Cavs owner: LeBron quit during playoffs

[Auggie]

ESPN.CPM / 7-9-10

CLEVELAND -- Angered and betrayed by LeBron James' decision to leave for Miami, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert accused the NBA's MVP of quitting during the playoffs.

Gilbert, who posted a letter to Cavs fans on the team's website shortly after James announced his plans to sign with the Heat, told The Associated Press late Thursday night that it's "accountability time" for James.

"He has gotten a free pass," Gilbert said in a phone interview with The AP. "People have covered up for for way too long. Tonight we saw who he really is."

SNIP

"He quit," Gilbert said. "Not just in Game 5, but in Games 2, 4 and 6. Watch the tape. The Boston series was unlike anything in the history of sports for a superstar."

MORE: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5365793

[Scurrilous]

1. Fathead suggests LeBron is the new Benedict Arnold

<snip>

"LeBron James jerseys likely will continue to sell at a brisk pace in Cleveland, just so that fans who feel betrayed can take some measure of revenge by setting them on fire.

And for this new generation of LBJ haters there also are bargain prices available on LeBron Fatheads -- at least those of him in a Cavaliers uniform. They have been marked down drastically on the Fathead website, from $99.99 to $17.41.

It's no coincidence that Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is the driving financial force behind Fathead. The $17.41 price isn't random either, because 1741 is the birth year of the first traitor of note in American history, Benedict Arnold."

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2010/07/lebron-james-fathead-dan-gilbert-benedict-arnold/1

[Auggie]

3. Who would want to play for this jerk now?

[wilt the stilt]

4. At least he is passionate

and shows real emotion. We don't know the behind the scene actions of either. He wasn't the least bit cheap in trying to get a winner and for all we know Lebron made demands of Gilbert and then reneged.

[knownothing]

8. kind of interesting

How he promises in his note to Cavs fans that NOW he is dedicated to bringing a winner to Cleveland. I guess he wasn't before?

[LisaM]

2. This guy is hilarious

I love characters in sports. In this big money age, there's not enough of it, in my opinion.

[TSIAS]

5. Why didn't we hear about this before?

And why did Gilbert offer the max contract to a player he feels is a "quitter".

James' decision, despite the way he handled it, is looking more and more sound.

[trumad]

6. Great question and one I wish a sports wrtier would ask him...

they also should ask him why he doesn't pay his employees overtime.

[jakefrep]

7. He had to say something to sell tickets...

...just to show the fans he had some fire in the belly - at least more than the owners of the Indians and the Browns. Ultimately, it came off as self-serving and disingenuous.

[joeybee12]

9. This part of the letter sounds fishy, but LeBron is still a worthless egotisitical

twit.

[wilt the stilt]

10. Joeybee

give this a thought. Have you ever seen Labron play as bad as he did in the Boston series? They did give up in the 6th game. If the Cavs had made it to the finals there would probably be no way he could have gone to Miami because obviously the blowback would have been nationwide.
I do suspect this was probably decided at the Olympics and for lack o fa better word there was probably collusion involved.

your thoughts on this?

[joeybee12]

11. Well, he could have...I can't recall game 6...but there was one where

he really seemed to be lagging...people passed it off as he was carrying the whole team the entire time.

ESPN was showing highlights of the Miami ass-kiss-fest...God help me, but if it's a Lakers-Miami final next year, I will--horrors--be rooting for the Fakers!!!!

[JonLP24]

16. Game 6

He got a triple double. The other games he scored over 20 points (except for one where he shot 3-14-Boston played excellent defense in that game) but he did well in assists and rebounding.

[madinmaryland]

12. I've been wondering the same thing, Wilt.

I had forgotten about the Olympics, but that does make sense. The whole thing doesn't seem to pass the smell test.

[Auggie]

13. +1

[DinahMoeHum]

14. What LeBron did was no more, no less, and no different. . .

than what guys like A-Rod and Roger Clemens have done. They too had the superstar status and the big money from other teams, but what they really wanted was that championship ring. So they went to the NY Yankees because they figured that was where they had the best shot at that ring.

Ya know, Dan Gilbert could have forstalled this free agent circus by re-negotiating LeBron's contract before it expired. Either he didn't try to do so, or there was some effort put forth that I am not aware of. (If anyone has some knowledge of the latter, please enlighten me - thanks)

In any event, as a free agent, LeBron had no more contractual obligations to stay with Cleveland.

He wants a legitimate shot at a championship ring, and he figures the best chance to get it is by going to Miami and partnering with Bosh and Wade - and with coach Pat Riley, a proven championship coach and future Hall-of-Famer. Sorry, but there's nothing wrong with that, morally or otherwise.

[wilt the stilt]

15. Legacies are built on heart and determination

not quitting. You mention Clemens and Arod. How much respect do those guys get in the sporting world. Not much. On the other hand as much as most of us dislike Kobe, he gets tons of respect because he never gives up. The same goes for guys like Jerry West. He won one championship in an entire career and he wasn't even at his best for that.

I think Gilbert is pissed because he was had. He did everything LeBron asked of him. he brought in every player Lebron had requested. He spent plenty of money and after it was all said and done he realized that Lebron basically gave a halfhearted effort against boston because he knew if they had won he could not go to Miami. Gilbert realized he was had.

[DinahMoeHum]

18. Well, if Gilbert feels he was had - then good for LeBron James. . .

Because too many people and households and our nation's economy were had by the likes of "Subprime Dan" Gilbert's business, Quicken Loans.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-zirin/lebron-james-vs-dan-gilbe_b_641833.html#comments

[joeybee12]

17. He has the right to want to win...he has no right to act as if the world

revolves him and as if his decision is the Second Coming.