I am, and will always be, a Cleveland fan no matter how horrible our teams may be from year to year. That being said, I was forced to come to terms with the fact that LeBron James was no longer a Cleveland Cavalier after "The Decision." I would like to discuss the topic from an unbiased point of view, and I am able to do that now after a few years of reasoning with myself and others.
LeBron James' decision to leave Cleveland was blown out of proportion by so many different outlets that it was almost unavoidable to have it aired on television as "The Decision" and for fans to react the way they did. Realistically, LeBron is nothing more than an athlete and does not deserve the money and attention that he gets. Only one alternative could have been in play with what turned out to be a nationwide fiasco, in my opinion. The alternative would have been for James to quietly announce his decision to the teams involved in his sign-and-trade, as well as those teams that were involved in discussions but were left out of the final deal. As I said before, this became almost a non-option thanks to the extreme focus on the topic from media outlets like ESPN.
LeBron, being the marketing force that he is, tarnished his name in the short-term with his decision but he still made a lot of money from the whole situation and remains the top player in the NBA currently. His marketability has done nothing but grown once the dust had settled from "The Decision."
As a small disclaimer from a Cleveland fan, he will never be forgiven in Cleveland for leaving and for the manner in which he did it. I personally believe that a lot of the animosity felt is because of "The Decision" and not from LeBron's actual decision to "take his talents to South Beach."
Joey
ReplyDeleteI am also a Lebron James fan and i also agree with you that he couldve handle that whole situation better than what he did. I personally thought when the whole thing was goin down that Lebron would be taking his talents to the New York Nicks, but i guess i was wrong. In todays sport age atheletes are goin to go where they are goin to get paid the most and that is what happened to Lebron he went where he was goin to make the most money. I aslo agree with you that Cleveland will probably never forgive Lebron for the decision he made but they will have to at least come to terms with it.
Tyler Clifton
I have to disagree with you when you say that Lebron does not deserve the money he gets. He is the most talented and physically gifted player in the NBA in my mind. He has earned the money he has through hard work as well as god given ability. I do think that "The Decision" was unnecessary in the way it played out. Rumor has is that the money was donated to a children's charity but I don't know the validity of that statement. I wish he would have just announced his decision on his own time. This would have helped him receive less negative response and he would be given more credit for the great talent he is.
ReplyDeleteMike Frank
I think that Lebron could have handled it better. I think it was hard at the same time. All of the major media outlets wanted a huge media event in which they paid him a lot of money to do. With saying that, he has so much money that he should have respectfully declined and went about his business professionally. Zydrunous Ilgouskus took out an entire page of the newspaper to thank the city of Cleveland for the great years that he spent there. For a city to praise someone like Lebron he should have respected it a lot more and I think that the city would have reacted better.
ReplyDeleteMatt Pitzulo
As I recall, Lebron also took out an ad - but only in the Akron Beacon Journal (which was his hometown). I think that angered Cleveland fans even more. And I do believe he raised money for the Boys and Girls Clubs as a result of the "Decision."
DeleteDr. Spencer
I also agree that LeBron could have handled the decision a lot better. To bring all those kids there and to tell everyone in the nation before he even informed the Cavaliers was wrong. However, people from Cleveland need to grow up, and accept the fact that he left the city. Every big player leaves Cleveland. C.C. Sabathia from the Yankees, LeBron to Miami, the Cleveland Browns even left and went to Baltimore. Yes, I understand that he promised a championship to Cleveland before he ever left, and I get that he went back on that. However, to say that he doesn't deserve the money and fame is completely ridiculous. He is by far the most talented athlete in the NBA at this point and time. I see him winning a many more championships by the time his career is over. He will probably be the second greatest player to play the game behind Michael Jordan.
ReplyDelete-Pat McFall