Online exclusive: Welcome to Miami, King James
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
"Here I am in the place where I come let go/In Miami the base and the sunset low/Everyday like a Mardi Gras, everybody party all day/No work, all play okay … I'm going to Miami/Welcome to Miami."
Yep, as the lyrics of Will Smith's "Welcome to Miami" blare out of my laptop speakers, there is only one question.
Why wouldn't LeBron James want to go to Miami?
That song alone makes me want to go to Miami, and I can't even shoot a free throw.
Good for him to treat the Cleveland Cavaliers organization (you must read the letter from owner Dan Gilbert) the way they treated him the past seven seasons. They wouldn't get him any help, so he went out and got his own.
I wanted the new king of Miami to stay in Cleveland for the simple fact they are on Fox Sports Ohio, but other than that, there is no other reason I really needed him to stay in Cleveland.
Plus, where is it written that LeBron has to be a Cavalier because he is from Ohio?
Good for LeBron, though the one-hour ESPN special was a bit overkill.
But besides loyalty to a team that never got him a wing man during his time in Cleveland, what other reason did he have to stay a Cavalier?
To play with Delonte West and Mo Williams?
Was he going to win a championship as a Cavalier with the current roster?
We all "witnessed" how that went.
The answer is simple.
No.
Not a chance.
Zero chance, especially since free agents didn't want any part of Cleveland.
The team that would be returning to Cleveland (with LeBron) would be a 55-60 win team, and a team that could advance in playoffs, possibly to the NBA Finals.
But is that a team who can beat the L.A. Lakers?
No way.
The Cavs better just get ready for a lottery pick after the 2010-11 season.
But really, what did the Cavs have to offer LeBron? Their sales pitch was putting LeBron in a Family Guy cartoon, that cost six-figures to create.
Maybe that is the problem with the Cavs, they just want to play games.
LBJ is in it to win a title.
No team has won a title with just one great player and nobody else. The Cavs tried it for seven seasons and got swept in the NBA Finals by Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. They were the core group that led the San Antonio Spurs to four NBA titles, along with David Robinson for two of those titles.
And that isn't what pro sports are about?
Winning titles.
And there is no way fans can call LBJ a sellout. He is taking less money to play with - get this - players who want to win titles. Wade already has one championship when the Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks.
LeBron could have made more money, and won less games in Cleveland.
If anyone watched the Cavs in the playoffs this season, when LBJ "quit" on his teammates, where were they to help the Cavs to stay in the game?
Where was this so-called championship caliber team to back him up?
I still don't think he quit on them, his team was just that bad and he showed the world how bad the Cavs were.
I don't for a second blame LeBron for leaving a team that got him no help.
Who? Who did the Cavs go after to win an NBA championship?
Antawn Jamison? Mo Williams? Delonte West?
In the playoffs, Jamison's numbers were 15.3 ppg and 7.4 rpg. Williams was 14.4 ppg and 3.1 rpg. West's numbers looked like this: 6.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg.
Decent numbers, but not championship numbers.
I can't forget about Shaq and Anderson Varejao.
Varejao went 5.7 and 6.5 in points and rebounds per game. And an aging Shaq, who said when he signed with the Cavs he wanted to get a "Ring of the King." He not only slowed up the Cavs' offense and sold a lot of jerseys, but he scored 11.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg.
All of those numbers can't compare to what LBJ did with a collection of players who are lucky to be on an NBA roster.
In the 11 games LBJ played in the 2010 playoffs his numbers were: 29.1 ppg and 9.3 rpg, not to mention his 7.6 apg.
How can someone be mad at LeBron for leaving a team who put up playoff numbers like that, especially since he was always guarded by the best player from the other team.
For the record, Dwyane Wade's playoff numbers in just five games: 33.2 ppg and 5.6 rpg, along with 6.8 apg. Chris Bosh's regular season numbers? Bosh went 24 ppg and 10.8 rpg in the regular season.
So, anyone can say what they want, but there is no way any of us would pick the roster in Cleveland over playing with Bosh and Wade.
LeBron, Wade and Bosh could probably beat the Cavs five on three. We know Mo can't hit the open 3-pointers, and the rest of the Cavs will just clank it off the rim.
So congrats to LeBron James and his new teammates, though the championship still goes through the L.A. Lakers.
