, so are a lot of athletes. I can’t stand the whole Skip Bayless, “I feel the need to tell an athlete what to do and/or cry about how he’s not fitting into what I think he should want his legacy to be.”

The ESPN announcement thing: ridiculous and foolish and I had no interest in watching- I just waited to read where he ended up. I think ESPN should share a fairly equal blame in this because it wouldn’t have happened without their hype machine and let’s also not forget that a substantial amount of money was donated to charity so at least some good came of it.

Wanting to play with two of your best friends for a legendary coach and compete for the Championship for the next 5 years: sounds awesome to me and I’d like to think it’s exactly what I would have done.

I agree that Lebron came out of this looking like an egotistical jack-off. The way he made this choice certainly showed his lack of class. But I don’t get why everybody is killing him for wanting to play in Miami. It’s ridiculous to say, “no way Jordan would have done this.” How do you know? Jordan was gift-wrapped one of the 50 (probably top-30) greatest players of all-time, who may have been the greatest complimentary player in the history of the game, as well as the greatest (or 2nd-greatest) coach of all time, as well as a revolving door of solid supporting pieces. He didn’t need to go anywhere, he had all the pieces he needed to win. I bet if Jordan spent another 3 or 4 years without Pippen, playing for an overmatched coach and weak management, that he would have bounced too. And Russell? He only played on the most ridiculously stacked teams of all-time.

I think most of the backlash stems from the classless Lebron handled the situation. If he had a more low-key announcement that said, “I want to thank all of the Cleveland fans for all of their support, and this decision was agonizing, but ultimately I didn’t think that the Cavs management shared my dedication to winning a title and I thought Miami gave me the best chance to do that,” people would be all over his nuts for sacrificing the money for a desire to win.

Until they put the rest of the pieces together, I’m not sure the Heat are the favorites to win yet, because the Lakers actually have the defensive pieces to guard all three of them. I’m not a Lebron fan by any means and as a (somewhat estranged) Sixers fan, I don’t want the Heat to win, but part of me hopes they go like 78-3 and Lebron averages 40 a game, just to see how fast everybody backpedals and starts fellating him again.
[/quote]

You and others don’t get it. He didn’t simply leave. The three orchestrated a conspiracy the likes of which has never before been witnessed in the league. And as stated elsewhere, Jordan was always the alpha, no matter who he had around him. He doesn’t up and run to LA for less money so he can win a championship. If you can’t see the difference, you just don’t get what Lebron and company just pulled.

750

Bosh 2010-2011 = Now the leagues most expensive garbage man.

Only gets a touch if he gets a rebound off a Wade/Lebron miss lol.

For any other Raps fans on this board, I don’t think this is all bad Bosh leaving since we were going nowhere with him especially since he was being regarded as a “centrepiece” which he clearly was not.

751

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Bosh 2010-2011 = Now the leagues most expensive garbage man.

Only gets a touch if he gets a rebound off a Wade/Lebron miss lol.

For any other Raps fans on this board, I don’t think this is all bad Bosh leaving since we were going nowhere with him especially since he was being regarded as a “centrepiece” which he clearly was not.

[/quote]

Question for you: what is the consensus in the city of Toronto with Bosh jumping ship? Is he still respected for his work in Toronto, or will it rain boos when he comes back to play there?

Bosh seems like a pretty good guy.

752

[quote]sardines12 wrote:
Some simple facts
Kobe has never even had a winning record on a team without a dominanat big man.
Kobe was not the alpha dog on the 3 peat Lakers team it was Shaq’s.
Kobe’s biggest problem is he is SELFISH but when he does play team ball which he has been recently though he has relapses.
Lebron is way more team oriented than either Jordan or Kobe.
How else does he average so many assists, you really think he couldn’t avg 35 plus a game.
You all are haters and are part of the old generation of basketball welcome to the new one.

And why no hate for the Celts they did the same fucking thing?[/quote]

I kind of agree with some of your posts actually Drew… No one wants to go to cleveland and they’ll never win an NBA Championship now that LBJ left. Lets be honest Ohio sucks and no one wants to go there unless its Ohio State and they’re hoping to get to the NFL.

1.That is not true. The lakers have only had a losing season 1 time since Kobe was drafted. They did not have a dominant big man every single year he was there except one.

  1. Kobe was young but by the 3rd title in their three peat it WASN’T Shaq and his side kick Kobe… it was even by then. They both complimented eachother.

  2. Kobes biggest problem is that he hasnt had teammates that stepped up. He’s been forced to shoot all the time (like jordan did in his first few years till he got good teammates he could rely on)

  3. This one is the worst of all your statements. LBJ is not more team oriented.

  4. He has a lot of assists because every time he gets the ball he is double teamed, especially when he drives and he dishes to open guys. LeBron is a very good passer for a big guy. He could average 35 but thats not what really matters right? Its winning. But I agree LBJ is a scoring machine.

