Sheridan: Lebron is returning to Cleveland.

[greg683x]

This is a text my friend sent to me after I shared Sheridan's report with him: "He's a selfish piece of sh*t and the media is going to play it up like he couldn't stand being away from home...and Cleveland has nothing else, so they'll be welcoming him with open arms.  He's going for the $$$ and because he cares only about himself."

Lol, so true!

And the sickening part is if you thought everyone was kissing Lebron's ass before, wait til you see how much the ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBA TV crew puckers up if Lebron goes back to Cleveland.

The league is going to hype him up as a superstar player with a soft spot in his heart for his home city and paint him out to be an American hero!

It's going to get really unbearable!

Come to think of it, Lebron I am begging you, stay in Miami!

We passed unbearable long ago, my friend.  The real issue I have here with Lebron is how much money does this guy need?

I remember reading some years back, LeBron said he wants to become a billionaire.  I guess he isn't satisfied with hundred-millions.

Any time I here Stephen A Smith or someone else say that Lebron, "is all about business," I want to throw up.  The astonishing level of greed displayed by the top 1% of the people in this country is beyond contemptible.  I don't even know where to begin on the issue of how cutthroat the nature of 'business' is.

lebrons not in the top 1%.  I bet he'd like to get there though.

The people signing Lebrons checks are closer to the 1%

[LarBrd33]

Look, let's set this straight. 

First of all, with no salary cap, LeBron would make 50+ million per season.  This isn't about money.  I think it's insulting to suggest LeBron should take a pay cut.  Get over that.

Second of all, I think people misunderstand why LeBron left Cleveland. He left, because the Cavs had failed to put a team around him.  They blew the Carlos Boozer thing, they failed to make any impact signings or trades... and the team surrounding LeBron was hot garbage.  He managed to take a team to the Finals where his best teammates were Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden.  In retrospect, that team was embarrassingly bad without him. 

Anyone who doesn't understand that need only note that the Cavs won 61 games in 2009-10... his key teammates were Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, JJ Hickson, Antawn Jamison and Daniel Gibson.   The very next season, none of those players left and they won 19 games.  The team was garbage.  Indisputable fact. 

Meanwhile, the media unfairly put all the blame on him... like it wasn't enough that he singlehandedly could take a 19 win team to 61 wins.  He failed to win a title... it was all on him.  He didn't want to be Kevin Garnett... he didn't want to waste the prime of his career on some also-ran squad and take the blame.  And like Kevin Garnett, he immediately proved that with a couple competent teammates, he could contend for a title.   4 straight Finals appearances... 2 Championships.   

He left, because they didn't have any talent.  Not because he hated Cleveland.  Not because of money.  Because of the gross incompetence of that franchise.  But also note that when he left... even in "The Decision", he prefaced his iconic comment by saying "at this time... I'm taking my talents to South Beach."   Even in that comment he foreshadowed that it could be a temporary thing.  Like maybe if Cleveland got their **** together, he'd return.

Now here we are... the Cavs, through luck (not competence) have fallen assbackwards into a team loaded with elite young talent and assets.   There's really no reason for LeBron NOT to return.   He left, because they failed to build a team around him.   With Kyrie and Love on board, he might as well go home.   I will not get butt-hurt about it.  I'm not going to throw a fit.  His move to Miami was 1000% defensible and warranted.  His move back to Cleveland would just make sense.

[greg683x]

He's going for the $$$ and because he cares only about himself."

Whatever his motivation in (allegedly) returning home, it's not money.  He could get more by staying in Miami.

Miami tried to get him to take less money so that it could arguably improve the team about as much as it could if no one had opted out.  This could be avoided if Mickey Arison wasn't so greedy.

you cant blame the guy for wanting a max deal, hes the best player in the game.  The problem with Miami is the loyalty to Dewayne Wade, his money and him having to remain with the Heat is the thorn in their side.

[saltlover]

i dont blame the guy for wanting to make as much money as possible.  maybe he wants to own a team after he retires.  I just dont think money is #1 on his radar right now

I think it's a combination of money and legacy.  NBA salary-wise, he won't make as much money by switching teams, but he will make up the 'loss' with outside marketing ventures.  Legacy-wise, it will be a story of redemption and bringing a title to Cleveland, etc...blah, blah, blah.  I think the guy does care about winning, but as you said earlier, he looks for the easiest route possible.

