eff miami

[Thorgnor]

So the newest "superteam" in American sports has been created and all that's left is to crown the traitors. By leaving behind small markets that have supported troubled teams in order to go for the sponsorship dough on the beach, where no one shows up unless you're winning, LeBron and Bosh have made sure that most teams won't be fun to watch, and most won't have a chance competing at the highest levels.

This could be one of the most impressive teams ever assembled, or a GIANT mistake, but either way,

there goes basketball as you have enjoyed it in the past...

Welcome to the era where you watch to hope for a meltdown, as opposed to hoping for some spectacular stuff. At their very best many teams can not even hope to compete, and you can count the Raptors among them.

Let the Linus Kleiza era begin?!?!?!?!?!?

Can you say "Way to fuck up by trading away the potential of future draft picks after consecutive underachieving seasons in order to keep your star happy, only to loose that star to a team with a hope of winning"?

countdown to the next lockout in 3... 2...

On a political note, it's a great way to prevent any other countries from having a star emerge as the leader of a championship team if the three best American players team up and dominate. It sets a nice tone, don't you think.

:surprise:

Colangelo fail!

Growth of the sport fail!

Who wants to see parody? I'd rather watch a superpower crush anyone who thinks they've got a shot. 1927 Yankees.

I hope these guys like the idea of being booed nightly only to win a championship that no one congratulates them for winning.

Edited July 9, 2010 by Guest

[MrBigTime]

The Cavs majority owner's open letter to fans:

"Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there"

[Thorgnor]

and some people's shit doesn't stink.

Miami's Hot Voltron smells like hot piss.

Edited July 9, 2010 by Guest

[ollie]

Disgusting.

[phishtaper]

miami is a nice city. i wish them the best.

[Thorgnor]

How'bout Toronto? 'Cause now they're fucked,and these things change the geography, culture and economics of a city. There goes the neighborhood.

When Vince left, and this is beside all of his faults, something else left too. He used to hold a party at the Docks and later at Atlantis, and it was a big deal to get an invite, or even to be able to afford a ticket for some people who are, say, more inclined towards unlawful business. His strained relationship with his brother, and some guilt, collided in his participating in a lot of outreach kind of work and spending a lot of time with kids of "questionable" backgrounds who were not yet "out" of any kind of violent or criminal lifestyle.

Going to the party was not only a sign of getting away from that stuff, but also at the very least, of moving toward a more "respected" position, of kids making an effort to fit in without having to be "negative". Now one could argue that this meant a hobnobbing of some kind of criminally connected elite of people from Toronto's black(er) neighborhoods. But it also did something extremely positive. It gave certain people something to share, and it kept a degree or semblance of "order" within some groups by forcing them to hobnob with one another rather than resorting to "other means" to resolve disputes.

What I'm trying to say in a round about way is that Carter's "White Parties" held a lot of gun play at bay, and made that kind of violence not only un-needed, but bad for business.

He left, so did the parties, and Bosh lacked that kind of community connection or credibility... boom, boom, out go the lights.

Bosh doesn't do these things for Toronto, but what he does do, is gone now and I don't think Bargnani is gonna be able to pick up the slack, if you catch what I'm saying. That, combined with the recent words from Turkoglu about hating it in Toronto and feeling as if he wasn't told the whole truth about the place, and you've got a pretty bad rep building up. I'm not so sure this franchise has much of a future (in the next ten years) without a really good showing very soon, and that has become more of an impossibility with the shift in the eastern landscape.

Too much analysis? sorry.

I've always been a Knicks fan, and I could care less if Toronto does well as far as being a fan. But, I won't be seeing very many games on TV if I don't root for the home team. Funny how business works that way.

[Basher]

Holy shit this sounds wicked!

Being ~25, a millionaire, living on the beach in whack houses with your three best friends, running the NBA (in their minds).

It has to be that simple, right? These are KIDS.

[Hal Johnson]

The Cavs majority owner's open letter to fans:

"Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there"

That letter was wicked.

Its a weird issue though - is it really poor sportsmanship to do what they did? Would the general public only be happy if both Bosh and Lebron stayed with their teams? What if Boch followed the money to NY and Lebron to Chicago? Not so much of a story then, I'd suppose.

