We all remember how I foresaw the prophecy of the Cleveland Renaissance (not sycing just stating facts) - and it seems that after this 4-year stint in Cleveland is complete - Bron may be exploring his next chapter - or will he?

Where do you think Kang should go?

Personally I think he should try to make a move to San Antonio. He's always revered Pop (and vice versa) - and what better way to elongate his storied career than to pair with Kawhi and Pop's preservation system to get on that Timmy D. aging plan. Bron has never played for a coach like Pop and I could see that being a productive way for him to author his final chapter. This may be the the move to make to compete with GS in the long-in-the-tooth stage of his career.

Poll question: Where Should Kang Go Next? (Part 2)

Poll result (21 votes) Stay in Cleveland (4 votes) Vote Triple BBB's w/ Lake Show (4 votes) Vote San Antonio (10 votes) Vote Clippers (0 votes) Vote Curve Ball to Boston to win another w/ his greatest teammate (2 votes) Vote Anywhere D. Wade ain't (1 votes) Vote

especially if they use him as a PG (which, fuck the dumb shit... is his best position on the court IMO)

Not going to be his next deal or even the deal after that, but I bet he plays here close to the point where he's going to retire.

And in this new environment of maxi-deals, he's not leaving that type of money on the table. That's part of the reason I think he's staying with Cleveland regardless.

Only way he could end up on the Spurs is if he agreed to a trade, and really, who do the Spurs have outside of Kawhi that would be in any way worth LeBron?

.

I think when he went back he essentially put Dan Gilbert on probation. Gilbert firing Griffin may have been the final straw. if not, them sucking this year is. Who knows though? Depends on how important chasing Jordan's ring count is. If he stays his legacy is "Savior of Cleveland/2nd GOAT" and there's nothing wrong with that.

-->

Philly > Golden State apparently

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22467429/nba-pros-dish-2018-summer-lebron-demarcus-okc

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2758056-lebron-james-reportedly-cursed-at-cavaliers-executives-in-heated-meeting

LeBron James Reportedly Cursed at Cavaliers Executives in 'Heated Meeting'
ALEC NATHAN
FEBRUARY 6, 2018

Serious discord has reportedly surfaced between LeBron James and members of the Cleveland Cavaliers' front office in recent weeks.

According to The Athletic's Jason Lloyd, "James cursed toward at least two team executives" during the late January team meeting in which some players questioned the legitimacy of Kevin Love's illness.

Lloyd noted the Cavaliers "have been noticeably pivoting away from James' recommendations" since the offseason. According to Lloyd, James wanted them to bring Kyrie Irving to training camp, but they instead placated the point guard's trade request by shipping him to the Boston Celtics.

Citing a source, Lloyd reported the Cavaliers completed the deal "without consulting James."

On top of that, Lloyd wrote James has "no relationship" with owner Dan Gilbert or general manager Koby Altman. Gilbert did not renew the contract of former GM David Griffin following the 2016-17 season.

Since then, turmoil has engulfed the organization from top to bottom, with Gilbert reportedly seizing control of basketball operations.

Bleacher Report's Ken Berger previously reported Gilbert is "firmly in charge of basketball decisions once again," while Altman has been stuck in purgatory without a defined role.

"Whereas Griffin would consult with James and keep him informed of major roster decisions, that is no longer happening," Lloyd wrote. "James doesn't trust this front office, and there is no communication now between management and star player."

"The word is out that Dan is running things," a rival executive told Berger. "Frankly, that's where he's happiest and the role he's most comfortable in."

James won't waive his no-trade clause before Thursday's deadline and reportedly intends to "see year through in Cleveland," according to Yahoo Sports' Shams Charania.

For now, all indications suggest a second divorce may be in play this summer.

-->

hopefully Celtics win the East so I don't gotta watch the Finals

have fun in Houston. get CP3 a ring, please

to *that* contract"

fuck letting bron play gm all day everyday.

If we're being honest here

----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

Remind me what the Cavs "brass" have ever accomplished without Lebron James?

I'll wait.

-->

when he yanked them out of the water

hes like fuck it ill throw your ass back

Matchup nightmare, they got the cap space, better than the C's, and matches up well with GS.

& is likely to leave your franchise in the shitter when he bounces.

It's a wrap.. time to move on.. KD's world now..


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<---- 5....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlgiritpmfo

=======================================

>& is likely to leave your franchise in the shitter when he
>bounces.
>
>It's a wrap.. time to move on.. KD's world now..

You mean KD and Steph and Klay and Draymond

KD was a loser without a team who won without him

LMAO




----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<---- 5....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlgiritpmfo

=======================================

>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
><---- 5....
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlgiritpmfo
>
>=======================================


----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

http://www.nba.com/media/finals2006/dwade_mvp380.jpg


>KD was a loser without a team who won without him
>
>LMAO

https://media.giphy.com/media/wv89eetV1HbFe/giphy.gif
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<---- 5....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlgiritpmfo

=======================================

for years prior to Bron's arrival? Swept in the 1st round - missed the playoffs entirely one year - and were on the verge of lottery land before Kang saved the day?

Oh.

-->

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<---- 5....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlgiritpmfo

=======================================

L

----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

L

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<---- 5....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlgiritpmfo

=======================================

I'm listening.

----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<---- 5....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlgiritpmfo

=======================================

You sound mad, though.

Man up and keep your original post you bag of dicks!!

Bwahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahah

----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<---- 5....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlgiritpmfo

=======================================

Here's a hint: NO SINGLE player has ever come close to
guaranteeing rings. That you would even say that is a
testament to Lebron's greatness...he's the only player
in league history we would CLOWN because he doesn't
GUARANTEE a ring...LMAO

Lebron pissed all over the greatest team ever, though, and
y'all sad...STILL....Bwahahaha......can't take that away



----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

New teams don't care about what he won if he can't do it for them in the future...

but keep trying to change the argument to something you think you can win...

Either way, not about to go back and forth.. all your posts sound like the same shit anyway...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1jNB2P5sJk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<---- 5....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlgiritpmfo

=======================================

That's one of the worst sports arguments ever made

You legitimately clowned Lebron for not GUARANTEEING you
a ring

You sad, simple pathetic wimp

-->

to try to figure out where to scrounge up 3 wins out of:
Wed 7 MIN
Fri 9 @ATL
Sun 11 @BOS
Tue 13 @OKC
Thu 22 WSH
Fri 23 @MEM
Sun 2 SA ... at least 4 Ls there (MIN, BKS, OKC, SA) with a probable 5th. even @ATL and @MEM arent locks after last night.

meanwhile

Pistons next 7
Wed 7 BKN
Fri 9 LAC
Sun 11 @ATL
Mon 12 NO
Wed 14 ATL
Fri 23 BOS
Sun 25 @CHA ... at LEAST 5 wins there

Bucks next 7
Fri 9 @MIA
Sat 10 @ORL
Tue 13 ATL
Thu 15 DEN
Fri 23 @TOR
Sun 25 NO
Tue 27 WSH ... at LEAST 3 wins there even with the FL back to back, probably 4

Pacers next 7
Wed 7 @NO
Fri 9 @BOS
Sun 11 NY
Wed 14 @BKN
Fri 23 ATL
Mon 26 @DAL
Wed 28 @ATL ... at LEAST 5 wins there



uh oh...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<---- 5....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlgiritpmfo

=======================================

He's been making lazy irrelevant people wealthy for too
long imo. Especially in the Front Office.

Lebron needs a cool little vacay

He does what he wants in basketball.

Bum ass Cleveland front office don't deserve him, tho

Let's see if they can "scrounge up" 2 more.

-->

actually one of the more enter games of the year

i dont think its a harbinger of more to come, but a good win.

