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Buftex

By Buftex
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section122

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your dream not his. He had no responsibility to you. . Cleveland was a dead end team in a dead end town. They couldn't recruit anyone good enough to fill out a championship roster. With lebron they were in the finals, without one of the worst teams in the league. He was dying a slow death there.

ALMOST NO MAJOR STAR IN ANY TEAM SPORT PLAYS FOR THEIR HOME TEAM.

By your reasoning then you must worship Carmelo Anthony for coming back to NY to play for the Knicks. Go Knicks in 2013, woo hoo !!

Joe I agree with you about not playing for the home team. In many ways it adds much more of a burden to the athlete as the hometown pressure, your "boys", extended "family", etc.. There was a short on ESPN about dwill possibly going back to dallas and joining the mavs. Some ex-athletes were warning that it wouldn't be a good idea because the outside pressure can be to much. Cleveland is not a desireable city for a pro athlete (especially an nba player), and it was difficult to lure anyone there. If the cavs had pulled the trade for amare at midseason instead of holding onto jj hixon(!!) I think LeBron may have re-signed. He saw the writing on the wall and it was that he couldn't do it alone and he needed more players around him, which wasn't happening in Cleveland.

 

 

The lakers might be the one team that got him a pass - here's why...

 

The hatred isn't just about screwing Cleveland. It's about throwing away every fans dream of growing up and saving the home team. The one thing that might've saved him is the shear volume of people that are into the icon of the lakers. Going to Miami felt cheap, going to a storied franchise atleast a fan could sell himself a storyline about the 8 year old in the driveway taking the last shot and pretending to be magic, or Kareem or.... You get it. he destroyed that connection to the child-like fan in us. Even if it's not our own team Or sport I think we can all relate to that dream. He killed a rare shot to watch it, with a 60 minute special.

 

 

Like he had a choice? He did what Stern told him to do.

NoSaint I agree with your premise but his options were limited in that capacity. Signing with Lakers would get a response from America like crayonz gave (and I know it was tongue in cheek but others wouldn't have been). Also the alpha male Kobe I don't think would have allowed it (added to the fact they had no cap room to make it happen). The only other legendary team in the NBA is the Celtics and they too didn't have the cap room. Add to that the fact that they had(are) his nemesis and it would have been tough for him to join up.

The only team I think people wouldn't have had the blowback for is the Bulls. LeBron grew up a Jordan fan and all of the Jordan fans that had stopped watching the NBA when he retired would have been brought back. That could have been the growing up in the driveway scenario you were talking about imo.

As for signing with the Heat I don't think it was a bad move. He gets to write their history books. They had 1 championship and it wasn't exactly a glory years type run. They got shaq, he had one good year, left, they won, and returned to mediocrity. This team can put together a dynasty type atmosphere where every year they will be the favorites.

 

 

 

That said... the reason I originally came here was to talk about the draft last night. Sucks to see a couple of cuse players go to the celtics but then again I don't expect much from them. Fab is an excellent defender (when he can camp in the paint and play zone - not sure how that translates) and Joseph hasn't been the same player since that nasty spill he took 2 years ago. Waiters on the other hand is as exciting on the floor as any college player i've seen (in this years draft) and Cleveland has built themselves a nice little nucleus. I'm not big on Zeller but in the last 2 years they have gotten themselves 4 young starters.

 

Like the lakers pick up of Johnson-Odom too. Was hoping for a Pau trade but there is still time for that - they just won't end up with kidd-gilchrist like I wanted (pipe dream I know).

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NoSaint Hall of Famer

NoSaint

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Joe I agree with you about not playing for the home team. In many ways it adds much more of a burden to the athlete as the hometown pressure, your "boys", extended "family", etc.. There was a short on ESPN about dwill possibly going back to dallas and joining the mavs. Some ex-athletes were warning that it wouldn't be a good idea because the outside pressure can be to much. Cleveland is not a desireable city for a pro athlete (especially an nba player), and it was difficult to lure anyone there. If the cavs had pulled the trade for amare at midseason instead of holding onto jj hixon(!!) I think LeBron may have re-signed. He saw the writing on the wall and it was that he couldn't do it alone and he needed more players around him, which wasn't happening in Cleveland.

