Wade, Bosh AND LeBron? My oh my.

Chris Bosh on Twitter:
"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I guess he instantly becomes the most-hated man in Ohio!

Gotta say - I'm very disappointed. I would have been happy with anywhere but Miami. They would have been contenders in the East without him but now it just means that we have one less good team in the East. There would have been some great matchups if he'd gone to New york or stayed with the Cavs.

I'd hate to be a cop anywhere in Ohio today!

And Miami becomes the team every non-Heat fan wants to see fail?

From Cleveland.com:

In the end, LeBron James inflicts needless pain on the region that raised and loved him.

Turning down your hometown team on national television in a self-serving special called The Decision? Former Cavalier LeBron James should know better.

Yep. The booing at his first visit to the Cavs is going to be loud enough to drown out an army equipped with amplified vuvuzelas.

This is why i couldnt give a stuff about the nba anymore, bring on the sixers imports, sure we will see a one hour special about that decision. As a fan growing up idolising mj, this self serving, shameless self promotion is why LBJ isnt fit to hold mj's jockstrap!!!

Miami vs. Cleveland should come with a DEFCON warning.

LeBron has just stated that all three big names are not getting max deals...and that he will be signing for 5 years.

It will be interesting how the rest of free agnecy shapes up now, especially who else ends up in Miami. And where Beasley goes.

Those three guys saw Pat Mills in action. I wonder if they would want him on the end of their bench?

Boston will still beat them in the playoffs, just sayin'! (Jermaine O'Neal has agreed to terms, powershift).

Watching the press conference he seems to be taking not so subtle jabs at the supporting cast he's had at the Cavs.

He can't lead a team to the championship so he decides to turn his back on his teammates and home city for a piggyback ride to south beach .
He is the epitome of what is wrong with the new generation of athlete and all in all just a overgrown big headed ego driven self serving struttin peacock jackass jock .

Can't wait to start an NBA 2K11 franchise with Miami. So I can trade LeBron to the Nets.

I know everyone online has said this already, but I just have to say that I honestly can't believe LeBron had a one-hour TV special to announce he was leaving Cleveland. I didn't have a very high view of him before, but I didn't honestly think he was that low.

For me I am really happy. I am a Suns fan but I like the soap opera of sports.

Will Riley return?

Will egoes mix?

Who will be top dog?

What veterans will take the minimum to play with these guys?

Will they win every game and be the best team inthe history of sport?

Will there not be enough shots and it all goes south?

A lot of questions, and for me a lot of excitement.

Can't buy into the loyalty thing though. I mean he gave the Cavs a lot of years to get it right. They tried hard and it didnt work out.

Being on nect season, wont be updating my NBA 2K10 rosters for a while though!

I have followed Miami since 1988, through some very tough times with Grant Lomng, Rony Seikaly and Sherman Douglas, some good times with Zo, Mash and Timbug, and a great year with Wade and Shaq. But to be honest, I am no longer that interested - buying a championship team might be appealing to some but not I.

Dude has zero class.

Moved ahead of Kobe on my most hated list.

Hope he does a knee.


Now lets see if the knicks get Agent Zero out of Washington to run D'Antonio offence with Amare in New York....

Am i right in saying he is the only remaining available talent???

Agree rotate - Bit rough to knock his Cavs team mates when he was the one that went AWOL in a couple of games in the Celtics series.

Simmons made an interesting point that maybe LeBron would rather be a Pippen type than an MJ. Maybe we wont have the last shot arguments that everyone is predicting because he will be happy to defer to Wade?

I think most people would agree tho - it would be much better to see him try and win a championship on a team where he would be the undisputed alpha dog (i.e. anywhere but Miami or the Lakers!!)

It's gonna be a boring regular season.

I know I'm meant to hate LeBron for this decision, and how it's bad for the league and all that other stuff, but I'm actually glad he's signed with Miami. I am totally intruiged to see how a team will function that had 3 guys who have been the undisputed alpha dogs on their respective teams for the last 5 years plus - this is a reality show at its best.