The biggest question now for Cleveland is: Who is hated more, Art (Modell) or LeBron?
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor for The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
Yep, as the lyrics of Will Smith's "Welcome to Miami" blare out of my laptop speakers, there is only one question.
Why wouldn't LeBron James want to go to Miami?
That song alone makes me want to go to Miami, and I can't even shoot a free throw.
Good for him to treat the Cleveland Cavaliers organization (you must read the letter from owner Dan Gilbert) the way they treated him the past seven seasons. They wouldn't get him any help, so he went out and got his own.
I wanted the new king of Miami to stay in Cleveland for the simple fact they are on Fox Sports Ohio, but other than that, there is no other reason I really needed him to stay in Cleveland.
Plus, where is it written that LeBron has to be a Cavalier because he is from Ohio?
Good for LeBron, though the one-hour ESPN special was a bit overkill.
But besides loyalty to a team that never got him a wing man during his time in Cleveland, what other reason did he have to stay a Cavalier?
To play with Delonte West and Mo Williams?
Was he going to win a championship as a Cavalier with the current roster?
We all "witnessed" how that went.
The answer is simple.
No.
Not a chance.
Zero chance, especially since free agents didn't want any part of Cleveland.
The team that would be returning to Cleveland (with LeBron) would be a 55-60 win team, and a team that could advance in playoffs, possibly to the NBA Finals.
But is that a team who can beat the L.A. Lakers?
No way.
The Cavs better just get ready for a lottery pick after the 2010-11 season.
But really, what did the Cavs have to offer LeBron? Their sales pitch was putting LeBron in a Family Guy cartoon, that cost six-figures to create.
Maybe that is the problem with the Cavs, they just want to play games.
LBJ is in it to win a title.
No team has won a title with just one great player and nobody else. The Cavs tried it for seven seasons and got swept in the NBA Finals by Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. They were the core group that led the San Antonio Spurs to four NBA titles, along with David Robinson for two of those titles.
And that isn't what pro sports are about?
Winning titles.
And there is no way fans can call LBJ a sellout. He is taking less money to play with - get this - players who want to win titles. Wade already has one championship when the Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks.
LeBron could have made more money, and won less games in Cleveland.
If anyone watched the Cavs in the playoffs this season, when LBJ "quit" on his teammates, where were they to help the Cavs to stay in the game?
Where was this so-called championship caliber team to back him up?
I still don't think he quit on them, his team was just that bad and he showed the world how bad the Cavs were.
I don't for a second blame LeBron for leaving a team that got him no help.
Who? Who did the Cavs go after to win an NBA championship?
Antawn Jamison? Mo Williams? Delonte West?
In the playoffs, Jamison's numbers were 15.3 ppg and 7.4 rpg. Williams was 14.4 ppg and 3.1 rpg. West's numbers looked like this: 6.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg.
Decent numbers, but not championship numbers.
I can't forget about Shaq and Anderson Varejao.
Varejao went 5.7 and 6.5 in points and rebounds per game. And an aging Shaq, who said when he signed with the Cavs he wanted to get a "Ring of the King." He not only slowed up the Cavs' offense and sold a lot of jerseys, but he scored 11.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg.
All of those numbers can't compare to what LBJ did with a collection of players who are lucky to be on an NBA roster.
In the 11 games LBJ played in the 2010 playoffs his numbers were: 29.1 ppg and 9.3 rpg, not to mention his 7.6 apg.
How can someone be mad at LeBron for leaving a team who put up playoff numbers like that, especially since he was always guarded by the best player from the other team.
For the record, Dwyane Wade's playoff numbers in just five games: 33.2 ppg and 5.6 rpg, along with 6.8 apg. Chris Bosh's regular season numbers? Bosh went 24 ppg and 10.8 rpg in the regular season.
So, anyone can say what they want, but there is no way any of us would pick the roster in Cleveland over playing with Bosh and Wade.
LeBron, Wade and Bosh could probably beat the Cavs five on three. We know Mo can't hit the open 3-pointers, and the rest of the Cavs will just clank it off the rim.
So congrats to LeBron James and his new teammates, though the championship still goes through the L.A. Lakers.
The biggest question now for Cleveland is: Who is hated more, Art (Modell) or LeBron?
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor for The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]