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
Shaq was a great player, but by the time he spent his one season in Cleveland, he wasn't all that special, averaging 12 points per game on his worst shooting percentage in over a decade. Big Z was also on his last legs. Varejao was missed, but almost all of that team's drop off was due to LeBron leaving. Cleveland should have done a better job at giving him some support, more than an ancient Shaq.
Yeah, I never thought they gave LeBron a particularly noteworthy supporting cast. Shaq was past his prime, I think Z was having some foot/leg problems, there were no other All-Stars on that squad if I remember correctly, and no particularly good scorers. Sideshow Bob was a good hustle guy/rebounder, but that team was basically LeBron, an over-the-hill Shaq, and a bunch of slightly-above-average role players (Mo, Delonte, Hickson). And let's remember that on the team LeBron took to the Finals in '07, the second-best player was Larry Hughes. Larry Hughes, people.
Bottom line... LeBron was the difference between 19 wins and 61 wins. That team was awful. Just awful. We're exaggerating the impact of those scrubs, because King James was playing with them... kinda like glorifying the importance of someone like Steve Kerr or Derrick Fisher. It was King James and a bunch of bums. Can't blame him for leaving.. can't blame him for going back now that they have lucked into some talent.
You're bringin up SHaq? Shaq was toast that year.
News Flash: They won 66 games the year prior without Shaq. Most minutes on that team: LeBron, Mo Williams, Varejao, Delonte West, Daniel Gibson and old man Z
Role players. That team would have won 20 games without LeBron... Which the Cavs did 3 years in a row after LeBron left. Btw, the year before they drafted LeBron, a prime Big Z played 81 games on a 17 win team... so lets not pretend like he was some difference maker.
Like KG in Minny, Bron was surrounded by garbage. Unlike KG in Minny, LeBron was still able to win 60+ games with that garbage and make the Finals once. Like KG, LeBron instantly proved he could contend for a title once surrounded by players. And when LeBron joins up with Kyrie and Love next year, he'll instantly transform that lotto squad into a powerhouse.