.

the gut check game in minnesota was a surprise tho

-->

meanwhile pistons floundering against mediocrity

showing no heart, opposite of the cavs :(

>meanwhile pistons floundering against mediocrity
>
>showing no heart, opposite of the cavs :(

still in the playoff hunt though. I assume they're building for next year and it's a bonus if they get in as a 7/8 seed. They need to win games like tonight's though.

-->

a committed defensive effort beats the Hawks every time regardless of whether or not shots are falling

and fuck Memphis up...so that will be at least 6 of 7.

surging vs the hardest part of their schedule

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

-->

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

and clearly he had a hand in the movement today.

At least he's trying to stay - unlike Kyrie who dipped out at first sign of adversity.

-->

I was looking forward to seeing what font Dan uses in his next thinly veiled racist meltdown.

>I was looking forward to seeing what font Dan uses in his
>next thinly veiled racist meltdown.

lol. I don't think Gilbert has changed one bit - still seems unappreciative and bitter.

-->

It's in reference to him not using his NTC and playing this year in Cleveland.

He could've easily opted out and said "fuck it" like Kyrie did - but he put his foot down and grounded himself in the Land to ride this out - and his play last night demonstrated that.

Will he stay in Cleveland after this year? We shall see - but LeBron is a made man and delivered the impossible to Cleveland. All of Ohio will always remember that.

-->

>He could've easily opted out and said "fuck it" like Kyrie
>did -

Sure, Ky did it first. AFTER being shopped for PG.

So, okay, Ky left.


Are you going to throw shade at Bron if he leaves like you have at Kyrie??




but he put his foot down and grounded himself in the
>Land to ride this out - and his play last night demonstrated
>that.

Huh? His play demonstrated that he is committed to "the Land"? If he has a sub-par game, does that mean he isn't committed?



>
>Will he stay in Cleveland after this year? We shall see -

Right. We shall see. But you tried to reference an interview about not waving his no-trade clause THIS YEAR as proof that he is in it for the "long haul"

but
>LeBron is a made man and delivered the impossible to
>Cleveland. All of Ohio will always remember that.
>
>-->

Are you on drugs?


No one is even trying to take away what he did in Cleveland.


Your stanning is spinning out of control to the point where you don't even know why you are blindly defending him.


All this thread is doing is speculating where he might end up. You're in here teary eyed talking about his play demonstrates his commitment to the land, throwing shade, and generally getting defensive over a reasonable question.


You're not even a Cav fan, are you? You'll just follow him anywhere so what do you care?

Weird.

>Are you going to throw shade at Bron if he leaves like you
>have at Kyrie??

I haven't thrown shade at Kyrie - if you read what I've read about his departure from Cleveland - I wished him well and stated he's bron's greatest teammate to date.

That doesn't take away from pesky facts: Kyrie bounced prematurely - wanted no part of staying in Cleveland and didn't even try to resolve differences. He heard he was possibly on the trading block and wanted out, threatening to get knee surgery and sit if he wasn't traded. He didn't play out his contract - didn't try to make things work - and didn't want to remain in Cleveland. If what he said was true - that Bron is leaving after this year - why wouldn't he want to be the man in Cleveland? Answer: Because he wanted out of Cleveland.

Conversely - Bron has always lived up to his commitments. He played out his first 7-year stint in Cleveland and then left in free agency. He stayed true to his 4-year contract in Miami - and now he's staying true to a 4-year stint in Cleveland. He could've just said "fuck it i'm tired of Dan Gilbert" and waived his no-trade clause and left - he can do whatever he wants quite frankly. But he's the one who has remained in Cleveland - not Kyrie.


>Huh? His play demonstrated that he is committed to "the
>Land"? If he has a sub-par game, does that mean he isn't
>committed?

Doesn't really have too many sub-par games so n/a. But yes - I think after the game-winner heard around the world vs. Minnesota Gilbert & Co. were like "we can't let this go without trying" - they've done what Bron wanted them to do to compete - and they're right for doing that. Bron is iconic in Cleveland and they should do everything in their power to keep him.

>>Will he stay in Cleveland after this year? We shall see -
>
>Right. We shall see. But you tried to reference an interview
>about not waving his no-trade clause THIS YEAR as proof that
>he is in it for the "long haul"

He's in for the long haul this season (at least) - unlike some other players.

>
>No one is even trying to take away what he did in Cleveland.

Oh yes they are. There are a lot of Cavs fans on this board who are romanticizing Kyrie's tenure and super critical of Bron - blaming Bron for Kyrie leaving as if Kyrie isn't a grown man who made a clear decision to jettison ship and then throw darts at Cleveland after he did so. Even when Bron left the first time - he never had a bad word to say about Cleveland.

Cavs fans should be celebrating and defending Bron at all costs, period.

>You're not even a Cav fan, are you? You'll just follow him
>anywhere so what do you care?
>
>Weird.

Not as weird as your #HurtLocker lamentations in here. I'm not a "fan" of franchises. I would never cheer for Dan Gilbert. I support players and am a loyal LeBron James fan. The greatest pleasure I've witnessed as a sports fan is watching Bron return to Cleveland to win a title in the most historic fashion in league history - so I'll always have love for the Cavs because of that - but I don't pledge allegiance to a sports franchise.


-->

end up in Houston next year.

Only way he wins another title outside of joining Ky in Bos or going to G-State.

Might have a 1 yr window with the Spurs, depending on if they can get a lil younger but that's a less potential shot than Houston.

Two first-rounders or one plus Gordon will almost certainly be enough.

but they basically opened the doors for his best opportunity to do damage this year, while also opening up more of their books for him and a friend next year.

a conspiracy theorist could read a lot into the big picture of this trade.

~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

Shed salary cap to open up 2 max slots and getting 1st round picks to accumulate cost-controlled talent.

Rob and Magic have done it brilliantly thus far: Offloading Moz’s contract for Brook’s expiring, getting a late 1st to draft Kuz, offloading JC/Nance for all expiring deals + a late 1st.

2 max slots to go after the best available while surrounding them with a young, talented core that is cost controlled for years to come.

Or is that just bullsh!t?


I really don't see him going West unless it is to Houston.

The Lakers are, at best, several years out from being competitive....and are kind of a mess, though few around here will admit it.

Dudes in here legit thinking he is itching to play with Lonzo...lol lol.


If the Cavs reach the Finals again I could see him re-upping for a year again...especially if they made cap room to get him more help.

"Lloyd noted the Cavaliers "have been noticeably pivoting away from James' recommendations" since the offseason. According to Lloyd, James wanted them to bring Kyrie Irving to training camp, but they instead placated the point guard's trade request by shipping him to the Boston Celtics.

Citing a source, Lloyd reported the Cavaliers completed the deal "without consulting James."

-->

https://media0.giphy.com/media/3osxY3PmsRJHKTjrdm/giphy-downsized-large.gif

but you already knew that, because you brought it up above in post #66 to try to blame the situation on kyrie. except kyrie only did that after he found out LeGM wanted to trade him. bron fucked up and then tried to backtrack, but it was already too late by then.

>but you already knew that, because you brought it up above in
>post #66

Glad you enjoy reading my thoughts.


-->

>>but you already knew that, because you brought it up above
>in
>>post #66
>
>Glad you enjoy reading my thoughts.

kyrie been minding his business this whole time and they still tryna get they story straight. kyrie's account been simple and consistent: i heard they wanted to trade me, so i went to gilbert in private and requested a trade, because i didn't feel wanted.

they cavs and bron wouldn't even let it get out that they tried to fuckin trade him when this all went down, leaving everyone to believe kyrie was being a selfish gloryhound asshole who wanted his own team so he could pad and win MVP like russ.

now, lebron wanted him. then kyrie held a gun to his own knee.

stop it.

that's not coming from bron's camp at all. Bron wasn't even consulted on the kyrie trade - that's fact. He wanted Kyrie to report to camp.

