haters gonna hate

Hahahaha...Mystro, couldn't have said it better myself.

Wade might've copped a bit, but nothing like LeBron has. Whereas it's hard to dislike Wade (seems to maintain a pretty saintly image), I think there's something about LeBron that just irks many of us. So at any stumble, the knives come out.

It would still be seen as a pointless, self-serving exercise, but two things differ. One, Wade has given Miami a championship, and two, he wasn't born in Florida.

another thing is, Wade would never had done the TV stuff

I would be interested to hear people's opinion on the following. Currently everyone is saying that by LBJ going to Miami he has destroyed his "legacy" as a great player because he didn't stay at Cleveland and win a Championship there instead taking the "easy" option by joining two superstars in Miami to win a Championship if in fact he does do so (which he should). What if LBJ had re-signed with Cleveland and never won a Championship what would that have done to his legacy? Many great players have never won Championships and it has effected their "legacy" of greatness, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing to name a few. Two of those players did take the opportunity to join 2 other superstars yet recieved no criticism. Garnett and Allen teamed up with another superstar in Pierce to go on to win a Championship yet again, no criticism. Is it because those players did it at a much later stage of their careers and LeBron/Bosh and Wade are doing it in their prime that promotes criticism, or is purely the fact that every supporter of the other 29 teams now think that they have no chance of winning a Championship over the next 5 years and are purely jealous???

My personal opinion is that because he jumped ship early in his career, instead of fighting for the title (as Malone, Barkley etc did) it looks like it was "too hard" for Lebron to do the hard yards.

Malone etc all "jumped on" at the end of their careers, when they knew they were not the man anymore, and they knew they needed help.

Lebron should have stuck it out, at least for his next contract, then re assessed things then.

Having said all of this, I would have been happy to take him at the Bulls. One of those players you do not like, but would have him on your team in an instant..

I liked Jordan's quotes about never even thinking of calling up Bird and Magic to try and assemble a superteam; he was all about trying to beat them.

Took Jordan around 6-7 years to win his first championship at the Bulls, right?

Yep, and he would NEVER have rang up Isiah and said, "hey Zeke, I can't win this myself, how about I come play with you guys?".

MJ had the right pieces around him by '91, and it had been a gradual procession before that.
Playoffs each of the first few years, then gradually going a step forward each year.

87/88 beaten in East semis by Pistons
88/89 beaten in East finals by Pistons 4-2 (after leading 2-1)
89/90 beaten in East finals by Pistons 4-3 (Pippen "migraine' game)

90/91 swept Pistons in East finals, then beat Lakers 4-1 in Finals.
And I am sure we all know the rest of the story....

There is a pretty big difference if you look at the timelines though...
Jordan was signed to a 7 year contract worth $6.3 million in his rookie year, so he wasn't even earning $1 million per season.
In his 4th year of this contract the Bulls renegotiated with him signing him up to a $25-$28 million dollar deal over 8 years making him the highest paid player in team sports.
Now if you are in your 4th season and someone offers you $3.5 million compared to roughly $800k (your previous contract) you are going to probably sign it.
Jordan then went on to win 4 Championships and after his 4th Championship knowing what players he had around him re-signed for another year for around $30 million, once again making him the highest paid player.
After winning title 5 the Bulls once again signed him to a one year deal worth $36 million.
Now if Mike came out of contract in 1990 after making finals 6 years in a row yet not making the grand stage and therefore not winning a Championship and also having a young team around him that consisted of guys like Pippen, Grant, Cartwrght all of which were only quite young and only averaging about 15 points or less, do you think he would've stayed if he was a free agent? That is where both players were at at the same time in their careers.
Jordan was unhappy they had traded off his good mate Oakley, didn't like the owner, i'm almost sure he would've gone if he could've. If LA had said come and play with good mate Worthy and join Magic and Kareem and we'll win the next 5 Championships he would've been there in a flash!

why does everyone think this is the easy way out. 3 superstars have taken paycuts to play on the same team all 3 need the ball in there hands. this is not gonna be an easy process. all players would be use to scoring 25 points a game now not all 3 are gonna do that.

the only reason why lebron is getting critisim is because he went on TV. if he did it like dwade and bosh did then it may not have been such a big deal. people need to move this team is gonna be a fun team to watch when they gel together.

