NBA star Lebron James to announce free agent decision in ESPN reality show special

[553 Bridgeton]

Thank God this is over with! I had enough of ESPN & LBJ.

[Shortline Bus]

If there is anyone or people I feel sorry for, it is the People of Cleveland. That city is loyal to their sports teams and they have been shit upon for years. From Art Modell to now Lebron James, that town has taken repeated ass f**kings. Nothing is worse than your hometown hero betraying you and betraying you via a multi-year circus culminating at 9:30pm ET on Thursday, July 8th, 2010 in a one hour ESPN special where he figuratively sticks his middle finger at his home town and loyal, long suffering fans by telling them loyalty means shit to him and that in order to be a championship, he has to betray his team to go to a frontrunner in the Heat. They will now have to live with Browns and Indians franchises which have no chance of winning any time soon and a uncertain future with the Cavailers.

 

 

Not to mention the last major sports championship in Cleveland was the Browns winning the 1964 NFL title in the pre Super Bowl/expansion era and the Indians winning the World series in 1948.

 

Great comments R68. The Browns and Indians current Owners (Charles Dolan 'kid' brother w/ the Tribe)suck and it sadly it might be years before any of the '3' Cleveland major sports will compete for any championship in their leagues.

 

And if you listen to Stephen A Smith in that interview on the Francesa show from WFAN, King Lebron goal is to become the first Billionarie sports star anywhere more than winning titles. :mad:

[EE Broadway Local]

Le Bron James picks.......Miami! With the team Pat Riley is putting together, expect the Heat to be a candidate for 64 to 73 wins.

 

The Cavaliers" owner exploded.

 

Cleveland a candidate now for maybe 42 to 49 wins.

[553 Bridgeton]

There not winning a championship. Something small that ESPN analized last night. James, Wade, Bosh were all the stars on there original teams and the ball went through them 90% of the time. For them to win it all they need role players. They shipped Michael Beasely out to the Timberwolves. ESPN called it a "Super team" but also said they they are not the favorites to win the championship.

[Shortline Bus]

Finally this circus is over. While personally i have no problems w/ Mr. James going to South Fla., the way he made his decision was him acting like a 'diva' with this TV special as R68 so well stated. What about an old school way to make your decision public like a press conference in Miami instead of Greenwich, CT?:tdown:

 

Lebron looked like a selffish jerk that is money hungry and only went to the highest bidder in Miami. If he can win a NBA world title, that also makes his goal of being the first Billionarie Sports star ever much closer.

I did not see 'live' this fiasco of a special on ESPN but played it this morning portions of it. It would have been great to state he left Cleveland besides trying to win a Title in Miami w/ Dwayne Wade that money was the other main factor.

 

 

After 5 years or w/e I am sure James will also leave the Heat for the highest bidder as well based on money. James is not a bad guy and has not been in any arrestred or any legal trouble. With that said however the Heat will be the pre season favorites in October to win the East and make the 2011 NBA Finals. However, Miami has no good bench or role players and IMO right now barring a major injury. the Lakers are my choice to '3-peat."

 

Again in this cut throat media biz, I understand why ESPN paid an estimated $1 Million to broadcast this Lebron special and I hear most of it is going to charties in James name. However ESPN looks like a ratings whore for during this.

Now i am happy that for rest of summer I can now focus on Sunday's FIFA World Cup Title Game and my 1st love in sports Baseball. Also this Lebron soap opera is now over.:cool:

[EE Broadway Local]

Notice I didn't say anything about winning the N.B.A. Finals. With what Le Bron James did in his years in Cleveland (helping the Cavaliers to reach 60 wins twice) and with the team Pat Riley is putting together, the Heat should be expected to win 63-64 to 72-73 regular season games.

 

With the Orlando Magic having returned to health after the Shaquille O'Neal years, this should make basketball in Florida interesting - especially since they both play in the Southeast Division.

 

After Shaq left in 1996, the Magic had only three winning seasons (43, 44, 42) in the next decade, though they didn't really collapse with his departure (a 21-61 was their worst).

 

Time will tell how the Cavaliers will fare after Le Bron James.

[Guest Charles]

The Southeast division is going to be the strongest in the NBA this upcoming season, without a doubt.

