David Bazan, LeBron James and Strange Negotiations
June 13, 2011Semih Erden is Rehabbing, Eager to Help Cavs
June 13, 2011
It had to cross his mind. If it didn’t hit him last night, it surely will today as he reads all the articles about Dirk Nowitzki’s persistence and what it meant for him to finally win an NBA Championship, the franchise’s first, in the city where he was drafted only city he has ever played in.
It’s simply hard to believe that in his most austere moment of isolated clarity, buried deep in his insecurities somewhere, that LeBron James didn’t allow his mind to drift even briefly to thoughts of what might have been.
It’s often easy to project results as a referendum on the choices people make. It’s why it’s such an easy parallel to draw between what Dirk Nowitzki accomplished Sunday night to what LeBron James had a chance to do with Cleveland. For all the articles written this season about how LeBron did what he had to do in order to win an NBA title, Nowitzki proved that sometimes, even if it is the exception and not the rule, loyalty and staying the course provides its just reward.
Indeed, Kevin Garnett told LeBron after the Boston Celtics eliminated the Cleveland Cavaliers that he wishes he would have left Minnesota sooner. In a recent podcast with Bill Simmons and Chuck Klosterman, former NBA great Charles Barkley told the hosts that he really wishes he would have left the Philadelphia 76ers sooner. The ghosts of NBA history might be telling us that loyalty is the hindrance of ultimate greatness.
So it was that LeBron James had a decision to make last summer. Everyone forgets that Dirk Nowitzki had a decision to make, too. While the Cleveland Cavaliers were in the midst of enjoying back to back 60+ win seasons and being considered in the discussion for favorites to win the NBA Championship, the Mavericks were coming off a run of disappointing playoff performances, including a first round exit in 3 of the last 4 seasons.
Both Dallas and Cleveland had good depth, but lacked a true #2 star. The Mavericks 2nd best player was believed to be Jason Terry, but he carried an efficiency rating lower than Shaquille O’Neal, Antawn Jamison, and Mo Williams for Cleveland. There’s a lot of revisionist history that now suggests otherwise, but the Cavalier team LeBron left was extremely deep, was versatile, had the ability to mix and match size, athleticism, and speed to exploit different matchups, and in general was built to perfectly compliment the playing style that LeBron James preferred. It was his team, the team he had asked for.
Yet there were certainly questions. The Cavaliers were an older team, had limited salary cap options moving forward, and there was no certainty they could make big moves in the future. In essence, LeBron James had a very similar future outlook with Cleveland to what Dirk had in Dallas. So it was fitting that Sunday night LeBron’s easy way out stared down Dirk’s decision to dig in.
When Nowitzki made his decision to stay in Dallas, ESPN’s Marc Stein wrote the following:
With no guarantee the capped-out Mavericks can land the elite sidekick he seeks to keep Dallas relevant in the Western Conference, Nowitzki agreed Saturday night to give a hometown discount to the only team he’s ever known, reaching terms with owner Mark Cuban on what sources close to the talks say is a four-year deal worth $80 million.
That’s $16 million less than the $96 million maximum Nowitzki was eligible to receive and likely would have commanded had he been serious about shopping himself on the open market as an unrestricted free agent for the first time, given Nowitzki’s stature in the league as a former MVP and the fact that his game is aging well at 32.
Nowitzki essentially ignored exploratory feelers from New Jersey and New York and stuck to his oft-cited desire to keep chasing his championship dream in Dallas, agreeing to the new pact — which includes a no-trade clause — after a series of wrap-up meetings that consumed much of Saturday and concluded at Cuban’s house.
There’s no question it was a gamble. It was the difficult decision to make. Many others had made the same decision only to never realize their Championship dreams. Perhaps Karl Malone wishes had decided to leave sooner. Perhaps Patrick Ewing wishes his loyalty to New York had paid off like this. There were no guarantees this would happen for Dirk and there are no guarantees that had LeBron stayed in Cleveland, he too would have eventually been rewarded for it.
But it’s hard to believe LeBron didn’t think about it last night. Of course he’ll never admit it. How could he? After all, it’s not like this was his last chance to win a Championship. He’ll probably win at least one eventually, probably more. But he won’t get the instant gratification that he was seeking by joining Dwyane Wade in Miami. No, if LeBron wants it, he’s going to have to work for it and his team is going to have to grow into it. The irony being, this was exactly the scenario he was running from in Cleveland.