To me, I find it odd that that this doesn't happen more often. My guess is that ego (and greed) usually gets in the way and superstars stay away from each other so as to not have to share the spotlight. These guys have done the opposite of that though, which is kinda crazy. In this respect, I kind of like what they have done.

As for LeBron leaving Cleveland, in a perfect world we'd all like to see our stars stay for their career, but its no surprise to see them leave either. And I don't think its fair to blame him for how the media covered it. Everyone knows that any story these days gets so incredibly blown out of proportion that its actually kind of sad. Because LeBron is so good his story was covered so ridiculously.

As for Bosh, you guys know how I feel about him - its just too bad the Raps couldn't have got someone for him when they had a chance. Out of all this, he's going to be the little blond chick on survivior who makes it to the final three on the coattails of the other contestants. Bosh can eat it, for all I care.

Just watched the Dwyane Wade Court Cuts on The Score the other day, and shit, its hard for me to not like that guy. He's incredible. He invited these guys to his team. Who does that? Seriously, who? Not many people, I tells ya. It's fairly unprecedented, IMHO.

Even still, after all this, something feels wrong about it - as if they are cheating sport on some cosmic level - but I guess I'll have to go burn one and mull it over to truly decide if i'll cheer for Lebron and D-Wade when they win, or laugh at Bosh when they lose.

[Hal Johnson]

As usual, Bill Simmons makes sense of it all for me:

Michael Jordan would have wanted to kick Dwyane Wade's butt every spring, not play with him. This should be mentioned every day for the rest of LeBron's career. It's also the kryptonite for any "Some day we'll remember LeBron James as the best basketball player ever" argument. We will not. Jordan and Russell were the greatest players of all time. Neither of them would have made the choice that LeBron did. That should tell you something.

Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100709

[Thorgnor]

exactly

If you can't beat'em?!?!?!? Way to stay true to the spirit of sport. If they win it will be like the 1927 Yankees. They may have had the most stacked roster, but they are FAR from the best team ever in baseball. Likewise for these jokers.

[Thorgnor]

My question to LeBron or Wade or Bosh would be this, was Stockton less incredible because he never won a championship? Was Karl Malone not the dominant big man of his era? Or are they chumps for not taking a pay cut and joining the bulls for a season in order to cement a legacy?

Fuckthesecowards.

Edited July 10, 2010 by Guest
I guess there were a lot of big men... Ewing, Robinson, etc.

[Thorgnor]

Would we remember these guys the same way if they had "joined forces"?

[badams]

I've never been a fan of Kobe but I would LOVE to see the Heat play the Lakers in the final with the Lakers completing the 3-peat.

[badams]

Something for the Raptors to work with at least...

The Raptors have turned the departure of Chris Bosh into something after all.

Amid fears they would lose the five-time all-star to the Miami Heat and receive no compensation, they have received a package in what’s turned into a sign-and-trade transaction.

The Raptors will get back the draft pick they gave the Heat in the Jermaine O’Neal transaction, Miami’s 2011 first-round pick, and a trade exception worth about $16 million.

The trade exception would allow the Raptors to acquire a player or players with salaries up to $16 million without having to ship out any players.

It expires one calendar year from the date the transaction is complete and allows president and general manager Bryan Colangelo to be a player in what’s left of this summer’s free agent market.

‘‘We are certainly sorry to see Chris leave, but we are planning to use these acquired assets to retool our roster and evolve as an organization,†Colangelo said.

Bosh stood to sign a five-year deal worth about $90 million as strictly a free agent or a six-year deal worth up to $120 million in a sign-and-trade deal.

Meanwhile, the Heat sent two future first-round and two second-round picks to the Cavaliers for LeBron James. James, Bosh and Dwyane Wade all signed six-year deals with the Heat Friday.

[Basher]

Anyone who thought LBJ/Bosh would leave a year of job security on the table was flat out kidding themselves.

[ollie]

And I don't think its fair to blame him for how the media covered it.

He could have said no to the TV special.

[Hal Johnson]

And I don't think its fair to blame him for how the media covered it.

He could have said no to the TV special.

Valid point, but even if he had, there still would have been a special. Also, I was referring more to the constant talk on the radio and TV about it in the weeks leading up to it. That shit was crazy (and annoying), and out of his control.