I’m not from Cleveland, I’m not from Miami, hell the NBA isn’t much more than a passing interest to me at the end of the day. It’s not hockey we’re talking about here after all.
But all of that being said, it’s hard not to get caught up in the drama of the past 8 days that has centred around LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. These three have been on a serious of high profile meetings with a variety of teams looking to improve their chances of breaking the Lakers-Celtics-Spurs hegemony of the post-lockout era.
Understandably, the people of Cleveland are upset. For the first time since the early days of the Browns they had the best athlete in their sport. To make it even more incredible, he was from the area. He loved the dirty little town and its inhabitants. Now, he has gone for greener, warmer, and potentially more successful pastures.
I know that people are upset and all, but really, can you blame him?
This may be a rather unpopular opinion I am stating here. But I really don’t think that he owes the organization all that much. They build a good time around him, but they were very clearly not better than the Celtics or Magic, and couldn’t even earn a chance to play against the vaunted Lakers. So he took a chance to go to a team that was ready to win. Not to rebuild, not to compete, but to win.
While the details of LeBron’s contract haven’t been announced yet, they most certainly involve some sort of a pay cut. The Cavaliers were able to offer an additional $30 million dollars compared to any other team. Now there could be a sign and trade to allow the Cavs to get something, but given that the Heat don’t have too many other players committed to a contract, and have already announced that they are sending some draft picks to the Raptors, you have to wonder how much they can offer going the other way. And given just how angry the Cavaliers owner was over this, they may not want to help him to get more money.
Now people have been calling James selfish over this, but let me ask you one question. When was the last time that you took a $30 million dollar pay cut?
I am very curious as to the contracts of the Heat’s All-Star Trio. If all of them get the most that they are entitled to, then the team is already pushing the luxury tax. This doesn’t account for the rest of the players that they need to fill up the roster, although I assume that marginal to good players would be lining up for a chance to play with these three.
Nobody gave Kevin Garnett shit for leaving Minnesota a few years ago. Nobody ripped into Shaq when he left Orlando, and then LA. Nobody balked at Alex Rodriguez when he walked away from Seattle.
Athletes moving on is a fact of professional sports. North American sports are a major, major business. There are TV deals and corporate sponsorships which make ticket sales seem like a formality. People don’t tune in to see teams, they tune in to see amazing players do amazing things. This is more true in the NBA than in any other league. The players are more visible and outspoken, and the game lends itself more to individual expositions of talent than football or baseball.
In modern sports, the athletes should have the power to do what they want. The more we watch them, buy their shoes, and go along with the hype, the more we empower them, it’s just that simple.
And honestly, I think that LeBron deserves a lot of credit. He wants to win. He doesn’t think that it’s possible in Cleveland, so he’s going somewhere else to do it. He knows that you only get so many opportunities, and they may never come again. If you look at pro-sports you find some amazing athletes that went their entire career without ever winning, and he knows that if he doesn’t take the opportunity now he may never get it again.
I actually find it rather refreshing to see him make success his number one priority. Sure it could be money, it could be fame. But he wants to win, and not just once, he wants it to keep going.
I remember a few years ago, people were complaining that there were no dynasties in professional sports. No team of today that could ever match with a team of yesteryear. I think that this may be a case of being careful what you wish for, because I think that we just may have it.
Until next time,
G