  5. I’m not a hater. I just dont like LBJ’s attitude of kinda putting himself above everyone else. Like he’s bigger than the game… But I do think he is a very very good player.

  6. People didnt really hate on the C’s because they didnt pre meditate their signings like it “appears” Bosh, Wade and James did. Plus the “big three” in boston werent in their primes like these guys are. I’m not hating on them for signing together cause if they really only care about winning this is their best shot. I just dont like how LeBron went about it. If he would have just announced his signing along with Wade and Bosh it would have been all good to me.

.greg.

753

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Bosh 2010-2011 = Now the leagues most expensive garbage man.

Only gets a touch if he gets a rebound off a Wade/Lebron miss lol.

For any other Raps fans on this board, I don’t think this is all bad Bosh leaving since we were going nowhere with him especially since he was being regarded as a “centrepiece” which he clearly was not.

[/quote]

I dont really know about this^^

I wonder if Miami will play a little inside out game (like the lakers did two years ago with Pau when Bynum was out) Wade and Bron will get so much attention that I bet Bosh gets good stats. Especially rolling to the basket when either of them drive. Could you imagine Bron driving, getting doubled then kicking out to Wade and when the defender closes out on him he kicks it inside to bosh? Man that seems like a recipe for A LOT of easy dunks/layups for Bosh.

.greg.

754

[quote]tmoney1 wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Bosh 2010-2011 = Now the leagues most expensive garbage man.

Only gets a touch if he gets a rebound off a Wade/Lebron miss lol.

For any other Raps fans on this board, I don’t think this is all bad Bosh leaving since we were going nowhere with him especially since he was being regarded as a “centrepiece” which he clearly was not.

[/quote]

Question for you: what is the consensus in the city of Toronto with Bosh jumping ship? Is he still respected for his work in Toronto, or will it rain boos when he comes back to play there?

Bosh seems like a pretty good guy.
[/quote]

No one is really surprised CB4 left, but he’s definitely going to be booed with his choice to go play with Wade and Lebron. I think that team is going to be booed hard in every arena they place except Florida American Airlines Arena.

755

[quote]sardines12 wrote:

And why no hate for the Celts they did the same fucking thing?[/quote]

No they didn’t. As I stated earlier, both KG and Allen are on the declining side of their careers. And, the 3 did not conspire 5 years ago to sign contracts that expire in the same year so that they could cherry pick a team and play together. All of them, KG, Allen and Pierce, toiled with their respective teams in an effort to win. If you see it any other way, you’re just obtuse.

756

At MIA’s welcome party yesterday, D-Wade said “arguably the best trio in history”

UMMMMM…no

Not in any order, I’m going with Magic/Kareem/Worthy, Bird/McHale/Parish, Jordan/Pippen/Grant.

Saying the best trio in history implies Bosh is a HOFer, which he may not be when he’s done playing ball.

757

^^Agreed. They’re now the Yankees of the NBA.

Every basketball fan that isnt a Heat fan now has two favorite teams. Their current favorite team and whoever is playing against the Heat that day

.greg.

758

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]tmoney1 wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Bosh 2010-2011 = Now the leagues most expensive garbage man.

Only gets a touch if he gets a rebound off a Wade/Lebron miss lol.

For any other Raps fans on this board, I don’t think this is all bad Bosh leaving since we were going nowhere with him especially since he was being regarded as a “centrepiece” which he clearly was not.

[/quote]

Question for you: what is the consensus in the city of Toronto with Bosh jumping ship? Is he still respected for his work in Toronto, or will it rain boos when he comes back to play there?

Bosh seems like a pretty good guy.
[/quote]

No one is really surprised CB4 left, but he’s definitely going to be booed with his choice to go play with Wade and Lebron. I think that team is going to be booed hard in every arena they place except Florida American Airlines Arena.

[/quote]

Gotcha, preciate that.

I also find it odd that Bosh said (paraphrasing) ‘I’m not an addition to a team, I’m a centerpiece.’ Well, he’s definitely an addition to the Heat, not the centerpiece.

759

[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:
You and others don’t get it. He didn’t simply leave. The three orchestrated a conspiracy the likes of which has never before been witnessed in the league.[/quote]

LOL. I’m not gonna defend Lebron, because I think he’s a tool. And I have no problem with people saying he should have stayed in Cleveland, because he was so revered by the town, and there’s something to be said for loyalty. He definitely screwed over Cleveland, especially with the way he conducted himself, and he deserves to be roasted for that.

It’s the people who say, “he should have went to the Knicks/Bull/Nets” or whatever who are retarded. Wtf does he owe the Knicks?

I can’t wait to see everybody backpedaling 40 games into the season when Dwayne Wade has settled into a sidekick role.

760

I find it hard to believe Bosh/James/Wade were conspiring when they signed extensions with their previous teams. They wanted to sign big contracts just before the new CBA kicks in.