There has never been a more watched, scrutinized, analyzed, criticized and every other –ized word, free agency signing than “The Decision” made by LeBron James last night. Every talking head has an opinion about it. The fascinating thing about The Decision, is that there is so many different things to have an opinion on. There are more layers to this signing than Joey in the FRIENDS episode where he puts on all of Chandler’s clothes. There is the basketball layer to the decision, the historical layer, the human layer, the 2010 Miami Heat layer, the Dan Gilbert layer, and so many other layers, it’s difficult to analyze The Decision without mentioning all of them.
First, the basketball element of this decision by LeBron. I understand his desire to put himself in the best possible situation for winning. The ever-elusive ring is what every player wants. The Heat where the safest of all basketball-related destinations he could have chose. I use the word “safest” because that’s what it is. Safe. It is not the best destination. As much as the Chicago-hater in me hates to say it, The Bulls with LeBron would have been a title favorite for years to come. With Rose, Noah, Boozer and LeBron they would have been the odds on favorite to win the NBA championship. You also have to take into account that Rose and Noah as young and still have their best years ahead of them. The Bulls would have been an absolute juggernaut and the toast of Chicago again. Miami will still be a favorite to win the title, but who are they going to surround LeBron, Wade and Bosh with? The Heat are one injury away from big problems. Hypothetically, if everybody is healthy, the Heat’s starting five (LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Mike Miller? And, maybe, Mark Titus?) doesn’t match up well with the Celtics starting five (Pierce, Allen, Garnett, Rondo and Perkins). The chemistry will have to be developed in Miami, and it may be easier said than done.
The second element of all of this is the historical element. I’ve heard numerous times about LeBron is tainting his legacy because this isn’t really his team, he is riding coattails, the all-time greats would never have done this, and so on. I agree with this, but there is one thing that bothers me. Why does everybody insist on saying “Jordan would have never done this, he would want to destroy Wade every year to prove he was better. He wouldn’t quit on his team”? I agree with the competitive part of this, but in reality, Jordan quit on his team. Twice. The baseball experiment was the first time. He left that Bulls team and tried his ego out in minor league baseball, which didn’t work out too well for either party. Then after “retiring” the second time he came back for a run with the Wizards. I fell Jordan knew all along he wasn’t done, he just didn’t want to tarnish his Bulls legacy. That’s just my anti-Jordan sentiment coming out, back to the relevant information. If you want to romanticize the all-time greats who had a competitive spirit and stuck with their teams and led them to the promise land, there is plenty of great examples: Bird, Magic, Russell, Duncan, Kobe, Scalabrine. Forgotten in this is the greats who wouldn’t sell out on their teams because it was in their nature to take “their” team to the title, not someone else’s team, even if they didn’t succeed: Stockton, Nash, Reggie, Karl Malone..oh wait, scratch that last one. My point is that a lot of these guys gave up forming a “dream team” with other superstars to carry their team on their backs, for better or worse, and we respect and remember them for it. LeBron decided not to. While we are on the subject, he will tell you otherwise because he is well-spoken and humble, believe it or not, but Reggie Miller should be included in the discussion of “all time greats” who didn’t win a ring. He was that good.
The third element of all of this is the circus that was "The Decision". Was it really necessary? Absolutely not. This would hurt his reputation and break the hearts of Clevelanders anyway, but the pain would be far less had LeBron not acted like a child and made it into a spectacle on national TV. I had a few problems with this. Number one, in reality he probably is the biggest basketball star in the world, but does he feel that much more important than everybody else that he can’t just tweet his signing with the Heat? He has to do a ESPN special? And don’t give me the charity crap. LeBron is a very, very rich man, and he is getting ready to sign a max contract. I think I heard he raised 5 million dollars for the Boys and Girls Club. That’s great for the Club, but why couldn’t he skip the agony that was The Decision, and just donate five mil? I, along with many other people, would not be near as mad right now about his TV special if he had said “I am choosing to keep my talents here in Northeast Ohio”. This was cruel, unnecessary and a train wreck to watch.
The fourth element is how drastically LeBron’s public image changed overnight. He went from being the most liked basketball player in the world, to possibly less liked than Kobe. I would have never guessed that. Instead of a interview with Jim Gray, where he referred to himself in the 3rd person, basically tore the hearts out of Cav fans, and looked like a pure narcissist, he would have been better off meeting Dan Gilbert on national TV, agreeing to a contract with Cleveland, then kicking Gilbert through a Barber Shop window and tearing up the contract, a la Shawn Michaels. At least then we could all say “wow, that was mean, but LeBron really is a badass”. Instead we were all cringing and could almost hear the city of Cleveland’s hearts breaking. This was a heel turn unlike Shawn Michaels or Hulk Hogan where we were captivated and intrigued. This was an unintentional heel turn where I think LeBron legitimately thought everybody would still love him. He was wrong.
