the city of cleveland shouldn't be mad at the fact their former all-star left the city to chase a dream he wanted now and not another 5-10 yrs.

they should be mad at the owner who let the situation get to this point. his concern was firing the coach and forcing out the GM. it should of been improving the roster with experience and other stars. he had the players to trade and open his wallet.
it's sad to see people act this way cause a player left and blame to player when it obviously was the front office who screwed. as u seen it wasn't about the money (which is rare). it showed even the KING needed help after 7 yrs. i'm not saying u bring in kobe or carmello but u could of brought in boozer, traded for ray allen, bring in j.j redick for a little better bench (even korver)
yeah people are going to say "well we brought jamison and shaq". that was a bust the day they signed shaq and jamison has no experience in the playoffs except for the first round exits (which lebron and co. forced)
the owner is a self centered guy who's trying to point the finger at someone else so it doesn't look like he screwed up. yeah lebron made the decision. but during the whole playoffs and after they should of showed intrest in revamping the roster instead of waiting for a BIG DECISION.
personally i think the FRONT OFFICE "SCREWED royally.

this was mainly a should of , and my opinion thing.
GOOD LUCK CLEVELAND- ur going to need it

Open his wallet???? The guy has had a top 3 payroll and has put the most money into the arena and practice facility than any owner in the NBA.

And who in God's name on that roster could they trade for Boozer?? And you think Boston would've traded Ray Allen???

You can say they acquired the wrong players after the fact but LeBron gave his ok on all of the major acquisitions.

 

there are players on clevelands roster with good value. obviously cause gilbert guaranteed a championship before miami.

lebron gave the ok is true but at the same time the GM and owner have the final say and opinion. just like the any other job.

What fucking players have good trade value???

 

mo williams, west, jamison, draft picks. boozzer was up for grabs not matter who was giving. he said it himself.

Williams and Jamison have horrible contracts I doubt anybody wants to pick up

Wasn't it Gilbert who said Lebron James will not be part of the coaching desicion in Clevland.......well that comment came back to haunt his ass........just like that temper tantrum he threw in that letter........it will come back to haunt his ass again.........cant wait to see Lebron go back to clevland and throw one of those roundhouse dunk and look and point at Dan and say  " In Your Mouth"

 

Cleveland Caveliers Owner Dan Gilbert: Loyalty or Hypocrisy

 

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is one of the few NBA team owners Clay Bennett, the chairman of the Oklahoma City-based Professional Basketball Club LLC (which owns the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder, aka Seattle Supersonics), went to for advice and support about the management of the newly acquired Supersonics.

Bennett then moved the Seattle Supersonics to Oklahoma on votes Dan Gilbert lobbied others to cast, and he himself voted for. Dan Gilbert stated then, "Clay has done a remarkable job of transitioning the team to Oklahoma City...He faced very difficult circumstances [in Seattle] and met them head-on. Clay has done what is best for the franchise," not the city of Seattle or the fans that supported that franchise for over 40 years.

Gilbert went on to say, "And I admire him for it. Oklahoma City is fortunate to have Clay leading the Thunder charge, and he's fortunate to have such great fan and civic support [in Oklahoma]."

Apparently the 'loyalty' to the great fan and civic support of Seattle wasn't on his mind.

So now when LeBron James does what is best for him, he gets a "loyalty" lecture from this same Dan Gilbert. The same Dan Gilbert who fired coach Mike Brown in May after he led his team to the NBA's best record two years in a row.

The same Dan Gilbert who let go of general manager Dan Ferry, because he disagreed with Brown's firing. Even the same Dan Gilbert who's from Michigan (not Cleveland, or even Ohio), and not even a month before he offered $6 million to Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, hoping he'd kick the Spartans to the curb the same way LBJ did the Cavs.

Apparently, again, the "loyalty" to the great fan and civic support of his own home state of Michigan was not on his mind.     

It seems Dan Gilbert should look at his own patterns of "loyalty" before he slams a free agent for exercising his rights as a free agent, and smearing a player who's taking a risk, and a pay cut in hopes to accomplish his goals of winning multiple Championships.

It seems Dan Gilbert should look at his own efforts to take risks in order to acquire players who could give LBJ the support he needs to win Championships. It also seems that Pat Riley has a plan that involves those risks and has offered LBJ an opportunity to have what the Cavs, in seven seasons, would or could not provide him with: a supporting cast to fulfill his goals of winning multiple Championships.

Magic had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who scored more points than any other player in league history, won six NBA championships and a record six regular season MVP Awards.

 

contd

Bird had Parish along with Kevin Mchale who played in seven NBA All-Star games between 1984 and 1991, selected to the NBA All-Defensive First or Second Team six times, at the end of the 2007–2008 season McHale ranked tenth in NBA history in career field goal percentage (55.4 percent), and he is among the Celtics' career leaders in several categories, including games played, points scored, and rebounding.