Can they gel? Is Bosh prepared to see a significant drop in his stats? LBJ and Wade both spend most of their respective offences with the ball in hand, can either of them play off the ball? Will either be prepared to? Does this now become LeBron's team even though Wade already has a championsip (with a supporting cast no better than LeBron has had in Cleveland)? Who takes the last shot of the game? Who stands in the middle when the big three have their photo taken? Can Pat Riley keep everyone happy? What vets will sign for the minimum in pursuit of a ring?

No doubt the way he's gone about it is with the whole media cavalcade is wrong and a massive kick in the teeth to Cleveland, but I don't begrudge his choice to sign with a contender. The thing that pisses me off most about LeBron is that his whole self-generated hype is totally unncessary; he's not Paris Hiilton, or a fomer BIg Brother contestant looking for his 15 minutes of fame, he's the most exciting basketballer on the planet and his constant efforts to build his brand and acheive his "global icon" goal make him look like an insecure child.

By contrast the runner up MVP and reigning scoring title holder posted this today after a low key re-signing:

I really don't deserve this praise for handling my deal the way I did...plenty of guys did it the way I did

Ok, so while I was typing my post everyone already said everything that I raised. Must improve typing speed.

That's exactly it billo. I don't think any basketball fan would begrudge him the choice to sign with a contender (besides Cleveland natives). It's all the grandstanding and braggadocio which is the problem. I guess this is what happens when ESPN plays your high school games live and you start to believe your own press.

I am also dissappointed with Lebron. He says it is all about winning and they may win a few titles. But his legacy will be tarnished forever as he never led a team built around him to the title.

Glad to see that someone else was watching the Daily Dime Live whilst on work hours.

Disappointing. I was really looking forward to him going to the Knicks. I wanted to see the 80's and early 90's rivalries return.

I laughed when Lebron said 'it's a challenge'. I fail to see how it's a challenge by joining two other superstars. I'm intrigued to see how they fill the bench. A greater challenge would of been staying in Cleveland or going to the Knicks.

I think it'll last 3 years before Bosh or Lebron request a trade. Both Wade and Lebron need the ball in their hands to be effective. One one basketball allowed on the court.

Giving the moves, I'm interest to see how teams like the Suns and Jazz end up. Do they drop out of the playoffs now? Do the Bulls and Knicks make the playoffs? Are the Bucks now stronger with the smaller moves of Salmons/Gooden/Magette?

The NBA is slowly turning into the English Premier League. Parity is being eroded away. There are tiers of teams in both leagues.

The 'elite (tier 1)' will always be elite, and a few of the better 'upper-middle (tier 2)' teams every now and then will overachieve and knock off the 'elite' teams.

Cellar dwellers (tier 4) will remain cellar dwellers. There will be movement between 'lower-middle (tier 3)' and cellar dwellers.

Tier 1:
Man U = Lakers
Liverpool = Celtics
Chelsea = Orlando
Arsenal = Miami

Tier 2:
Tottenham = Spurs
Man City = Dallas
Everton = Blazers
Aston Villa = Bulls

Shaq did the same when he went to the Lakers - it hasn't hurt his legacy. Just a lot of emotion around it at the moment, but in the long run I think people won't care so much.

I feel sorry for Antawn Jamison - he is back on a very bad team now. He's their best player. Ouch.

I thought his decision to televise the decision was to get sponsorship/advertising revenue, which was then donanted to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America - if the cost of that is that he looks like a twat, so be it. I'd say he probably recognises that, but saw the overall good in it.

Juror, a lot of comparisons to Pippen now on Twitter but I don't think it's what LeBron would want at all. You don't announce a signing via a special "Decision" show if you have some secret desire to play second fiddle.

He's looked at the lists and seen that the Iversons are soon forgotten despite their stats and it's the championship winners that leave a legacy. After 7 years without a championship with the Cavs, he's just going somewhere to maximise his chances.

