In case you have been under a rock, Lebron officially picked Miami a little bit ago. The master salesman Pat Riley did it.
I am sure Lebron will get a lot of bad press from those that didn't like how he handled the free agency process. And there will be those who write how he "betrayed" Cleveland. Those writers will conveniently ignore the fact that he took a good amount less money than he could have got in Cleveland. Or that the team in Cleveland just was not the best option players wise and had little room to manuever under the salary cap.
Was Lebron supposed to stay in Cleveland just because he has lived in Akron his whole life and the city "deserves" loyalty? How dare he want to play with someone other Mo Williams and Delonte West! How Lebron got to the Finals a couple years ago with the supporting cast in Cleveland I will never know. Reportedly he tried to convince Chris Bosh to come to Cleveland instead of Miami but Bosh wanted nothing to do with Ohio. Once that was done, there was nothing keeping Lebron in Ohio other than more money and the fact that it was close to his hometown of Akron (which contrary to what you hear on ESPN is a different place than Cleveland).
Mind you, I was convinced he was staying a Cav all the way through just because he wouldn't want to disappoint his hometowners and wouldn't turn down the extra money (approx 30 million dollars). No matter the hype and talk with athletes, its always about the money in the end. I was wrong.
However, this decision actually makes great sense on a basketball level. Ten times more than if he would have went to the Knicks (not as close to contending as Miami, Chicago, or Cleveland) or the Nets (even further away than the Knicks). Its always fun to see New Yorkers not get what they thought was a slam dunk. I guess it is "bust" for NYC. I am sure all the New York papers will crush Lebron for "not having the guts" to play in New York. He's clearly no Jeter. No one is.
How about the team this creates in Miami? Lebron is a great passer. Does he become a triple double every game guy passing to Wade and Bosh? Who does an opposing team double team? And perhaps most importantly, who else plays on this team? They only have 5 guys on the roster right now. And one of them, Michael Beasley, will probably be traded to allow Wade, Bosh, and James' to fit under the salary cap. It will extremely interesting to see how they fill out the roster. How many veterans can they find laying around that want a ring bad enough to take the minimum? I might be faxing my resume over in the morning. I can shoot the three and won't cost much against the cap.
I do feel bad for Cleveland, but they had their chances to build the right team around Lebron. It just didn't happen for various reasons. Where do they go from here?
In the end, even if you have a problem with how Lebron handled the "courting" process, he made a decision to go where he thought gave him the best chance to win immediately and long term. And in the process, he sacrificed money (I know its more money than you or I will ever see either way but relatively speaking) and probably some of his mystique.
Can you really fault a guy for that? Doesn't this prove winning is what matters the most to him? And isn't that what people always claim is missing in today's athletes?
UPDATE 7-9-10:
My sadness for Cleveland? Gone after reading the insane 13 year old who just got dumped-esque letter from their owner. Who would want to play for a guy who will turn on you so quickly and start name calling? What an unprofessional and classless move by Dan Gilbert. Not a good message to send to other players out there you may be trying to convince to come to Cleveland at some point. Proof that you should always have someone read your emails before you press send/publish....
