Cavs owner Dan Gilbert rips into LeBron

[darrell74]

neither will win

so he is right

Agreed.

[STAY STRONG]

damn he dropped the hammer hard on lebron lol

[BarkingToad]

What has Dan Gilbert ever won? He had 7 or 8 years to get supporting players and a good coach for James and never did. I bet James wins a title before Gilbert does.

[Johnny 55]

What was LeBron supposed to do, he had to get his Mom away from Delonte West, Gilbert should be blaming Delonte for LeBron leaving.

[darrell74]

What was LeBron supposed to do, he had to get his Mom away from Delonte West, Gilbert should be blaming Delonte for LeBron leaving.

[Duby]

What a loser...Lebron can only laugh at this cause Cavs will never win a NBA championship...you can bank on that! I don't blame LBJ for leaving.

[Skidcom]

Just glad the media blitz is over. What a friggin nightmare

[beach nut]

Maybe Dan Gilbert should have put together a better supporting cast around Lebron any of the 7 years he was there.

[GroundnPound]

Give Dan Gilbert a break at least the man has passion. I love how Miami made them three deals and it is going to be great when my Bulls beat them down. No point guard, no centre, no chance for a title

[ngates815]

Would anyone even know who the Cavs were if they didn't have Lebron the last 7 years? Lebron brought worldwide recognition to Cleveland. Gilbert should be happy that Lebron stayed 7 years on that team, and that shitty town. It's not a place where people "want" to play.

[bdavies26]

Hmm... Would I want to live in Cleveland or Miami?

This was a no brainer. Dude's 25. Let him live his life.

[THEGREAT30]

soar losers

[Fishhead]

Gilbert is spot on

LEBRON is a quitter..........

Translation-loser

[3PtShooter]

gilbert is pretty upset

[Fishhead]

Probably the greatest 2 minute read of my life. I have a new found respect for Dan Gilbert after that.

[jjgold]

Cleve is going to fold, no one wants to play there.

20-62

[MarlinsFan2212]

"I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE"

[DwightShrute]

James is classless.

Jordan is 10X the man than this egotistic fool and him wearing #23 is am embarrassment to the NBA. Glad he changed his number.

I hope Lebron gets heat stroke

[SBR Lou]

Personally I think Kobe is the best player in the league, but I think Lebron is taking too much heat over this whole deal. If he were really selfish and only about himself, he'd have taken the extra $30M in guaranteed money and stayed in Cleveland and been content to be their superstar. Instead he's taking significantly less money because he wants to have the best chance to fulfill his dream of winning NBA championships.

He doesn't think that would be realistic in Cleveland — you can say that perhaps playing for a bigger market team he'd make more in endorsements or this or that, but I honestly believe had the pieces not fell together in Miami as they did, he would have either stayed in Cleveland or went to Chicago. He just wants to win.

[Cuse4tw]

cavs are sooooooooooo fukked lol....think of being on that team they all must know their relevance is over

[HCBoone]

"I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE"

Hope it happens

[pronk]

lebron is a cocksucker..i hope he, bosh and the king dbag, wade, all blow out their ankles AND knees on opening night

Amen!

[Fishhead]

Personally I think Kobe is the best player in the league, but I think Lebron is taking too much heat over this whole deal. If he were really selfish and only about himself, he'd have taken the extra $30M in guaranteed money and stayed in Cleveland and been content to be their superstar. Instead he's taking significantly less money because he wants to have the best chance to fulfill his dream of winning NBA championships.

He doesn't think that would be realistic in Cleveland — you can say that perhaps playing for a bigger market team he'd make more in endorsements or this or that, but I honestly believe had the pieces not fell together in Miami as they did, he would have either stayed in Cleveland or went to Chicago. He just wants to win.

Lets be serious here......


Lebron is a MARKETING MACHINE......taking a cut in salary for "playing basketball" is nothing!!

This "he took less money to play with Miami" stuff is meaningless and pure bullcrap.


Also, he does not want to win, HE QUIT NOT ONCE, BUT AT LEAST TWICE IN THE CELTICS SERIES(CAVS OWNER SAYS 3 TIMES, I ONLY COMPREHENDED TWO TIMES).

[thirtytwo]

"I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE"

what a ******* joke with that guarantee i hope he was drunk when he wrote that, because if he didnt cavs franchise is in trouble for years

[Rixsaw]

CAVS owner is a SORE LOSER. Cry on brainless Cavs fans and LeBron haters. The NBA is a business, and this is a business decision. There is no such thing as loyalty in corporate of America. A man gotta do what's best for him.

Loyalty should ONLY be devoted to your family and the best of friends. Welcome to the real world.

[sjm5122]

I agree with what Gilbert said, just not sure as an owner he should come off as bitter as he does. And I agree partly with CrazyLou, but if i were a cavs fan, I would be pissed that he went through all this BS to announce his decision. You can't really say he only cares about winning when he set up an hour special just to announce which team he is switching to. That is the part that makes me hate him.

[chipleader]

I can't blame Lebron for leaving. I watched the Decision and at the end of the day he made the best decision for him, his family and Entourage. Cleveland is no Miami that's for sure. He deserves the right to try to be happy in a place that he likes and play ball with people he likes.