Obviously Bosh's numbers will be the ones that suffer but I doubt he minds - I think he'd be just fine being in a support cast (Gasol-style). As a trio, I'm sure they'll do just fine - chemistry was always evident in Dream Team outings.

BTW, first reigning MVP to switch teams since Moses Malone in 1982.

i wonder what number lebron will be, the heat already retired #23 in respect of jordan kicking their asses for so long lol :P

TR - Celtics and Orlando have been terrible for most of the 2000's, until major trades resurrected them.

Spurs have won 4 championships and been in at least the second round for over a decade, and they are in tier 2?

Bulls have been rubbish for ages as well, until the last couple of years.

Not sure that comparison holds up. Major difference is that Premier League has no salary cap, so any number of players can be bought at any price - see Man City and Chelsea - who only became real powerhouses when former KGB billionaires bought the clubs.

Loving all the haters. hahahaha Celtics did it when they got Garnett and Ray Allen and there wasn't so much hate then. its just cause Lebron did a TV show that every one is hating on him so much. he would have been stupid to go back to Cleveland they tried for 7 years to win a championship and they couldn't do it cause his supporting cast was crap. it was either gonna be the bulls or the heat and it happened to be the heat cause who would pass up to play with the 3rd best player in the world and the best power forward in the game today.

Zero Class Quagmire???

I reckon your comment on doing a knee is a pretty good display of zero class!

Doctor,

When Shaq left Orlando to go to Miami he was leaving to be the Man on another team as Kobe wasn't ready to lead yet. Lebron is leaving to a team that already has it's own Superstar. Wade and Lebron are maybe two out of the top 3-4 players in the league. When Shaq left to go to the Lakers he was in the top 3 and Kobe was maybe just in the top 10.

On Shaq's legacy every year he moves and try's to win another championship at another team and fails his legacy is dented. You just need to read the newspapers across America now about him going to Atlanta and what they are saying about his season last year in Cleveland.

I do agree with you about the TV special I think you have to give him credit for doing this and making the TV network give all the money from Ads to Charity. This helps his legacy in regards to Charity work.

Cheers

I don't know why people are so butt-hurt over it.

You can't lead a team to a title if your team mates over the hill or simply not good enough.

You can't lead a team to victory if your coach is a hack.

You can't lead a team to victory if your bench is made of inconsistent players.

Cleveland brought in Shaq for no good reason at all (and don't tell me it was because of Howard in the 2009 ECF this year's Magic would still have beaten them), relegating Ilguaskas to an unfamiliar and non optimal role.

Ilgauskas was then unceremoniously "traded", only for him to come back after he bought out his Wizards contract. Way to turn YOUR back on a player, Cleveland owners.

Was "The Decision" a self serving jerk move? oh yeah. Be mad at Lebron for that. But don't try to blame him for leaving a team that could only win a playoff game against a non-contender.

Mad at him because he's the "home town" guy? well, his home town is Akron, not Cleveland, sorry to break it to you. Yeah it's the closest city with an NBA franchise; but don't use it as a reason to justify yourself being mad at him.

Cleveland expected Lebron to be a saviour. He wasn't. He was an MVP of the league, but an MVP doesn't win titles, teams do.

Pretty brutal open letter from the Cleveland majority owner Dan Gilbert.

As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier.

This was announced with a several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his "decision" unlike anything ever "witnessed" in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.

You can't lead a team to victory if your bench is made of inconsistent players.

Billo, that's pretty incredible - could've slept on that before he made it public!

No less remarkable is his personal guarantee that the Cavs will win a championship before LeBron wins one! That's all well and good, but how and with who?!

That's one raw open letter right there! I think he probably pushed the "recall this message" button on Outlook, only to realise that it doesn't really do anything.

