If I'm LeBron, I would have told teams beforehand by phone, then called a press conference and said this:

Hey everyone. It's me, LeBron. So, I've decided to play in Miami because I think that gives me the best chance to win. New York and New Jersey: You guys aren't right for me because I would have to do too much work, and it seems like a lateral move for me at best. I don't see myself beating Boston or Orlando, much less the Lakers, on your rosters for a few more years, and I want to win now--sorry. I mean, you guys have no reasonable expectation that I play there given who's on your rosters now, and I don't think I ever led you to believe you were even in the top 3, so I don't want to see any pretentious newspaper headlines about how I betrayed either of you when we all know I wasn't ever going to come there given the conditions of your teams.

Chicago--very, very tempting offer. Rose, Noah and Boozer are great players, but damn it, it's cold in Chicago. I've been in cold places my whole life, and just once I want to wake up and go for a run on the beach and not have to shovel snow. It's silly, but that's a pretty good tie-breaker between you and Miami as far as I'm concerned. Look on the bright side--you can use the money you were going to spend on me to fill out your roster, and you'll still make huge improvements. I look forward to going to war with you for the next 5 years, but just know--it wasn't personal, it's just about weather. :-)

Cleveland...this is tough. I love you guys. The last seven years have been great, and the people and fans of Cleveland are the best fans in the world. It's tough for me to image any fanbase loving me as much as you did, and I beg you, please believe me--I feel the same way about the Cleveland fans. As for Dan Gilbert and Danny Ferry, well, I can't say the same. I'm not trying to be arrogant, but I think everyone will agree that I did everything short of kill Godzilla these last three years and we still lost because the best guys they could put around me were an aging Shaq, Antwan Jameson and Mo Williams. No one made an all-star team with me during my 7 years in the city, and don't say Mo Williams because we all know he only made the team because of me creating open looks for him every night, and the stats back me up here. This means that management was too stupid to find all-stars willing to play with a 2-time MVP.

I mean, we're acting like this Summer is a big deal, but really, the Cavs front office had 7 trade deadlines, 7 drafts, 7 July 1sts, to make a big splash and land me my Pippen, or McHale, and they wiffed over and over again. They've led me to believe, based on the degree and frequency of their screw ups, that they are unable to get good players around me. This is not about the people of Ohio--I love you people--but about the incompetent management. Just know that in three months, Pat Riley did something that Ferry and Gilbert couldn't do in 7 years, twice over: find me an all-star to play with.

Cavs fans, I really hope you get a title someday, and I'm sorry I won't be there to watch it happen. I'm more sorry than you know, and I just hope that you'll find it in your hearts to forgive me someday. Just know that I made this decision based on the front office, not on you.

I 100% disagree.

This was the global icon choice. This was the egotistical choice. This is all about winning rings to help sell his image. You can't sell your brand abroad when your a loser, this is why Kobe still has the #1 jersey in the world. This isn't about the game of basketball and having that competitive drive to win a title because I don't think he ever showcased that the had that desire to win before. Sure the public is sour now, but this time next year they'll be million+ new Heat fans donning his jersey and that number will rise exponentially with each title they win. Winning titles put you on a global spotlight. This was a flat out business decision. Even the 1 hour LeBron special "The decision" was to promote his image. Did anybody else find it was odd that he had all these kids as the backdrop to the show as if he was Jacko or something? Do you think they really care where LBJ goes? It backfired PR wise, but he probably made a ton of dough off of it.

The whole thing was a farce. Mourning said "he knew" that this was going to happen a long time ago. They played everybody like fools. I honestly think Riley has been creaming himself about this possibility for years, I really do think he wants Miami to be the next mecca of basketball like the Lakers are on the west coast and the only way to put them on the map is with a dynasty.

I hate the guy more than I ever did before.

@TMac: I think LeBron needs to hire you as a PR consultant, although I'd prefer you offer your services to Paul Allen first.

@Goosey: Ok, so LeBron is selfish for wanting to win titles. If he chose to stay in Cleveland, he'd be selfish for wanting a more lucrative contract. If he went to New York, he'd be selfish for wanting even more fame and media attention. If he quit basketball and joined the Peace Corps, he would be selfish for wanting to convince people that he's a humanitarian.

We don't know his real motivations for anything. We do know that joining the Heat is probably the best opportunity for him to win championships, and that is the path he chose. Is that because he really enjoys playing at his sport's highest level or because he wants the popularity that comes with titles? I'd guess both, but we really don't know. Maybe we should leave it at that.

In terms of strictly basketball I'm excited to see what this Heat team can do, obviously the pressure on them will be huge. From when I first started watching LeBron I was most impressed by his disposition towards and ability to facilitate for his teammates. This foundation of his game, along with his size, is why people used to commonly describe him as a more athletic Magic Johnson. That part of him starved a little in Cleveland. As an appreciator of the game itself I can't wait to see LeBron return to this part of his game.