Now - did Bron know about kyrie being explored in a trade for PG? Yes - and he wanted that trade - and I don't blame him. For as great as Kyrie is - and he remains Bron's greatest teammate - it seemed fairly clear that they weren't going to beat GSW. Bron played a historic Finals and they still got ousted in 5 - and that's with Kyrie playing pretty well too. PG would've given the Cavs a better shot at beating GSW IMO because of his size, defensive prowess, and how he would complement Bron perfectly. And that's no knock on Kyrie - who I think is actually a better individual/overall player than PG.

But when that happened - it just provided the incentive for Kyrie to bounce. He likely wanted out anyway - and this was all the excuse he needed. He was tired of playing under Bron's shadow - tired of being 'lil bro' - and wanted to author his own future - and good for him. Bron knows all about that - and that's why there's no bad blood about it - it's just basketball and it's just business.

But let's not act like Kyrie didn't jump ship at first sign of adversity. Love had been explored on the trading block every other month and he has remained committed. Sure, he's not the player Kyrie is - but if Kyrie loved Cleveland and loved being a Cav - he could've easily resolved differences emanating from him being explored on the trading block.

-->

2. LeBron WAS consulted on that PG/EB deal, as he is consulted on EVERY move. He might not APPROVE, but he is consulted.

3. Adversity? LMAO! Your guy flinches at the sight of that, Dogg. Not mine. Seems like y’all switching the story up constantly. Wouldn’t it have been “safer” to just stay close to LeBron. Of course. But 25 and fearless don’t need to do that when nigga wraps his arm around you after defeat and says “we’ll be back” but tries to move you for two inferior players weeks later.

>2. LeBron WAS consulted on that PG/EB deal, as he is
>consulted on EVERY move. He might not APPROVE, but he is
>consulted.

Yes - he wanted that trade. I'm referring to the Kyrie/IT trade. Bron didn't want that and wasn't consulted or looped into that decision. It's one of the reasons Bron and Gilbert have had such an icy relationship this year. They didn't consult Bron again until this recent blockbuster trade.

>3. Adversity? LMAO! Your guy flinches at the sight of that,
>Dogg. Not mine. Seems like y’all switching the story up
>constantly. Wouldn’t it have been “safer” to just stay
>close to LeBron.

Now you're talking crazy. Kyrie ain't ever been through the kind of adversity Bron's been through. Try being a villain in Miami for an entire season and having everyone say you're not a winner - can't win a title etc... with the weight of the basketball world on your shoulders. Kyrie ain't ever been through that and never will go through the type of adversity Bron's been through. Bron plays huge in big moments and it's expected. During the '16 title run it was Bron who played consistently great *every* game. In the '17 finals it was Bron who had an all-time great Finals performance with the pressure on - not Kyrie.

And it's not about what's "safe" - it's simply stating a fact that Kyrie wanted out of Cleveland. He wanted no more part of being a Cav and I don't really blame him - it's an inept organization that is only relevant for one reason: LeBron James

Of course. But 25 and fearless don’t need
>to do that when nigga wraps his arm around you after defeat
>and says “we’ll be back” but tries to move you for two
>inferior players weeks later.

I think anyone in their right mind would explore a trade that would move Kyrie for Paul George *and* EB. That's not a knock on Kyrie at all - it's just about what can get past this GSW team.

Look - I wish Kyrie and Kang were still a tandem because I loved watching them play - but Kyrie's ego wouldn't allow him to be explored on the trading block - but he clearly had big issues w/ Bron. All jokey joke with the Warriors trying to clown Bron after the Finals - that ridiculous First Take performance where he clearly harbored resentment for Bron - meanwhile Bron has never had a bad thing to say about Kyrie and clearly respects him.

It's just basketball - but Kyrie wants to be Mamba when he should be Kyrie. He's great - but he will regret leaving Cleveland like he did when it's all said and done. All he had to do was go at it another year and then explore free agency. They had a chance to win another ring - but hey - we'll always have '16.




-->

how can you say he wasn't consulted out one side of your mouth and then say he didn't want it and said "just bring Kyrie to camp" out the the other side?

look, dogg, bron got what he needed. i'm pulling for him not only because rodney there, but cuz i still think he can get six.

but, what he did was foul and bron fans been tryna absolve him of this mess from jump and tryna make kyrie look like the bad guy. kyrie has only offered "i don't need to say anything else because i know what happened." and his actions have backed that up. cavs and bron been spinning the story for 6 months. insanity.

on one hand, it's CRAZY not to do PG/EB for Ky. on the other hand, you can't admit he was a snake for embracing that dude after the finals and saying "we'll be back" and then being a snake 2 WEEKS LATER. like, you really can't see that? whether the deal is good for the cavs is debatable. what's not debatable is bron was two-faced about it and kyrie found out and felt a way. if you wanna call that fleeing "adversity"...fine.

When the trade first happened - I thought Bron did co-sign the trade - but as it turns out, he wasn't and never wanted the trade - and wanted Kyrie to report to camp. When Griffin was in Cleveland, Bron was looped into all discussions/trades/acquisitions - but after Griffin left - a more significant rift was created between Bron and Gilbert - and it was reported (by credible sources) that Bron was not consulted nor allowed to give input into the Kyrie trade (which was a horrible trade).

If you think about it - Bron is a brilliant basketball mind - why would he approve of that move? The only way Bron wanted to see Kyrie moved is if it was for PG & EB.

>but, what he did was foul and bron fans been tryna absolve him
>of this mess from jump and tryna make kyrie look like the bad
>guy. kyrie has only offered "i don't need to say anything else
>because i know what happened." and his actions have backed
>that up. cavs and bron been spinning the story for 6 months.
>insanity.

I've said multiple times on this board that Bron should've handled last year differently. I thought his body language was bad and thought his leadership was not up to his usual standard. I also think he should've handled the Kyrie situation better - but that doesn't mean he deserves all the blame for Kyrie leaving - he doesn't. Reports also have come out that Kyrie didn't leave because of Bron - but because of the Cavs management/leadership and how they handled the off-season with respect to him being shopped.

But ultimately - Kyrie left for his own reasons - and I'm sure he had good reasons to leave. All I'm saying is - he also had good reasons to stay and think he should have - but I'm biased because I loved watching them play.

I actually think both of them are in good situations for themselves personally at this particular point - but they would've been in *better* positions together, because the trajectory was perfect. Bron would've had to taper down in 2-3 years and Kyrie would've had to take the reigns. But that's not how it happened.

I think both Bron and Kyrie handled it poorly. They should've sat down and at least tried to resolve it - but they didn't. All that being said - they still respect each other *a lot* and see themselves as brothers (brothers who had a very real disagreement) - but brothers nonetheless.

When it's all said and done - both of them will be lionized for what they did in the 2016 Finals - and it will be the most significant/golden moments of both of their careers - and they'll forever be bound by that.




-->

I don't think you read my post past the subject line. I was actually defending kyrie and said it was bron's fault for wanting to trade him cuz your boy vex is up there lying like shit trying to blame it all on kyrie and the cavs and pretending bron was an innocent bystander.

Get another team on the level of boston (with Hayward back)

That would make it interesting

why do that and still not be good enough to beat the Warriors? Danny is playing the long game.

LeBron hasn't been this happy in .... a long time

and I'm sticking with it. I just left a birthday party and all the talk from the dudes was "Lakuhs finsta gets Lebron nows!" I wanted to put everyone in a line and smack their faces like the Three Stooges.

hopefully the moves koby just made are enough of a show of good faith.

prob not enough to beat the unfair Warriors - but enough to compete and have fun while doing so.