So you are under the impression that LeBron....the undisputed best player in the league...wouldn't have significant outside marketing ventures if he goes back to Miami?

He would clearly still make a boatload of money with marketing ventures no matter where he goes...He could play in Milwaukee and still rake it in... but what would make more money?  Staying in MIA or going home to Cleveland to finish what you started when you came into the league?  The media/big corporations will blow this thing out of proportion and people will eat it up.

....Frankly, I would guess his non-NBA income wouldn't be any different in either Miami and Cleveland. He certainly wouldn't make so much more in Cleveland that he would go there for the money, as has been pointed out earlier.

He may or may not make more in Cleveland-- we'll never know the counterfactual.  That said, I do find it telling he met with his Nike team this week before meeting with any NBA teams.  Marketing is very, very much part of the decision.  And James makes way more in marketing every year than he does in NBA salary.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2014/07/09/how-lebron-james-earned-450-million-during-his-nba-career/

[Rakulp]

This is a text my friend sent to me after I shared Sheridan's report with him: "He's a selfish piece of sh*t and the media is going to play it up like he couldn't stand being away from home...and Cleveland has nothing else, so they'll be welcoming him with open arms.  He's going for the $$$ and because he cares only about himself."

Lol, so true!

And the sickening part is if you thought everyone was kissing Lebron's ass before, wait til you see how much the ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBA TV crew puckers up if Lebron goes back to Cleveland.

The league is going to hype him up as a superstar player with a soft spot in his heart for his home city and paint him out to be an American hero!

It's going to get really unbearable!

Come to think of it, Lebron I am begging you, stay in Miami!

We passed unbearable long ago, my friend.  The real issue I have here with Lebron is how much money does this guy need?

I remember reading some years back, LeBron said he wants to become a billionaire.  I guess he isn't satisfied with hundred-millions.

Any time I here Stephen A Smith or someone else say that Lebron, "is all about business," I want to throw up.  The astonishing level of greed displayed by the top 1% of the people in this country is beyond contemptible.  I don't even know where to begin on the issue of how cutthroat the nature of 'business' is.

lebrons not in the top 1%.  I bet he'd like to get there though.

The people signing Lebrons checks are closer to the 1%

According to this link

http://www.financialsamurai.com/how-much-money-do-the-top-income-earners-make-percent/

Top 1%: $380,354

Yeah...he's there...and then some.

Rak

[greg683x]

Look, let's set this straight. 

First of all, with no salary cap, LeBron would make 50+ million per season.  This isn't about money.

Second of all, I think people misunderstand why LeBron left Cleveland. He left, because the Cavs had failed to put a team around him.  They blew the Carlos Boozer thing, they failed to make any impact signings or trades... and the team surrounding LeBron was hot garbage.  He managed to take a team to the Finals where his best teammates were Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden.  In retrospect, that team was embarrassingly bad without him. 

Anyone who doesn't understand that need only note that the Cavs won 61 games in 2009-10... his key teammates were Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, JJ Hickson, Antawn Jamison and Daniel Gibson.   The very next season, none of those players left and they won 19 games.  The team was garbage.  Indisputable fact. 

Meanwhile, the media unfairly put all the blame on him... like it wasn't enough that he singlehandedly could take a 19 win team to 61 wins.  He failed to win a title... it was all on him.  He didn't want to be Kevin Garnett... he didn't want to waste the prime of his career on some also-ran squad and take the blame.  And like Kevin Garnett, he immediately proved that with a couple competent teammates, he could contend for a title.   4 straight Finals appearances... 2 Championships.   

He left, because they didn't have any talent.  Not because he hated Cleveland.  Not because of money.  Because of the gross incompetence of that franchise.  But also note that when he left... even in "The Decision", he prefaced his iconic comment by saying "at this time... I'm taking my talents to South Beach."   Even in that comment he foreshadowed that it could be a temporary thing.  Like maybe if Cleveland got their **** together, he'd return.