 

That said, Lebron's decision to join the Heat in my honest opinion was wrong. He chose the easy way out of things, seeing that joining with Bosh & Wade would be the easiest road to a championship. He's leaving behind the city of Cleveland that he has grown up with...Lebron was pretty much Cleveland's hope. And he could've chose New York, too - playing at MSG, with Amare (who he had wanted to play with originally). The Knicks-Heat rivalry, although not mentioned recently b/c of the Knicks struggles, is one of the more famous rivalries in the NBA too, so why couldn't he have teamed up with Amare and played against Wade & Bosh to see who were the best of the best. And this creates an interesting scenario too in Miami...IF the heat don't win a championship with the Big 3, and it could happen.......wonder what'll happen then...

 

Whatever happens, it was his decision, and hope everything works out for him.

[Shortline Bus]

And as no suprise, the Lebron special last night 7/8/10 was among the most watched Non-sporting events in ESPN's history. It did better than almost all of the 2010 NBA playoff games on ESPN/ABC or TNT. Here news link.

 

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/07/09/the-decision-show-equals-big-ratings-for-espn/

 

I would also not be surprised if this James 'informerical' even beat in the national rating than Next Tuesday's MLB all star game on Fox and the most watched sporting event in America for Summer 2010 even over the Spain-Dutch FIFA World Cup Final game.

[Joe C]

If there is anyone or people I feel sorry for, it is the People of Cleveland. That city is loyal to their sports teams and they have been shit upon for years. From Art Modell to now Lebron James, that town has taken repeated ass f**kings. Nothing is worse than your hometown hero betraying you and betraying you via a multi-year circus culminating at 9:30pm ET on Thursday, July 8th, 2010 in a one hour ESPN special where he figuratively sticks his middle finger at his home town and loyal, long suffering fans by telling them loyalty means shit to him and that in order to be a championship, he has to betray his team to go to a frontrunner in the Heat. They will now have to live with Browns and Indians franchises which have no chance of winning any time soon and a uncertain future with the Cavailers.

 

 

 

OMFG,Cleveland is doomed.it's doomsday,everything in cleveland is gonna end.

 

 

 

GET OVER IT!seriously,it's his decision.it's not like he hates cleveland,he never said a thing like that.he could've stayed in cleveland,but his choice was to go to the Miami Heat.for those people who don't like his decision,move on.it's not like the world is gonna end if he stops playing.

[R44 CNG]

The top Three Strongest team in the East was the Cavaliers, Magics and Celtics (2 NE and 1 SE). Now its gonna be Heats, Magics and Celtics (2 SE and 1 NE)

[Shortline Bus]

Await our sports expert B35's reaction to this James soap opeara?

[B35 via Church]

I don't care about the drama behind it all....

 

As far as the Miami heat & basketball is concerned, this won't last.... Wade & LeBron both need the ball to be productive.... I'm not sold that the Heat are instant champions now because of this.... I say this tandem lasts 2 yrs. max before one of the three is gonna want to opt out of their contract.....

 

(Ray) Allen, Garnett, and Pierce worked out because all 3 of them are different type of players... Allen is the sharpshooter, Pierce was the all around guy, and Garnett was the veteran presence on the inside.... each never really played outside of their roles/designation.... a complete team can easily be formed from a tandem such as this... as opposed to....

 

While Bosh is the most versatile of the three (being that he can Consistently play the 3, the 4 and some 5), LeBron & Wade are basically the same type of player (especially Wade, now that he got pregnant in the face); the all around guy who HAS TO create their own shot, needs the ball to be effective... neither one of them are clear-cut sharpshooters (pretty much meaning neither one of them has a consistent jumpshot).... Watch how teams are gonna defend them... They're gonna need a true ball distributor (like the Celtics have w/ Rondo), or else the Heat are gonna get man-to-manned to death.... you'd be a fool to run a zone on this team... Although LeBron & Wade has some point guard skills, no team's gonna play them like they're 1's (point guards).... That's where the term "Point Forward" comes from; perfect term to describe LeBron.... As far as Wade, he's not a 1 or a 2.... He's just a Guard... that can be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on how your team is set up/built......

 

 

Oh they'll make the playoffs.

But winning not one championship, but 2, 3,4,5,6,7 (as lebron put it).... lmfao @ that.... They'll be lucky to win one.... I mean, that IS the reason LeBron masterminded this whole thing... He said it himself.....

 

"I don't want to be like those guys that's been in the league for their whole careers and not win a championship"....