I hope Bron stays in Cleveland and they somehow maneuver to get PG in the off-season.

He's iconic in Cleveland. It's where he's at his best.

-->

but for some reason I think adding PG would make this team worse.

>but for some reason I think adding PG would make this team worse.

>but for some reason I think adding PG would make this team
>worse.
>
>

shooting 43% from three AND leading the league in steals and deflections?

he's the kind of player who would excel with Bron. He would get so many wide open looks from Bron drawing defenders that it would be ridiculous - and he's an absolute assassin off the catch & shoot three. He's also a rangey, very good wing defender who is athletic and can get a hand in klay/steph/KD face - and match them with firepower on offense when he's hot (which is often).

Wade was never a great fit for Bron because he did a lot of what Bron did - just not as good. He demanded the ball and wasn't a great shooter - so he and Bron clashed more than they coalesced. Kyrie was a better fit because of his tremendous shooting and ability to go get his own bucket sans Bron's creativity. But even he isn't as good of a fit as PG would be IMO.
-->

and back to Heat nation makes the most sense.

however the Spurs is the only right answer best of both worlds with him and Pop

Lebron Love and Clarkson/hood/nance/hill ain't the big 3 bron has become accustomed to playing with.

With all nba teams healthy, this team is barely top 5.

before i can even begin to say one way or the other.

i really can't stand that aspect of the current sports landscape. the hot takes and immediate overreactions and constant need to have a definitive opinion on EVERYTHING.

team wins games 1 and 2 and loses 3 and everyone talking bout their weaknesses and that their not built tough yada yada lol

you are playing the best teams and only need to win 57% of your games to chip.

like when they dropped 2 vs the raptors in 2016 i was cackling at how they covered it. not even the raptors thought they'd beat them

it's a rack of garbage coming up like the last time they went on a run so the hype machine is about to rev up for them.

its cool they beat okc and boston straight after the trade but that's like when a backup qb eats initially and then teams get footage on him and his tendencies.

tnt, fox and espn pundits had all already declared them the east favorites.

i was like damn, y'all don't want to maybe watch them play a few games first?

>tnt, fox and espn pundits had all already declared them the
>east favorites.
>
>i was like damn, y'all don't want to maybe watch them play a
>few games first?

I do think it was clear immediately that this would be a better Cavs team - but I don't think anyone imagined them to play *this* well so fast. Still, it's way too early to make any proclamations other than this: It's a much better team than the previous one.

-->

i think that where the disconnect lies is that a lot of people are underestimating exactly how bad they were playing immediately pre-trade. they had the 3rd best record in the conference, sure, but they were legitimately playing like one of the worst teams in the league.

so to me, saying they improved (which they have, on paper, totally agree there) doesn't mean they've jumped from 3rd to 1st and leapfrogged boston and toronto, ie the pundits' consensus take. what it means imo is that they improved from bottom 5ish to... something we can't really assess properly yet. we're only going to know once we see them run for a minute.



>>tnt, fox and espn pundits had all already declared them the
>>east favorites.
>>
>>i was like damn, y'all don't want to maybe watch them play a
>>few games first?
>
>I do think it was clear immediately that this would be a
>better Cavs team - but I don't think anyone imagined them to
>play *this* well so fast. Still, it's way too early to make
>any proclamations other than this: It's a much better team
>than the previous one.
>
>-->

and people had them in the Finals lol...


>before i can even begin to say one way or the other.
>
>i really can't stand that aspect of the current sports
>landscape. the hot takes and immediate overreactions and
>constant need to have a definitive opinion on EVERYTHING.

on one hand you've got analysts saying "this doesn't bring them any closer to competing in the Finals" which is non-sense. It's clear that this team is better equipped for a deep playoff run and will fare better against GSW/HOU than the previous squad.

Conversely, the notion that after 2 games we can say they even will get through East unequivocally is also non-sense. Despite two impressive wins (where Bron really was the engine with two spectacular games and was complemented nicely) - they still have to gel on the fly with less than 30 games until the playoffs.

If they can get to the Finals with essentially a new squad - it should be seen as an immense accomplishment. If they can somehow win the Finals it would eclipse the impossible title of 2016 - so that's how improbable it should be viewed that they can somehow synthesize, gel, and beat the breaks off of an egregiously stacked GSW team.

-->

Even before the trade deadline makeover.

Yes, this team isn't as good as last year's team. It doesn't have Kyrie or any other Kyrie-caliber player to play with LeBron. But of the realistic options, this team gives LeBron the best chance to make it back to the Finals next year. Which is clearly what he's going to be looking for.

And if they can making a PG signing happen, even more so.

I know there's a lot of Houston talk out there but they would have to gut their team to sign him and be heavily reliant on Bron, Harden & CP3 and CP3 isn't exactly a spring chicken.

and gm.


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

https://www.theringer.com/2018/2/23/17043258/lebron-james-lakers-sixers-michael-jordan-free-agency-narrative

How LeBron Can Finish His Fairy Tale Better Than MJ
In the battle for GOAT supremacy, Michael Jordan is still way out front. But the next big free-agency decision for LeBron James could determine whether he’ll ever have a chance to pass MJ.
By Bill Simmons Feb 23, 2018, 3:01am EST
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Ringer illustration
Michael Jordan or LeBron James? It is one of the essential questions in the modern era of sports fandom, encompassing facts and biases, statistics and anecdotal evidence, and the ever-shifting barometer of cultural relevance. It turns friends into foes, barbershops into the site of parliamentary debates, and the Super Bowl LII champions into bickering schoolchildren. The question of Jordan or LeBron may live on for longer than they do. So, before we fully gear up for what should be a frenzied second half of the season, why not celebrate and examine the impact of two of the most influential players in basketball history?

Welcome to Jordan-LeBron Week.

Remember when Roy Hobbs finished The Natural with a majestic home run that exploded the lights? Michael Jordan nearly pulled that off in real life. Trailing by three points in Utah, with 41.9 seconds remaining and a dangerous Game 7 looming, Jordan casually shredded three Jazz players for an easy layup, stripped an oblivious Karl Malone on the other end, then drained an iconic jumper in Bryon Russell’s tumbling mug to swing the 1998 Finals. No other Bulls player touched the ball.

I repeat: No other Bulls player touched the ball.

We already thought Jordan was the greatest … and then he did THAT? Even if the Delta Center’s lights never showered everyone with sparks, those 41.9 seconds reside on a different planet — like Tiger prevailing at Torrey Pines on a busted knee, or Ali pouncing on Foreman during the eighth round in Zaire — when we already believed someone was truly great, truly different, truly special, and then they delivered again anyway. When that happens, it’s almost eerie to watch. It’s the final level of everything.

I caught Game 6 in a disbelieving bar in Boston, where we had only recently waived the white flag on our increasingly pathetic “Larry was bettah than Michael!” stance. By 1998, Jordan had evolved into our country’s one-man 1980 USA men’s hockey team, our generation’s answer for the Beatles and Ali. It’s fair to argue about the start-to-finish careers of Jordan and LeBron, but LeBron will never surpass Jordan unless he reaches that specific point. In the past 50 years, only Jordan, Ali and Tiger were so transcendent that everyone rooted for them during their primes. They unlocked the following achievement: unanimous approval.

We respect LeBron. We revered Jordan. When he retired from basketball seven months after Game 6 in Utah, it felt just as heartwarming as Roy Hobbs playing catch in the cornfield with his bastard son. What a way to go out. THE END.