It’s still going to be easier for him in Miami than it would have been in Cleveland. He still has Dwyane Wade and he still has Chris Bosh, who proved far more reliable in the NBA Finals than most thought he would be. The Miami Heat will still be a team that will be able to woo Ring Chasers at a discounted rate, guys like Mike Bibby, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Juwan Howard, Erick Dampier, and Jerry Stackhouse. The weather and media spotlight will be extra draws for players seeking such amenities on a Championship contending team. Miami will probably eventually win another NBA Title.
Yet for any potential ease in Miami, LeBron James will never have what Dirk Nowitzki now has. No matter how his career plays out in Miami, the sunny weather fans in Miami will never care about him like Dallas fans care about Dirk. He will never reward the long time suffering and loyalty of a passionate fan base the way Dirk did. He will never know the satisfying relief of working hard and ultimately achieving his goal in the face of overwhelming odds the way Dirk does.
After the game, LeBron James told fans who rooted against him to get back to the real world, informing them that they were going to have to wake up today to their same old problems. Perhaps he should consider his own advice. Because today, LeBron James wakes up to the same old problems. He still hasn’t figured out how to carry his team to the Championship. He’s still searching for the validation of his own hyped career that he so desperately craves. He still has to deal with his tattered image across the nation outside of his beloved South Beach.
Sure, today average people in Cleveland and across Ohio will wake up, they’ll go to work, they’ll joke with friends and co-workers, and sure, they’ll have their problems too. But in Cleveland, today they’ll be laughing. And why shouldn’t they? LeBron made his decision to leave, to chase the easier path. Cleveland made their decision, too. They’ve decided to enjoy today, regardless of what the future holds for both LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Today, LeBron James is like the rest of us. We all have our problems.
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Photo Credit: (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
49 Comments
Why does everyone just assume that he is going to win a title? We are 8 years in now and the only way I see it happening is some last ditch effort like Karl Malone with the Lakers.
Amazing Article. Agree 100% with you. That’s why rooting for Dallas was so easy. They haven’t won a title & have a superstar who decided he was going to stay & win where he got his start.
Ben, I’d love for LBJ to go down as Malone type. Great stats, but faded in the crunchtime & never won.
I don’t assume he’ll win a title. The odds are definitely in his favor with his talent, but let’s just hope he is like The Mailman.
Miami is going to get theirs but at least it wont be for a minimum of another year.
@1 – You can argue moving to Miami is exactly what you’re talking about. Just not late in his career.
The more I think about it, the more his comments after the game last night answers a lot of questions. He basically said, “go ahead an hate me…tomorrow I will still LeBron James and be rich and famous and powerful…and your life will still suck by comparison.”
I think that says it all. He cares a helluva lot more about being “King James” than he does about winning a championship. It was like he was thinking “Yeah, well…we lost. No biggie. What club are we headed to tonight?”
Dirk was not drafted by the Mavericks. He was traded on draft night from the Bucks to the Mavericks with Pat Garrity for Tractor Traylor.
By the way, I think Dallas got the better end of that deal. I mean, you don’t pass up a deal for Pat Garrity.
the entire post was well said, but this portion in particular:
“LeBron James will never have what Dirk Nowitzki now has. No matter how his career plays out in Miami, the sunny weather fans in Miami will never care about him like Dallas fans care about Dirk. He will never reward the long time suffering and loyalty of a passionate fan base the way Dirk did. He will never know the satisfying relief of working hard and ultimately achieving his goal in the face of overwhelming odds the way Dirk does.”
He will never know the satisfying relief of working hard and ultimately achieving his goal in the face of overwhelming odds
And coincidentally this may be what prevents him from ever actually winning that title. Here’s hoping he goes one more summer not working on his post game.
His post game comments completely sum up his true feelings – I’m rich and famous and you’re not – as if that makes him somehow better. It’s sad, really, but more than that, it shows what he really cares about and tells why he can never be compared to the truly great NBA champions, even if he does win one someday. As I read somewhere yesterday, he is “too cool to care,” and that attitude permeates his play on the court in big game situations. You see that he doesn’t want to admit defeat, so he does seem to shrink and get tight when it really matters. I always thought that was true even in Cleveland, that there was an attitude there that wouldn’t allow him to go all out when it mattered.
@BuckeyeDawg – I think he wants a championship, but I think it is more about what winning will do for him in business terms and how it can improve his branding. I think it has a whole lot less to do with any kind of competitive drive or wanting to be the best player to ever play the game. I think the longer we see these kind of performances the more apparent that is going to become.