Now here we are... the Cavs, through luck (not competence) have fallen assbackwards into a team loaded with elite young talent and assets.   There's really no reason for LeBron NOT to return.   He left, because they failed to build a team around him.   With Kyrie and Love on board, he might as well go home.   I will not get butt-hurt about it.  I'm not going to throw a fit.  His move to Miami was 1000% defensible and warranted.  His move back to Cleveland would just make sense.

i agree with most of this, but as unfair as some of the media treatment was for him leaving cleveland, he brought a lot of it on himself with how he handled the departure, it was pretty disrespectful to the cavs to do it on national tv and not to tell the Cavs beforehand.

as far as his motivations for returning, well hes leaving a team that made it to the finals 4 years in row.  like ive said in my previous posts, I think hes just ring chasing at this point and it really shows his lack of being able to handle any kind of adversity.

[greg683x]

This is a text my friend sent to me after I shared Sheridan's report with him: "He's a selfish piece of sh*t and the media is going to play it up like he couldn't stand being away from home...and Cleveland has nothing else, so they'll be welcoming him with open arms.  He's going for the $$$ and because he cares only about himself."

Lol, so true!

And the sickening part is if you thought everyone was kissing Lebron's ass before, wait til you see how much the ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBA TV crew puckers up if Lebron goes back to Cleveland.

The league is going to hype him up as a superstar player with a soft spot in his heart for his home city and paint him out to be an American hero!

It's going to get really unbearable!

Come to think of it, Lebron I am begging you, stay in Miami!

We passed unbearable long ago, my friend.  The real issue I have here with Lebron is how much money does this guy need?

I remember reading some years back, LeBron said he wants to become a billionaire.  I guess he isn't satisfied with hundred-millions.

Any time I here Stephen A Smith or someone else say that Lebron, "is all about business," I want to throw up.  The astonishing level of greed displayed by the top 1% of the people in this country is beyond contemptible.  I don't even know where to begin on the issue of how cutthroat the nature of 'business' is.

lebrons not in the top 1%.  I bet he'd like to get there though.

The people signing Lebrons checks are closer to the 1%

According to this link

http://www.financialsamurai.com/how-much-money-do-the-top-income-earners-make-percent/

Top 1%: $380,354

Yeah...he's there...and then some.

Rak

I stand corrected.  TP

[Waew]

This is a text my friend sent to me after I shared Sheridan's report with him: "He's a selfish piece of sh*t and the media is going to play it up like he couldn't stand being away from home...and Cleveland has nothing else, so they'll be welcoming him with open arms.  He's going for the $$$ and because he cares only about himself."

Lol, so true!

And the sickening part is if you thought everyone was kissing Lebron's ass before, wait til you see how much the ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBA TV crew puckers up if Lebron goes back to Cleveland.

The league is going to hype him up as a superstar player with a soft spot in his heart for his home city and paint him out to be an American hero!

It's going to get really unbearable!

Come to think of it, Lebron I am begging you, stay in Miami!

We passed unbearable long ago, my friend.  The real issue I have here with Lebron is how much money does this guy need?

I remember reading some years back, LeBron said he wants to become a billionaire.  I guess he isn't satisfied with hundred-millions.

Any time I here Stephen A Smith or someone else say that Lebron, "is all about business," I want to throw up.  The astonishing level of greed displayed by the top 1% of the people in this country is beyond contemptible.  I don't even know where to begin on the issue of how cutthroat the nature of 'business' is.

lebrons not in the top 1%.  I bet he'd like to get there though.

The people signing Lebrons checks are closer to the 1%

lebron is worth $150 million, and made a nice chunk of change off the sale of Beats. he's in the 1%. the people signing lebrons checks? those are 0.1%. there are only a handful of those billionaires in America.

[LarBrd33]

Look, let's set this straight. 

First of all, with no salary cap, LeBron would make 50+ million per season.  This isn't about money.

Second of all, I think people misunderstand why LeBron left Cleveland. He left, because the Cavs had failed to put a team around him.  They blew the Carlos Boozer thing, they failed to make any impact signings or trades... and the team surrounding LeBron was hot garbage.  He managed to take a team to the Finals where his best teammates were Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden.  In retrospect, that team was embarrassingly bad without him. 

