A Case of Class, Character, and Maturity

[Jon]

John Wall has signed with agent Dan Fegan.

I also just saw an article that Mayo's deal with LRMR may be done, and they're bleeding cash due to high expenses and only one cash cow.

Maybe the idea isn't working as well in reality as it is on paper, but that doesn't mean this gang is going to stop hustling.

 

[Triumph36]

My mistake. I thought I remembered something about CDR and LRMR, but it looks like they have Ted Ginn, OJ Mayo, LeBron, and are reportedly going to sign Wall (if it hasn't happened already).

Anyway, the point is that LeBron and friends are building a circle of companies that will promote and profit from these athletes throughout their careers - and most importantly reinforce each others interests through networking, influence, and channeling.

Calipari has a reputation as a guy who's coached at the pro-level and that's very attractive for kids who expect to become pros, and most importantly he's willing to deal with one and done players with questionable academics and ethics.

He's part of the "family" so everyone in the "family" is doing their part to make sure he gets paid, but if he leaves the college ranks it would leave a hole in their plans ... that is unless they've already identified someone to fill his role.

Anyone come to mind?

LeBron and Nike have a relationship with Ohio State; I wonder if Thad Matta has any connections to the Wesley, Rose, etc.

Yeah I don't disagree with your overall point, they are all intertwined. You might have been thinking about LeBron funneling CDR to Memphis, I dunno.

But... I think the strength of that relationship is contingent on Cal coaching in college, not the pros. He has the track record. He has the school. He has the network. And most importantly - he has no problem with Wes and his shady - at best - tactics. He actually takes part in many of them.

They may be able to replace him, but I don't think they'll find someone who could do the job as well as Cal. The job being recruiting, not actually winning. Maybe they have a dream of being a powerhouse in the NBA and taking the entertainment world by storm and are ready to move on from the "kiddie game" of college. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

 

[Jon]

And that's been my main point. Cal does serve them best in the NCAA, but if they can help him earn some more $$$ by floating some NBA rumors ... it's just the circle helping one their own.

 

[MG1]

Another sources:

LeBron trades one drama for another
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-lebroncalipari051410

 

[southbeach]

No matter where LeBron plays in the future he will never live down how he gave up on this season and his teammates who looked up to him as their leader.

It appears that his desire for a championship is secondary to his desire for power money and control.

 

[CzBoobie]

No matter where LeBron plays in the future he will never live down how he gave up on this season and his teammates who looked up to him as their leader.

It appears that his desire for a championship is secondary to his desire for power money and control.

Our biggest acquisition was getting outplayed by a walking corpse of Rasheed Wallace, our two energy guys were nowhere to be found, our all-star point guard once again SUCKED while our head coach had no idea what to do and Lebron gave up on the season?

 

[Joe Henderson]

No matter where LeBron plays in the future he will never live down how he gave up on this season and his teammates who looked up to him as their leader.

It appears that his desire for a championship is secondary to his desire for power money and control.

this is quite possibly the biggest argument for him to return.

 

[flamez]

Our biggest acquisition was getting outplayed by a walking corpse of Rasheed Wallace, our two energy guys were nowhere to be found, our all-star point guard once again SUCKED while our head coach had no idea what to do and Lebron gave up on the season?

Thank You Very Much. It's good to see some people still have their sanity and actually have a brain.
The homerism and lack of judgment has been astonishing with the people on this board.

I think Lebron could've given a better effort in games 2 and 5, but that's not the sole reason we lost. Even if Lebron plays great in those games instead of losing by 18 and 32 we probably lose by 10 points?

You can't expect Lebron to average monster triple doubles or close to that for you to win playoff games. Every time he plays bad we LOSE.
Kobe has plenty of bad playoff games and SERIES, yet the Lakers manage to win because of the team picking up the slack.
MJ won plenty of playoff games even though he played like crap in some of them.

It's amazing how the fanbase has turned on him because of two games where he didn't play good. Trust me, I've criticized him as well for his effort, but not to the extent that some people are going to. You don't attack him like this. People are being overwhelmed with their emotions and are using bad judment.

The fact that people have compared him Darius Miles, have actually gone back to call him out for the series against the Spurs (as if he had any help, heck we shouldn't even have been to the finals that year), have stated that his legacy is tarnished is just dispicable.

Even a great writer like Brian Windhorst has been horrible. He should be ashamed for himself for saying Lebron doesn't have a killer postseason instinct. He has refused to talk about Kobe's game 7 vs. the Suns or even game 4 vs. the Thunder this year.

 

[LeLarry32]

To every fan out there, it just looked like LeBron was indifferent to winning or losing. We saw a lack of focus/desire from LeBron that nobody has ever seen before. And because of that, he lost a ton of respect from the fans. He essentially is saying with his play "Well, I can't get it done in Cleveland, so I'll take the easy way out."

 

[catfish]

Flamez everyone has been tiptoeing around this guy for 7 years. Ownership management broadcasters writers fans custodians whatever. He basically told us to go screw ourselves. Screw him.

 

[Chris]

I think it's funny how after pining for Jamison so much, he turned into one of the biggest flop acquisitions.

edit: well, not funny, but you know..sigh.

 

[catfish]

I dont think he was used correctly.

