Four words:

"Good luck with that".

They've missed the boat by putting all their attention on Lebron, as they have done for the past 7 years.

The time to build a team was over 3 years ago.

Sorry Cleveland.

Is that even legit Isaac? I've been following Twitter today and there are a few people out there (Vince Thomas for one) who are detecting a scam.

It's on NBA.com so presumably not a fake.

http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/gilbert_letter_100708.html

On the NBA site and covered by ESPN. If it's painted as a scam by the owner, I'd say that's just the owner regretting the decision and trying to take backwards steps. Looks like a legit, emotional response and not a fake to me.

Wonder if they'd desperately gamble on someone like Iverson or McGrady and hope it worked?

Reported by the Cleveland Plain-Dealer as well. I'm sure it's real, although I admit I was also skeptical at first due to its surprisingly aggressive tone.

I was just surprised they put it up on the web in Comic Sans.

He's also said he thought LeBron quit in a few Finals games:

Gilbert said James quit on the Cavs during their second-round series against the Boston Celtics, who rallied from a 2-1 deficit to eliminate Cleveland.

"He quit," Gilbert said. "Not just in Game 5, but in Games 2, 4 and 6. Watch the tape. The Boston series was unlike anything in the history of sports for a superstar."

The Cavaliers were beaten by 32 points in Game 5. During the game, James appeared distracted and uninterested, often glaring at Cleveland's coaches as the Cavs tried to foul to get back into the game in the second half. James also made some puzzling postgame comments, saying he had "spoiled" people with his play over seven seasons.

Gilbert also said he believes James quit on the Cavs in Game 6 of their series in 2009 against Orlando.

"Go back and look at the tape," he said. "How many shots did he take?"

Adande: "So I guess this means the Cavs won't be trying to facilitate a sign-and-trade for LeBron."

Wow, as far as I'm aware, Lebron hasn't put Ink to Paper yet on his contract. he's waiting a few days just like Bosh and Wade to sign the paperwork to go to Miami

Lebron can easily say "well, I was having second thoughts about my decision, then after seeing the abuse my former team owners dished out; I can safely say that they don't give a crap about how I feel, just that they make money off my back. Good thing I've jumped ship".

Cavs ownership are sore losers and only did a half-arsed job at keeping him there. The same thing may happen to Miami in 7 years, so don't be surprised if History repeats.

Do the Cavs really make money?

Pretty disappointing by the Cavs really. They couldn't get the players around him to win a Championship, even after a last ditch attempt last season and now they are crying foul... Terrible, terrible form. I must admitt I feel sorry for the state of Cleveland and it's fans but realistically it wasn't going to happen in Cleveland for him so he had to do what was best to try and gowin. No player wants to go through his career without winning a championship, just ask Malone or Barkley...

I was just surprised they put it up on the web in Comic Sans.

Dan Gilbert has also now come out and dropped the price of Lebron James Cavs memorabilia in the form of 'fat heads'

Apparently the price has been slashed on these items from 99 bucks down to $17.41.

Coincidentally 1741 is teh saem year that the famous American war traitor Benedict Arnold was born....

Cant wait to see what this guy says next!

I think Malone and Barkeley are more respected in the basketball world than James.

He may win rings but he will now sadly be known as a self invovled hypocrite who piggy backed his way to a championship..

Durant, Kobe & Wade are now the big 3 of the NBA!

Why is everyone hating on LBJ. Yes the interview and ESPN special was overdone but how can you blame him for wanting to win a ring?

Tornado, you say that he is piggybacking his way to a championship...Ray Allen and KG did that and everyone praised them!

The guy is sacrificing money and sacrificing been the face of a franchise to win a ring..Give him a break.

He did so much for the state of Cleveland; the owners of the Cavs didn't reciprocate that (they were terrible in signing average players like West, Parker and Z to overpaid, long-term contracts that no team wanted to touch this off-season, hence they couldnt get the support LBJ needed).
Dan Gilbert also went out and signed Mike Brown who IMO is a terrible coach and couldn't get it done in the off-season where the best coaches shine.

At the end of the day, LBJ gave the state of Cleveland alot. Gilbert's nasty letter only validates to why Lebron left. Judging on that letter, Gilbert seems to have personality issues..I wouldn't blame LBJ for leaving Cavs to get away from that fool.

Jesse Jackson enters the fray and claims Gilbert's comments are racially offensive:

He speaks as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner employee relationship-between business partners–and LeBron honored his contract.

Jesse Jackson is an idiot. When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Would Gilbert have said the same things if his star was Jason Williams at an MVP level who'd made the same promises, etc - I'd say so.