Jordan had Pippen, who was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team eight times and the All-NBA First Team three times, a seven-time NBA All-Star, and was the NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1994, along with Grant first and Dennis Rodman second, who earned NBA All-Defensive First Team honors seven times and was voted NBA Defensive Player of the Year twice, and led the NBA in rebounds per game for a record seven consecutive years.

Tim Duncan first had David Robinson who was a six time All-NBA First or Second Team, eight time All-Defensive First or Second Team, 10-time NBA All-Star, and the only player in NBA history to win the Rebounding, Blocked Shots, and Scoring Titles as well as Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and MVP.Duncan then had one of the greatest trios in the NBA, dubbed "The Big Three," with Ginóbili and Tony Parker.

Kobe first had Shaq who was just as responsible (arguably more) for those titles as Kobe himself, along with Derek Fisher, even up to this year where Kobe had the supporting cast of Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, and again Derek Fisher. So when Kobe goes 6 of 24 in Game Seven of the 2010 Finals, they still win.

LBJ could never have done that with the players Dan Gilbert surrounded him with in the seven years he was with the Cavs.   

 

contd  

With several teams willing to make significant roster moves to create room for LBJ and a supporting cast, and with Pat Riley nearly clearing out his entire roster for LBJ to come to Miami with one of the best supporting casts ever to help win multiple Championships, Dan Gilbert and the Cleveland Cavaliers made no significant moves, nor made any pitch to convince their star player that they had any gameplan to a multiple Championship dynasty other than what they've offered for the last seven years.

In a press conference GM Chris Grant and new head coach Byron Scott said that the Cavs had no plan B in case LBJ left because 100 percent of their energy went into keeping LBJ.

Yet Byron Scott stated in that same interview, when asked about his chance to give their final pitch when meeting with LBJ this week down at his camp, that he did fly down to meet with LBJ, but did not give a pitch. 

Scott said, "First of all I went down there and just said hello to LeBron, and I just kind of watched him and the other guys workout, they were getting some shots up, and again like I said, I was just there to watch, and I left about an hour after I got there. So I didn't have an in depth conversation with LeBron."

With all these teams pitching their gameplans to LeBron, did the Cavs think flying down to spend just a little over an hour with their star player, and only to just say "hello" would be enough to persuade him.

Dan Gilbert obviously didn't get the hint three years ago when LeBron refused to sign an extension on his contract for a long term deal, so that he could keep his options open for this years off-season.

They didn't fight or take any risks then, three years ago, to build a Championship team around LeBron. They didn't go out and give pitches and take risks to acquire other stars to come win Championships with LBJ. They didn't structure their roster or contracts to even get other star players or prepare for this off season fight to keep him.

Even now, this year, Dan Gilbert and everyone else in the Cavs organization refused to get the hint when LeBron was exercising his free agent rights by meeting with six other teams, listening to all their pitches and gameplans for him, yet never even coming up with their own pitch or gameplan. It was a fight they were never willing to fight, and for reasons that escaped everyone else in the league, it was a fight the Cavs either didn't see coming, or a fight they weren't willing to take risks for. Therefore by not taking any risks, Dan Gilbert risked losing his one and only star.

Without ever really having a plan A, and with no plan B in place, Dan Gilbert leaves GM Chris Grant and coach Byron Scott, along with the rest of the organization, scratching their heads, trying to now finally come up with a gameplan other than being content with, in one way or another, profiting from one of the league's most dynamic players, who only had one thing on his mind, winning multiple Championships.

So while LBJ is off constructing his own gameplan to fulfill the goals on his mind, the Cavs are left with only one thing on their minds, what do we do now?

As for Dan Gilbert and the fit he threw in his open letter email to LeBron James, the consequences of his actions will in time, if not already, prove to be nothing short of hypocrisy.

In a day and age when players are bounced around teams like the basketballs they so skillfully excite fans with; when coaches can be fired after bringing two straight seasons of the NBA's best record in the league; when owners can up and move teams with the support of other money-grubbing owners from a city that has supported that team for over 40 years; when the players that make this game have little if not zero control over their own careers; when money rules the decisions made by owners, coaches, and players, it would prove most hypocritical to publicly slam a free agent who was exercising his rights as a free agent, and smearing a player for letting the only thing on his mind, to win multiple Championships, rule his decisions and to guide his career, especially if you're Dan Gilbert.

arch - LBJ by only committing for three seasons tied the Cavs hands as far as luring free agents.  They wouldn't commit because your hero wouldn't commit.  The Cavs also had several trades that LBJ refused to approve because he didn't like the players coming back in return.  What it amounts to is the Cavs trading for players by giving up nothing but draft picks and expiring contracts. 

The Cavs were stupid for giving this a-hole so much power within the organization thinking he would remain loyal . 

I see him out recruiting free agents for the Heat.  When he was here in Cleveland he didn't do anything to recruit talent except drop a call to an aging Shaq before last season.