NBA Offseason Thread.

[Vidor]

Bill Simmons got it exactly right yesterday afternoon:

In the past 72 hours, with the suspense building for his announcement, LeBron created a Twitter account, launched his own website and agreed with ESPN on a one-hour live selection show that, incredibly, was the exact same idea that a Columbus reader named Drew had in my Thanksgiving '09 mailbag … but I thought he was kidding. Now I think he's Nostradamus. Or even Nostradamu-SAS.

Drew from Columbus looked into the future, and here's what he saw: A world in which it was totally conceivable that an NBA superstar would sell an hour-long show in which he picked his next team and tainted his legacy in the process. I played along and pushed a "Bachelor"-type setup ("The LeBrachelor!") in which LeBron whittled 29 teams down to six, then four, then two, then one over the course of six episodes. Hell, have him hand out roses. Why not? It's not like this would actually happen, right?

20. Seven months later, it's happening. I can't wait to watch for the same reasons I couldn't turn away from O.J.'s Bronco chase or the Artest melee: it's Car Wreck Television. If LeBron picks anyone other than the Cavaliers, it will be the cruelest television moment since David Chase ended "The Sopranos" by making everyone think they lost power. Cleveland fans will never forgive LeBron, nor should they. He knows better than anyone what kind of sports anguish they have suffered over the years. Losing LeBron on a contrived one-hour show would be worse than Byner's fumble, Jose Mesa, the Game 5 meltdown against Boston, The Drive, The Shot and everything else. At least those stomach-punch moments weren't preordained, unless you believe God hates Cleveland (entirely possible, by the way). This stomach-punch moment? Calculated. By a local kid they loved, defended and revered.

It would be unforgivable. Repeat: unforgivable. I don't have a dog in this race -- as a Celtics fan, I wanted to see him go anywhere but Chicago -- but LeBron doing this show after what happened in the 2010 playoffs actually turned me against him. No small feat. I was one of his biggest defenders. Not anymore.

And here's where I really worry, because I don't think LeBron James has anyone in his life with enough juice to hurl his or her body in front of the concept of "I'm going to announce during a one-hour live show that I'm playing somewhere other than Cleveland." It's the best and worst thing about him -- he has remained fiercely loyal to his high school friends, but at the same time, he's surrounded by people his own age who don't stand up to him and don't know any better. Picking anyone other than Cleveland on this show would be the meanest thing any athlete has ever done to a city. But he might. Assuming he's not malicious, and that he's just a self-absorbed kid who apparently lost all perspective, that doesn't make him much different than most child stars who became famous before they could legally drink -- or, for that matter, Tiger Woods. That's just the way this stuff works. Too much, too fast, too soon. You don't lose your way all at once; just a little at a time. Then one day you look up and there's a TMZ photo spread with 15 of your mistresses, or you're agreeing to stab an entire city in the heart on a one-hour television show.

(When Kevin Durant announced his own five-year, $86 million extension with an endearingly simple tweet yesterday, we all had the same thought: "Now that's how it's done." Pretty sad that an NBA star stood out for being humble and only caring about basketball.)

[JackofDiamonds]

I don't get the hate.

It's sports, and coming from a huge sports fan, I just don't care. It's ridiculous to be self-righteous about it. He left to play with his friends, and he's taking less money to do it. He played in Cleveland for 7 years! 7 [expletive] years in CLEVELAND, OHIO. Have any of you been to Cleveland? They should be building a shrine of him. How many times did they make the playoffs, let alone the Finals, before he came?

What does it matter if ESPN and LeBron mutually masturbated for an hour over which team he was going to go to? Oooh, he's only giving money to charity to improve his image... so what? Charity still received money. Probably a LOT of money. I don't get it. Why does he have to be Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant? Why can't he be Magic minus the HIV? Why can't he just be really really good at playing basketball? He obviously isn't as psychotically competitive as MJ and Kobe.

Just wait until CP3 joins them in 2012.

If you ever get a great offer from a rival company, you tell them to shove it, you're never going to leave your current firm...even if you've been the top employee for 7 years and everyone around you is middling. You're loyal dammit, and personal happiness and ambition be damned.

[lukethedrifter]

Re: the above. Personally, I don't give a rat's ass that he didn't stay in Cleveland but there is a point at which the ego stroking, branding, narcissism, outside BS overrides my interest in actual NBA basketball. This is one of them. Especially branding. Ugh.
Similarly, when MLB gets to the point that only LA, NY and Boston can compete for players I will likely lose interest.

[Vidor]

What does it matter if ESPN and LeBron mutually masturbated for an hour over which team he was going to go to?

Why shouldn't it?

[jim]

Re: the above. Personally, I don't give a rat's ass that he didn't stay in Cleveland but there is a point at which the ego stroking, branding, narcissism, outside BS overrides my interest in actual NBA basketball. This is one of them. Especially branding. Ugh.
Similarly, when MLB gets to the point that only LA, NY and Boston can compete for players I will likely lose interest.

I hear you loud and clear, and the NBA is sort of kind of there already even though it has all the mechanisms in place to prevent it. What's the chances Durant stays in Ok City? What are the chances that Memphis or Charlotte actually can put a team to compete for a title?

I don't know what to think, I can't blame the players. I know where I would have gone if I was an NBA free agent, and that's exactly where the 3 prizes ended up. If anything, the salary cap and max salary really forced that issue.

$20M in New York, Chicago, Cleveland or Miami. Who in there right mind would not pick Miami?

[omaha_red]

I don't get the hate.

It's sports, and coming from a huge sports fan, I just don't care. It's ridiculous to be self-righteous about it. He left to play with his friends, and he's taking less money to do it. He played in Cleveland for 7 years! 7 [expletive] years in CLEVELAND, OHIO. Have any of you been to Cleveland? They should be building a shrine of him. How many times did they make the playoffs, let alone the Finals, before he came?

What does it matter if ESPN and LeBron mutually masturbated for an hour over which team he was going to go to? Oooh, he's only giving money to charity to improve his image... so what? Charity still received money. Probably a LOT of money. I don't get it. Why does he have to be Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant? Why can't he be Magic minus the HIV? Why can't he just be really really good at playing basketball? He obviously isn't as psychotically competitive as MJ and Kobe.

Just wait until CP3 joins them in 2012.

If you ever get a great offer from a rival company, you tell them to shove it, you're never going to leave your current firm...even if you've been the top employee for 7 years and everyone around you is middling. You're loyal dammit, and personal happiness and ambition be damned.

it's not what he did.. it's how he did it

[Jocephus]

Chris Broussard said on ESPN Friday that a big reason that LeBron James didn't sign with the Bulls is that they didn't offer enough perks for LeBron's family and friends.
One of LeBron's buddies was hired by the Cavaliers and he wanted his entourage to be able to travel on the Bulls' tab, but the team, according to Broussard, said 'we didn't do that for Michael Jordan, so we're not doing it for you.'
Related: Bulls

[TimeForGuinness]

[omaha_red]

i never know what to make of whitlock, but he wrote a doozy today.. the last
line is brilliant

[InvincibleCakeEater]

Let me ask this....

Do you think it's even POSSIBLE now (championships be damned) for him to build a legacy the likes of Jordan, Bird, Magic, Kobe.... or even Tim Duncan?

Well, he's been compared to Jordan and Kobe endlessly on this board and in the media for quite a few years now, so I would say that he already has.