 

[JayP146]

I think it's funny how after pining for Jamison so much, he turned into one of the biggest flop acquisitions.

edit: well, not funny, but you know..sigh.

We had 10 or so games to properly integrate him into our playoff starting 5.

I still don't think that was enough time for them to properly gel.

Had Shaq not been injured in February, I think things would've been a lot different in this playoff series (assuming we faced Boston, of course).

 

[flamez]

Flamez everyone has been tiptoeing around this guy for 7 years. Ownership management broadcasters writers fans custodians whatever. He basically told us to go screw ourselves. Screw him.

I disagree with that completely. The reason every tiptoes around him is because he is the best basketball player in the world. Period.
When you have a guy like that on your team, you better tiptoe around him. Trust me bro, I'm not a fan of bowing down before anyone, but you have to understand that this is a BUSINESS. When you have a superstar like Lebron James and his free agency is impending, tiptoeing should be the last concern.

As far as him telling us to screw ourselves, that is just wrong. Look at it like this, had Lebron played better do you HONESTLY think we would've won??? Lebron playing great doesn't change these facts:
Rajon Rondo is better than any of our guards and outplayed them.
Ray Allen is also the same story (especially his performance on the road in Cleveland)
KG humiliated Jamison or anyone else we put on him.
Their bench outproduced ours, all the depth Ferry added proved to be useless. Rasheed freakin Wallace, who played like a bum during the season ended up contributing to two of their wins (game 2 and 6). He stepped up more than any Cavalier role player (where was Delonte and Andy?)

Even with a couple of lethargic efforts from Lebron, he outplayed his matchup which was Paul Pierce. He also did a great job defensively on Pierce. Everything Pierce got was in transition or over Parker/Mo Williams on switch ups. But, ofcourse no one wants to talk about that.

Lebron single handedly cannot win playoff series against teams like the Celtics, Magic and Lakers. Those team are too talented and actually play with a good system in place.

The Cavs on the other hand rely on Lebron to score or create opportunities for everyone else.

Lebron did not screw us over. We couldn't stop the Celtic from scoring and that is a fact. That falls on more than just Lebron James. What do you guys want Lebron to do??
Do you want him to guard Rondo, Ray Allen, KG, and then rotate out to contest Sheed for 48mins?

You might as well bench every other player and put Lebron out there by himself and tell him to go one on five.

It's two years in a row now that our defense has failed us. We've always been a defense team first and against the elite teams that has not been the case. We can't stop them from scoring.

Lebron did not screw us over. The Celtics were just the better team who executed almost perfectly.
All the speculation around Lebron's free agency and the idea that he can actually leave is causing you guys to put the blame on him and rip him to shreds. That is the easy way out for you people.

 

[BRInQ]

Thank You Very Much. It's good to see some people still have their sanity and actually have a brain.
The homerism and lack of judgment has been astonishing with the people on this board.

I think Lebron could've given a better effort in games 2 and 5, but that's not the sole reason we lost. Even if Lebron plays great in those games instead of losing by 18 and 32 we probably lose by 10 points?

You can't expect Lebron to average monster triple doubles or close to that for you to win playoff games. Every time he plays bad we LOSE.
Kobe has plenty of bad playoff games and SERIES, yet the Lakers manage to win because of the team picking up the slack.
MJ won plenty of playoff games even though he played like crap in some of them.

It's amazing how the fanbase has turned on him because of two games where he didn't play good. Trust me, I've criticized him as well for his effort, but not to the extent that some people are going to. You don't attack him like this. People are being overwhelmed with their emotions and are using bad judment.

The fact that people have compared him Darius Miles, have actually gone back to call him out for the series against the Spurs (as if he had any help, heck we shouldn't even have been to the finals that year), have stated that his legacy is tarnished is just dispicable.

Even a great writer like Brian Windhorst has been horrible. He should be ashamed for himself for saying Lebron doesn't have a killer postseason instinct. He has refused to talk about Kobe's game 7 vs. the Suns or even game 4 vs. the Thunder this year.

What you just said makes sense and a lot of the blame being pushed towards Lebron is unfounded. I just can't believe what BW and W&G are saying because it just doesn't make sense....it just doesn't.

BUT when I look how Lebron has played the last two games, the lack of energy, heart, desire, passion and compare it to game 3 it makes perfect sense. I'm not talking about what Lebron is saying, what W&G or BW is saying, I'm saying that Lebron's attitude, and body language was disgusting.

Lebron knew that the team would follow his lead. He knew that as he went, they went. He knew his coach was clueles. He had to have known that Shaq was garbage or that Jamison couldn't guard KG. He knew that Mo was suspect on D and couldn't handle playoff pressure....and what did he do....he quit. That is what's crazy Lebron knew that it wouldn't get done without him and he did nothing.

This team was built around Lebron. He got whatever he wanted and all of a sudden after game 3 that wasn't good enough? If Lebron played to half of his abilities we would have beat the Celtics because they aren't better than us. Not with Lebron.

I don't know about conspiracy, or hurt elbows, but I do know that the Lebron I rooted for seven years in a row stopped showing up after game three. I rooted for the CAVS over my hometown Bulls, now all I can do is pray Lebron doesn't end up there.