I really hope that the Cleveland Cavs fans and the organization can looks back 10 years from now and say ‘the decision’ was the best thing to ever happened to the franchise. In my opinion, if LeBron can’t win a championship with an ‘all-star’ team in Miami then he wouldn’t have been able to win one in Cleveland. When he left this gave us the opportunity to have the #1 and #4 picks in the draft along with the trade exemption. Maybe Kyrie and #4 will turn into stars, who are mentally tough and relish the big games and shine. If (and it’s a big IF) we can hit on #1 and #4 and use the trade exemption and free agency it would be amazing to have a team that could compete for a title.
Great article! What bugs me is the revisionist history from the “experts”. During our 2 60+ win seasons, the consensus was that we were the best team and were the favorites for the title. Now, the talk is about how poor his supporting cast was. That is simply not true. The team was built to suit his talents, unlike the Heat. One more dependable scorer would have done it.
I wonder if in a private momnet, he will regret that he left the passionate fans in our town. He is not very self aware, so I don’t think he will reflect on all of this.
knocked it out of the park, andrew. perfect.
Am I the only one who thinks he is heading for a Milton Bradleyesque mental breakdown?
It’s so appropriate that Germany produced both Dirk and the term “schadenfreude.”
I just love how one of the reporters asked him and Wade about choking. They both just sat there, silent, until Wade finally realized LeBron wasn’t going to answer the question that was directed primarily at him
You cannot really make comparisons between KG and Barkley’s situation and LeBron’s in Cleveland. First of all, KG was traded from a bad team in a bad NBA city with a bad owner. They were bad. Barkley could not carry teams to an NBA title and wasn’t a superstar. LeBron had a top 5 owner and a team that won 60+ games two seasons in a row. KG’s alleged comment was ignorant (not surprising)
This is an excerpt from an article on CBS Sportsline….
“As the clock wound down toward midnight and the great Hall of Famers, Nowitzki and Kidd, were celebrating, at long last, their elusive championship, the silence in the Heat locker room spoke volumes. In a side room around the corner from the double-doors, a meeting of the minds was under way among some Heat basketball officials, Nike reps, and James’ agent, Leon Rose. William “World Wide Wes” Wesley, whose fingerprints were all over this Heat creation, was on his way. ”
LOL, ok guys, who do we blame this on and whats our excuse? I get the feeling Spoelstra wasnt invited to this meeting. 😀
@15…That would be AWESOME!
As far as I’m concerned…time to move on and focus on the Cavs. Can’t wait for the draft!
@Nate_4 –
I agree with you. If LeBron had stayed, he would have just flamed out in the playoffs here.
“…if LeBron wants it, he’s going to have to work for it and his team is going to have to grow into it. The irony being, this was exactly the scenario he was running from in Cleveland.”
Boom. This one’s over, folks. That piece was brilliant.
I didn’t want him to win his first championship (if he ever wins one) the summer after leaving and that juvenile pep rally Miami hosted last July. My point is, while he won’t ever be just an another opponent because of his obvious history with the Cavs, I’m focusing more on my beloved Cavs from here on out rather than rooting against him. Enjoy your summer, LeBron.
I, too, question whether LeBron James winning a title is a foregone conclusion. Talent brought the Heat to the NBA Finals, but it was teamwork that won it all for the Mavs. Dirk was right when he remarked how when he couldn’t seem to hit anything, his team carried – just as he had carried them in earlier games. I seriously question whether Spoelstra has the coaching chops to turn the Heat talent into an elite “team.” It seems like he was almost afraid of prescribing clear roles for James and Wade in the fourth quarter, insisting that they suppress their egos and just do what their coach told them to do. Wade and James simply looked indecisive. And in the future, you can bet every coach in the NBA will be taking a page from Carlisle’s defensive playbook and playing more zone against the Heat. Wade carried most of the weight for the Heat in the finals, but I think he, James, and Spoelstra have a lot of work to do in developing a real team that can become NBA champs.
Of course this article, a hundred others that will come and go or have already been written…..all assume, that sports figures care about anything, more than the money! Thome didnt stay! Cliff Lee didnt stay! Many more havent stayed! I wasnt surprised even slightly when the goofball from akron didnt stay! Cleveland? Who would want to stay in cleveland? Sports in this town died long ago….we just dont realize it yet! Somebody gets a dbl and we jump for joy, even though they lost the game! Somebody throws a TD pass and its more than enough, who cares we lost! Were doomed, Lebron knew it and ran, im just surprised it took him so long to realize it???????
Le who?
Oh, that guy that never won a championship for Cleveland and still can’t win a championship on a dream team. Guess we’re in the same boat that we were in when he was here. Same number of championships, but now we don’t have to put up with him anymore. Not sure why we ever wanted a king.