You know what's funny..the reason why Lebron didn't stay in Cleveland was because of the Cavs front office.
Stupid idiots running the Cavs contracted average players to long-term, overpaid contracts so when it came to this off-season they had no cap space to try to lure other support players for Lebron. No one wanted Parker, Wests or Big Z's massive contract.

What else could LBJ do?
- Stay in Cleveland with no upgrade of support players = same result as last year

-Go to Chicago: Definently could have been viable but at the end of the day which would you rather: Wade and Bosh or Rose and Boozer?

Isaac, did I say that Miami were going to win?

What I meant was, everyone acted like Lebron was going to single handedly win them a championship.

Just look at this text from this link:

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/fran_blinebury/07/08/what.next.cavs/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1

"Without James, the Cavaliers are as unpalatable as the toxic mixture that once caused the Cuyahoga River to catch fire. With him leading the way, they have won 66 and 61 games -- the most in the NBA -- in the last two regular seasons. Without him, they'll be lucky to win 60 games total over the next three seasons."

That pretty much sums it up - they didn't have an "our team can win" attitude, they had a "LBJ will win it for us".

I don't know what kind of team Miami will have, no one does yet; I'm simply saying that one player doesn't win a title, a team does. The Cavs, despite their regular season records, were not winning teams.

The regular season record can hide bad coaching decisions, or matchups not in your favour, and since you're playing a different team every night, your opposition may not have completely prepared for you.

MACDUB - I agree 100%. It's good to see someone else realises that staying in Cleveland was not a viable career move.

Bobby, and I was just saying that locking in stars but no bench won't really guarantee much better in Miami. Just looking at the similarities of the positions.

Cavs had to put together a mix around him to win, gambled and seem to have failed. Now left high and dry. Wonder what more they could've done - were there trades they should've made and didn't for particular reasons?


Meanwhile, Beasley is getting dealt to the Wolves.

I dont get the people that think LeBron moving clubs is a good thing...He's a championship chaser. Had little respect for his arrogant attitude before this, now I know I was right.

Bring back players like Reggie Miller, Brett Maher who play for a team and a city..not a ring.

I will never compare lebron to mj again

No loyalty left at all anymore, makes me sick. MJ and Pippen stuck with the Bulls while 'Crumbs' Jerry Krause offered then unproven Toni Kukoc more than either of them. The Bulls were still losing to Detroit during MJ's 7th season. LeBron leaves his hometown team when they did everything but suck his you know what. To say LeBron didnt sign off on the trades they made would be ridiculous. They made the trades to try and keep him and show how serious they are to surround him with talent. They paid Shaq 20 mil last season, if thats not a franchise willing to do anything for him I dunno what is.

I blame the conception of the Dream Teams. Bring back college players to stop these players becoming best buddies and ruining parity in the NBA. Sick of all players using the 'business' excuse to be unloyal traders, screwing all who come in there lives. If its such a business why do you want to win so bad? Some of us still like to think of it as Basketball and a sport, the NBA is now a boring joke.

Is it just me or does the NBL points cap look pretty good right now. Maybe the NBA needs to take a look at is as the money salary cap has to many flaws.

Lastly LeBron will only lose from this. He wont be respected for winning rings with an All-star team, he will lose most of his cleveland fans and only acquire band-wagon Heat fans in return. For a douche who craves on being loved, he will now be hated by all but Heat Band-wagon riders.

I was very surprised by this decision, I thought he would stay in Cleveland but the best fit for him was in Chicago. Rose, James, Boozer, Deng, Gibson and Noah, that seems like a pretty tough team to beat. But the more I think about it, and if I try to put myself in his shoes, I just don't think I could turn down the chance to play with two of the best players in basketball who just happen to be good friends of mine.

Surely a few days ago Lebron must have been thinking Cleveland with the rumour going round that Bosh would potentially go there, but he must have talked to Pat Riley or Bosh over the last day or two and found out what was going on in Miami and he just couldn't refuse.

So what does Miami need to be a title contender?

