Trader? Sell out? Maybe, but I'm most surprised hey wasn't confident/arrogant enough to want to win a title "on his own" and/or want to beat Wade and Bosh rather than join them. I don't see Jordan ever pulling that kind of move, pretty weak and meaningless if you ask me. Kobe will always get to look down on James now, and I'm not a Kobe fan, nor a James fan...

Regardless, Riley sent Beasley to Rambis, go Wolves!!

Should have been shot. I lived in Akron years ago. At some point money doesn't really matter. You can want rings or public admiration. He might get the first, but with this circus over the past weeks, he has lost a lot of the second.

It's going to be funny when the Lakers win the finals against the Heat (if the superstars make it that far) a couple of times in a row and all this hoopla did was put Kobe not very far behind Jordan (instead of a fair distance behind as he is now).

The whole friggin' hour long ESPN special was so amazingly narcissistic it's kind of scary, yet I did schedule some cardio time at the gym so I could watch. Yeah, I don't have much respect left for the King, I hope the Cav's owner is right and Cleveland gets a title before LeBron, I just can't imagine that being possible at the moment.

but he gave money to charity!!111!1

Yeah, it was pretty ridiculous, but in a way I understand it -- I mean, honestly, knowing how idiotic ESPN is it's reasonable to assume they would have dragged an hour out of the announcement anyway, so at least LeBron and co. got some money to the Boys and Girls Club. Still ridiculous, but it wasn't totally classless.

And Al Capone funded bread lines during the Depression. Sometimes good deeds don't help.

@gobba-

"Should have been shot."

For what? Choosing to take less money to go play somewhere he thought he had more of a chance to win a championship. Or choosing to be a multimillionaire in his mid 20's in one of the destination cities in the country over staying in the American version of Chelyabinsk?

I live in Akron now and its amazing (though not surprising) how quickly the people of his home town wrote him off as self-serving and arrogant. I don't follow the NBA all that closely but its hard to avoid the controversy here.

I really do hope that the Cavs get a title before him, but I won't hold my breath.

I can't believe the NBA allowed that ridiculous show last night. It turned off a hell of a lot more people than it attracted. It demonstrated that the press are just a bunch of mindless lapdogs willing to be fed any story like it was legit. It's pathetic how this guy is able to outshine *every* single other player in the league. Why is that? Because he sucks in the playoffs?

I heard him making a statement talking about how *he* was going to win a Championship....which is exactly why he never will. It's a *team* sport. What a pathetic display that was by all involved.

Who hasn't been aware for years that the press are a bunch of mindless lapdogs willing to be fed any story? And hell, sportswriters are particularly whorish within the prostitute-filled ranks of the press.

Eden, Mr. James could have just written a check to the Boys and Girls club, it had nothing to do with charity, it was all about The King's ego.

Let's be honest. Win or lose, the LeBron going to Miami is a more interesting story than LeBron remaining in Cleveland.

And LeBron quitting basketball, donating his wealth to Mother Teresa, and becoming a hermit would have made a really inspiring story.

I don't think it's an interesting story no matter where he goes or stays. That's the point; it isn't the Lebron James league and most people could give a rats ass about a single player. For as much as it's worth, Clevand will only care about him 4 times next year: the days the Cavs play against him....

Here is the lasting image that LeBron inspired - an image that even those who could care less about basketball will remember: A Jame Cav jersey being burned live on TV. Great marketing there....great legacy building.

I predict he goes to Miami and fades into mediocrity... (Miami? Seriously??? So...it's not about the basketball....it's about the beaches and the party scene...Or maybe he's just trying to avoid taxes?)

Maybe we can get LeBron in the "Corrupt a Wish" concept.

The real question: Now that he's going to Miami and f*ing up their payroll, causing other players to be eliminated or take less money....what is going to happen if (when) the team fails to win it all because the great one has joined them? Imagine the resentment...might be a very interesting locker room. Might be kind of like a former Dallas Wide Receiver who's head got too big...

@Krellin good points... people seem to assume that the best will happen, but you have a good insight in that tensions will follow if they don't all but conquer the world.

