I agree with everything you have written, I am a Chicago fan since the Jordan rookie season and I cannot see us going anywhere soon and I for one was hoping James would leave Cavs, just to Chicago not Miami - BUT then I have to disagree...

The Bulls brought players to the club each and every season to compliment Jordan in the spots he needed to help make his team a Championship team, plus supplied him with a right hand man in Pippen.

The Lakers brought players to the club each and every season (even a coach) to compliment Bryant in the spots he needed help make his team a Championship team, plus supplied him with a right hand man in firstly Shaq and then a combo with Odom & Gasol.

Cavaliers tried, but DID NOT secure a co-star to help James win the title, it seems it wasn't enough for his fans that he brought them from a 17-win pretender to a 42 wins finals contender... And over 7 years which included 5 finals appearances, 5 All-Star appearances and 2x League MVP Awards the Cavs themselves couldn't supply a team for it's fans.

http://linky.com.au/hil8b

(I stole the 17-win pretender line from this story.

Miami gave Lebron what he wanted people around him to help win a championship, cavs didint do this they had plenty of players to chose from and didnt do anything. IMO he made a business decision and he will probably win a championship.

Cavs could've done more but remember Jordan didn't win until he was 29. I'm not sure how his contracts worked out but at least the Bulls changed coaches.

Anyone that refers to themselves in the third person is a joke!

pickles ex-housemate agrees with Cath...

I think this will now officially take Kobe's crown in becoming king of ARROGANCE and SELFISHNESS

In this move, he'll never surpass Jordan's legacy.

And I still dont think it will get him a championship.

They've got so much money now wrapped up with 3 players they will have absolutely no depth.

Not to mention if either Wade/Bosh/James gets injured there screwed, a more likely chance with those 3 being forced to play even more time due to a lack of depth.

i dont mind the move as such, it is the way he went about his decision that just seemed so arrogant ecspecailly that stupid conference.
Also the major factor that pissed me of is the fact he only told miami he was heading there 2 minutes before his conference, that is just arrogance to the max, he is very good at basketball but it doesnt give him the right to do these things.

lebron is a smart person i also dont agree with the public tv special but ESPN were willing to pay and the fans were willing to watch

cavs are going to be a;right

NBA agent, a SMART person would have considered announcing his decision live in front of millions and then realised that would show a complete lack of empathy towards the franchise and fans he claimed to care about.

Lebron could have left Cleveland with dignity and most reasonable people would not have batted an eyelid. Now he has made himself a pariah in his home state.

If I were him, I would fire my agent, manager and all the other hangers on for not pointing out to me how bad this whole ESPN thing would be for my image!

Que sound bite from Monty Python's Life of Brian

(you all know the one i'm talking about)

Everyone needs to get over it. Maybe Lebron should have hired chopper to be at the announcement to tell people to harden the F&@K up. He plays where he wants to. Pro basketball is a cruel world and players careers get dumped all the time by owners etc... The one time a player looks out for himself and you call him a joke, harden up. I'm not even a heat fan, but I might also jump on the band wagon as my fav player shaq hasn't signed anywhere yet. Now I have follwed him fro
team to team since rookie year.

I have to agree that the ESPN special was a little bit of overkill and distasteful but the reality is loyalty does not exist in professional sport anymore. KG left the Timberwolves to win a championship, VC left Toronto to join Kidd and Jefferson,and Kobe came damn close to leaving the Lakers before they signed Gasol and became a contender again. I don't like the way Lebron handled the situation but at the end of the day I think he just wants that championship and you can't hold that aginst him.

Pirie Panther, The Bulls drafted all of their stars. They didnt exactly draft Pippen but they acquired him on draft day (same draft as Grant) in a trade for Polynice....they hardly knew then the player he would become. They drafted Jordan, Grant, Armstrong, essentially Pippen, Kukoc. The only player of note that they brought in was Rodman, the rest were all role players, Cartwright, Kerr, Paxson, Longley etc...

Jordan made himself and his teammates better and the Bulls got their Championships the hard way.

Teams like the Lakers and Miami are just buying theirs....if Miami win any!

WTF - Rumours are strong Shaq is taking a massive veterans pay cut to rejoin Riley at the Heat and be a 25 min a game starting centre to win his 5th ring and work with Joel Anthony (2yrs- 2.6ppg/1.8rpg)& Dexter Pitman if they sign him on as Rookie!