Reinsdorf would never let MJ go though, he would move heaven and earth to keep him. MJ and him liked each other, they were business partners! It was crumbs Krause that he and his team mates could not stand.

MJ was screwed on both those first 2 contracts, but didn't bitch as he was earning $40 odd mill per year in endorsements. Reinsdorf paid him the $30 mill because he knew that MJ had been paid under market value for years, yet stayed loyal to the organisation, even though he had no faith in Krause and the front office. The only time there was a thought of him leaving was when the Bulls talked about breaking the team up after '97, and MJ used the Knicks for leverage to get another max contract from the Bulls.

No way would he have joined the Lakers, he wanted to beat Magic, and at that time they both had a jealous dislike for each other.

They put enough of a supporting cast around him to romp through the regular season with even a few records along the way.

The last couple of years may have been limited by his lack of confirmation to free agent targets that he was staying.

1994 Rockets weren't that brilliant besides Olajuwon - no one else topped 15 PPG. LeBron's had Shaq, Jamison, Mo, Gooden, Ilgauskas, etc. Not really duds. I don't think you have much hope building around the guy when he won't commit (for the last couple of years of his time with the Cavs) to strengthen the team.

Now, you can reel off Shaq being a dud, Jamison always being on a crappy team, Mo being overrated, Gooden being rubbish, etc but Jordan's teams weren't always outrageous.

You can't say LeBron gave them 7 years if he wasn't doing his part too. Always going to be hard to recruit if your top dog is likely to bail the year after.

Put MJ (not at 50 years though lol) on that Cavs team of last year, and he still would have won it IMO.

Isaac, don't remind me of those Rockets teams, the Bulls could have won 8 straight if Jordan didn't retire.. : )

DB5, Barkley left Philly and went to the Suns - where he won the MVP - so he chased the title in his prime and at his twilight he left to go to the Rockets chasing a title....so Sir Charles has seemingly forgotten what he did in his career and should STFU

Now, Charles went to Phoenix for the lifestyle and Rockets for the Championship. even at Phoenix he was the 'man'.

And yes, the problem with Lebron's move is he moved team too early in his career and to a team of superstars. Had he gone to Chicago, he'd be the man and it'll be a different story.

The problem right now is he's gone and teamed up with some of the top 5 players around the league and be 'one of them' as opposed to been the 'man'. Therefore if they do win a championship it will not be same as the greats before him (MJ, Bird, Magic etc.).

Once again, MJ's recent comment really put it best...

Barkley had also been pushing every button possible for about 3 years to get traded from Philly, so it is not like he jumped to Phoenix.

Magic has joined the debate now as well.

http://linky.com.au/ximzo

You cant say that LeBron hasn't been committed. he's been giving his all to the cavaliers for 7 years. But in those 7 years they've only managed to get players who have one dimensional games or are past their prime. everytime they've made the playoffs everyones put everything on LeBron like its the regular season. the players on the court stand back and watch LeBron do the work, but now LeBron has guys around him who actually show up in post season games and because now LeBron doesn't have to be the 'man' every night people are hating on him and his teammates. So the worlds best basketballer has legitimate help now, so when he wins his championships hell have good friends and great talents to share it with.

Hey josh,

Great point about the one dimensional players. I can't think of any championship teams that had one star and a bunch of one dimensional players. Spurs, Lakers, Celtics all had at least two All Stars who could do mutiple things.

The thing that disappoints me is that it would have been good to see how LeBron went with a better player with him (not a superstar) first. Someone like a Josh Smith, Tony Parker or Chauncey Billups. Even to see how the Jamison thing played out - they were only together for about 20 games or so.

I guess he was just getting impatient.

lebron's a wanker! enough said.