Am i the only one who has GAINED respect for LeBron?

[D-nugz]

I gained a lot of respect, it was a tough decision and he went where he thinks he will best win. Sick of these posters who think this game is a one man sport,
it's a team game.

Nothing wrong with going where you think you will win.
Funny how the forum has changed attitudes after hearing rumours he's going to heat.

Even more funny it's mostly Laker fanboys.

[thejumpa]

dude left 30 million on the table and took a pay cut .. tell how many players will do that ??

None. He has earned my respect....even if he did it in a very odd way. I hope he collects some rings in Miami (still sounds wierd) and builds a legacy worth comparing to Jordan's,Kobe's,Wilt's,Shaq's,etc....because based off talent, that's where he belongs.

[ginobli2311]

None. He has earned my respect....even if he did it in a very odd way. I hope he collects some rings in Miami (still sounds wierd) and builds a legacy worth comparing to Jordan's,Kobe's,Wilt's,Shaq's,etc....because based off talent, that's where he belongs.

same. i never thought lebron could pull this off and come out looking so classy compared to cleveland and gilbert.

i love how lebron has clearly studied the game and its history. it was very telling when he went down the list of the nba champions since 1980.....i loved that. i have been trying to tell people what it takes to win for years now. lebron has figured this out.....something that the cavs franchise clearly did not know.

i love the line "you become a super star as an individual, but you win as a team"

that line should be posted on this board every single day to remind people that this is a team sport. now lebron has the makings of a great team. lets see what he can do with it.

[Juges8932]

Nope. I gained a crap-ton of respect for him. People who are going off are either hurt/sad/mad Cavs' fans or haters. Either way, they are emotionally involved and that is clearly showing.

1) He gave up a lot of money. This was a big deal IMO. It showed, for a guy who has talked about wanting to be a billionaire NUMEROUS times, that he isn't all about money when it comes to basketball. I liked seeing that he was willing to sacrifice money to be with a team he WANTED to be with.

2) He is going to another alpha's team. This seems to be people's biggest gripe with him, albeit a dumb one, contrived from the angry haters who want nothing more than to see him fail. Now that it appears he has a perennial contender for the championship with an adequate cast (Wade is his equal though, with Bosh a solid 2nd option), haters are grasping at straws. Off-topic, sorry, but yeah, that showed me, hey, LBJ is willing to go to another man's team if that means he can win some championships. That was a big deal too. He is going to build on the Wade Heat with Bosh, to make it the Tri-fecta Heat that is on a crash-course with being a dynasty. That shows a lot of selflessness (Of course, Wade showed a huge amount of it too, so did Bosh, but this is about LBJ).

3) He did what he WANTED. All of the pressure from Cleveland to go back there, especially since he didn't bring a title there and keeping quiet on what his plans were without buckling to it impressed me. He didn't let others dictate what he was going to do. He realized that if he signed back with Cleveland, he could be 31 and without any rings (If I were a betting man, I would bet he would have been ringless). He's making a huge, ballsy pick and seeing what comes of it (If they fail to win MULTIPLE rings, it will be seen as a failure IMO and in the majority of the public's eyes too).

4) I've been hard on him in the last year, unsure of his character and intentions. Certainly not anymore. I was wrong about him. He wants to be a winner in this league.

[catch24]

Nope. I gained a crap-ton of respect for him. People who are going off are either hurt/sad/mad Cavs' fans or haters. Either way, they are emotionally involved and that is clearly showing.

1) He gave up a lot of money. This was a big deal IMO. It showed, for a guy who has talked about wanting to be a billionaire NUMEROUS times, that he isn't all about money when it comes to basketball. I liked seeing that he was willing to sacrifice money to be with a team he WANTED to be with.

2) He is going to another alpha's team. This seems to be people's biggest gripe with him, albeit a dumb one, contrived from the angry haters who want nothing more than to see him fail. Now that it appears he has a perennial contender for the championship with an adequate cast (Wade is his equal though, with Bosh a solid 2nd option), haters are grasping at straws. Off-topic, sorry, but yeah, that showed me, hey, LBJ is willing to go to another man's team if that means he can win some championships. That was a big deal too. He is going to build on the Wade Heat with Bosh, to make it the Tri-fecta Heat that is on a crash-course with being a dynasty. That shows a lot of selflessness (Of course, Wade showed a huge amount of it too, so did Bosh, but this is about LBJ).