(30 for 30 narrator voice coming …)

But … what if I told you that Michael Jordan wanted to come back, only he couldn’t find a team? 30 for 30 presents … GOAT Without a Team, directed by Jason Hehir.

Let’s travel back to the fall of 1997, back when Chicago was churning out two compelling dramas: Season 4 of ER and Jordan’s final Bulls season. Jordan loathed Chicago’s paranoid general manager, Jerry Krause, who had been aggressively planning for the imminent departures of Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson. The problem with Krause, as columnist Phil Rosenthal told David Halberstam in Playing for Keeps, was that Krause “deserved more credit than he got but wanted more credit than he deserved.”

Imagine HBO’s president seething about David Chase and James Gandolfini getting too much credit for The Sopranos, then spending Season 7 openly searching for a new showrunner and star. This was worse. Krause constantly bristled about getting credit for the Bulls dynasty, and when he couldn’t get it, he effectively detonated it. Maybe they should have written that last summer on his Hall of Fame plaque.

The other problem: Miserly Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf paid record-breaking money to his meal ticket, Jordan, but he wasn’t obliging for Jordan, Jackson and Pippen. Ever the opportunist, Jackson nicknamed that season “The Last Dance” and motivated his tribe accordingly. I reread all the Jordan books recently; 20-plus years later, it seems impossible that Krause and Reinsdorf underestimated Jackson’s connection with Jordan that badly. Even worse, everyone even knew that Krause planned on replacing Phil with a college coach named Tim Floyd. You know, because any time you can jettison Phil Jackson for Tim Freaking Floyd, you have to do it.

Meanwhile, a sulking Pippen headed into the final year of his (criminally underpaid) contract determined to get paid — and not by Chicago, the franchise that had duped him with lowball extensions not once but twice. Scottie headed into The Last Dance as a top-10 player and future Hall of Famer … and the NBA’s 122nd-highest-paid player. Even Jackson’s finest Zen Master tricks couldn’t soothe Scottie’s bitterness. He rested an ailing left foot all summer and screwed the team by waiting until October for surgery, losing another three months and leaving Jordan to carry everything (which, of course, he did). Not helping: their third wheel, the increasingly erratic Dennis Rodman, who was Charlie Sheen–ing his way out of the league. The finish line was coming.

Near the end of Part 1 of Alison Ellwood’s incredible documentary about the Eagles, as the band’s members slowly grow to despise one another, everyone expects them to break up until it finally happens — in Long Beach, in 1980, with Glenn Frey and Don Felder nearly brawling on stage as the band implodes. The Bulls never had their Long Beach moment, just a drama-filled final season that became its own farewell tour. They shook off an 8–7 start and a slew of “Is Chicago done?” think pieces by ripping off an astonishing 51–10 stretch, fueled by (as always) the homicidally competitive Jordan.

I know Jordan’s GOAT résumé kicks off with six rings, the Dream Team, the ’93 Finals and the Roy Hobbs game. But for me, Jordan’s greatness resonated the most during those boring nights in Jersey or Charlotte or Sacramento, anytime he took offense to something — a heckling fan, a dopey foul call, an opponent’s sneer, whatever — and immediately transformed into basketball’s John Wick. Everyone else wanted to win; Jordan wanted something else. By the mid-1990s, coaches were warning their players not to trash-talk, eyeball or provoke him in any way.

Keep your head down, shut up, don’t give him any reason to get going.

We didn’t have League Pass for those mundane MJ nights, just SportsCenter (and those 11 p.m. highlights with Stu Scott narrating, “MJ had 12 points at halftime, but in the third quarter, Jayson Williams gave him a hard foul, and lemme tell ya, my man MJ did NOT like that”) and morning box scores (when you glanced to Page 4 of USA Today’s sports section and said to yourself, “Jesus, MJ had 49 against the Clippers? I wonder who pissed him off”). Every night, this stubborn lunatic searched for a reason to demolish his opponent. When he couldn’t find it, he made one up. They stacked the deck against a 35 year-old legend during that final Bulls season and it didn’t matter. 62 wins, 20 losses.

Michael Jordan #23
Getty Images
Jackson gathered players, coaches and trainers for a special meeting before the 1998 playoffs, asking everyone to write a message about what that final season meant to them. A poem, a sentence, a song, whatever. It had to be 50 words or fewer. Everyone obliged. They went around the room reading their messages, even Jordan, and when they finished, Jackson burned them in a coffee can. All the chaos and dissension burned away with it. They banded together for eight weeks and prevailed again, for a lot of reasons, but mainly because they employed the greatest player ever.

Jordan finished his Bulls career by winning three straight titles, playing 304 of a possible 304 games and logging an incomprehensible 11,786 minutes, opening the door for an understandable “He’s just spent” narrative. Jordan Rules author Sam Smith later wrote that Jordan “couldn’t stand playing with Scottie Pippen anymore,” and that Jordan was “sick and tired and burned out, just like in 1993.” Throw in Jordan’s hatred of Krause and that’s why Jordan walked away after that sixth title.

Or, that’s just the story we always believed.

This happens sometimes — a story emerges and takes hold, when the truth was much more complicated. The Eagles broke up because they hated each other. That’s easy. Jordan retired that second time, still the best player in the league, because he had nowhere else to go. That’s complicated. And also, perplexing.

Former Jordan teammate B.J. Armstrong told me that Jordan walked away in ’93 because he was completely spent, both physically and mentally, and that he returned only 17 months later after noticing how dramatically expansion had diluted the league. Jordan realized he could steal a few more titles, Armstrong believed, without the schedule and an unforgiving talent pool draining him too badly. The second three-peat finished him once and for all. Ask Armstrong about Jordan’s second retirement now and he’ll scream, “HE WAS DONE! HIS BODY WAS DONE!”

Others from Jordan’s orbit believe that mitigating circumstances played a bigger role. A damaging lockout followed the ’98 Finals, with owners intent on repairing a broken salary structure that empowered younger stars in ominous ways. Turned off by Latrell Sprewell choking his coach, two unlikable Dream Team sequels, the rise of a polarizing Iverson/hip-hop generation and a slew of overpaid lottery picks wasting their talent, fans (especially older ones) had openly rebelled against on-court behavior and skyrocketing ticket prices. “Life After Jordan” became the scariest words in basketball. The man bumped TV ratings by 25 to 30 percent, generating more attention and adoration than every other superstar combined. Without Jordan, the league’s business model was broken.

David Stern knew it. The commish spent seven months playing chicken with the players association, desperate to rebuild a suddenly troubled league. He grew a Dr. Richard Kimble beard and played up the gravity of the situation, speaking to reporters in the weightiest of tones, exploiting the scars of 1994’s still-incomprehensible baseball lockout. We’re ready to throw away the season like baseball did … and if you don’t believe me, check out my beard. Only when the lockout stretched into the holidays did everyone start believing him.

You know what didn’t happen during that stretch? Michael Jordan never retired.

You know why Jordan never retired? (Dramatic pause.) He never WANTED to retire. He just didn’t have a team.

Over the months and years that passed, we came to believe a story that, like a handful of other moments in Jordan’s career (cough … baseball … cough …), never really added up. Jordan left basketball on January 13, 1999, only a few days after Stern’s menacing promise to cancel that season broke the players (and spawned a new collective bargaining agreement). If it seemed like Jordan waited until the last possible moment to leave, that’s because he did. He handled it beautifully, telling 800 reporters in the United Center that, “Mentally, I’m exhausted, I don’t feel I have a challenge. … Physically, I feel great. This is a perfect time for me to walk away from the game. I’m at peace with that.”

To recap: The most homicidally competitive athlete quit basketball not once, but twice, at the peak of his powers.

(What???)