I think your hammer/nail comment is on the mark. No need for this to become a racial thing at all.

Gilbert's simple reply to Jesse Jackson, issued once again in Comic Sans:

I strongly disagree with Rev. Jesse Jackson's recent comments and we are not going to engage in any related discussion on it. Going forward, we’re very excited about the Cavaliers and the positive future of our region.

Also, Gilbert has been fined $100k for his original comments.

Personally, I see Gilbert's comments as an attempt to rally the Cleveland fans around the club in order to mitigate the inevitable drop in memberships, ticket and merchandise sales. I'm sure he would not be happy with having to hand over $100K, but really that is a drop in the ocean compared to what the club stands to lose.

It comes across as a reflex reaction but I feel it may have been more calculated than that. Perhaps I'm too cynical?

I think it was far more of a reflex reaction than a calculated move. If you wanted to rally fans, you'd focus on what you had rather than what you'd lost. And you probably wouldn't make such an instantly discreditable comment about guaranteeing a quick championship.

Can I just quickly point out that Cleveland is not a state, it's a city in the state of Ohio.

More suggesting it wasn't a calculated decision by the Cavs:

One league source said the Cavaliers' media relations staff begged Gilbert to not send the email, but he ignored the pleas and wanted it out immediately.

The letter backfired in some regards. The guys on Sportscenter were pulling the piss out of Gilbert for showing so much emotion, but then again, these guys were also licking Lebron's nuts over his decision so they aren't really where we should take our moral cues from.

In "some regards"? I'd say it was a pretty disastrous thing for the Cavs. Could've accomplished similar (few) positive things with a different letter that avoided all the negatives.

Maybe some fans liked that he stood up for the team, but how many would think he went over the top? And how ridiculous does the championship statement come across?

Very un professional letter, i understand he was disappointed but surely he wasnt that shocked that he was leaving the cavs, i guessed it straight after the cavs were knocked out, as their team could not add any of the stars out their like Bosh or Amare to entice him to stay most of his team mates were on the older side eg Shaq, Z, Parker, Mo, Jamieson, none of them are spring chickens or seen to be improving to become future stars, so if he wanted a title in the next few years Lebron had to try somewhere else IMO given the Cavs were not in a great position to bring in some help.

Its also pretty un greatful of Gilbert, LeBron sold you a tonne of tickets, made you a tonne of money on his merchandise, put your team back on the map for 7 years, and its partly on his head, he had 7 years to try and grab a guy like a Bosh or structure contracts like Miami did to add 1 or 2 stars, they failed to do it so its partly on their heads.

How can anyone hate LeBron's decision, most people bag sports stars for simply chasing the cash, LeBron took less money to go to a team he believed had the best team mates and best chance to win the title, that is what its meant to be all about playing with talented team mates and winning titles! Also it would be tough to pass up the opportunity to play with Wade and Bosh! So i congratulate Lebron and Wade and Bosh on making a decision based on WINNING games of BASKETBALL and not about MONEY! yes they are paid very very well, but they did take less than what was available to them, to try and WIN which many others dont.

jonno lebron chose the weak option by going to the team with fellow superstars,the bloke is self obsessed and soft when it comes to the pressure moments. If hes as good as he thinks he shouldnt need wade and bosh to help him win titles but hes obviosuly not that good.

Read some commentary about how LeBron has to shoulder some blame for the Cavs' inability to put the right players around him. e.g., when Ariza was looking to sign in Cleveland, LeBron supposedly wouldn't assure Ariza of his (LBJ's) own future with the team (IMO, he'd decided to team with Wade and Bosh at the Heat 2-3 years before it happened). Things like that.

Some state that the Cavs killed their chances by offering oversized contracts to the wrong personnel, but maybe that's what it took to get anyone there at all? And it's not like they assembled dud teams - the squad had strong winning records and just fell away at the crunch.

Isaac, when I say in some regards, I mean that while a lot of people are getting stuck in to Gilbert for the letter, there are plenty that agree with his sentiments. It's easy to sit back and criticise the guy for making the comments and to say it was unprofessional but I don't think there is much to disagree with in what he said....except for the championship guarantee.

After what Lebron did, why can't he stoop to his level? Why does Lebron deserve any sort of respect for his former boss when he showed absolutely none to him in the first place?

Take the high road, etc. He could've got that same support from Cavs fans and aligned himself with their fury but limited the damage with a more calculated message. Consider that he ignored his media team - who presumably have at least basic training/experience/awareness in this sort of thing - they didn't advise him against it for no reason.

Yeah, I understand that he exposed himself for being over emotional and unprofessional, but I don't have a problem with what he said.