Yeah, you're right. We're not LeBron so we only specualte on why he made his decision. I personally think it was a business decision and not a game related decision. I think he wants the hardware to boost his image and saw an opportunity that would give him the most chances to get as many rings as possible that will help bolster everything he's ever dreamed to be. I'm judging this on his media personality and the way he played the game. I could be wrong, but allow me to elaborate a bit that helped mold my opinion of LeBron.

It's been long discussed and therorized on the subject of the competitive spirit within the media and abroad when it pertains to LeBron and how he played the game. We all know the names that are connected to the highest level excellence the game has ever seen. Jordan, Kobe, Bird, Magic, Russell, Duncan, etc., these are the guys who never gave up and kept pushing themselves to the limit to acheive greatness. It wasn't about the rings, the trphoy, the parade...it was about being the best. They played with so much conviction and determination that they would challenge their own teammates to play harder, to play at a level maybe they never knew they had inside them. All of this from what I've seen from LeBron so far in his career has been void of all of those elements. You've certainly seen glimpses of it and it's a frightening thing to see because when he hits that next gear very few if any have been better. However, he's never been ever been able to sustain it, often times he looks like he just goes through the motions coasting on his freakish talents. He also has never been a great leader on and off the court. Instead of getting in guys faces and communicating with them when things get tough.. he often becomes aloof, he's out there standing alone as if he's waiting for someone else to guide him. He seems more in love with the show than the game. He's throwing powder up in the air, hand jiving with the comrades, choregraphing skits, the parties and all of the theatre is what he loves the most, that's when he has that glimmer in his eye. This is why I've always felt that the Cavs needed a bigger change in mentality and philosphy than a change of talent. He had a ton in Cleveland, the only thing that was missing was maybe that other HOF talent to play along with, but he had all the other pieces to compete for the title, but he just doesn't have what it takes to grasp that championship. Wade does, we've seen from him and now LeBron doesn't have to worry about being that leader everyone needed him to be on the Cavs. All he has to do is be LeBron now.

That's just a part of why I feel this way and I think things like signing a short term deal to keep the Cavs on a short leash forcing them to make hasty decisions, all the teasing and the attention he got during that time about 2010, the secret meetings with various people within the NBA, the one hour special on his choice without thanking the Cavs or the fans, they mysterious and dubious elbow injury, not shooting the ball in the first half of game 5 against the C's and many many more grandiose occurences is enough for me to think he just doesn't care about the game otherwise he would treat it with more respect and prove he's the genuine article.

I got comments on why I think the "superteam" is bad for the NBA too, but I got to get going, my wife is summoning me. It's Predator time!

http://content.usatoday.com/co...-anthony/1

This is why it's bad for the NBA.

The only way that players can combat Miami is to do precisely what LBJ, Wade and Bosh did. Hold secret meetings, bail on organizations(i.e.small market teams)and essentially hijack the system. The competitive balance will be destroyed and a ton of teams will lose money. None of these players are home grown either(Wade is I suppose and it will change how team's/players approach free agency and assembling their franchise.

The superteam in my opinion just crushed Portland's chances of EVER winning a championship and I've been fairly bitter about the NBA(not that I wasn't before) ever since this went down. I love the basketball, but the NBA is just trash.

Ahhh...but it was fair when Boston did it...or LA's miracle deal with the Grizzlies for Gasol. Whatever. The hate is played.

What will be intriguing to me is if they don't manage to win a title NOW, I mean, the fallout will be far more epic than what we've seen thus far...which is scary really.

But the hate, I just don't get it.

btw, the haters I'm mostly referring to are the egregious types over at ESPN, but I won't get into a flame war so I'm just making a general statement over here, where I hold the readership in much higher regard

That's not really the same thing though. This deal was orchestrated by the players, all these guys in their prime set it up to be free agents in 2010. They planned secret meetings and made a giant spectacle of themselves for thier own documentaries and 1 hour specials knowing damn well what the plan was. They played everyone and set a dangerous precedence on how teams and players will operate in the future.

Boston had Pierce, drafted Rondo and traded away thier "building blocks" for two guys that were out of their prime from two organizations that were going into a rebuilding phase. That wasn't planned out that way from the beginning, in fact if Boston had received one of the two two picks in the NBA draft in '07 I doubt Ainge even hits to phones to try make those deals happen. That took a lot of luck and timing to pull off what Ainge did.

Gasol was also a trade from a team that's never made good decisions. I don't know if that was deliberately gift wrapped for LA but it's still not in the same universe of what we just saw.

Outside of a spike in NBA Finals ratings, I really do think this could be very dangerous for the league moving foward.

Agreed Mr. Johnston. From a basketball perspective, if I were in his shoes, I'd go to Miami. Minus the charade of course.

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Camby was listed as questionable and I heard if he wasn't feeling good at all, he'd skip the game. My guess, no Camby tonight. 2010
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