The Official NBA Thread 2011-12

[ARon]

Miami has fans?

Yes, now everyones second favorite team is Miami

 

[yak pac fatal]

i think the way he left the cavs was fucked up. the organization tried to build a championship around him. lebron wanted a scoring pg they brought in mo williams and lebron wanted jamison, they some how got him.

1. I don't think LBJ ever said he wants to win a championship by himself, with the help of a supporting cast. He wants to win a championship. He never said win a championship solo. What the fuck is wrong with "Miami won" as opposed to "LeBron won". You're making an egomaniac out of a guy who might not be as egotistic as you thought. Kobe is an egomaniac, Jordan is an egomaniac. All of those players mentioned by Rosenberg are egomaniacs because it's the nature of competition.
2. People judge him through Jordan's and Kobe's eyes but I don't think he ever wanted that.
3. Fuck LBJ for choosing Miami though. I would have preferred the Knicks or the Bulls. But I'm not going to blame him for leaving Cleveland.

i was hoping for bulls also. imo right off the bat, theyd have the best team in the east. i read chicage, portland and pistons are working on a 3 team trade and bulls would land hamilton. rose/hamilton/lebron/boozer/noah would be a sick team.

I was just about to post that.

Awesome article.

yup, ethered him.

 

[yak pac fatal]

Q: How much thought went into the decision (to sign)? And many are predicting you guys to be a 2 seed, do you think you guys can do that?
A: There was really no thought in this decision, it was easy for me…and to put us as a number 2 seed is cool, but it’s way too early to think that. We have a long ways to go before we reach that level.

Q: What are you most excited for this season?
A: To run out the tunnel and see those AMAZING Oklahoma City fans.

Q: How do you like Oklahoma City?
A: I love OKC. Very laid back and calm. Fits my personality very well.

Q: Who is the funniest player on the Thunder?
A: Serge Ibaka by far. He keeps everyone laughing!!!

Q: What kind of role do you think Daequan Cook will play on the Thunder?
A: He is going to be a guy that is going to give us alot of scoring off the bench.

Q: You’re still so young, but have you seen your role change at all with the new faces from the draft following your steps?
A: Yes, I have to get better at leading by example because all those guys are looking at me.

Q: Do you think you can become the scoring champion again this year?
A: No I dont think I can be scoring champ. It’s so many great scorers in this league. I think Carmelo got it this upcoming year.

Q: Which of your teammates do you think will develop his game and jump to a new level this season?
A: I think that James is going to step up and be great this year?

Q: When will you get into the NBA 3-point contest?
A: I think this year I’m (going to) enter the 3-point contest.

Q: Please tell us your role model basketball wise.
A: My role model is Tim Duncan. I look at everything he’s done and I want something like that here in OKC.

Q: Martin or Fresh Prince?
A: MARTINNNNNNNNNNN.

Q: When you growing a beard?
A: I been trying to grow a beard for 21 years.

i got him winning the mvp this coming season.

Knicks close to signing pg Raymond Felton to multi-year deal, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

dantonis desperate to find a nash clone. curious to see how he'll do in the up tempo style.

ESPN.com sources: Bulls to sign Korver to three-year deal worth estimated $15 million

nice role player. one of the things bulls lacked last season. 3pt shooting.

And just like that, Tyrus Thomas gets a five-year, $40 million contract from the Bobcats, with a 17.5 percent bonus up front.

got paid

Ticket 760 has learned that the San Antonio Spurs have reached a contract agreement with Tiago Splitter. He is expected to sign the deal on Monday. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

finally spurs got this done. first scoring big man next to timmy since david robinson.

Cuban also stressed that the way Dwyane Wade, James and Chris Bosh formed together to all go to Miami smells of tampering.