I’d say we came out pretty well, in the end. Can’t wait to see what happens with and after the draft.
In retrospect of my personal upbringing, I was taught that in order to succeed in life, and to get what you want, you have to work hard and earn it. Shortcuts are simply an attempt to do something haphazardly to reach the desired conclusion. Shortcuts are in no way a guarantee of the desired conclusion. Loyalty is eventually rewarded. This is just another jaded, rich athlete who thinks he is bigger than the game. Karma catches up with people, and she’s not done yet.
put me in the camp of thinking that there is no guarantee LeBron ever wins a title….and especially with the Miami Heat.
i would actually argue the opposite in that Miami is now in very serious trouble based upon what the Dallas Mavericks just showed the world…the Heat are in now way superior to anyone.
in fact Miami now finds themselve in the beginning stages of a complete roster overhaul. they will lose Bibby, Howard, Z for sure and will most likely look to axe more. this means a whole new group to bring in to gel (again).
they have effectively given themselves just enough rope to hang themselves in the contracts of James, Wade and Bosh. Yes, they are three great players but cannot carry a much weaker supporting cast on their backs.
Wade and James both play recklessly with their bodies. Wade has experienced sitting the majority of a season, James has yet to. What does the Heat look like when either of those two go down for a season?
in addition the rest of the league isnt going to just sit back and not improve. Chicago and OKC showed they are one or two players away, the west will always be great, etc.
no folks, when you get to the finals, you capitalize or you may never see them again.
Suspect those who think (more likely, want) LeBron to regret his departure just don’t comprehend his narcissism. He’s a peculiar lab creation athlete, like Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, except his lab was not a Soviet machine but our twisted one, the inner city emphasis on basketball as the way out, the AAU camps, coaches pretending to be fathers, the media attention since he was an early teen, the insulation by toadies, and yep, our totally uncritical adoration of a guy just because he was born here and won the gene pool.
I’m still surprised at the way he has recently died in the moments on the court. But seems that the bile directed at his asinine comments reflect a lot of self-loathing. We know deep down he comes from a lab, our lab.
Wow, knees galore are jerking! This outcome was wonderful for Cleveland and I am enjoying every second of the aftermath.
OTOH, it is utterly absurd to say that the Heat are never going to be good. They have played together for one season, and made it to the finals. They creamed Chicago, who was supposed to be the more complete team. They beat Boston, who had the perfectly constructed team (with the one stupid exception of trading Perk). Next year, LA, Dallas, and Boston will be older. Chicago doesn’t figure to be significantly better. There’s very little to indicate that the Heat won’t have a relatively easy path back. Yeah, they got beat by a better team, but if they keep contending, they’ll win eventually.
“…a meeting of the minds was under way among some Heat basketball officials, Nike reps, and James’ agent, Leon Rose. William “World Wide Wes” Wesley, whose fingerprints were all over this Heat creation, was on his way.”
I’m thinking of the Camp Krusty episode.
“Gentlemen… to evil.”
I feel good today. This is why: http://www.heyhokie.com
The Cavs rebuild will take a while and they won’t be ready to win it all next year, but I think the Mavs could take the championship again and that would suit me just fine. Maybe current Miami Heat = late 90s Utah Jazz and maybe current Dirk Nowitzki = late 90s MJ (that’s a stretch). There’s no guarantee LeBron and the Heat win anything… they’ll have another tough route to go through in next year’s playoffs too, and maybe Derrick Rose will have tightened up his game even more by then. The Lakers are still an elite team. There are a lot of ifs for Miami and LBJ.
Great, great post (and comments).
I think that one of the points Lebron missed most of all is what Dirk noted last night: It wouldn’t have meant as much winning anywhere else.
Now that Lebron has failed, it will require Miami to have not just three stars, but (likely) a “name” coach (Riley), a few more surrounding players, etc. before he gets his ring – if then. And then who will it be meaningful for?
@29, but your assumption of growth from Miami doesn’t leave room for growth from other teams. In particular, the Chicago Bulls aren’t going anywhere and are likely to only get better. What if they actually pick up a decent 2-guard? What if Derrick Rose learns to just take the ball to the hole instead of shooting contested jumpers? What if Carlos Boozer learns to keep his idiot mouth shut instead of fueling Chris Bosh?
IF 05-08/09 LeBron comes back (and Wade stays healthy) the Heat will likely be favorites, and will probably win a title. With 10-11 LeBron I’d say it is never happening.