[MastaB]

Lets be serious here......


Lebron is a MARKETING MACHINE......taking a cut in salary for "playing basketball" is nothing!!

This "he took less money to play with Miami" stuff is meaningless and pure bullcrap.


Also, he does not want to win, HE QUIT NOT ONCE, BUT AT LEAST TWICE IN THE CELTICS SERIES(CAVS OWNER SAYS 3 TIMES, I ONLY COMPREHENDED TWO TIMES).

Nail on the head.

He will end up making more because of the move.

[Mac4Lyfe]

With the adjusted cap, all 3 of them don't have to take much of a cut at all. It's estimated that each would lose about $1.5 Mill a year. That's tip money. Plus Florida doesn't have a state tax. All this talk of Lebron is about winning is horseshit. We all saw what he did in game 5. We all know that he put the Cav's in salary cap hell. If he was intent on winning he would have committed to Cleveland 5 years ago. His lack of commitment led to free agents not wanting to come to Cleveland. Lebron hasn't tried to recruit anyone to Cleveland. Don't believe the crap that he tried to bring Bosh here. That's a lie. He didn't even go after Shaq.

[ijrod21i]

This was great, they have made absolutely no effort to get better this off season and their only plans were to keep LeBron and not make their team any better than last year.

[Mac4Lyfe]

This was great, they have made absolutely no effort to get better this off season and their only plans were to keep LeBron and not make their team any better than last year.

That was the biggest mistake Ferry made the past few years. He kept changing out parts all in an effort to please the Queen. You have to have some stability but Lebron kept wanting to make wholesale changes. Look at MJ in Chicago. They lost 3 straight times to Detroit but kept their core team and won. Cleveland only had 1 consistent starter for more than 2 years in a row... Lebron.

The Cav's had the best record in the league 2 years in a row and was one of the best teams the past 4 years. Why do people think you have to keep making changes in order to win? How do you ever develop team chemistry? I think Cleveland had a great chance to compete next year with Lebron and current cast, just like they did this year. They weren't far away.

[triqy]

The letter by Gilbert was epic, although I think it will hurt him in recruiting future free agents for his organziation

[EmpireMaker]

Taylor are you serious??? Gilbert and Ferry did everything possible to improve the Cav's. Gilbert paid millions over the salary cap each year Lebron was here. Every trade was signed off by Lebron first. He got rid of coaches and players that Lebron didn't like. The Cav's had the best record in the league 2 years straight. They were the prohibited favorites this year especially after they went after Jamison. Even you thought they would win it all. How the hell can you call a 62 win team "sub par"??? I don't feel like going through the history but I'll repost another post from another forum where a guy answered the same question you posed...

You mean like signing Hughes, Marshall and Damon Jones, after being spurned by guys like Joe Johnson and Ray Allen. A summer FA haul that was lauded by the critics

Or when, after that haul didn't work, somehow they got rid of all three overpaid losers, and turned them into Mo Williams, Delonte West, Ben Wallace and Wally? A turnover that many around the league felt was remarkable and savvy as all hell?

Or when THAT didn't work, how we drafted J.J. Hickson, a guy lots of teams would LOVE to have, and turned Ben Wallace and Sasha F'ing Pavlovic into Shaq and signed Moon, Parker and Powe to nothing contracts and then, in the midst of a great season, still found a way to bring in Antawn Jamison, a career 20 and 8 PF that had the vast majority of NBA-insiders saying THIS time the Cavs would win!?!

Face facts, man. This team did EVERYTHING it could to put a winner around James. Each time they did, it failed, and they tried again! Each time their moves were applauded by those who "know basketball" and yet each time the fell flat. There were only TWO pieces that consistently played a role in our eventual failures over the pat 5 years. One, was our inept though well-meaning coach who taught Lebron how to play defense and created an atmosphere in C-Town and an identity with the Cavaliers of a team that would scrap, fight and play hardnosed Defense. Was his offense abysmal? oh hell yeah it was! And he deserved to get the boot eventually...

....but the other guy who was there for it all was Lebron James! And like Gator said, the Cavaliers have given this guy a myriad players, all shapes and sizes and strengths and mental states...and most of shrunk in his mere presence, given way to his on-the-ball-dominance (often times to the detriment of the team) and all the while LBJ has giggled and played and galavanted like it was no big thing.

So IF he decides to go to Miami, on the pretense that he wants championships - i personally don't think he will - then it will be a major shift in who Lebron James the athlete and, quite frankly, Lebron James that person in who he is. From once a carefree, hometown-loving, hero to now just another athlete, afraid to accept responsibility for his own failings, desirous of accolades he's never earned even if acquiring those trophies means forgetting who he is, forgetting where he came from, and forgetting those who LITERALLY put their careers, desires and even dreams on hold to try and help him get there (that includes fans, just like Redzone).

I personally don't think he's forgotten us. The fans, the city, the owner and players, the truly unique situation he has here in C-town.

Nor has he forgotten how MUCH this Franchise has done to help him achieve his goals...

Shaq is garbage and anyone who doesn't realize that is a fool !!!

[JoMoney2785]

ya **** shaq, worthless old bastard

[fisel]

I hate the way Lebron left but Dan Gilberts statement has to be one of the dumbest things I've ever read.