I'm pissed. He stabbed Northeast Ohio in the back and set the Cavaliers franchise back ten years. Now I get to watch crappy basketball instead of good basketball.
LeBron was the only athlete worth watching in Cleveland. Now there's nothing worth watching in Cleveland, which is especially bad for younger fans.
Why are you so upset about an athlete leaving? There are more important things to get angry about.
While it's true that there are more important things in life than sports, LeBron going to Miami isn't going to improve those more important things. His going to Miami isn't going to end the wars, stop the torture, help the poor, help the sick, or improve the environment. Present-day America is a pretty depressing place for a lot of people. Sports can provide some joy and relief to those people. Now there's less joy in Cleveland.
LeBron was free to choose where he wanted to play. You have no right to be upset with his choice.
It was his right to leave, but It's my right to be upset about it.
Dan Gilbert should not have written that letter about LeBron. Now no big-name free agents will come to Cleveland.
No big-name free agent would have come to Cleveland, even if Dan Gilbert threw a parade for LeBron. In the 40 year history of the Cavaliers franchise, no good player ever came to Cleveland voluntarily. They never came when the Cavaliers had LeBron. I wouldn't expect to see them come without him.
What should the Cavaliers do?
They should blow the team up and start over. It's the only way to build the championship team Gilbert guaranteed. To have a championship team, you either need a franchise player like LeBron (Examples include Michael Jordan's Bulls, Tim Duncan's Spurs, and Kobe Bryant's Lakers) or you need 3-4 All-Star caliber players (Examples include the 2004 Pistons and the 2008 Celtics).
The Cavaliers currently have no All-Star caliber players. The best way to get All-Star players is to draft in the top 5. The only way to ensure drafting in the top 5 is to lose a lot of games. The losing will be painful in the short term, but it's the only way to build a championship team in Cleveland.
Unfortunately, the Cavaliers organization isn't planning on rebuilding. They're trying to win now in a desperate attempt to keep season-ticket holders. The Cavaliers forced season-ticket holders to renew their tickets for the 2011 season before LeBron decided to leave. They think if they can make the playoffs in 2011, the season-ticket holders will renew for 2012.
The Cavaliers organization is in for a rude awakening. They are going to lose at least half their season-ticket base in 2012 unless they can manage to win at least 55 games, which they have no chance of doing. They could win 40-45 games and lose in the first round of the playoffs, but that's the best they could do. If they take on bad contracts to try to win in 2011, they are going to lose a ton of money in 2012. The team should trade their three highest paid players, Antawn Jamison, Anderson Varejao, and Mo Williams, while they can. Get rid of the bad contracts now before they're stuck with a high payroll and low attendance in 2012.