Anyone who doesn't understand that need only note that the Cavs won 61 games in 2009-10... his key teammates were Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, JJ Hickson, Antawn Jamison and Daniel Gibson.   The very next season, none of those players left and they won 19 games.  The team was garbage.  Indisputable fact. 

Meanwhile, the media unfairly put all the blame on him... like it wasn't enough that he singlehandedly could take a 19 win team to 61 wins.  He failed to win a title... it was all on him.  He didn't want to be Kevin Garnett... he didn't want to waste the prime of his career on some also-ran squad and take the blame.  And like Kevin Garnett, he immediately proved that with a couple competent teammates, he could contend for a title.   4 straight Finals appearances... 2 Championships.   

He left, because they didn't have any talent.  Not because he hated Cleveland.  Not because of money.  Because of the gross incompetence of that franchise.  But also note that when he left... even in "The Decision", he prefaced his iconic comment by saying "at this time... I'm taking my talents to South Beach."   Even in that comment he foreshadowed that it could be a temporary thing.  Like maybe if Cleveland got their **** together, he'd return.

Now here we are... the Cavs, through luck (not competence) have fallen assbackwards into a team loaded with elite young talent and assets.   There's really no reason for LeBron NOT to return.   He left, because they failed to build a team around him.   With Kyrie and Love on board, he might as well go home.   I will not get butt-hurt about it.  I'm not going to throw a fit.  His move to Miami was 1000% defensible and warranted.  His move back to Cleveland would just make sense.

i agree with most of this, but as unfair as some of the media treatment was for him leaving cleveland, he brought a lot of it on himself with how he handled the departure, it was pretty disrespectful to the cavs to do it on national tv and not to tell the Cavs beforehand.

as far as his motivations for returning, well hes leaving a team that made it to the finals 4 years in row.  like ive said in my previous posts, I think hes just ring chasing at this point and it really shows his lack of being able to handle any kind of adversity.

#1 - yeah he handled that poorly.  I'm sure he'd admit that.

#2 - He left the Cavs because they were horribly mismanaged.  They failed to put any talent around him.  He took them to the Finals when he was 22 years old and still only making 5.8 million on his rookie contract.  They completely botched the LeBron era.... it's not like he was stifling their cap space.  It was just a grossly mismanaged team.    He left for valid reasons... he just so happens to make 4 finals appearances with his new team due to the fact he had a couple competent teammates.  LeBron is a transcendent player... it was inevitably going to happen once he had a couple good players.  That doesn't mean his loyalty should be to Miami.  He gifted them 4 years of relevance... and now wherever the King goes will be able to ride his coattails to relevance as well.  Fact is, he'll probably make 5 straight finals appearances with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving... he's a transcendent player.  if he can win 60+ every year with dumpy players like Mo Williams and Anthony Parker, he should have no trouble winning 60+ with Kyrie and Love.  That's not LeBron "chasing rings".  That's LeBron putting himself in a situation where he doesn't have to carry everyone to 60+ wins by himself and then get blamed when LeBron + his band of idiots don't win a championship. 

[SparzWizard]

In unrelated news...

Carmelo Anthony will be taking his talents back to the Big Apple.

http://www.csnchicago.com/bulls/report-carmelo-staying-knicks-will-announce-tomorrow?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo

[MBunge]

Look, let's set this straight. 

Yes, let's set things straight.

Here are the guys who played 50 games or more for Cleveland during LeBron's last year there.

Bron - 76 games
Shaq - 53 games
Zydrunas Ilgauskas - 64 games
JJ Hickson - 81 games
Anderson Varejao - 76 games
Delonte West - 60 games
Mo Williams - 68 games
Anthony Parker - 81 games
Jamario Moon - 61 games
Jawad Williams - 54 games
Daniel Gibson - 56 games

Here's the guys who played 50 games or more the year after LeBron left.

Daniel Gibson - 67 games
Joey Graham - 79 games
Manny Harris - 54 games
JJ Hickson - 80 games
Ryan Hollins - 70 games
Antwan Jamison - 56 games
Ramon Sessions - 81 games
Anthony Parker - 72 games

So, that team essentially lost Shaq, Varejao, Big Z and Delonte and replaced them with Ryan Hollins, Joey Graham, Manny Harris and Ramon Sessions.  Even if Bron had stayed, they were going to win a LOT fewer games.