 

No wonder people have lost respect for the guy since his first 2-3 yrs. in the league.....

[R44 CNG]

especially Wade, now that he got pregnant in the face

 

lol so true, I like the new Celtics hopefully Rondo will get his older teammates game going again

[Nova RTS 9147]

I'm not sold that the Heat are instant champions now because of this

 

They never were. I don't know about that other dude, but I don't see any NBA championship rings in his career highlights.

[B35 via Church]

They never were. I don't know about that other dude, but I don't see any NBA championship rings in his career highlights.

 

Them being instant champions aren't my words.... This is how the media sees it.

 

If it's one thing that's gonna be an instant, is increasing ticket sales down there in Florida....

...and I'm not solely talking about the Heat, either

[BJC]

Don't laugh this could become the high rated(most watched tv show in America)for the entire summer. This looks like the finger prints all over of NBA Boss DaVid Stern.

Stern was the mastermind of the NBA draft lottery becoming a must watch for hardcore NBA fans and also allowing NBA players to play in the Olympics with the "Dream Teams' formats.

 

Now maybe the most sought after free agent in North American sports history, gets to tell the world his decision.

 

FYI. ESPN in order IMO to cover any little journalism crediblity they have left is rumored to be paying James $1 Million for this 'reality' story/decision. However ESPN is giving that fee is going to Charities in his name in a new group Lebron is creating for that purpose. ESPN NBA Studio Host Stuart Scott and a friend of James is hosting this special that is mostly a bio-reality show focusing on James young life and his decision in last moments of the show begining at 9pm Thursday 7/8/10.:eek:

 

Calm down....We get the point.You just like ESPN,hyping this up for no damn reason.People here in NYC talk about him in the news when they know he won't become a knick,but a heat.It's kinda sad the news have him as the lead story before the other stuff.....whatever.:tdown:

[553 Bridgeton]

I don't care about the drama behind it all....

 

As far as the Miami heat & basketball is concerned, this won't last.... Wade & LeBron both need the ball to be productive.... I'm not sold that the Heat are instant champions now because of this.... I say this tandem lasts 2 yrs. max before one of the three is gonna want to opt out of their contract.....

 

(Ray) Allen, Garnett, and Pierce worked out because all 3 of them are different type of players... Allen is the sharpshooter, Pierce was the all around guy, and Garnett was the veteran presence on the inside.... each never really played outside of their roles/designation.... a complete team can easily be formed from a tandem such as this... as opposed to....

 

While Bosh is the most versatile of the three (being that he can Consistently play the 3, the 4 and some 5), LeBron & Wade are basically the same type of player (especially Wade, now that he got pregnant in the face); the all around guy who HAS TO create their own shot, needs the ball to be effective... neither one of them are clear-cut sharpshooters (pretty much meaning neither one of them has a consistent jumpshot).... Watch how teams are gonna defend them... They're gonna need a true ball distributor (like the Celtics have w/ Rondo), or else the Heat are gonna get man-to-manned to death.... you'd be a fool to run a zone on this team... Although LeBron & Wade has some point guard skills, no team's gonna play them like they're 1's (point guards).... That's where the term "Point Forward" comes from; perfect term to describe LeBron.... As far as Wade, he's not a 1 or a 2.... He's just a Guard... that can be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on how your team is set up/built......

 

 

Oh they'll make the playoffs.

But winning not one championship, but 2, 3,4,5,6,7 (as lebron put it).... lmfao @ that.... They'll be lucky to win one.... I mean, that IS the reason LeBron masterminded this whole thing... He said it himself.....

 

"I don't want to be like those guys that's been in the league for their whole careers and not win a championship"....

 

No wonder people have lost respect for the guy since his first 2-3 yrs. in the league.....

 

 

YOu couldnt have said that any better! James and Wade both need the ball. I just dont see this so called "Super Team" working. Its going to crumble because these guys need the ball more then anything. The Lakers will run right through them. For the heat to win a championship they need a: pg that can make plays, and role players that can come off the bench that can cause a problem and change the game. Im sorry but the heat are not going anywhere. I dont see them winning anymore then 61 games if even that. They still have to get past the lakers. And the west has gotten weaker which the exception of the lakers which no west teams seem to be able to get past them. I thought the nuggets were there biggest problem which isnt the case. The power shift went to the east but the title will stay in the west.