"The Betrayal"

I’m not really sure why Cleveland insists on giving little two word monikers to all their great sporting disasters, “The Shot,” “The Drive,” “The Fumble”, but whatever the reason, you can add another one to the list… “The Betrayal.” (Honestly I think its way more accurate and fitting than the clichéd ESPN-derived “The Decision.” Regardless of how you want to describe it though, plain and simple it just sucked. I am not exaggerating in the least when that as soon as I heard the words South Beach, I got physically sick. All along, amidst all the rumors and vacillations, I had somewhere deep down never actually believed he was going to leave…and then he did. Even a day later, I am still reeling from the mid 90s Tyson like blow every Cavaliers fan took last night, but alas here are some random thoughts about it all…

- First and foremost, I want to say that I am not angry at the decision. Ok, well that's not true, because I wanted him to stay, but what really pisses me and almost everyone else off is how he went about this entire process. More and more it seems like this joining of a triumvirate has been in the works for years, so why put us all through the emotional roller coaster? A part of me will always love LeBron, because watching him these last few years up close and personal has truly been a privilege, and some of my best moments, actually almost ALL of my best Cleveland based moments revolved around the Cavs and their former number 23. As a basketball junkie, I will always be impressed with his exploits on the court, but that being said, I have lost all of my respect for LeBron as a person. Having that hour long, nationally televised F-you to Cleveland was as low as it gets in my mind. As usual, I think the best way to explain it is with a quote from the infamous Kenny Powers, "LeBron, I love you...but you acted like a dickhead." With the utterance of one sentence, LeBron James became the most hated man in Ohio, and lost millions of supporters nationwide. I don't think LeBron fully understood the complete negative ramifications of his decision until after it happened. Here stands a man who wants to become the richest and most famous athlete in the world, and all along, this free agency process was supposed to put him in a position to achieve that--instead, it did the complete opposite. You can become the star LeBron dreamed of by one of two ways: 1)being likable and marketable or 2)winning. Jordan was a master at both, and Kobe has solidified his spot with the second. Without a title to his name, LeBron had previousl made his mark through that first scenario; after these antics though, I'm not exactly sure that's a viable option. Jordan and Kobe have been called "assassins" or "cold blooded" on the court, because they honestly don't care if they are liked by anyone: fans, teammates, even their own families, if it allows them to win. LeBron isn't wired that way though I don't think. I think he wants to be the lovable athlete that people like and respect, and this showed when he would get cheers from more than half the opposing arenas. All of that is gone now though, and I am not sure how it is going to effect him as a person and as a brand. It is not just Cleveland fans that are anti-LeBron, as a strong contingent is growing in New York, Chicago, and just about everywhere else outside the South Florida area. Jordan and Kobe wouldn't mind, but then again they could always just look at their rings...what's LeBron gonna do?

- Personally, as of this moment I think he made a big mistake (I maybe eating these words come June of next year, but as of now, I’m sticking with that.) All along I thought Chicago was the premier destination for him to maximize his potential. Playing alongside a budding superstar in Derrick Rose, combined with a quality 4 in Boozer, and the ultimate hustler/rebounder/defender in Noah, would have been a great fit for LeBron. However the allure of three perennial All-Stars on one team was too much to pass up. I joked about how great that team sounds on paper, and how ridiculous the Heat are going to be in NBA 2K11, but the crazy thing is the game is not played on paper or in a video game. Those 3 will be great yes, but there are still way too many roster holes to be considered a legitimate title contender. The trading of Michael Beasley for cents on the dollar does help free up some cap space for Pat Riley to work his magic, and it is an appealing destination, but first and foremost in my mind they need a center. Because in this day in the NBA, especially in the playoffs, the game is all about matchups, a fact LeBron learned the hard way the last two years, yet seemingly forgot during this whole process. On any given night the Heat on the sheer combination of those three players alone will almost always have the most talent on the floor, but without a player to single handedly cover and neutralize Dwight Howard, ( a la Kendrick Perkins for the Celtics), you will have a hard time even being the best team in Florida, let alone the NBA

- Then again, maybe this is the new way to win the NBA, put together 3 superstars and just fill in the rest of the pieces like the 2008 Celtics team did. Obviously this new Big 3 is going to draw a lot of comparisons to that Celtics squad, especially with another major question mark at the point. Basically Pat Riley is saying to unproven Mario Chalmers, “Hey kid here’s the keys to daddy’s new 300 million dollar Ferrari, don’t crash it…” Granted the same questions/concerns were said about Rondo, and I think that having the veteran leadership around forever altered his career into the elite stratosphere it is now, so I am not willing to write off Chalmers just yet. The guy is a winner and a competitor, (just ask John Calipari, Derrick Rose, and the rest of the Memphis faithful), but still to do it on this level, with this pressure, and this scrutiny will be interesting to watch.

- As I mentioned, right now I am still a weird mix of angry, disappointed, shocked (pretty much the entire negative emotional spectrum). But I have decided that one way that I can start to earn back some of my respect for LeBron is he and his 2 new teammates return to the scene of the crime. I of course mean all 3 of them and the rest of gold medal winning core (plus an perfect fit for international basketball in Durant) re-up for Team USA and go win at the World Championships in August. For months even prior to this free agent bonanza each of the three mentioned cautiously that they would be too busy this summer to participate in what the rest of the world views as the biggest basketball tournament there is, even bigger than the Olympics. But now that all the dust has settled, and the brain child of the mega team that was allegedly formed in Beijing is a reality, its time to get an early start playing with each other for a cause that I actually care about. You have no excuses now, you wanted to play together, then go do it, for Team USA and prove that 2008 wasn’t a fluke.