"I'm going to bring it up to the league that we really do re-evaluate the issue of player tampering,'' Cuban said. "Who knows what will happen, but I have to suggest it to them because there has to be more definitive rules. It's not just the Cavs. It could be any team. It could be the Heat in a couple years. It's not going to be easy, but you can ind a way to make sure those guys don't get together for a week before (free agency).''

lol david sterns favorite nba owner

 

[Rukas]

LeBron James*took the easy way out in choosing star-studded Heat - Michael Rosenberg - SI.com

goddamn

Daaaaamn. Owned. But so spot on.

 

[S O F I]

LeBron James*took the easy way out in choosing star-studded Heat - Michael Rosenberg - SI.com

goddamn

Here's a somewhat different outlook on the situation.

If ever there was a time for LeBron James to leave home, this was it.

The outpouring of venom from the Cavaliers’ owner and the wrath of jersey-burning fans betrayed a festering resentment that makes James’s decision to leave Cleveland for Miami seem prudent.

This was another extraordinary LeBron moment — first the weeklong buildup, then the thousands who gathered here Thursday in front of the Boys & Girls Club to be part of “The Decision.” Finally, James, playing “The Bachelor,” told us Miami was the lucky franchise.

The most extraordinary part of the event was the reaction of the Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert, who responded on the team’s Web site with a venomous, face-saving personal attack that, in its own way, validates James’s decision to leave Cleveland.

In an amazing abdication of leadership — and a remarkable revelation of flawed character — Gilbert made James a sympathetic figure.

Referring to a “shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own,” Gilbert called James’s decision process “a several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with the national TV special of his ‘decision’ unlike anything ever ‘witnessed’ in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.”

Yet it was Gilbert who created the King James monster; it was Gilbert who nurtured and reinforced James’s prima donna-isms, all of the preening and dancing. Now he acts like a lover scorned and lashes out with gibberish about karma and curses.

Gilbert must think he really owned LeBron James.

Surely, he understands business. You win some, you lose some. With LeBron James, Gilbert won a lot more than he lost. Now, Gilbert has lost a gem in James. And he has lost our respect. He has released enough players and let go of enough employees to understand that loyalty, especially in sports, is largely a matter of convenience and timing.

Loyalty is often jettisoned. Look at the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have lost their jobs through layoffs, cutbacks and downsizing.

LeBron got the Cavs before the Cavs could get him.

Will the Heat win a championship? The games still have to be played. This was about power, leverage and options.

James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh built on the Big Three concept engineered by the Boston Celtics three seasons ago when Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett joined Paul Pierce.

What James did throughout the entire process — forcing a parade of billionaire owners to make presentations and brokering a TV special — was an unprecedented act of muscle flexing. This was reminiscent of Muhammad Ali, at least in terms of showmanship. The process was also part Curt Flood, taking the concept of “free” agency to its outermost limit.

•

With more free-agency cycles to come, N.B.A. owners cannot be happy about this royal production. Clearly, Gilbert isn’t. He said “this shocking act of disloyalty from our homegrown ‘chosen one’ sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn.”

On the contrary. There are many lessons contained in the James free-agency drama. The first is controlling the game, not allowing the game to control you.

Here is James, a 25-year-old African-American man with a high school diploma, commanding a global stage.

Adrienne Baytops, the boys basketball coach at the Greenwich Country Day School, was one of the thousands who waited for James here on Thursday night. For Baytops, James’s actions were not about betrayal or ingratitude.

“This is his job and he’s got to make the decision for himself,” she said. “The lesson is to stay focused on the big picture, and when you’re making a decision, don’t get sidetracked by what others think or say or want you to do. He tried for seven years and it didn’t work.”

But should a player leave one team for another because he or she wants to win?

Baytops explained that she learned only this week that her star 14-year-old point guard was transferring to a high-profile school in New York City.

“He has an opportunity to go to a dynamic academic school where he’ll get more exposure in basketball,” she said. “We can’t be selfish about these things.”

James has chosen. It’s Miami against all comers. Now James will be expected to deliver a championship there, or be vilified anew.