IMO their biggest two priorities are below:

1. A big man who defend and get offensive rebounds
2. A three point shooter (best available irrespective of position - Mike Miller at this stage)

I don't necessarily think that a PG should be a priority when you have LeBron and Wade. If the PG can shoot the three consistently then fine (but Steve Blake is already gone - smart move by the Lakers grabbing him before this announcement).

The team will be so flexible (can go small or big regardless of who else they sign) and Coach Spoelstra will have to be on the ball to make sure he has his best line up out there for each opponent (somehting Mike Brown struggled with).

It will still be interesting come playoff time when teams are basically playing five against Miami's big three whether the ring ins will be able to hit open shots in the clutch. If Williams, Parker and West struggled to do it in Cleveland over a whole series I don't see how the bunch of misfits that Miami end up with is going to be any better.

Now all of a sudden the free agency focus is going to be on guys like Mike Miller!

Mario Chalmers must be a hell of a player. He'll be able to tell his grandkids about the summer he was his team's only player until Wade, Bosh and LBJ all agreed to join him!

Yes, sounds like Mike Miller might be done.

http://twitter.com/espn/nba

Just a big man to go.

It also sounds like they will have a few options at PG with Jason Williams, Earl Watson, Keyon Dooling all showing interest. (Which out of contract fringe PG wouldn't be showing interest!). Build it and they will come.

Nice one Mantis. It would have been a weird week for him.

Your Mum, exactly on the button. The moment you start dealing with a business instead of a sporting league, loyalty lasts as long as the money flows. The difference between the NBA and a league like the NBL shows that clearly.

The NBA is a business that sells basketball, they market stars and deal in rumors and hype. There's no loyalty to be seen.

10 years ago when groups of Millionaires owned basketball teams, and not billionaires, you picked a team and stuck with it. The moment that there's more money involved than sense, the players become objects and move where the money is, or where the money sends them.

Well said Billo @ 11:49. Agree with everything you said - though I would have liked to see Lebron in NY with Amare to spread the talent around a little more.

It will be interesting, though, to see how Miami goes about building a budget team around their big three, and whether those egos all gel on the court.

Saw a blog post before saying that dozens of police are protecting Lebron's witness billboard in downtown Ohio! Man I'm so glad I'm not a Cleveland fan. They have to be some of the most tortured fans in all of sports.

Loved Dan Gilbert laying the boot in with his open letter too. Not very classy, but very entertaining for non-Cav / Lebron fans! Celticsblog has a great picture of a smashed Dan Gilbert sarcastically clapping for Lebron too:

http://linky.com.au/ziqfb

"They paid Shaq 20 mil last season, if thats not a franchise willing to do anything for him I dunno what is."

Then clearly, you don't know what is.

For the past 3 seasons, Shaq has been a brand, not a talent (I can't remember where I stole that from but it's valid nonetheless). Cleveland didn't need big name signings, it already had the biggest (arguably) brand in the league; what it needed was a better coach, a better starting line up and more bench production.

I'm not saying in any way that he'll do better in Miami - no one can tell that yet. But at least if they're willing to splash out on 2 perennial all stars, you'd hope they have a plan to afford at least a servicable group of players to help them out. Plus, don't underestimate the influence of Pat Riley...

Bobby, last season who else better was on the market for Cleveland to get? Shaq is no superstar anymore I agree, but Jamison and Shaq were attempts to quick fix because LeBron put pressure on them now to contend. You just dont find a Memphis looking to unload a Gasol for nothing whenever you want, he was the best player available to them at the time.

MJ didnt rate Bill Cartwright but you didnt see him break the hearts of millions of Bulls fans for his own personal glory.

LeBron is a total douche, so inspired by this I made a 20 second youtube video to demenstrate to the John Edward douche music from South Park.

http://linky.com.au/pxzp6

Liked this:

chadfordinsider

I've never seen so many people so angry that a selfish, backstabbing, ego-maniacal loser just willingly left town

LOL Isaac. Lebron is copping it from a few media guys for his grandstanding. Wojnarowski was pretty critical too in his most recent article.