- One of the most interesting things that I can conclude from the way this whole thing transpired, and it is something that I don’t think many people realize or are talking about, is that the biggest winner in the NBA after LeBron’s decision is….Kevin Durant. With LeBron now having to share the spotlight with D-Wade, his numbers will have to decrease just by sheer reduction in touches. I personally don’t know the percentages off hand of what % LeBron had the ball in his hands for Cleveland last year, but I can guarantee you that the number falls drastically this year and into the future. With the King abdicating his “stats throne,” the door has been opened for the NBA’s brightest new star, Mr. Kevin Durant. I guarantee you now that Kevin Durant will win 4 out of the 5 scoring titles, and 3 of the 5 MVPs while LeBron is signed with Miami. I see LeBron's line being something like 23/11/7, and I just don't think that is quite good enough to win a third MVP, especially considering how many media writers (and MVP voters) he alienated with his whole charade. One bold prediction I will make though is that LeBron will finish second in the NBA in assists this year, only to Chris Paul. I think he will realize that he can't possibly win the scoring title with his reduction in touches, so instead I think he will try and conquer a new domain. I think he could and will easily average double digit assists, and the vision that is his truly his best basketball attribute will be on full display. Oh and in another side note... Durant’s Thunder will make the NBA Finals in at least 2 of those 5 years (I’m already on the bandwagon, I suggest you follow me, because that team is going to be electric). Also in a non statistical way, I think Durant came out looking like a better person in this whole ordeal as well. It almost got lost in the media frenzy LeBron and his people created, but during that time, Durant quietly signed a 5 year max extension with the Thunder. Using a simple Tweet, Durant showed the world that he is above all a basketball player, and not the showman or narcissist that LeBron is. In one 48 hour span Kevin Durant became my favorite NBA player, and I’m sure I am not alone in the sentiment.

- Because he has been in the spotlight for the better part of a decade now, it is hard to believe that LeBron James is only 25 years old, and worse, the majority of his advisors and inner circle are in the same age bracket. I think one of the best points I have heard came from the one and only mother extraordinaire Renuka Egger. She is convinced that within the next year or two we will see some trouble in LeBron's personal life. For the first seven years in the league he has been able to maintain a pretty squeaky rep, and a lot of that most likely has to do with him having a sense of accountability in the city in which he grew up. He and his friends have never lived outside of Akron, and I think that the opportunity to be "living the life" on South Beach was too exciting to pass up. But with all that excitement comes a whole bunch of temptation, and countless times over the last few years we have seen our athlete superstars with pristine pasts fall victim to the hundreds and thousands of women that throw themselves at them. It has been psychologically studied that will power is like a muscle, and after time and time again of resisting, the muscle gets tired per say, and a person usually succumbs. Hey it makes sense in theory to me, and most importantly, momma Egger said it, so of course it must be true...guess we will just have to wait and see.

- As for what the Cavs do now… I honestly don’t know. As you could read in Dan Gilbert’s letter, the organization is pretty pissed and rightfully so. In anger he made some convictions and claims that while defending the fan’s honor, are in the end hapless and unattainable. The Cavs will still be able to trot out a decent NBA team with Mo Williams, Jamison, Varejao, and a budding Hickson, but the days of competing for a title, let alone our division are behind us. I can see this team winning 40 or so games and battling for a 7 or 8 seed in the playoffs (oh how it would be sweet to play the Heat in a first round series), but at the same time I could see it all unraveling at the seams and this team being right in the middle of the lottery. I will still cheer for and watch the Cavs when they are on (which I assume will be with much less frequency), but anyone who thinks it will be anything less than a struggle each and every night is kidding themselves.


- It annoys me when people talk about legacies while a player is still playing, but I definitely think that this will hurt LeBron at the end of the day. No matter how many titles he wins with the Heat, he will always have one less than Wade, and he forever will be vilified as not being to win one without major help. Now that might be an impossibility in this NBA (all of the past champions have had at least two legitimate All-Star players), but it will always hang over LeBron’s head. Also, and this has been said ad nausea so I won’t harp, but none of the truly great players ever left, no abandoned their teams like that…not Jordan, not Magic, not Bird, not even Kobe. So while the book is yet to be written on LeBron James, and when it is finished I’m sure it will be one of the most illustrious careers in NBA history, in my mind he has been removed from the possibility of being discussed as the greatest ever.

- One final point- I know that LeBron did his big announcement last night, an interview with Good Morning America earlier, and will probably do 100 more in the next few weeks trying to explain everything. Guess what though, I don’t care what he has to say. Who I do want to hear from though, is Delonte West. Somebody find that little bipolar felon and stick a microphone in his face and just start grilling him with questions about the entire situation. It would be absolute comedic gold and for a brief minute bring me out of my sorrow (until of course I realize that he might be one of the main reasons LeBron left…ahh whatever, he’s gone, we have to deal with it. But hey Cleveland, at least you still have the Indians and Browns….fuck.