The Decision
LeBron James is the biggest star in the NBA and one of the most famous athletes in the world. He has legions of adoring fans, including many from competing cities. But in 15 seconds, he ruined 7 years of goodwill (and his legacy) for nothing more than a 60 minute infomercial on ESPN.
On July 8th, roughly 30 minutes after 9pm Eastern Standard Time, LeBron announced his intentions to sign with the Miami Heat, joining fellow All-Stars Dwyane Wade & Chris Bosh. In doing so, he betrayed Cleveland fans and left the franchise gutted yet bloated with terrible contracts signed only to appease LeBron. Many can excuse LeBron for wanting to change teams. But no one can excuse the manner in which he did it — on live TV, with no warning. His public jilting of Cleveland is akin to a woman delivering a baby with her husband by her side, only to tell him it’s not his right before the baby is born.
Athletes change teams all the time. When contracts end, they are allowed to seek employment elsewhere. Sometimes in the middle of a contract, their team decides it is best to part ways. That is part of sports. Sport leagues are (for the most part) run as businesses and even fans understand this. Loyalty is expected by fans, but most recognize that if a better deal comes along it simply must be considered by the athlete who has at most a 10-15 year earning window. But one thing fans do not expect (and certainly detest) is false hope.
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Mike Woodson was fired by the Atlanta Hawks after taking the Atlanta Hawks to their best regular season finish in more than a decade. Should it come as any surprise that the regular season Eastern Conference champions have fired their coach?
Mike Brown was let go by the Cleveland Cavaliers after 5 seasons as head coach. The one-time assistant for the Washington Wizards, San Antonio Spurs, and the Indiana Pacers, was the only coach that NBA All-Star LeBron James has ever had. That is both good news and bad news for Brown. With LeBron comes instant wins but monumental expectations.
Brown is one of the most successful coaches in Cavs history, going 314-177 in the last two years and qualifying for the playoffs in each of his five years. However, after winning the coach of the year award in 2009, a year where the Cavalies won 66 games, he was unable to duplicate regular season success into playoff wins. NBA finalists in 2007 (the only appearance in Cleveland history), the Cavaliers have backslid every year, losing to the Orlando Magic in teh Eastern Conference finals last year and bowing out to the aged Celtics in the second round this year.
Brown’s fate was sealed by the performance of his team in this year’s playoffs. A sluggish and well contested first round series against a scrappy Bulls team may have been a sign of things to come. Despite excellent performances by LeBron James, the Cavs were never comfortable in the series. Game 1 of the second round against the Boston Celtics started ominously for the Cavs as they trailed by double-digits well into the second half. But a LeBron outburst in the fourth quarter led to a win and a 1-0 series lead. Two more games, and it was 2-1 for Cleveland. Inexplicably, the team lost 3 games in a row, some in blowout fashion to a Celtics team on the backside of their careers.
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Final stat line for LeBron James: 39 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists. Add in 21 points from Mo Williams and 19 from Antawn Jamison. You’d expect the Cavs to cruise to an easy victory, right? Wrong!
The balanced scoring of the Chicago Bulls led them to victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 on Thursday, 108-106. Derrick Rose had another stellar game, posting 31 points and 7 assists on 50% shooting. But it was the scoring of little Kirk Hinrich (27 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 75% shooting) and the rebounding of loud-mouth Joakim Noah (15 rebounds) that made the difference. Add Luol Deng’s 20 points and good contribution from the bench, at this was Chicago’s game.
But it was not as easy as they would have liked. Up by 21 points in the third quarter, the Bulls let the Cavs make a grand comeback. With less than a minute to go, the normally steady free throw shooting of the Bulls left them. Misses by Hinrich, Rose, and Deng gave Cleveland a chance to win at the end, but Anthony Parker’s three point attempt was off the mark.
LeBron had a monster game, but he hurt his team with the one true weakness he has — free throw shooting. LBJ was 7 of 13 from the charity stripe and the team as a whole shot only 65% from the FT line and 44% from the field. Compare that to the stellar percentages of the Bulls — 50% FG, 76% FT — and you have your difference in the game.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers got up big against the Chicago Bulls and never looked backed. But the performance of Derrick Rose was something to watch.
The Cavs beat the Bulls 96-83 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference series at the Q. LeBron James did his best on both sides of the ball finishing with 24 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 BLOCKS! The Cavs as a team swatted 12 balls, 10 in the second half. Mo Williams carried a heavy load at point guard dropping in 19 points with 10 dimes. Newly acquired Antawn Jamison was his ever-steady, quiet self, adding 15 points, 10 rebounds, and an impressive 3 blocks.
It was the depth of Cleveland that was the real difference. For once, it was not the LeBron + 4 game. Shaq, having not played since late February, came back with a strong performance, posting 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Varejao brought the energy with 15 rebounds and helped counter his bizarro self, Joakim Noah.
The offense of Chicago went through Derrick Rose. He had 28 points on 28 attempts and added 10 assists. His 7 TOs cost the Bulls but Rose has shown that he plays better in big games. The loss of another big scorer, losing Ben Gordon last year and John Salmons at the trade deadline, reduce the options of Chicago. Luol Deng was only 5-15 shooting, finishing with 12 points.
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To no one’s surprise, and you can certainly count David Stern and every NBA executive, Zydrunas Ilgauskas is set to rejoin the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Despite being traded to the Washington Wizards for Antawn Jamison just a month ago, Big Z is back in Cleveland and ready to resign. How did it happen? Simple: every NBA executive knows the obvious loopholes in cap system and tacitly agrees to follow along. That is not to say that Washington shouldn’t have waived Ilgauskas. He is an aging veteran on the backside of a good career. But given the utter disarray for the Wiz, cutting salary, ushering a youth movement, and ** shhh ** TANKING are in full effect.
The “loophole” is not that Washington waived Z, it is that no other playoff team picked him up. Legally, Cleveland is not allowed to resign Ilgauskas until he clears waivers. Are you telling me that teams like San Antonio, Atlanta, even Boston couldn’t use another big body for the playoffs? Of course they could. But all NBA execs know not to touch a guy like this because someday it will be their star hanging on waivers waiting to clear.
The upside of the buffoonery is that LeBron James is closer to his first NBA ring. With Shaq sidelined with injury, Z is needed now more than ever. Maybe they should’ve traded Shaq for Amare, then claimed him again after he cleared waivers…
LeBron & Wade are the current and future stars of the NBA. They showed the rest of the league why when they clashed in Miami on Thursday.
A much anticipated, star-studded clash took place in the NBA on Thursday as LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers visited Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat. When you look to star power in the NBA, few shine as bright as LeBron and Wade. They are the #1 & #2 centerpieces of a dynamite 2010 free agency class. Friends off the court, and respectful adversaries on the court, LeBron & Wade have even mused about playing together one day — though desired salaries and existing cap space will make that likely impossible.
“I like playing against LeBron more than anybody else in the league,” Wade said. “He brings out the best in me, and I bring out the best in him.”
The All-Star duel took place amid speculation James and Wade might become teammates next season.
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