NBA Screwed?: James Leaning Towards Heat

[Schneed10]

I think one of the reasons I really like the NFL is because it's so hard to win by building a team through free agency.

It just rubs me wrong that an NBA team can work years just to position itself for all contracts to expire in order to clean the books ahead of the arrival of three superstar free agents. And poof, championship caliber team. It's just too easy. There's no in-house development of players like you have in the MLB farm systems or on the depth charts of NFL teams. In those sports, you can't just add one or two superstar free agents and expect to be necessarily any better than you were the year before. You have to develop depth, draft well, coach well.

It's lame. If LeBron joins the Heat and wins 5 rings with Wade and Bosh, he'll never measure up to Kobe Bryant in my mind, who currently has five rings. Kobe won three with Shaq, true. But the other two were won without the superstar talent that LeBron will have around him in Miami. It's just lame.

I hope he goes back to Cleveland. I still think there's a good chance of that. How do you go on TV for a special centered around you, and announce that you're leaving the city you grew up in? Talk about an image-killer in your hometown. Supposedly the guy is all about image, if that's true, his image will get destroyed if he announces anything but a return to Cleveland on prime time TV.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I think one of the reasons I really like the NFL is because it's so hard to win by building a team through free agency.

It just rubs me wrong that an NBA team can work years just to position itself for all contracts to expire in order to clean the books ahead of the arrival of three superstar free agents. And poof, championship caliber team. It's just too easy. There's no in-house development of players like you have in the MLB farm systems or on the depth charts of NFL teams. In those sports, you can't just add one or two superstar free agents and expect to be necessarily any better than you were the year before. You have to develop depth, draft well, coach well.

It's lame. If LeBron joins the Heat and wins 5 rings with Wade and Bosh, he'll never measure up to Kobe Bryant in my mind, who currently has five rings. Kobe won three with Shaq, true. But the other two were won without the superstar talent that LeBron will have around him in Miami. It's just lame.

I hope he goes back to Cleveland. I still think there's a good chance of that. How do you go on TV for a special centered around you, and announce that you're leaving the city you grew up in? Talk about an image-killer in your hometown. Supposedly the guy is all about image, if that's true, his image will get destroyed if he announces anything but a return to Cleveland on prime time TV.

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.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

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.

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

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.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by mredskins

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

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

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.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

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

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

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.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by mredskins

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

I've been working like crazy on this special for the last couple of days...please everyone watch it

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

I've been working like crazy on this special for the last couple of days...please everyone watch it

Oh sorry, not that anyone was listening to me.

[Big C]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

It just rubs me wrong that an NBA team can work years just to position itself for all contracts to expire in order to clean the books ahead of the arrival of three superstar free agents. And poof, championship caliber team. It's just too easy. There's no in-house development of players like you have in the MLB farm systems or on the depth charts of NFL teams. In those sports, you can't just add one or two superstar free agents and expect to be necessarily any better than you were the year before. You have to develop depth, draft well, coach well.

agree with this 100%. same thing with the celtics a few years ago. shitty team, had cap space, and bam, nba title contender year in year out. really makes me lose a lot of interest in the nba tbh.