Anyone gain a lot of respect for LeBron?

[CelticsFanFromNYC]

This Lebron Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. was planned. 4 years ago. He said he would be back. HE made a historic Big 3 while his TRUE team got three #1 draft picks in four years. This year they had a 1.3% chance for the 1st pick. The probability almost seems like a scam.
Overall, Lebron got rings and got his home town team suited for battle. Crazy how he got that one to work out!

[Who]

I would respect LeBron more if he asked Cavs to keep the young guys around. To help them grow and show them how to win. To actually build something for once.

Instead of forcing them to trade Wiggins and Co. for K-Love.

[D.o.s.]

This Lebron **** was planned. 4 years ago. He said he would be back. HE made a historic Big 3 while his TRUE team got three #1 draft picks in four years. This year they had a 1.3% chance for the 1st pick. The probability almost seems like a scam.
Overall, Lebron got rings and got his home town team suited for battle. Crazy how he got that one to work out!

PAGING BENT ENVELOPES.

[BudweiserCeltic]

None. It was a good letter, that much is true. But no. First he convinces Wade and Bosh to opt out (don't know if both, but Wade had $40 million in the table for 2 years) and then ditch them?

Secondly, it's EXTREMELY EASY to write a letter (if he wrote it himself at all) with your PR Team with you and plenty of time.

So reading too much into this letter would be a mistake.

[get_banners]

No. He basically abandons any situation when the going gets a little tough. Think Bird/Magic/MJ would have ever done that? No. Did Pierce or KG do that? No. If LeBron wins more titles, I hope his legacy is tainted as a ring chaser who constantly looked for teams of super friends. Cleveland, having been repeatedly rewarded for their ineptness by the NBA, has a ton of young talent, and I suspect they'll be favorites in the East, especially if they trade for Love.

[radiohead]

Coming home to Cleveland is a feel good story, but I think LBJ took the easy way out yet again. Bosh and Wade opted out in order to get  better players to make another run for the championship but he still left. As much as I hate Wade, he left 42M on the table, thinking that they were gonna run it back. Bosh was delaying his signing with Houston because he was waiting for Lebron's decision. But LBJ still left. Talk about being "brothers for life". Brothers stick with one another through thick and thin. If Cleveland didn't have Kyrie and Wiggins (or possibly Love), would LBJ honestly go back to Cleveland? I think LBJ left for what he felt was a better situation than Miami, it just so happened that it was his hometown. Talk about hitting two birds with one stone. He's able to "correct" his past mistake and at the same time is in a much better situation to win now. He bailed out on Cleveland before and he just bailed out on Miami now. I don't see so much "brotherhood" and "family" in that. I know it's a business and he has to look out for what's best for him. If that's the case, then stop playing the "brothers for life" card because you just left  your bros out in the cold...for the second time.

[LarBrd33]

Never lost respect for him. 

[Endless Paradise]

LeBron didn't tell anyone to opt out. That was a decision Wade and Bosh made on their own. If you want to blame him for not having made up his mind in June… well, that's just silly. He wanted to ruminate and he had every right to take his sweet time doing so.

As for leaving at the first sign of trouble: … this was literally the first opportunity he had to return to Cleveland outside of forcing a trade, which just wasn't happening.  No one knows at all if he would've decided to leave even if the Heat had won.  His wife would have still been pregnant and he still would've been turning 30.

[Al91]

Did he earn respect in my eyes? Absolutely. I'm a Celtics homer but I'm not irrational. I don't know,  think becoming a transplant in Alabama after leaving Connecticut a year ago has made me much more appreciative of the entire league over just the Celtics. Plus my side hobby is writing so I love drama and any move James makes is drama-filled. A redemption story is just what the league needed after the returns of D.Rose and Kobe fizzled last year.

[CeltsAcumen]

I do not hate or have ill will for Lebron.  He made the right move in 2010, moving to south beach and playing with his friends.

This move is just stupid.  Kyrie Irving does not play defense and why do people think that Kevin Love will agree to play in Cleveland? 

As a So Cal transplant, I would never, EVER live in Cleveland, its disgusting and cold and the very definition of "the Suck."  Golden State is a much better location, or Phoenix, anywhere but the city with rivers that burn.