Arroyo/Wade/James/Bosh/Shaq
OR
Wade/James/Bosh/Beasley/Shaq
OR
Arroyo/Wade/James/Bosh/Beasley

Very talented/experienced combo.

Tornado - Agree... They were drafted/acquired to fill particular rolls/voids to support Jordan and that is why Jerry Kraus has long been regarded as the BEST Team Manager the NBA has ever seen.

By 1990 Jordan was a 6 year veteran, Paxon signed on in '85 (7 year player in '90), in '87 Grant/Pippen came along ('90 - 3 Years NBA), Cartright drafted in '89 (as starting centre with Purdue as back up), Jackson was put in charge in 89 and Armstrong was drafted as a backup guard for Paxon.

The Chicago Bulls WON all of their titles on team work and you are COMPLETELY RIGHT the teams of now BUY their titles!!!

IMO Spurs of 1999/2003 was the last team to win a championship based on their draft picks.

Nobody begrudges LeBron leaving Cleveland, per se. It's the way he did it which has riled everyone.

Anonymous dont forget he bagged Bynum for the way he played and i believe he also requested to trade Bynum

LeBron is such a joke indeed! dwayne wade should of been the one getting all the hype these past 7 seasons because hes the only player out of that draft class with a championship. LeBron went from "King" to "Servant" and hes not going to go sick like he did in cleveland, this is WADE'S team. Amd why does everyone say that its the cavs fault for not surrounding LeBron with goog players? are you frickin kidding me? he had shaq, antoine jamison, maurice williams (who gave that organization more than they expected of him) and he still couldnt come out and win? I mean the 2006 miami heat had a weaker lineup than that and won a championship. LeBron is a crybaby and will never get my respect back. Kobe and jordan didnt leave their teams in search of a championship, they stayed with their teams during their droughts and came out elite champions. i dont care if Lebron wins 7 titles with miami, hes still a coward.

A Simmos reader sums it up best I think:

"City: Chicago
Name: Ron
I think we're realizing that LeBron was never made up of the same stuff as Kobe or MJ. And the things that we saw him doing in the future were things that we wanted for him, because of his transcendent skills. But in the end, he just didn't want those things. He was abandoned as a kid, if you see his high school documentary, you see all he wants to do is be a part of something, not be something. He just wants to be a part of a group and be wanted. We've just all along wished he was wired for greatness. He's not. And it's a shame."

Ive always been in awe of Lebrons talent, But ripping Clevelands heart out with his "Decision" in front of 100s of millions of people is sooooooooo low.
I cant believe the way it went down.
Congrats to D-Wade though, he is a true superstar with class- Watch his dvd its awesome.
Eastern conference finals is going to be sick.
I hope the Lakers are there waiting in the finals

I am a heat fan and i dont like how lebron did it. i also heard that he didnt want to do it he was forced by one of his agents to do it.

but people get dumped by teams all the time and the teams keep saying oh we aren't trading them but a couple of days later they trade the player and no one cares. so people need to get over it.

Hey pirie panthers, who cares if you draft or buy a title. You dont get anything extra for drafting.

a title is a title.
everyone is so butthurt over this, he made a decision based on what was best for him so I say props. I have never been a fan of Cleveland, the Heat are going to be an exciting team to watch for the next few seasons.
Imagine what everyones opinion of Kobe would have been if the Lakers didn't buckle to his demands when he was requesting a trade.

What a critical bunch of fuckers we all are,let the man enjoy his hard earned cash.

I totally agree with hereschenes:

"Nobody begrudges LeBron leaving Cleveland, per se. It's the way he did it which has riled everyone."

Does anyone remember Shaq leaving Orlando for LA? The draft is only good for your first contract & then it's open slather. I would much rather live in Miami than Cleveland.Miami have just pulled off the big 3 as boston did to have immediate success. I cant see them losing the East!

it's his decision, his life, and for everyone thats not happy his decision it's his life NOT any of yours. not leave the man alone. he did it for himself, wow you guys so are so judgemental.

it's his decision, his life, and for everyone thats not happy with his decision it's his life NOT any of yours. not leave the man alone. he did it for himself, wow you guys so are so judgemental.