Lebron Not Ready for Prime Time

And that was even more of an asshole move in that the only alternative he really had was to play baseball, where he had no prayer of being a major leaguer. At least James was a free agent, free and clear. The Colts should have called the golden boy's bluff.

 

Never said he would get ripped "as much."

Exact comparisons are impossible and futile.

Only said that whatever he did, there would be criticism. There would be fault found. Every one of the criticisms I listed (staying with Cavs because of lower expectations, etc.) HAVE BEEN MENTIONED on these threads in the past two weeks. Every one.

We even have to invent ways to criticize ("Well, his legacy will never be like Jordan now because Jordan didn't go running to a stacked team . . . ")

If Kobe demands that his GM trade for a Gasol or acquire Bynum, hooray! But if he goes running to a team with a Gasol and a Bynum already on it . . . boo!

Ridiculous.

 

The fact that both James & Bosh were technically sign & trades undermines their claims of sacrifice.

They got better deals as a result & the Heat had to give up a combined 4 first round picks.

Yeah, that's really sacrificing to help the team.

 

Of course, Elway didn't demand an hour long prime time national TV special to make that announcement; he wasn't from Baltimore; and Baltimore hadn't developed an absurdly deep seven year attachment to him.

 

Oh, now James demanded the show? This thread just keeps getting more ridiculous by the moment.

 

It's not that hard to keep up.

James tells reporter, reporter runs onto TV = okay

James tells reporter on tv = unacceptable

 

No it was forced on his poor innocent victim ass. They grabbed poor LeBron and dragged him bodily on camera.

 

The parallel's not exact, but that Elway called a national press conference to make his refusal was just as big a deal in its time - and was just as much a cause for media hand-wringing over the state of young athletes and loyalty - as this LeBron thing has been.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,925961,00.html

"It is nothing but money, greed and selfishness any more," laments former Baltimore Quarterback Johnny Unitas, who never turned down any money but whose first salary in the N.F.L. was $5,000 in 1956.

To say, as has been said on this thread and in a million other places, that LeBron will never survive the public relations hit is absurd.

 

He could have played well for seven years in any city, and that city would have developed an absurdly deep attachment to him. That's what silly, absurd fans do.

The fact that it happened to be a city closest to the one he grew up in is just a coincidence. But deep down, it really doesn't matter. You root for laundry.

 

How about this scenero:

Lebron has his agent talk to all interested teams.

Lebron in consultation with agent decides to sign with The Heat.

Lebron calls Gilbert and tells him of his decision

Lebron goes to Miami, signs his contract and holds presser and talks about how torn he was.

 

That's fine if he wants to do it that way, but I don't see what's so great about it. I really think this could be the next big thing in sports coverage. We see the drafts, we see the draft lotteries, why not see the FA announcements?

 

Great, Boom. How does that satisfy LeBron's ego?
He's The King, man.