Remember, every Competitive MJ anecdote describes his pathological need to conquer others, to wager against them constantly, to search for victories big and small, ranging from “let’s play HORSE after practice” to “I bet my luggage comes out before yours does.” The man was consumed by competition. You don’t shut that off. It’s not a fucking faucet. At age 35, we were expected to believe that Jordan found … serenity?

Adding to the mystery, we learned that week that Jordan had recently sliced his right index finger on a cigar cutter. Jordan claimed that he couldn’t have played basketball for two months, anyway, and yet he played golf in the Bob Hope Classic with Charles Barkley the next weekend. By November, when Skip Bayless (!) wrote about Jordan embarrassing Corey Benjamin at a practice and mentioned Jordan’s nagging finger injury, a convenient backup narrative had emerged: If Jordan had never sliced that finger, maybe he would have come back.

Nope. One of Jordan’s closest friends told me recently that, had the Bulls brought Jackson back after the 1998 Finals, Jordan absolutely would have stayed. That’s how much he respected Jackson. Once it became clear that Krause and Reinsdorf were nudging Jackson out, that flipped Jordan’s stance — now, he had to leave Chicago out of loyalty to Phil (and also because he didn’t want to start over with anyone else). Krause underestimated the MJ-Phil connection so egregiously, and in such a damaging way to Chicago’s future (and NBA history, too), that it’s difficult to recall a bigger misread in the seven-decade history of the league. It’s completely indefensible.

Unfortunately for Jordan (and us), no other late-’90s franchise was savvy enough to realize, “Let’s hoard our cap space in case Jordan decides to jump teams!” Who created that idea? The Orlando Magic, when they cleared the decks in a heroic effort to land Tracy McGrady, Grant Hill AND Tim Duncan after the 1999–2000 season. In 1997 and 1998, nobody thought that way.

Once the lockout mercifully ended, the new CBA favored teams keeping their own free agents, which, of course, spawned some of the dopiest contracts ever. Class of ’96 stars like Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson and Ray Allen signed $70.9 million max extensions, but unfortunately, so did Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. The Nets splurged $86 million to keep Jayson “The Future Accidental Chauffeur Killer” Williams. Atlanta and Golden State locked up Alan Henderson and Jason Caffey for a combined $80 million. And the Knicks spent $56 million to keep Charlie Ward and Chris Dudley, or as they’d later be known, Charlie Ward’s Expiring Contract and Chris Dudley’s Expiring Contract.

Maybe 25 percent of the league possessed real cap space. The Kings smartly spent theirs on Vlade Divac and a six-year supply of Marlboro Reds for $62.5 million. Six other teams landed “marquee” free agents who flopped or eventually flopped: Phoenix (Tom Gugliotta: $58.5 million), Denver (Antonio McDyess: $67.5 million), Charlotte (Derrick Coleman: $40 million), Philly (Matt Geiger: $51 million), Chicago (Brent Barry: $27 million) and Detroit (Loy Vaught: $23 million). And Donald Sterling’s Clippers didn’t spend any of their cap space, as usual, although they probably spent a corresponding amount on NDA’s.

Our seven contenders for that goofy lockout season were San Antonio, Portland, New York, Indiana, Houston, Utah and the Lakers. Only one had cap space: the Rockets, who landed Pippen in a sign-and-trade for $67.2 million. Nobody else could have afforded Jordan, coming off a record one-year salary of $33 million, unless he played for a truly seismic discount.

I ask you again … what was Michael’s move?

Create an Old Guys Team with Pippen, Barkley and Hakeem in Houston?

Team up with Duncan and Robinson and live in … San Antonio?

Slum for a seventh ring in a small market like Portland, Utah or Indiana?

Join forces with Kobe and Shaq and play for (gulp) Magic’s team?

Please. Only New York loomed as a possibility; if you remember, the Knicks traded Chris Mills and two contracts (John Starks and Terry Cummings) to Golden State for Sprewell only eight days after Jordan retired. Could they have remodeled that package as a sign-and-trade for Michael? Would Krause have sold out Jordan’s Chicago legacy for a pupu platter package and a couple of picks? This was Jordan’s only real play unless the Lakers hired Phil Jackson … and unfortunately, that didn’t happen for another six months.

Did the league inadvertently checkmate its greatest player? Actually, yes! That’s what happened. And that’s how Michael Jordan ended up extending his own bizarre record: “Most times that the GOAT retired on top as an NBA Finals MVP: Two.”

He skipped the lockout season and returned in January 2000, joining Washington as a part owner and president of basketball operations. In September 2001, Jordan stunned everyone by deciding to play basketball … for the Wizards. An astonishing 39 months had passed since the Roy Hobbs Game, a stretch that included the Monica Lewinsky scandal, “The Real Slim Shady,” Sosa vs. McGwire, “Bye Bye Bye,” “Oops! … I Did It Again,” the Bush-Gore election, Kurt Warner’s Rams, the premiere of The Sopranos, the first internet stock boom, the Rock–Stone Cold feud, Belichick jumping to the Pats, Chuck Noland mourning a volleyball, “Who Let the Dogs Out,” Y2K, Y2J, two more Jay-Z albums and (gulp) three more Yankees titles.

Jordan announced his return two weeks after 9/11, later promising to donate his salary to families of the victims. The country was reeling. None of it felt right. Those two Wizards seasons played out like a reunion concert tour — and even if we knew the band had already peaked, we didn’t care. Just play the hits, Michael. Many nights, he couldn’t do it. A couple of nights, magically, he did. But Jordan’s creaky body couldn’t hold up. Michael Jordan waited too long to return. Really, he never should have left.

Miami Heat v Charlotte Bobcats - Game Four
Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Two decades later, we’re watching LeBron James creep toward the same “man without a team” situation. The 2017–18 Cavaliers generated as much early drama as Jordan’s final Bulls season, as our relentless 24/7 hot-take cycle made Cleveland’s locker room seem like an ongoing Anchorman brawl. When a team breaks during the NBA Twitter era, you feel it in real time. Cleveland broke over a five-week span that included LeBron, for the first time ever, noticeably checking out during games.

Uh-oh. We nearly overheated the Trade Machine before a barrage of Woj Bombs on Deadline Day left everyone reeling: multiple trades and four new rotation guys for Cleveland, not to mention owner Dan Gilbert sacrificing a first-round pick, taking on two more horrifying salaries, and heading toward an excruciating $300 million payroll next season (including luxury tax). Next year’s Cavs team might cost more than Black Panther II. They did everything short of dealing 2018’s Brooklyn pick, their only remaining prize from last summer’s calamitous Kyrie Irving trade, as well as their one trump card for this summer’s looming stay-or-go staredown.

Hey, LeBron — if you promise to stay, we’ll trade the pick for more help. But you have to tell us right now.

The barrage of trades woke up LeBron, a better outcome than anything else that Cleveland received. Maybe Pre-Apex LeBron (2009), Apex LeBron (2013) and Post-Apex LeBron (2016) came and went, but 2018 LeBron (if engaged) remains the league’s most devastating offensive player. Here’s what else we know about LeBron after 15 years …

1. In 2014, he promised to bring Cleveland its first title in 50 years. It happened two years later. He’s immortal in Cleveland now. All Decision-related debts have been covered.

2. That means he can leave again. (If he wants.)

3. By signing only short-term deals during his second Cleveland stint, LeBron effectively extorted his owner/nemesis, Dan Gilbert, into a gotta-win-now strategy of paying the repeater tax, shipping away draft picks, re-signing Kevin Love at a gigantic number, and comically overpaying role players like Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert. Earlier this month, Cleveland could improve only by giving away ANOTHER first-round pick and taking on even MORE money. It’s like watching a drunk guy play Jenga. This isn’t team-building; it’s team-surviving. It’s not sustainable. (Hold this thought.)

