The Decision – Who comes out the winner? There were jerseys burned, cardboard cutouts ripped apart, and tears shed. LeBron’s decision left Cleveland in disarray and keeps sports fans in the Forest City asking why us. Why always us? The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, The Move, The Single, and now The Decision. Cleveland just can’t catch a break.
And LeBron didn’t seem like he really cared about the fans in Cleveland too much. No apologies, no emotions, no sympathy for his “hometown”. Here is what LeBron tweeted this morning:
“What’s up yall. Just landed in my new home. Thanks to all the fans and Miami organization who greeted me. The Road to History starts now!” – @KingJames
No thank you to his loyal fans in Cleveland for seven years of unquestioned support. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert reacted with a somewhat uncalled for but definitely hilarious letter, saying things like:
“I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE”
Yes, he did use all caps for that one. He also wrote the following:
“This shocking act of disloyalty from our home grown “chosen one” sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn. And “who” we would want them to grow-up to become.”
With emotions flying high off the court, let’s look at what this means for the NBA on the court. Who comes out the winner of the Decision by LeBron to join Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami?
At first glance, the new super team with the cleverly dubbed Miami Thrice seems the one to beat. The NBA odds makers seem to agree. Bodog has the Heat as the heavy favorite to win the 2010/11 NBA title at 7/4.
However, if you take a closer look, you have to ask yourself if a team with three superstars and nine minimum-salary guys will be able to win a title, or even 60+ games like the Cavaliers did the last couple of years for that matter.
The Heat traded away Michael Beasley to make room for the big three, and right now Mario Chalmers is the only player on the Heat roster. With the addition of Bosh, Wade, and LeBron Miami will have four players. Former Wizards shooting guard Mike Miller is reportedly on his way to signing with the Heat, but that’s all for now.
And then? Who is next? Who will be on the bench, ready to step in when the big three need to take a break? Who will be on the court holding the leads that the super trio builds? Or will Bosh, Wade, and LeBron average 44 minutes? If they do, how long will it take until one of them gets hurt? How much will they have left in the tank come playoff time?
Also, with Wade and LeBron on the court, who will take the last shot? Miami is Wade County. Will Dwayne be OK with letting LeBron take the last shot? Or will LeBron step back and let Wade take over? This could lead to some serious problems in crunch time, not a good recipe for a title run.
I think LeBron should have gone to Chicago. They have Carlos Boozer, Joachim Noah, and Derrick Rose. That team will be great even without the King, but they would have been nearly unbeatable had LeBron chosen the windy city.
And honestly, while the Bulls would have looked even better with James joining them, I think LeBron’s decision to go to South Beach makes the Bulls the winner of this whole free agency mess.
I think Miami will sooner or later run into one of the problems I mentioned above. They might end up dominating in the regular season, but I can’t see them winning the title without any talent on the bench. And they just simply won’t have the money to get good bench players.
For the upcoming season Miami will be good, there is no denying it, but I think the Magic and the Celtics are still the teams to beat in the Eastern Conference for now, and the Lakers are definitely still the team to beat overall.