Well he's left Cleveland with nothing. He could have at least done a sign-and-trade, but no, it's not about Cleveland, or anyone else. Miami will have to shed players to fit him in the cap, the least he could have done was ensure those players go to Cleveland.

http://linky.com.au/a2ytb

The reactions from the media are bordering on pathetic.

A player has agreed to play for another team. It's bad for Cleveland, and the grandiose nature of his announcement was a jerk move, but come on...that's no excuse for acting like teenage girls that've just been dumped by their first boyfriend.

agreed bobby

I think most people are fine with Lebron making the move. It's just the way he went about it that has people being critical. The Cavs and their fans have backed Lebron all the way over the last seven years and its just cold-blooded to keep them on tenterhooks for all this time, only to kick them in the guts on national TV.

IMO, he could have gone about this in a much more respectful way. Cavs ownership should have been told his decision privately before the announcement. Give them a chance to maybe work a sign and trade and save some face.

Imagine if you were Dan Gilbert and had spent $100s of millions over the last 5 years to try and build a champion around Lebron and then he won't even take any of your calls throughout free agency? I'd be pretty mad too!

yep spot on, defentely could of handled it better. These guys born and raised him in the NBA. Amazing to not give anything at all back.

Miami won't get past second round... Lebron went the wrong route and it won't pay off with a ring or financially... Stupidest decision career decision, watch him try get traded in 3 years!

I cant see anyone beating them in the East. Lakers maybe in the Finals but a long shot with an ageing Kobe. Hell LeBron could guard Gasol or Bynum if they dont find a big man.

I wonder if the way this played out will affect the next bargaining agreement and the wy the salary cap is structured. Maybe some players will have a "minimum salary" so that max players cant take pay cuts in order to team up. Has Stern made amy comments on the announcement?

beantown completley correct, the thing that amazed me the most was that he only told miami of his decison a minute or to prior to the conference. Just a complete arrogant sod lebron appears to be, sad for a guy with such talent.

Shit, I remember when I was told this was a possibility , but that was to happen in Chicago. Wonder how many guys will take a pay cut to play in South Beach?

the difference between Lebron James and the Celtics is because James were expected to be (or close to) the 'greatest' player in history; but his move is by joining superstars as oppose to help a team from ground up (MJ).

KG's case is different, he was never going to be the "chosen 1". Although they are all superstars but these are superstars on a different level. Like why Bosh is not copping as much shit as Lebron is, he's simply not the same caliber as Lebron.

and sure nobody can win it all by themselves, but if Lebron want to be considered one of the greats, it is by helping a bad team to win championship; through player development, trades etc.

just like Jordan didn't win his first till he was 28, through all those years he stuck with the Bulls and just stuck with the management for them to do it's thing. by this move, Lebron will almost never be considered be considered among the great.

LOL at all the butthurt over Lebrons move.
The TV special was always going to happen as this decision has been hyped for years.
You can't tell me having those 3 guys on the court isn't going to cause every team in the NBA problems. Most teams have 1 or 2 real good defenders but 3 lol?

I think Charles Barkley summed it up best when he said that at age 25 he wanted to be the MAN and win on his own, and only later in his career did he "chase" a ring.
This is the real difference between Bostons Big 3 and Miami, Garnett and Allen both played 10+ season and were over 30 before the trades, emphasis on trades, that built that team.

im happy for lebron, he's sacrificing money, points, alpha dog status, and a legacy, all for winning.

LeBron:

'I got a goal, and it's a huge goal, and that is to bring an NBA championship here to Cleveland. And I won't stop until I get it.'

More fuel in this 2006 quote:

"I don't want to go ring-chasing. I want to stay with the Cavs and build a champion."

Anyone who talks about themselves in the third person three times in one sentence is automatically the Worst Person Ever.

"I wanted to do what was best, you know, for LeBron James, what LeBron James was going to do to make him happy."