4. Our safest 2018 bet: LeBron throws on his Superman cape and drags Cleveland to the Finals in a feeble conference, then gets annihilated by the Warriors or Rockets. What then? LeBron reached similarly bleak career points in 2010 and 2014, and both times, he pressed “Reset” and found a more appealing basketball situation. In 2010, Wade and Bosh trumped any other alternative. In 2014, Kyrie-Love–Dan Gilbert’s blank checkbook trumped Aging Wade–Aging Bosh–no cap space. In 2018 … (Hold this thought.)

5. Last summer (whether LeBron knew or not), Cleveland circled a four-team trade that shipped out Love, Kyrie Irving and at least two of those aforementioned bad contracts and yielded them Paul George, Carmelo Anthony AND Eric Bledsoe. Kyrie found out and the rest was history. The biggest prize from the ensuing trade, Brooklyn’s 2018 lottery pick, won’t yield anyone who could help LeBron right away — unless they flip it, with other pieces, for an impact star like Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard or (name any other stud who’s probably not available). One problem: Phoenix, Boston, Denver and the Lakers have stashed better assets for a mega-trade. Sure, it’s a sweet pick. I just don’t see how it helps LeBron this decade. (Hold this thought.)

6. If LeBron wants to grab GOAT status from Jordan — and by all accounts, he does — then he can’t topple Jordan with anything other than rings or math. He’s already played more games and minutes than Jordan ever did. He’s played in more Finals. He’s exhibited an astonishing, almost baffling level of consistency and durability, and unlike Jordan, he never disappeared during his prime. Since 2003, LeBron showed up, night after night after night, for one year longer than the entire run of Grey’s Anatomy.

Barring injury, he could retire as the all-time scoring king AND the first member of the 40k-10k-10k Club (40,000 points, 10,000 assists, 10,000 rebounds), which 15 years ago seemed about as realistic as LeBron growing a third arm out of his forehead. He’s creating a legitimate “Jordan’s peak was greater, but LeBron’s career was greater” argument. It’s in play. He wins with math. (And he knows it.)

7. Unlike Jordan or Magic, LeBron has been blessed with every conceivable training, dieting, equipment, conditioning and recovery innovation. Along with Tom Brady and Roger Federer, he has demolished the parameters of an athletic “prime.” Federer won last summer’s Wimbledon at 35 and January’s Australian Open at 36. Brady pulled off the greatest NFL comeback ever at 39 and threw for 505 yards in a Super Bowl at 40. You know how Brady wants to play until he’s 45? I keep hearing that LeBron wants to play until he’s 40 — at least — with the dream of finishing his career as the Senior Griffey to his son’s Junior Griffey. That’s seven more years. (Hold this thought.)

8. LeBron’s basketball situation matters most, but he adores big-picture narratives nearly as much. During those first few Cleveland years, he thrived on spurning traditional basketball-business structures and building something with his high school buddies, positioning themselves as the real-life Entourage. He spun 2010’s watershed free-agency tour into a thought bubble for new beginnings and player empowerment — culminating in the widely reviled Decision special — when really, all he wanted was to spend his prime in South Beach building a dynasty with Wade and Bosh.

In 2011, he hired a media strategist right around the same time we started hearing about LeBron’s business partner, Maverick Carter, as everyone started writing favorable pieces about their ambitious multimedia plans. In 2012, he ditched CAA for his buddy Rich Paul’s brand-new agency — which he’s, um, involved with — becoming the first modern superstar to achieve professional autonomy from the traditional business world. And 2014’s carefully orchestrated, beautifully executed “I’m coming home!” narrative masked the undeniable fact that (a) Miami was washed as a true contender and (b) Cleveland offered a better chance to keep winning titles.

I repeat: LeBron loves narratives.

And that’s what makes the summer of 2018 so confusing. The simple move would be staying in Cleveland … where LeBron came within one fortuitous nut-punch of losing three straight Finals, where his relationship with Gilbert has been described as “fractured” and “nonexistent” in recent weeks, where he doesn’t owe anyone anything, and where he’s surrounded by his least inspiring supporting cast since the Antawn Jamison–Doughy Shaq era. Only another title or the NBA fixing the lottery for Cleveland again could convince LeBron to stay. (Just kidding.)

Meanwhile, jumping to Golden State or Houston on a minimum deal would make LeBron look weak and desperate, and if you don’t think he noticed the constant barrage of shit heaped on Kevin Durant after his Warriors move, you’re crazy. As for New York, the Knicks don’t have any cap space. Miami makes no sense. San Antonio made a little sense before Kawhi Leonard started reenacting the end of Bill Walton’s Portland career. Boston or Toronto can’t happen. Or Washington. FYI: We’re running out of contenders.

NBA All-Star Game 2018
Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images
There’s been some growing “LeBron to Philly” buzz for four reasons: the Sixers have enough cap space and trade assets to accommodate LeBron and the likes of, say, PAUL GEORGE; Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are two of the league’s best under-25 blue-chippers (young legs!); Klutch represents LeBron and Simmons (hmmmmm); and NBA insiders have been gossiping about an increasingly cozy Philly–LeBron’s circle connection since November. You want a quality narrative? What about this one:

In 2018, LeBron James signed with Philadelphia to build one last mini-dynasty with Embiid and Simmons. He vowed to play seven more years, until he turned 40, and vowed to make it his last stop. Just as important, he wanted to be closer to New York City and to his goal of becoming the first active billionaire athlete, with an eye on building his business empire and eventually owning an NBA franchise.

That’s not bad. Flip that script into first person and you can imagine the Sports Illustrated cover (“PHILADELPHIA FREEDOM”), the “As told to Lee Jenkins” byline and maybe even a picture of LeBron standing on the Rocky steps with 200 kids behind him. But if you’re LeBron, would you wager the last stage of your career, as well as your only real chance of grabbing the GOAT horns, on Embiid’s remarkably talented, remarkably fragile body? Check this out.

Player A: 76 games, 2,201 minutes

Player B: 57 games, 2,109 minutes

The first player? Joel Embiid’s career numbers through four seasons.

The second player? LeBron James … this season.

At the All-Star Game on Sunday, Embiid emerged as the night’s single biggest revelation for me. Maybe 11 players belonged out there at crunch time; Embiid was unequivocally one of them. He’s magnificent. But a Philly jump would ignore the durability lessons of every injury-prone, a-little-too-tall center we’ve ever had: Bill Walton, Arvydas Sabonis, Rik Smits, Yao Ming, Shawn Bradley, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Greg Oden … it’s a terrifying list. Does Embiid’s overwhelming upside matter more than those sobering red flags? Embiid has missed 226 of a possible 302 NBA games so far. That’s 75 percent of his career. Jumping to Philly, by far, would be the biggest gamble of LeBron’s career.

Of course, we’re ignoring months and months of breadcrumbs leading to Los Angeles, a rumor that swelled during last year’s Finals and never really calmed down. The Lakers cleared cap space for him with the Russell and Clarkson trades, creating two max-free-agent slots this summer. He bought a second $20 million house in Brentwood. His media business runs out of Hollywood and Burbank, paving the way for home run projects like Space Jam 2 (which they haven’t developed for four astonishing years, but still).

And by the way? It’s the Lakers.

Believe me, I hate admitting this … but the Lakers, Yankees and Cowboys are the only three American sports teams to achieve perennial resonance. They always matter, regardless of whether they’re winning or losing. The NBA’s biggest star in 20-plus years jumping to the NBA’s biggest franchise … I mean, that’s something. You want a great narrative? Try this one. (Feel free to steal this, Lee Jenkins.)