 

 

 

 

 

NoSaint I agree with your premise but his options were limited in that capacity. Signing with Lakers would get a response from America like crayonz gave (and I know it was tongue in cheek but others wouldn't have been). Also the alpha male Kobe I don't think would have allowed it (added to the fact they had no cap room to make it happen). The only other legendary team in the NBA is the Celtics and they too didn't have the cap room. Add to that the fact that they had(are) his nemesis and it would have been tough for him to join up.

The only team I think people wouldn't have had the blowback for is the Bulls. LeBron grew up a Jordan fan and all of the Jordan fans that had stopped watching the NBA when he retired would have been brought back. That could have been the growing up in the driveway scenario you were talking about imo.

As for signing with the Heat I don't think it was a bad move. He gets to write their history books. They had 1 championship and it wasn't exactly a glory years type run. They got shaq, he had one good year, left, they won, and returned to mediocrity. This team can put together a dynasty type atmosphere where every year they will be the favorites.

 

 

 

That said... the reason I originally came here was to talk about the draft last night. Sucks to see a couple of cuse players go to the celtics but then again I don't expect much from them. Fab is an excellent defender (when he can camp in the paint and play zone - not sure how that translates) and Joseph hasn't been the same player since that nasty spill he took 2 years ago. Waiters on the other hand is as exciting on the floor as any college player i've seen (in this years draft) and Cleveland has built themselves a nice little nucleus. I'm not big on Zeller but in the last 2 years they have gotten themselves 4 young starters.

 

Like the lakers pick up of Johnson-Odom too. Was hoping for a Pau trade but there is still time for that - they just won't end up with kidd-gilchrist like I wanted (pipe dream I know).

That's fair enough - I know lakers weren't an option, I was just referencing that specific post I replied to that mentioned them and had me thinking about it. Of the real ones I agree Chicago had the least backlash.... He didn't owe me anything though, as joe implies I think, I was just discussing some of the let down across the nation. It's a dream come true for so many, and it's so rare to even see someone have the chance - people I think saw him walk away from it and it heavily painted what they thought of his character as a person (what kind of person would walk away from every red blooded americans dream after all- not fair but I think a gut reaction many had). Doing it on espn just amplified it 10 fold, and to go to Miami another 10.

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bbb Hall of Famer

bbb

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your dream not his. He had no responsibility to you. . Cleveland was a dead end team in a dead end town. They couldn't recruit anyone good enough to fill out a championship roster. With lebron they were in the finals, without one of the worst teams in the league. He was dying a slow death there.

ALMOST NO MAJOR STAR IN ANY TEAM SPORT PLAYS FOR THEIR HOME TEAM.

By your reasoning then you must worship Carmelo Anthony for coming back to NY to play for the Knicks. Go Knicks in 2013, woo hoo !!

 

I thought Carmelo was from Baltimore?

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bbb Hall of Famer

bbb

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Do you need a law degree to keep up with NBA free agency and basically all the salary cap stuff. Trading expiring contracts, mid-level exemption, Bird rule, early Bird rule, max contract............For having 12 players on the team, every one of them must have their own type of contract.

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Buftex Hall of Famer

Buftex

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A little sad to lose Ray Allen, especially to Miami...but I think it was coming...the signing of Jason Terry, IMO, was a signal that the Celtics didn't think he would come back....oh well..he didn't like losing his stating job, but he was injured, and his replacement (Bradley) was just playing too well to take him out...and, he and Rondo had a tough relationship...gonna be hard for me to root against him...but I will!

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NoSaint Hall of Famer

NoSaint

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Do you need a law degree to keep up with NBA free agency and basically all the salary cap stuff. Trading expiring contracts, mid-level exemption, Bird rule, early Bird rule, max contract............For having 12 players on the team, every one of them must have their own type of contract.

 

Makes it really hard for a casual fan to get into free agency (which should be an exciting time). I think the NBA made a huge mistake here.