3) He did what he WANTED. All of the pressure from Cleveland to go back there, especially since he didn't bring a title there and keeping quiet on what his plans were without buckling to it impressed me. He didn't let others dictate what he was going to do. He realized that if he signed back with Cleveland, he could be 31 and without any rings (If I were a betting man, I would bet he would have been ringless). He's making a huge, ballsy pick and seeing what comes of it (If they fail to win MULTIPLE rings, it will be seen as a failure IMO and in the majority of the public's eyes too).

4) I've been hard on him in the last year, unsure of his character and intentions. Certainly not anymore. I was wrong about him. He wants to be a winner in this league.

This is a fantastic post. Yes, in another thread, I was pretty critical of LeBron because I wanted to see him play for Chicago (lets be honest didn't we all? Dude would of been the "main guy" and had an exceptional supporting cast behind him), but in the end, dude just wants to WIN and that's all that matters.

[thejumpa]

same. i never thought lebron could pull this off and come out looking so classy compared to cleveland and gilbert.

Yup. Dude is no dummy. I always said he would have to choose between guady stats and citywide worship or winning championships. I'm glad he chose the latter.

[ginobli2311]

This is a fantastic post. Yes, in another thread, I was pretty critical of LeBron because I wanted to see him play for Chicago (lets be honest didn't we all? Dude would of been the "main guy" and had an exceptional supporting cast behind him), but in the end, dude just wants to WIN and that's all that matters.

good post catch. i wanted him to got to chi town also. but this might even be better. it creates a buzz for the nba that the league has not seen since jordan first arrived in the league.

the only think i don't agree with is how lebron handled this entire situation. he should have just has announced his decision like all players do. i have to think that something really bad went down between him and the cavs and some of his teammates and mike brown.

lebron has never aired his dirty laundry in the media.......and i really respect him for that. but something went down. we all know about the west and his mom thing.....that has to be true. but something else happened. this thing last night was a big *** YOU to gilbert and the cavs. i'f love to hear what actually went down during that boston series some day. it has to be pretty damn crazy,.

[K9Frost]

As a basketball player, I gained a lot of respect for him. This move shows that he wants to win, period.

As a person, I've lost a bunch of respect for him. I don't know if he's as egotistical as he comes off, but the whole free agency circus was ridiculous. He turned NBA free agency into reality TV. I do feel bad for him though. He looked genuinely hurt when ESPN (who BTW are dickheads) showed Cleveland fans burning his jersey.

this. but imo family first, cleveland is his family.
and he's never going to win a championship because
1) the lakers are too good
2) he brought the curse with him
3) the cavs are going to win the championship before him, and the cavs are never going to win haha

[kentatm]

dude left 30 million on the table and took a pay cut .. tell how many players will do that ??

this is NOT the issue most people have with this.

The problem is HOW he left not THAT he left.

Why is this so hard for people to understand?

[Go Getter]

good post catch. i wanted him to got to chi town also. but this might even be better. it creates a buzz for the nba that the league has not seen since jordan first arrived in the league.

Yo're old enough to remember the buzz Jordan created as a rookie?

[YAWN]

the respect that came with sacrificing the amount of glory that could be had, accolades, and stats, was diminished by the way he chose to let cleveland know he was skipping town.

should be interesting to see how this team operates next year.

[monkeypox]

What does any of this spectacle and self aggrandizing have to do with winning? Lol he spent most of the interview talking about how great he's been for Cleveland and how humble and loyal he is. Someone needs to tell him that those are the types of things, even if true, you just don't say about yourself without looking like an asshole.

Taking less money for a ring is great. Except he's just jumping on another champions team to do it. Do they even count if he wins them? I mean Kobe apparently only has 2 rings (or 1 because really Pau and the Lakers carried him in the last one right?) But now we have to applaud LeBron for giving up on his team to jump on to D-wades bandwagon?