I don't begrudge Lebron for making a media circus. He's in the media personality business just as much as professional basketball. I'd rather see him in a town that cares about sports, but in the end he's a grown man who can make his own decisions.

The phrases are *couldn't* care kless or *couldn't* give a rat's ass. If they could care less, then they must care some, and if they could give a rat's ass, then they are giving something.

This and moot versus mute are two of my biggest pet peeves.

less, not kless*

"Regardless, Riley sent Beasley to Rambis, go Wolves!!"

"This is a team that's ready to win a championship"--Ricky Rubio

You bet Ricky, once you and Johnny team up! Go Timber-Wolves!

Yep, I personally guarantee the Wolves will win a championship before LeBron!! ;-)

I'm in Cleveland; it was very interesting today @ work listening to all the opinions. Most fans feel more than a bit betrayed, but that's because they were willing to forgive his narcissism while he wore the uniform of his (near, not actual) home town.

Personally, I do think that he hurt his reputation and showed a lack of character or mettle by choosing to make this "decision" a circus show. For one who claims to be steeped in a love for the history of basketball, he shows a glaring ignorance of that same history. I also love when people talk about themselves in the third person; that always kills me (hard to express sarcasm in writing).

For now, LanGaidin has to do what's best for LanGaidin and log off before LanGaidin's wife kills him.

I have no sympathy for Cleveland. He is not entitled to stay when he becomes a free agent and I'm not sure why people think that. The Cleveland organization has surrounded him with terrible players for 7 years. (The best they could manage was a past prime Shaq? Or half a season with Antwan Jamison?) No wonder he left.

I think it would have been better for him to go to the Bulls though because he wouldn't clash with Wade. He would be the #1 guy in Chicago but in Miami he will compete with Wade. We'll see how it all turns out.

@others above: I never said the event was about charity. What I am saying is that ESPN, being the bunch of whorish bitches that they are, would have sucked him off for an hour anyway, and that while the situation was stupid either way I give Lebron and co. credit for doing something constructive with it when they didn't have to do so.

I am a fan of the now LBJA (Le'Bron James association) but I couldn't care less about lebron. It is all about the Dallas Mavericks

The CURSE is gone!!!

My opinion as an Akronite-
I must say it's not that big of a deal. He should have just said "I'm 24 or 25, and I want to play in a different place and see some different stuff, but the whole 'where's Lebron goin' ordeal went way too far, and it all just got a little old. The manager's 'curse will follow' speech was needed to heal the hearts of the fans. Hope still lives in Cleveland!! And nobody will ever forget where Lebron came from.

Since when was a US star athlete not allowed to move to a team outside his own city?

Mind you, the quip about it all being rather narcissistic was neat. Still a distant second to the C Ronaldo effort at Real Madrid last year though.

I'm still waiting for the Baltimore Ravens to give back Ozzie Newsome.

Oops, wrong sport, sorry.

It bugs me how much the NBA is about players grouping up in a team to "earn" a ring - you know, with several other all-stars... and how that is usually in larger cities (San Antonio the notable exception). But, being that is the way it is, then I can't blame Le Bron for playing the same game everyone else is playing. Missed the LeBron hour-long self-love event. Darn. Next year my mantra will now be: "anyone but LA, Boston, or Miami"... I do note that I watch far less basketball now that my WNBA team disbanded. Yes, you heard that right. A lot less egos (so far) in that league... and I like the below-the-rim play a ton more than the NBA version of the game. Personally I think the NBA game would be a lot better if they did away with free agency or at least restricted it far more. I like the strategizing involved with managers trying to build a team slowly, skillfully... free-agency kind of breaks that. Then it's simply about two things: money and stars wanting to play with other stars to "earn" a ring when they can't in more honest way.

@dexter morgan... do you remember a few months back when some nut in Georgia was trying to start an all-white basketball league because he liked 'fundamental basketball'? You'd think he never saw a wnba or women's college game.

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/07/08/dan-gilbert-blasts-lebron-james-cowardly-betrayal-in-letter-t/