 

Edit: honestly, thinking on it more, it's amazing how badly the NBA has killed the simple process of becoming a fan. You figure that that the average non-watcher probably picks up deep in the playoffs. Cool - have an exciting couple series and you've hooked me. Where do we go from here? A draft lottery behind closed doors that's supposedly "not rigged." well, that tempers my enthusiasm a bit. Well of these new and exciting teams I'm hooked on who will they get? Oh you mean players picked at the bottom of round 1 are completely written off before they get in the league a lot of times? My new favorite team traded their pick for an exemption or some other obscure cap loophole? I don't get it. Let's look at free agency! What in the hell are they talking about?!?!? Wait who can we sign? Why can't we get that guy?!?! This sucks. See you in the finals again.

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bbb Hall of Famer

bbb

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That is 100% how I feel............Now with fellow Bona grad and all around great guy Andrew Nicholson being drafted by the Magic, that is now my favorite team. But, at first, I'm like - well, is he going to get traded right away, like so many other picks?............Then, Jameer Nelson opts out, but now he's back. What?.........Is Dwight Howard staying or going? Is that good for Andrew or bad?..........The whole thing is a cluster.

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Buftex Hall of Famer

Buftex

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Makes it really hard for a casual fan to get into free agency (which should be an exciting time). I think the NBA made a huge mistake here.

 

Edit: honestly, thinking on it more, it's amazing how badly the NBA has killed the simple process of becoming a fan. You figure that that the average non-watcher probably picks up deep in the playoffs. Cool - have an exciting couple series and you've hooked me. Where do we go from here? A draft lottery behind closed doors that's supposedly "not rigged." well, that tempers my enthusiasm a bit. Well of these new and exciting teams I'm hooked on who will they get? Oh you mean players picked at the bottom of round 1 are completely written off before they get in the league a lot of times? My new favorite team traded their pick for an exemption or some other obscure cap loophole? I don't get it. Let's look at free agency! What in the hell are they talking about?!?!? Wait who can we sign? Why can't we get that guy?!?! This sucks. See you in the finals again.

 

Well, the problem really is that there beyond the first three picks in the draft, and an odd 2 or 3 later (there are only 60 picks in the NBA draft) most of the drafted players will have little, or no impact on the team that drafts them. A good dozen or two will bounce around the league as roster fodder for 2 or 3 years, never to be heard from again...it is tough to break into the NBA.

 

The Lakers traded, I think, 3 first round picks for a gray-beard Steve Nash, and they got a tremendous deal. In what other league could you make that trade? The Lakers will be a playoff team while Nash is there, so the three picks that Phoenix gets, from where the Lakers would pick (likely in the 22-30 range) will likely not even be in the NBA more than a year or two.

 

Other problem is, a teams best player is, ultimately, the de-facto GM of the team. Somebody here (can't remember who) was saying that the Lakers were done, the window for Kobe winning rings was over, when they were eliminated. That was absolutely false...as I pointed out then. As long as Kobe is playing, he will be able to lure other talent to play with him. The "salary cap" in the NBA really gives every team a chance to re-shape their team every summer...but there just isn't enough talent to go around.

 

If I was FA, wanting to win a ring, I would be begging the Heat to sign me, or head to one of about 4 teams in the West that have a good chance to make the finals next year, to face the Heat. No other league embraces the concept of players luring others to their franchise, as the NBA does.

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\GoBillsInDallas/ All Pro

\GoBillsInDallas/

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Jason Kidd signs with Knicks, and gets busted for DWI:

 

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/jason_kidd_busted_for_dwi_in_hamptons_yDN1NLVzI9g1dEvM6I1GBL

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/jason-kidd-ny-knicks-point-guard-arrested-dwi-southampton-report-article-1.1114897

 

http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks/jason-kidd-charged-with-dwi-in-southampton-crash-1.3839372

 

:lol:

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Buftex Hall of Famer

Buftex

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There is just something about that team!

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The Poojer

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Take down his statue immediately!!!

 

 

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Buftex Hall of Famer

Buftex

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I blame the nba culture. Stars think they can do whatever they want. It's linsanity.

 

I would say, by and large, NBA players get in off the court trouble far less than their NFL counterparts. Of course, I realize, there are a lot more of them.

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