I know people will say I left Cleveland again. I don’t look at it like that. My heart will always belong there. We brought them Cleveland’s first title in 52 years. We’ve done an unbelievable amount of charity work for Akron and Cleveland and the surrounding areas. Cleveland will always be a part of me. But I don’t want to be defined just by sports. This is the last chapter of my basketball career; I want to play seven more years, I want to play for the greatest franchise in any sport, and I want to build a billion-dollar business in the entertainment capital of the world. My whole life has been building to this moment. I want to carry the torch from Mikan, Baylor, West, Wilt, Kareem, Magic, Shaq and Kobe. I want to learn from Magic Johnson, and I want to follow in his footsteps as an influential African American business icon. I want to use my platform to continue to speak out and prove that athletes shouldn’t just shut up and dribble. It’s time for the next chapter of my career. It’s time for me to move to Los Angeles and play for the Lakers.

In that “Coming to L.A.” piece, LeBron won’t mention their ample cap space and budding war chest of youngsters, nor will he predict the Wigginsesque Lonzo trade that will yield another chess piece (and, more importantly, send the Ball family packing). As a basketball situation, 2018–19’s pipe dream of LeBron, Paul George, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Trade Asset X and Two Smart Bench Signings isn’t any better than 2018–19’s pipe-dream roster in Cleveland. But it’s competitive enough. It’s one of the three greatest players of all time saying, I couldn’t find the perfect basketball situation, so I picked the perfect life situation.

And guess what. It’s still a better choice than anything Jordan had 20 years ago. Jordan’s era offered a relentless pounding and a primitive level of player movement. LeBron’s era offers undeniable advantages: better science, better training, flagrant foul calls, restrictions against hand-checking, advanced analytics, shorter contracts, fully empowered players, way more franchises planning ahead. When LeBron sours on a situation, he packs his bags and seeks a better one. Michael Jordan never had that luxury. After Chicago’s front office screwed things up for him, Jordan grabbed the halo of that Roy Hobbs game and drifted into the sky.

People have been chasing him ever since. LeBron could patch together a GOAT résumé hinging on math and fame and the 40k-10k-10k Club and Finals trips and rings/awards/trophies and generational impact and social media and a business empire and the stupefying concept of an elite athlete excelling, without an injury or major speed bump, for 20 solid years. The totality of LeBron’s career could become as unbelievable as Jordan’s extended apex. But that’s not an unassailable argument. We could always poke holes in it.

If LeBron wants to grab the GOAT horns, he needs to keep piling up Finals trips and maybe even one or two more rings. He needs to put himself in position for his own Roy Hobbs moment (even if The Block in Oakland wasn’t too shabby). He needs to get lucky and have a 7-foot-2 superfreak unicorn defy the odds and stay healthy. He needs to buddy up with his favorite Klutch client, a mirror image of himself physically, and play the “I’m gonna teach Ben everything I know” card. He needs to move his business to Manhattan. He needs to recruit the hell out of another A-lister like Paul George. He needs to roll the dice with Philadelphia.

It’s the second-best narrative with the absolute highest ceiling. And you know what else? Don’t laugh … but it’s the one move that might make Michael Jordan nervous. To be continued.

Not sure why everyone has been frontin on that, but I really don’t see
a better situation for him to go to.

and the crowd goes "TTP! TTP!"

so they double down and get more loud, more angry, and more wrong.

see also: the republican party

Lebron likes to be surrounded by shooters.

LeBron and D. Wade were way more redundant than Bron & Simmons would be. LeBron plays *great* off the ball but has never played with an elite-level PG or passer who can exploit that. Simmons has that elite vision and Bron would get a lot of easy buckets off the basket (which he rarely if ever gets now). Also a good idea for Bron to play off the ball and in the post (where he's vastly improved his game) in the late stage of his career.

>Lebron likes to be surrounded by shooters.

And they have shooters. Belinelli & Reddick are elite and better shooters than anyone on the Cavs right now. Covington is also a competent long-ranger shooter and even Joel can hit the rangey jumper. Plenty of options to kick to in Philly.


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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2763302-lebron-james-rumors-cavaliers-lakers-rockets-76ers-on-free-agency-list

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I’m starting to suspect he may stay forever. He’ll never be as loved anywhere else as he is in Ohio. Even if he keeps coming short, he’s already in the GOAT conversation as is. I’m not sure going elsewhere *improves* his standings, tbh— unless he went right away and won like 2-3 titles elsewhere, but I can’t imagine him bailing after such a remarkable run. Every Ohioan on my Facebook and Twitter was worshipping dude as a god last night. He did his villain career turn— I’m thinking he’ll want to end his career as the hero, unless shit *really* sours in Cleveland.

He haaaaaaaaaates Gilbert. More importantly, he has to know that if he gets even one more Finals MVP, GOAT status is, at worst, a toss up between him and Jorn. 6-4 doesn’t sound nearly so bad as 6-3.

And God help me, if he loses the Finals, Philly might be the favorite. Is he really going to go West and walk on that 8 straight Finals streak?

>And God help me, if he loses the Finals, Philly might be the
>favorite. Is he really going to go West and walk on that 8
>straight Finals streak?

if he goes to Houston? that's Miami: The Sequel.

Because it has to be sign and trade, AND it has to involve Ryan Anderson’s trash contract. I don’t understand what else Houston has besides 85 first round picks.

That we'll probably use to get a decent first-rounder from someone like Boston or Denver, then flip that along with our own first-rounder to offload two years of Anderson.

At this point it's all about getting as many rings as possible in four years. I give Bron another 1.5 years of prime 48 minutes a game efficiency. After that it's going downhill. Go maximize your time and get these rings.

Boston is his easiest path out of the east. He mentors Tatum, Rozier, and all their young players while getting a ring.

Philly has a bunch of potential and allows him to rest while getting to the finals.

Go to Golden State Bron. Guarantee they'll win titles until he retires...

Houston would be a great fit for a final big 3 run.

Bron has options but the main thing is maximizing his ring count.

This has huge implications. Reports are that the Spurs turned down a discussion w/ Boston to explore Kawhi. If Kawhi gets the supermax offer and stays - Bron to San Antonio seemingly becomes much more real.

If Kawhi balks at Spurs - he could be looking at the Lakers or Philly. What a combination Kawhi would be w/ Bron as a 1,2 punch.

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They got LA and good mix of veteran and young talent
Plus
Pop will extend Brons career like he did Ginobili and Duncan

But
For some reason I am not entirely convinced that Bron wants to be
coached in that way. I know he respects Pop and they have a great
relationship thru USA Ball but ... I just don't know man

Goof Ball dramatic music aside I don't know if Bron is ready for
this ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF_ASDLjqjE

Pop coaches EVERYBODY.
There's a reason why SA is never a big free agent destination
despite their being a class organization and its not just that
SA could be considered a forgettable city

That said ... this is where I want to see Bron

>They got LA and good mix of veteran and young talent
>Plus
>Pop will extend Brons career like he did Ginobili and Duncan
>
>But
>For some reason I am not entirely convinced that Bron wants to
>be
>coached in that way. I know he respects Pop and they have a
>great
>relationship thru USA Ball but ... I just don't know man
>
>Goof Ball dramatic music aside I don't know if Bron is ready
>for
>this ...
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF_ASDLjqjE
>
>Pop coaches EVERYBODY.
>There's a reason why SA is never a big free agent destination
>despite their being a class organization and its not just
>that
>SA could be considered a forgettable city
>
>That said ... this is where I want to see Bron

but I have the same concerns. I also believe that aside from 2016 that the absence of something like this is why he hasn't really won as much. even Spoelstra had to tread lightly

pop makes