Looking over the league..who has been really hurt by all this? All these mega teams.

[2LeTTeRS]

Yeah... because showing anger to a guy that had gone out of his way to say that the Cavaliers were the 'favorite' and that he was happy here and that loyalty was very important to him and then he paraded all of his other suitors into downtown Cleveland in his ridiculous summit which forced the city to basically get on its knees and embarrassingly beg him to stay...

And then dropping 'The Decision' with no notice and in front of the entire world.

Why would any fanbase be upset over a stand-up guy like that? It makes no sense.

I thought you were done discussing this?

[RedBlackAttack]

I thought you were done discussing this?

I said I was done discussing whether or not the Cavs were correct in not trading him.

I'm always game to discuss how big of a d-bag LeBron James is. So easy.

[Jasper]

There was no cable or internet in the 70s...yet the league was a total afterthought. The Lakers and Celtics brought it up out of the nothingness.

And you questioning the rights of players to ever be free agents is...cute. Just totally removed from reality.

As if franchise tags in the NFL keep anyone who wants to be a FA from being one...

And even if you allowed eternal franchise tags if a guy just decides he wants to go...and goes public...hes gonna go. Eventually its a PR nightmare, fan support would drop, any off games he has would be seen as him trying to play his way out of town like VC, and on and on. He could simply hold out. Wait to be cut. These vets with 90 million to begin with like Lebron Wade and Bosh could afford a month or two of being suspended without pay. Hell they could afford to lose some of their previous money.

Lebron had a hundred million dollar shoe deal before he played in the NBA. They would have nothng at all to threaten him with. What...sell the fanbase on tagging him yearly letting him sit out without pay and the team sucks while they could just trade him....and rebuild overnight with the returns?

Players forced trades before free agency was even allowed. Look into how Wilt got to LA. He wasp issed at philly because the old owner made a deal with him the new owners wouldnt live up to. They didnt just want to trade him. He made them.

In the real world just forcing a guy to be where he doesnt want to be just wont work. Ever. Not in the media age. Fans would turn on the player for wanting out and the team for not letting him go so they could move on.

This was a good post earlier today.
In a nut shell (the players are controling the league by their free agency moves)
Even D-Will , probably made enough behind the door comments to the Jazz if something doesn't happen sooner , then later I'll be out of here .. so they took the tack to trade him to get something before it happened.
Ironically Nets are literally in no position to reacquire D-Will after his contract option year , because he is a guy that wants to win , his age is under mining him and CP3 as we speak.

[miles berg]

The NBA has no chance of catching the NFL in popularity. Absolutely, positively no chance. It might want to catch the struggling MLB first.

Agreed about the NFL, nothing/no one is catching them. But the NBA has already passed MLB and is the #2 sport in America. The NBAs ratings are up, MLBs down, and the Finals drew 50% higher ratings than the World Series.

But, yeah, nothing will catch the NFL. Which is fine because the NFL is the NFL and the NBA brings it in others way that even the NFL cant.

[RedBlackAttack]

Agreed about the NFL, nothing/no one is catching them. But the NBA has already passed MLB and is the #2 sport in America. The NBAs ratings are up, MLBs down, and the Finals drew 50% higher ratings than the World Series.

But, yeah, nothing will catch the NFL. Which is fine because the NFL is the NFL and the NBA brings it in others way that even the NFL cant.

Generally, the MLB playoffs completely outperform the NBA playoffs in television ratings. Look them up.

[ginobli2311]

Maybe you should ask the Cavs fans here this. Their the ones who were bothered by the lack of notice, not me.



When did I say Bron didn't have to agree to it?



Are you serious? So you seriously expect me to go through every contender and list out what they would have offered for Bron? I pass.

But there was one contender who did get a meeting set up with him - the Mavs. You really don't think they would have traded Damp's instant expiring contract, Butler or Marion, and a prospect like Beaubous for him?

Thats just one potential offer. Make him available to all the other contenders and I guarantee you offers would have come in. Thats obviously not equal value, but it would have been something.

ok. listen carefully. lebron would have to agree to go to those teams. what incentive does lebron have of doing a sign and trade if he can just go there on his own?

it makes no sense. lebron didn't care about the money or helping the cavs out. that is painfully obvious.

so what good would your plan have done? lets say the cavs knew on june 20th that he wasn't coming back for sure. what does it change? nothing other than people in the organization or fan base knowing before hand. in terms of the cavs getting more back and doing something different it changes nothing.

so again. how did the front office do a poor job? your points really don't add up at all sir.

[ginobli2311]

Generally, the MLB playoffs completely outperform the NBA playoffs in television ratings. Look them up.

this is true.

but basketball is more popular in younger generations. i wish i still had the article, but basketball was actually pretty far ahead of baseball. and as these generations get older and make more money, basketball will continue to close the gap with baseball.

the problem is that older white america still loves baseball. and they have all the money and go to the games and buy the boxes and watch on tv. once the generation gap narrows, we will see basketball really take off even more.

but that all changes is we miss time next year. this is a huge crossroads for the nba. we could be entering a new golden age....or we could be set back big time.

[2LeTTeRS]

ok. listen carefully. lebron would have to agree to go to those teams. what incentive does lebron have of doing a sign and trade if he can just go there on his own?

When the **** did I say he wouldn't have to agree to the sign-and-trade? Man get this through your thick skull, I understand he has to agree. I've said it at least 5 times. Why are you pretending that I don't get how these type deals work.

As I said to you earlier, your the one who seems to not understand the NBA's rules regarding trades. I understand it perfectly. Thanks alot for that though.

it makes no sense. lebron didn't care about the money or helping the cavs out. that is painfully obvious.

so what good would your plan have done? lets say the cavs knew on june 20th that he wasn't coming back for sure. what does it change? nothing other than people in the organization or fan base knowing before hand. in terms of the cavs getting more back and doing something different it changes nothing.

I'm not sure why you decided to interject yourself in me and RBA's conversation, but again you seem not to get what we were discussing. I'll give you a quick break down. RBA was pissed that Cavs fans and front office had no notice about Bron's decision prior to "The Decision." Thats the problem being discussed. As I said my solution would not have promised them compensation, but an opportunity to make a plan B going into free agency if Bron didn't land.

Instead the Cavs went into the summer with a re-sign Bron or bust plan. Because of that when he didn't re-sign they were screwed.

so again. how did the front office do a poor job? your points really don't add up at all sir.

They did a poor job by having no plan B. They made all kinds of plans to try to bring in guys beside Bron over the summer, but seemingly had no plans for the summer other than bringing in guys to Cleveland to make the Cavs more attractive to Bron.

Any time your only plan revolves around a guy who is a free agent and has every right to sign with any team he chooses being back, then you did a poor job in my book.

[chazzy]

Surprised me: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/fp/fl...&pollId=107699

[Doranku]

Surprised me: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/fp/fl...&pollId=107699

Ohio, Colorado, and Utah not very happy about it. I wonder why.