For some people it appears LeBron can literally get away with anything. He can jump on a team with two other elite players and all it shows is that he's got the heart of a champion. I'm sorry people, but you have to make up your minds. If Kobe can't get credit for his rings with Shaq, then there's no way in hell LeBron gets credit for any rings they may win on this super team with Wade and Bosh. Lol, the Lakers rings are tainted because of an uneven trade, yet the Heat get two all-stars and the two time mvp after they colluded during the Olympics and that's somehow totally cool.

All I know is that I find it hard to believe that LeBron has done anything here to be respected. Stringing teams along, taking the easiest path to the championship, then making a huge douchebag spectacle out of the whole thing. To each their own I suppose.

[Haymaker]

At least Lebron should've said weeks ago: "I'm NOT coming back to Cleveland"
But anyway, I respect him because he wants to win. It was too good to pass on.

[chris02jammers]

Nope. I gained a crap-ton of respect for him. People who are going off are either hurt/sad/mad Cavs' fans or haters. Either way, they are emotionally involved and that is clearly showing.

1) He gave up a lot of money. This was a big deal IMO. It showed, for a guy who has talked about wanting to be a billionaire NUMEROUS times, that he isn't all about money when it comes to basketball. I liked seeing that he was willing to sacrifice money to be with a team he WANTED to be with.

2) He is going to another alpha's team. This seems to be people's biggest gripe with him, albeit a dumb one, contrived from the angry haters who want nothing more than to see him fail. Now that it appears he has a perennial contender for the championship with an adequate cast (Wade is his equal though, with Bosh a solid 2nd option), haters are grasping at straws. Off-topic, sorry, but yeah, that showed me, hey, LBJ is willing to go to another man's team if that means he can win some championships. That was a big deal too. He is going to build on the Wade Heat with Bosh, to make it the Tri-fecta Heat that is on a crash-course with being a dynasty. That shows a lot of selflessness (Of course, Wade showed a huge amount of it too, so did Bosh, but this is about LBJ).

3) He did what he WANTED. All of the pressure from Cleveland to go back there, especially since he didn't bring a title there and keeping quiet on what his plans were without buckling to it impressed me. He didn't let others dictate what he was going to do. He realized that if he signed back with Cleveland, he could be 31 and without any rings (If I were a betting man, I would bet he would have been ringless). He's making a huge, ballsy pick and seeing what comes of it (If they fail to win MULTIPLE rings, it will be seen as a failure IMO and in the majority of the public's eyes too).

4) I've been hard on him in the last year, unsure of his character and intentions. Certainly not anymore. I was wrong about him. He wants to be a winner in this league.

also he sacrifice his chances to win multiple MVPs...

[Simple Jack]

What does any of this spectacle and self aggrandizing have to do with winning? Lol he spent most of the interview talking about how great he's been for Cleveland and how humble and loyal he is. Someone needs to tell him that those are the types of things, even if true, you just don't say about yourself without looking like an asshole.

Taking less money for a ring is great. Except he's just jumping on another champions team to do it. Do they even count if he wins them? I mean Kobe apparently only has 2 rings (or 1 because really Pau and the Lakers carried him in the last one right?) But now we have to applaud LeBron for giving up on his team to jump on to D-wades bandwagon?

For some people it appears LeBron can literally get away with anything. He can jump on a team with two other elite players and all it shows is that he's got the heart of a champion. I'm sorry people, but you have to make up your minds. If Kobe can't get credit for his rings with Shaq, then there's no way in hell LeBron gets credit for any rings they may win on this super team with Wade and Bosh. Lol, the Lakers rings are tainted because of an uneven trade, yet the Heat get two all-stars and the two time mvp after they colluded during the Olympics and that's somehow totally cool.

All I know is that I find it hard to believe that LeBron has done anything here to be respected. Stringing teams along, taking the easiest path to the championship, then making a huge douchebag spectacle out of the whole thing. To each their own I suppose.

If this were the case, in terms of how you think people rate Kobe's rings, he wouldn't be in most top 10 lists. His rings with Shaq count, but are taken in context; at least by logical fans.

Once we see how LeBron plays, then we can see how to "rank" these rings. If he outplays Wade on a nightly basis, and makes the Miami Heat his own; there's no way you can try to discredit his rings.