LeBron is NOT like KG.  Cleveland consistently put competitive teams around LeBron and the main reason they didn't win a title that last year was LeBron quitting on them against Boston.

All the other excuses for LeBron are the real "hot garbage".

Mike

[86MaxwellSmart]

Look, let's set this straight. 

Yes, let's set things straight.

Here are the guys who played 50 games or more for Cleveland during LeBron's last year there.

Bron - 76 games
Shaq - 53 games
Zydrunas Ilgauskas - 64 games
JJ Hickson - 81 games
Anderson Varejao - 76 games
Delonte West - 60 games
Mo Williams - 68 games
Anthony Parker - 81 games
Jamario Moon - 61 games
Jawad Williams - 54 games
Daniel Gibson - 56 games

Here's the guys who played 50 games or more the year after LeBron left.

Daniel Gibson - 67 games
Joey Graham - 79 games
Manny Harris - 54 games
JJ Hickson - 80 games
Ryan Hollins - 70 games
Antwan Jamison - 56 games
Ramon Sessions - 81 games
Anthony Parker - 72 games

So, that team essentially lost Shaq, Varejao, Big Z and Delonte and replaced them with Ryan Hollins, Joey Graham, Manny Harris and Ramon Sessions.  Even if Bron had stayed, they were going to win a LOT fewer games.

LeBron is NOT like KG.  Cleveland consistently put competitive teams around LeBron and the main reason they didn't win a title that last year was LeBron quitting on them against Boston.

All the other excuses for LeBron are the real "hot garbage".

Mike

I Agree---I think the Cavs did Everything they could, to put talent around him----For some reason, there's this public perception---that they did Nothing---BS---He had plenty of talent--and just couldn't get by a Much Tougher team--in the KG era Celtics---THAT is why he Gave up--and Quit, to go play in Miami...People's memories are weak....Hell---if Shaq doesn't get hurt---The C's would have beaten him again---The Heat got ALL the Lucky Breaks, the past 4 years--and still only ended up with 2 Rings---Should have been ONE--!

[hpantazo]

So if this is true, and assuming Bosh also leaves the Heat, then Riley will have essentially replaced Lebron and Bosh with Granger and McRoberts. That's awesome.

[footey]

Chris Bosh has decided to sign with the Rockets if LeBron James leaves the Heat, according to ESPN.com.

It's pathetic that Bosh wouldn't just flat out take a max to play in Houston with Howard and Harden regardless of James's decision. Seriously be your own man Chris

If LeBron had already decided to go to Cleveland, wouldn't reports of Bosh agreeing to sign with Rockets already be circulating?

[crimson_stallion]

i dont blame the guy for wanting to make as much money as possible.  maybe he wants to own a team after he retires.  I just dont think money is #1 on his radar right now

I think it's a combination of money and legacy.  NBA salary-wise, he won't make as much money by switching teams, but he will make up the 'loss' with outside marketing ventures.  Legacy-wise, it will be a story of redemption and bringing a title to Cleveland, etc...blah, blah, blah.  I think the guy does care about winning, but as you said earlier, he looks for the easiest route possible.

You really think the easiest route is in Cleveland?  Between the dramatically underwhelming play of Waiters and Bennett, and the fact that Wiggins is very much a prospect, the only 'sure thing' on that team is Irving. 

The fastest way to winning IMHO would have been for him to sacrifice some pay to allow Miami to free enough space to sign some free agents.  If Miami, Bosh and Wade all signed for $12M a year then Miami should have significant cap space to sign free agents.  If Lebron was the first to jump in, then I imagine Wade and Bosh would probably follow suit.

But if reports are true Lebron refused to sacrifice pay to increase his chance at a title, and so it goes.  He already has two rings and probably feels like that's all he needs to land himself securely in the hall of fame and NBA glory, now he can run back to Cleveland and rack up individual stats (and pay cheques).

Sure, I can see the Irving/Wiggins/Lebron being an elite trio 3 or 4 years from now..but by then Lebron will be in his early 30's.  He'll still be a great player, but he will lose some of the explosive athleticism that he depends so much on.  I think he'll fall of worse than most superstars once he gets older, he's not the type of "fundamental" superstar that tends to age well.