Muhammad Ali famously said, “Float like a butterfly; sting like a bee.”

He might instead advise James: “Rumble, young man. Rumble.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/sports/basketball/10rhoden.html?_r=1&ref=sports&pagewanted=print

 

[Shadows]

Derek Fisher is flying to meet up with the Heat.

#Bandwagon if he signs!

 

[yak pac fatal]

i do agree that cavs/espn/media made lebron into monster by calling him king james, the chosen one before leading his team to a ring.


lebron is a role player with superstar talent

 

[yak pac fatal]

 

[Rukas]

Anyone else think that Wade is going to be the stand out player on this team?

 

[EDouble]

who read Dan Gilberts

 

[exrp765]

Bosh looks like that kid that nerd that people just hang out with to be nice... but wouldn't matter if he was there or not...

 

[S O F I]

lebron is a role player with superstar talent

the fuck? what a stupid thing to say.

 

[ArtsyGirl]

I'm so glad he isn't in 23 anymore..


I'd be dissapointed if Fisher goes to Miami...

 

[EDouble]

Lebron isnt the leader or a #1 lik someone has said he's more Pippen than MJ not 2 compare the twos game but as a #2

who saw the shit from Miami too he basically says "not 1 championship ... not 7 championship"
pan 2 Pat Riley and hes like what the fuck?

 

[Scoobyffc]

Fire sale: LeBron jerseys going cheap in Cleveland


Posted Jul 10 2010 12:44PM

CLEVELAND (AP) -- They're almost giving away LeBron James jerseys in the city he left behind.





All over Cleveland, No. 23 jerseys can be found at discounted rates as merchants look to get rid of their inventories for the superstar, who left the Cavaliers this week to play for the Miami Heat.

At Dick's Sporting Goods in Westlake, James jerseys have been reduced to $29.99 with the store offering a further 75 percent reduction. T-shirts and other merchandise with James' face or number on it are also at bargain prices.

Elsewhere, businesses are offering perks in exchange for James' jersey. At McNulty's Bier Markt in Ohio City, anyone turning in a James jersey or T-shirt got a free beer. Anyone with a T-shirt, hat or tattoo featuring another Cleveland sports star got a free second round.

 

[yak pac fatal]

the fuck? what a stupid thing to say.

hes gonna play robin on wades team. he couldnt handle the lead role in cle. what kind of superstar doesnt want to dominate the game?

 

[Snowman]

Lebron jerseys are 80% off here in toledo, down to $34 dollars for an authentic, $16 bucks for a replica, those Fathead stickers of Lebron are down to $17 bucks now.

having a superteam doesnt guarantee you winning right away. just look at Bostons big 3. 1-1 in the finals. plus the Laker team of 2004 with Malone an Payton.. Pistons beat them in the end. it depends of who Miami gets as bench players.

I see The Cavs tradin for Gilbert Arenas, wheres Shaq gonna end up in Atlanta or will he be a Spur???

people here In Toledo dont have much of an opinion of Lebron, some do. but where mainly in the Detroit Market. I see Lebron avoiding Cleveland come next season in the schedule, but he'll have to Confront the Angry Mob sooner or later.

 

[yak pac fatal]

^lol i heard about the fathead.

so far theyre saying spurs got the best chance to land shaq. im guessin if he signs with the spurs, he'll be coming off the bench.

duncan/mcdyess/bonner/splitter/blair and add shaq to that, thats 6 big man to throw at bynum and gasol.

 

[S O F I]

hes gonna play robin on wades team. he couldnt handle the lead role in cle. what kind of superstar doesnt want to dominate the game?

OK, I see what you meant. My bad. Anyway, my only gripe with Lebron's decision is that it's a decision usually made by players who have passed their prime. He still hasn't reached it, I think. But again, people are criticizing his move from a perspective of what they think a superstar player should be doing. I think Lebron doesn't see it that way, and I'm not sure I do either.

 

[yak pac fatal]

lol