The fifth element, no, not that God-awful Bruce Willis movie, is the Cleveland Cavaliers and how they recoved from this. First of all, I understand LeBron leaving this roster. They are not the best supporting cast. However, isn’t this the same supporting cast that he signed off on? People are saying that LeBron doesn’t owe the Cavs franchise anything. I disagree. He wanted Mo Williams. They got him. He wanted Shaq. They got him. He wanted help at mid-season. They got Jamison. He wanted his buddies to fly on the team plane. They did it. They spent, and spent, and spent to appease LeBron. Some of these moves may have backfired, but you can’t say they didn’t try. He does own something to the franchise for the support they showed him. He does owe something to the community of Cleveland. The community he promised a championship. The community that forgave his wearing a Yankees hat to Jacobs Field for the Indians-Yankees playoff series in his own backyard. The community that forgave him for quitting in the playoffs last year and still lined up by the boatload with signs that read “HOME” last week. Yes, he does own these people a fulfillment of his promise. For that reason, I applaud Dan Gilbert.
The Gilbert letter: awesome. How often do we love people for the candor? For honesty. Dan Gilbert is a businessman. He knows this franchise is in trouble without LeBron. Ticket sales, merchandise sales, and TV earnings will all be down without LeBron. He did what any owner should do, but doesn’t have the balls to. He said publicly what his fans thought privately. He got the fans on his side. The Cleveland fans have had too much heartache caused by owners in the past. Art Modell moving the Browns in the obvious one, but what about the Dolans trading two Cy Young winner in consecutive years? The Indians are still trying to recover from that PR disaster, and it shows in lacking ticket sales. Gilbert got the fans on his side. They saw an owner who was willing to go to war with Goliath, and they are behind him. I haven’t heard anybody from Cleveland saying they disagree with Dan Gilbert. He made the Cavs relevant again, and took some focus on the poor heartbroken Clevelanders. He made them hungry for a team that can beat LeBron. Touche, Dan Gilbert.
The sixth element is what could we possibly compare this to? Some people said Favre. This is nothing like the Favre saga. First of all, the Packers wanted to get rid of Favre, not the other way around. Second, Favre wasn’t born and raised in the Green Bay area, like LeBron in Cleveland. Favre has a chip on his shoulder when he plays the Packers, and rightly so. They dismissed him. For the record, they were correct in doing so, it was time to move on with Aaron Rodgers, but they still dismissed Favre. No, not Favre, the person to compare him to is none other than public enemy number one, Alex Rodriguez. Both are arguably the best in the world at what they do. Both are obviously quite full of themselves. Both choked in the playoffs when they were “the man”. Both have joined a team with a defined leader who already has won the big one. The 2009 Yankees title is Jeter’s title, much like the Heat’s imminent title will still be Wade’s title, no matter how much the media wants to spotlight LeBron.
The seventh element is the losers. Obviously the Cavs lost out, but as did the Knicks, Nets and Bulls. These teams made huge pitches to LeBron and then apparently had to wait to find out with the rest of the world where he was going to sign. Have some class LeBron. At least tell these guys, “Thanks, but no thanks”. The fan bases of these teams also lose out. Most of these teams have very solid fan bases that are loyal. Miami is an awful sports city. I went to a Heat game last year when I went to Miami for the Orange Bowl. It was against the Hawks. Two playoff teams. At least a quarter of the fans there were Hawekeye fans just there to catch the game. Very dull atmosphere compared to other NBA cities. I bet it will be bumping next year though when the bandwagon fans come off their sea-doo and go over to the arena. (Another loser, my Indiana Pacers. 2011 was supposed to be their summer with huge cap space, now that summer is shared with the Bulls, Knicks, Nets and Clippers. Not good for Indy)
Finally, I would like to say I was wrong about LeBron. I was duped. I loved the guy. I liked the way the Cavs had fun, I liked the way he plays, I liked the way he presented himself, but now I am done with him. I will be cheering for the Celtics to beat them in the East. I’ll be cheering for Kobe to dismantle the Heat in the finals. I’ll be cheering for Noah and the Bulls to out-tough him. The irony of this is, I hate the Bulls, Celtics and Lakers. But they are not my least favorite team in the NBA anymore. Congratulations, Miami. My opinion of LeBron has done a 180. I still stand by the thought that if he stayed in Cleveland and won multiple titles he would go down as the best player of all time. That thought is out the window. On the bright side, maybe more people will watch the Indians now. Or maybe Cleveland will implode and I’ll have to find a new baseball team to cheer for. Either way, baseball season is looking up.
