iamshack

Mark Jackson just compared Scottie Pippen and Rodman to Wade and Bosh. He also said Michael had the luxury of playing with "great role players." Uhh...

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 09:52 PM) Magic and Bird didn't fail elsewhere because they were surrounded by great players their whole careers. I don't get why that should hurt LeBron's legacy because he got stuck on a team with a bunch of bums. If Cleveland had given Lebron a good supporting cast he almost certainly would have never left. Or maybe he would have stayed with them and developed those players into great players. LeBron did have some pretty decent players on his teams.....it wasn't LeBron and a bunch of bums for 7 years.

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 09:44 PM) You do realize that Magic played with 2 other HOF players pretty much his entire career don't you? Didn't hurt Magic or Larry Bird playing with a ton of other HOF players. They were clearly the best players on the floor. Some nights Kareem would take over, or McHale, or Parrish or Worthy etc etc. These arguments are absurd. Michael wouldn't have won s*** without Scottie. There's no reason LeBron won't be the best player on the floor most nights. Your point is very valid, but the difference is that Bird and Magic did not choose those situations because they failed elsewhere. Additionally, those teams developed into legendary teams together. They were not all-stars from other teams who chose to unit together because they failed elsewhere previously.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 09:44 PM) You can sign as many minimum contracts as you want, and they can potentially clear space by trading Beasley for people. They could also potentially get a trade exemption if they did so. I think the point Broussard makes is valid...they are going to make other players so much better than they ordinarily will be. They will piece together a decent roster and they will dominate during the regular season. The question is whether they can hold up through a grueling long playoff process.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 09:38 PM) Yet he's a terrible fit with Wade as well. Well, I don't know about Wade, but you would never ask LeBron to "fit" with Rose. You tell Rose to "fit" with LeBron.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 09:32 PM) I think he is going to regret his decision to leave. I almost think by watching him tonight that he really isn't confident about this move but did it because his buddies Wade and Bosh really put the pressure on him. I think he was more uncomfortable about the Cleveland reaction than the idea of picking the wrong team other than the Cavs.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 09:20 PM) Funny how quickly that went away. I think we could only imagine what sort of things did not even get reported about Michael...

That was something else making Wilbon show LeBron the burning of the jersey...even though LeBron slipped up a bit at that moment, you could tell he was really trying to show enormous restraint. ESPN sort of sandbagged him there.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 09:18 PM) Except the whole "rapist" thing Hah, forgot about that.....that was always Michael's weakness too...the ladies...

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 09:13 PM) Didnt the Heat send a bunch of white guys? The difference was Wade/Bosh pitching Lebron. If Rose was a little more established he probably can pull in lebron. If youre a bulls fan and a nba fan, you just gotta believe that there are coaches out there right now trying to figure out a way to beat the Heat. The Heat didn't need a different approach - they had Wade to do their recruiting the entire time. What does come out of your point though is that there was just probably no way the Bulls could have landed LeBron short of locking up Wade and/or Bosh themselves.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 09:05 PM) I feel terrible for my hatred of Kobe over the years. I've always liked Kobe actually. Despite his blatant obsession with Jordan (down to every freaking mannerism), one thing it has taught him is how to act with class and like a gentleman. This is all the more apparent now.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 09:00 PM) They are pretty well versed on the maturity levels of these guys and have been for years. I was somewhere with an old Bulls trainer many years ago. He actually spoke about the lack of maturity with the Bulls and the roster included Jordan. He said there were only 2 players the team would send out to speaking functions because they were the only players that could handle it, and MJ wasn't one. You really don't think the Bulls were going to ask Michael to go out on "speaking engagements," do you? As if the guy didn't do enough for them already? DA, I respect what you're saying here, but they clearly misunderstood who they had to be selling this to...bringing in 4 stodgy white guys probably was not the best way to sell LeBron and his "team." I think that much is clear considering how quickly he glossed over the Bulls when asked about them.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 08:46 PM) Let's put it this way. They bet everything and lost. They gambled the last 2 years of their franchise and the next 3+ years of their franchise on being able to win one of the top 3 guys this offseason, and couldn't figure out that the top 3 guys had all decided 2 years ago at the olympics that they wanted to play together. They could have won more games the last few years if they hadn't been going for cap space, and decided to go for the cap space instead. For that decision, they got the rights to give a terrible contract to Carlos Boozer. If that's not a fireable offense, then I don't know what is. I had this discussion earlier with my best friend. I think the problem is that they overestimated the maturity and intelligence with which these twentysomething year old kids would handle the process. Instead of hiring intelligent people around them, they've decided to listen to their friends and try and form an NBA dynasty as if this were one of their AAU summer leagues. Unfortunately, it's not. And it's going to really hurt their own legacies and the NBA as a whole.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 08:44 PM) wow. jesus. over one post? tons of people in this thread "wasted" a good amount of time covering this story for the last couple of weeks. Let them vent. They're pissed and upset. I'm not sure what you're even saying. I said go ahead and vent, just don't get classless.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 08:36 PM) We've been takling the same way for 6,000 posts. And if it were up to me, it wouldn't be happening. Just because the guy made a foolish choice does not mean that this thread should denigrate into a cesspool of classless insults towards the guy and his family and friends. This is going to be a pretty classic thread here...people will probably actually go back and read it. Let's not ruin it by turning into classless sore losers.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 08:34 PM) No offense shack, but you let being a mod get to your head sometimes. It has nothing to do with "being a mod." As if I get paid for it or something. I get upset when I see damn good posters posting crap that is beneath them. Fathom is better than that.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 08:33 PM) fair enough, but what's wrong with it? It's clearly just you venting your hatred for the guy because he chose a destination you did not care for. I understand your right to vent, but let's just try and keep it a bit more objective.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 08:31 PM) LeBron, no one loves you for who you are. Your own mom f***ed your teammate. Your friends only care about you cause you're famous. Guys, this type of post will not be tolerated. Let this serve as a warning.

Is he still trying to make up his f***ing mind or what?

QUOTE (knightni @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 08:13 PM) At this point, I just want to see Cavs fans get pissed off and do horrible things to James' Akron compound. This is the post of the thread.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 06:32 PM) Long run complete, 5.5 miles, 770 cals burned like a biatch. Good work, Rock. I have been sick for the last few days and unable to really do much of anything...and it's killing me...

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 06:47 PM) It's a tweet from Stephen A. I don't trust it. I do trust that LeBron James isn't going to Wade County. Stephen A is the guy who predicted all of this in the first place...

QUOTE (Controlled Chaos @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 06:47 PM) Not sure if this has been posted yet..... http://deadspin.com/5581889/lebron-james-is-a-cocksucker Yes, yesterday. That was fantastically humorous.

Gotta admit, Stephen A was right about this like a week ago....

So he's going to tell teams right before he goes on air. Riley is in Miami and not at the site of the decision.