NBA Screwed?: James Leaning Towards Heat

Well in the case of the Heat, they drafted Wade. But whether it's through the draft or free agency the NBA is a different animal simply by the fact there are only five players on the court and one player can make all the difference in the world.

I mean let's compare Albert Pujols and Kobe Bryant for example, each arguably the best in their sport. Pujols can only contribute so much (3-4 at bats/game). On the other hand, Kobe can basically be "at bat" every time in his sport.

As for staying in Cleveland, I think he's past the point of being concerned about his image in Cleveland.

Definitely agree. In basketball if you have a great 1-2 punch it's all you need. It's just not the team focused sport that football and baseball are.

And I don't see how his image will be destroyed by not going back to Cleveland. He's making a business decision, I think most (outside of Cleveland at least) will understand that. He doesn't owe Cleveland anything. If anything, getting out of Cleveland is only going to increase his exposure and hype.

Definitely agree. In basketball if you have a great 1-2 punch it's all you need. It's just not the team focused sport that football and baseball are.

And I don't see how his image will be destroyed by not going back to Cleveland. He's making a business decision, I think most (outside of Cleveland at least) will understand that. He doesn't owe Cleveland anything. If anything, getting out of Cleveland is only going to increase his exposure and hype.


I think you guys are really discounting the bench in NBA. To win a championship you need a proven bench and great role players. I watch a lot of NBA basketball and I can tell you one of the main reason the Cavs got beat by the Celtics in the East Finals was becasue of there lack of a bench. LJ was just plain beat by the end of that series.

The NBA season is a long long season and no one or two players can carry entire team.

I think you guys are really discounting the bench in NBA. To win a championship you need a proven bench and great role players. I watch a lot of NBA basketball and I can tell you one of the main reason the Cavs got beat by the Celtics in the East Finals was becasue of there lack of a bench. LJ was just plain beat by the end of that series.

The NBA season is a long long season and no one or two players can carry entire team.

Of course, you need a bench. I wasn't trying to say depth isn't important, just that one superstar in the NBA has a bigger impact than one in the NFL or MLB

^^ Exactly. We're talking about star impact. Toss 2 great NBA players on a team and even with an average cast around them chances are they can still carry that team pretty far.

Toss 2 great NFL players on a team with an average cast, and they're going probably nowhere.

Well in the case of the Heat, they drafted Wade. But whether it's through the draft or free agency the NBA is a different animal simply by the fact there are only five players on the court and one player can make all the difference in the world.

I mean let's compare Albert Pujols and Kobe Bryant for example, each arguably the best in their sport. Pujols can only contribute so much (3-4 at bats/game). On the other hand, Kobe can basically be "at bat" every time in his sport.

As for staying in Cleveland, I think he's past the point of being concerned about his image in Cleveland.

Re: the bolded portion, that's exactly my beef. It's not the structure of the NBA or the way the business model is set up that causes the problem, it's just a sport that revolves around star players. Coaches come second to star players. One star player makes a gigantic impact. In that way, it's much less of a team sport, and hence a lot less appealing to me.

As for James' image, Cleveland will never forgive him. The rest of the country won't care, and as soon as James wins that first title in Miami, he won't even care about Cleveland anymore. He'll feel the love and adulation from Miami fans, and that will help him move on from the bad breakup with Cleveland.

But I'm just turned off by the ego involved here. He's purposely keeping his lips sealed as to where he's going (or at least telling Broussard not to reveal the information and thus managing the message), so that he can go on TV for an all-about-me hour dedicated to revealing where he'll go. He's got a marketing team to push his "brand".

Can he do that? Hell yeah, it's his way of making a buttload of money, and I can't fault that but so much. But the ego of it is overwhelming.

I just prefer the NFL, where superstars make an impact, but still recognize that as great as they are, they aren't bigger than the team.

Re: the bolded portion, that's exactly my beef. It's not the structure of the NBA or the way the business model is set up that causes the problem, it's just a sport that revolves around star players. Coaches come second to star players. One star player makes a gigantic impact. In that way, it's much less of a team sport, and hence a lot less appealing to me.

As for James' image, Cleveland will never forgive him. The rest of the country won't care, and as soon as James wins that first title in Miami, he won't even care about Cleveland anymore. He'll feel the love and adulation from Miami fans, and that will help him move on from the bad breakup with Cleveland.

But I'm just turned off by the ego involved here. He's purposely keeping his lips sealed as to where he's going (or at least telling Broussard not to reveal the information and thus managing the message), so that he can go on TV for an all-about-me hour dedicated to revealing where he'll go. He's got a marketing team to push his "brand".

Can he do that? Hell yeah, it's his way of making a buttload of money, and I can't fault that but so much. But the ego of it is overwhelming.

I just prefer the NFL, where superstars make an impact, but still recognize that as great as they are, they aren't bigger than the team.

I hear what you're saying. Good post

^^ Exactly. We're talking about star impact. Toss 2 great NBA players on a team and even with an average cast around them chances are they can still carry that team pretty far.

Toss 2 great NFL players on a team with an average cast, and they're going probably nowhere.


Ok I see your guys point.

Re: the bolded portion, that's exactly my beef. It's not the structure of the NBA or the way the business model is set up that causes the problem, it's just a sport that revolves around star players. Coaches come second to star players. One star player makes a gigantic impact. In that way, it's much less of a team sport, and hence a lot less appealing to me.

As for James' image, Cleveland will never forgive him. The rest of the country won't care, and as soon as James wins that first title in Miami, he won't even care about Cleveland anymore. He'll feel the love and adulation from Miami fans, and that will help him move on from the bad breakup with Cleveland.

But I'm just turned off by the ego involved here. He's purposely keeping his lips sealed as to where he's going (or at least telling Broussard not to reveal the information and thus managing the message), so that he can go on TV for an all-about-me hour dedicated to revealing where he'll go. He's got a marketing team to push his "brand".

Can he do that? Hell yeah, it's his way of making a buttload of money, and I can't fault that but so much. But the ego of it is overwhelming.

I just prefer the NFL, where superstars make an impact, but still recognize that as great as they are, they aren't bigger than the team.


I totally agree about the hour special. Please no one watch it, it is a stupid hype machine.

From a casual observer of the NBA, I'm buying into the hype. I'm interested to see where he goes and I think the excitement surrounding the start of the season will be huge. Will I tune in to this special tonight? Probably not, but I'll be checking ESPN.com frequently to see what his decision is.

I am sure the twitterverse will blow up around 9:50 tonight.