Perspective for Cleveland

My neighbors to the north, sister city of my hometown...I feel you. The shit hurts and most of your reactions are completely justified. You're kind of like the good, blue collar guy that got an Associates Degree and was in the right place at the right time that enabled you to hook up with a supermodel. It was good for a long time, you proposed, she rejected saying she wasn't ready for that commitment and you kept hoping she would change her mind, but you knew that was optimistic on your part. Then she started calling less. Your weekly movie night got cancelled three weeks in a row. You heard rumors of her flirting with Armando the Spaniard Model, but never see them in the same place at the same time. When the break up happens, it crushes you. Part of you hates her for leaving you, part of you thinks she deserves the best, so you walk away with your tail between your legs. Break ups happen everyday, so why is this one so egregious?

Because instead of her coming to you and telling you that it was over, she shows up on the red carpet at Armando's movie premier with a shiny rock on her finger as they make out every five minutes. Then, when a microphone is placed in front of her, she tells the correspondent that Armando just fucked her brains out in the limmo on the way over. And no, ABC did not bleep the *fuck* in time.

You deserve better. You just do. LeBron is a grown man. An intelligent man and well versed man. And obviously, a supremely talented one. But I'm not so sure how self-aware he is. His decision is his own and I can only fault him so much for leaving Cleveland before I see the reason in it. However, this could've been handled so much differently. The way he toyed with the fans can only be comparable to how Kobe Bryant did with Laker fans in 2007. Except, The Lakers already had a closet full of championship rings, Kobe's flirting with other teams only lasted a couple weeks instead of years and he ultimately returned to LA. Wow, I guess they don't compare at all, huh?

There are a couple people burning LeBron jerseys today (though news cameras enable that as much as anything else). As the Right would say, those are the 'fringe' people. There will be a lot more people that will throw their LeBron jerseys and Witness T-Shirts into the back of their closet never to be worn again. And I understand their sentiment.

Dan Gilbert (the Cavs owner) is a different animal altogether. His letter to his fanbase was over the top and emotional, but he also as an individual lost the most in all of this. Will he regret some of things he said? Absolutely. I also think some of the none-childish things he said were true as well.

Cleveland, it may not feel like it, but there is precedent for this type of thing. And if you're a big NBA fan, there are two eras/schools of thought that determines how you ultimately feel about this.

I'm 30 years old, so that means my NBA roots are in the 80s and early 90s. Magic and Bird. Players forever linked for their rivalry and competitiveness. However, they would always prefer to beat each other, than play together. Then we get to Michael Jordan. People forget how he used to get pummeled by the Pistons (physically and on the scoreboard). However, Jordan had the competitiveness to say, 'No, we will beat this team with OUR team.' Jordan never once would've considered joining the Pistons. Jordan never hit up his close friend Charles Barkley and said, "Yo, lets get together and get these rings." Actually, the year Barkley won the MVP, Jordan KILLED them in the Finals. That's what I prefer to see. Kobe vs LeBron in Finals is a lot more enticing than Kobe vs LeBron and Bosh and Wade. It just is.

However, there's a new perspective for the NBA player. Shaq was the most prized player in the league, got to the Finals (and beat down) and left for LA. Kevin Garnett (still one of my favorite players of all-time) was as loyal as they come and had nothing to show for it near the end of a Hall of Fame career in Minnesota before being traded to Boston and getting to the Finals twice in 3 years. These are the examples I'm sure LeBron leaned upon before making this decision.

So again, it really seems its more about the delivery of the news than it is about what the decision was. My current favorite player in the NBA, Kevin Durant, announced is contract extension with Oklahoma City thru a tweet. Not only, did it not take an hour (in addition to years of speculation) on National TV to say, but his early commitment also means that Oklahoma City can continue to operate with certainty in growing that team around him, unlike Cleveland with LeBron waffling for so long. But Kevin Durant is a throw back, including how he goes about his business. Maybe, that's the kind of behavior we want to Witness.