Free Agents will not come to Cleveland and even if they did say sign Kevin Love...Kevin Love, Kyrie IRving and Lebron do not beat the Spurs.  Lebron would win more championships with Bosh and Wade and whomever Riley could charm into coming to South Beach than Cleveland.  LOL Cleveland.

I think he made a mistake and Chris Bosh is now free and laughing himself to the bank and the Western Conference Finals against the Spurs.

Now lets see if Melo takes the money...

Actually check that opinion, I have lost respect for Lebron bc he wants to live in Ohio and can choose to live anywhere else in the US.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Not me.

I can see why it's a good move. But I hate superstars who wants the easy way out. He did this before when he joined Miami, he's doing it again.

Feel good story all you want, I bet you my next months tips that he wont return to Cleveland if Kyrie and Wiggins wasnt there. In fact, I'll bet the other month's worth that he will still leave Miami and go to either Dallas or Houston. 

Yeah that's right, I said it. He's the best talent in the world, but he's King James The Spineless to me.

I hate him so much right now, that I'm rooting for Dwyane Wade to destroy him.

[TwinTower14]

Not me.

I can see why it's a good move. But I hate superstars who wants the easy way out. He did this before when he joined Miami, he's doing it again.

Feel good story all you want, I bet you my next months tips that he wont return to Cleveland if Kyrie and Wiggins wasnt there. In fact, I'll bet the other month's worth that he will still leave Miami and go to either Dallas or Houston. 

Yeah that's right, I said it. He's the best talent in the world, but he's King James The Spineless to me.

would he be spineless if he chose Boston??  He is not taking the easy way out by the way...it's the complete opposite.  He has opened himself up to so much pressure to bring a title to Cleveland with a bunch kids on the roster.  He could have stayed in Miami, probably got a title of two and been mentioned with Jordan etc....Now he has to bring a title to Cleveland or he will be looked at as a disappointment.  I respect this move he made today, takes some guts...

[nicknorman]

Not me.

I can see why it's a good move. But I hate superstars who wants the easy way out. He did this before when he joined Miami, he's doing it again.

Feel good story all you want, I bet you my next months tips that he wont return to Cleveland if Kyrie and Wiggins wasnt there. In fact, I'll bet the other month's worth that he will still leave Miami and go to either Dallas or Houston. 

Yeah that's right, I said it. He's the best talent in the world, but he's King James The Spineless to me.

I hate him so much right now, that I'm rooting for Dwyane Wade to destroy him.

I agree, I feel for the Cleveland fans, they deserve a winner. But no respect for Lebron. Why do we have to say that this was such a good move when he is taking the easy way out again. Sure he can make whatever move he wants, but don't expect me to put you in the top 5 players ever. You have to earn that by making your team better, not switching to whatever circumstances make your career easier.

[TwinTower14]

Not me.

I can see why it's a good move. But I hate superstars who wants the easy way out. He did this before when he joined Miami, he's doing it again.

Feel good story all you want, I bet you my next months tips that he wont return to Cleveland if Kyrie and Wiggins wasnt there. In fact, I'll bet the other month's worth that he will still leave Miami and go to either Dallas or Houston. 

Yeah that's right, I said it. He's the best talent in the world, but he's King James The Spineless to me.

I hate him so much right now, that I'm rooting for Dwyane Wade to destroy him.

I agree, I feel for the Cleveland fans, they deserve a winner. But no respect for Lebron. Why do we have to say that this was such a good move when he is taking the easy way out again. Sure he can make whatever move he wants, but don't expect me to put you in the top 5 players ever. You have to earn that by making your team better, not switching to whatever circumstances make your career easier.

Can someone explain to me how leaving Wade and Bosh is taking the easy way out?  It's laughable?  He is going home to a team that hasn't won in a billion years and putting them on his shoulders to win a title??  His roster is made up of 20 somethings ( although talented ) unproven players.  If he was taking the easy way out, he would have stayed in Miami with Bosh and Wade and tried to rebuild with no pressure to win because he already did...  He has an enormous amount of pressure to win in Cleveland now, more than ever....

[bknova]

He bailed on a team that wasn't good enough to join his contemporary superstars, went to 4 straight finals with them, won 2, lost 2, and now that they are beginning to show their age and he doesn't think that they are good enough, he's bailing on them to go to a team with young superstars.

Say what you will, but none of the other greats played this game.  They proved their greatness by growing into and leading the team around them, not bouncing around into ready made situations.