We just need the eventual implosion between Bosh, Wade and James to happen soon.
Three enormous egos. Eventually it will turn into a Shaq/Kobe situation. I just hope it happens before they win a title.
Who did Miami beat to get here? Philly, who wasn’t going to do anything. Boston, old and washed up. Chicago, a one man team. This is what happens when they run in to good teams. And the East is only going to improve. They looked terrified of Dallas last night. They still don’t have a point guard or center or a bench. No one points out obvious things they are lacking espcecially these experts on TV. And yet again Lebron shows he is a fraud. Maybe Cleveland should be glad he left, or it would have been another let down this year. Not only that, but it seems like the guy doesn’t care either. That is sad.
To be totally honest I think Bosh is a dead man walking. I think they find a way to move him in some sort of deal to get an actual PG or big. I don’t know if that would be CP3 or Howard but he is definitely the least significant of that bunch and he had his struggles this year. I think judging by his reaction last night he probably knows it as well.
LeBron has faced an elimination game in the playoffs 8 times. he is 2-6.
but, he has NEVER won a playoff series where he has faced an elimination game (Celtics W in ’08 game6, then lost game7. Magic W in ’09 game5, then lost game6)
if you back LeBron up against the wall, then he has never fought his way out. I didn’t realize that until today.
I don’t know… it seems to me he was trying to say, “Hey, you can be a hater all you want, but it’s not going to make the world a better place and I’m not going to change because of it.”
He’s just a horrible public speaker.
But, the way it’s been spun is more interesting to discuss on sports talk radio.
@36 JM – Chicago wasn’t a one man team until Rose was the only onw who could do anything against the Heat. Boston wasn’t old and washed up until they faced the Heat. Also, nobody in the east figures to be better than those teams next year. The only real, likely improvement is a SG for Chicago.
@Roosevelt – I agree except Boston wasn’t old and washed up until Rondo had to play with 1-arm.
OK thanks for agreeing with me about Chicago. And yes Boston was old and washed up too.
Im pretty sure I wrote just after the decision that I wanted LeBron to have a terrible playoff series and miss an easy game winning shot in a Game 7 loss in any playoff series. This was pretty close to my wish. Quite content today.
@Stin4U
i actually think it is LeBron more on the trade block than Bosh (everybody’s head explodes). I’m not saying that Riles will try to trade him, just that it makes more sense to dump him than Bosh in creating a complete team versus 3 names that can’t work together.
Bosh can fit naturally with Wade and play off the ball whereas LeBron and Wade simply did not figure out how to co-exist and may never figure it out.
LeBron has had 8 years to try and learn to play without the ball and still cannot bring himself to do it.
@Chris – I just see Bosh being the odd man out. The clip you saw of the mocking of dirk was Wade and Bron. During the post game interviews Bosh is usually there by himself, while Wade and Bron go up together.
I think you’re right about Bosh being a better fit but I just don’t see Wade and Lebron breaking up. I feel like they’d force Bosh out the door before they split up that duo.
@Stin
Totally agree that Wade and Lebron will not breakup unless forced by Riles.
Bosh has always been the one outside looking into that marriage.
after re-reading my post I should have worded it more that the trade that makes more basketball sense to make is LeBron based on how we saw those two not being able to operate cohesively together for the majority of the season and all of the finals.
TPE for Chris Bosh. Do it.
I kid, I kid. Still though, Bosh was uber-efficient as a 2nd or 3rd option/safety valve for Miami in that series. Paired with a good PG and a shooter or two, he could do real damage on another team.
@stin4u – Bosh totally fits better than BronBron, and if anyone is gone, it will be him (Bosh), but there’s no way they blow this thing up after just one year. That’d be Pat Riley admitting he failed. He’ll have to lose while “coaching” the team first. Spoelstra will do all the work, riles will get all the credit.
Erik S. is the fall guy this year, Bosh will be next.
I really wish Mo Williams played like Terry did this series. I’m pretty sure that’s what the Cavs FO envisioned when they traded for him.
Nowitski is the type of person the NBA should be full of. Not only did he stay, he took a paycut, and negotiated his contract without an agent. Even right now he said he doesn’t care for the impending endorsements, he just wants to be a basketball player.
Then you have players like Lebron, who has fathers multiple kids with his girlfriend, but still won’t marry her. Why so he doesn’t get caught up in a Tiger-esque scandal. A player who (and there is no denying this) colluding in the off-season while under contract with another franchise. Lebron stated multiple times that his goal is to become a billionaire athlete. I don’t think he cares about winning championships unless it will help him reach the 1 billion mark.