Dan Gilbert about to get trolled again?
- Thread starter Dr. Narcisse
- Start date
Good article adande... ESPN. Com
Would LeBron play for Gilbert again?
J.A. Adande [ARCHIVE]
ESPN.com | July 9, 2014
If I could get a meeting of my own with LeBron James, I'd ask him how he could even consider compromising his values and stepping down from the moral high ground he ascended to during the playoffs by weighing an offer from Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert.
LeBron produced the sharpest and most noteworthy criticism of Clippers owner Donald Sterling after TMZ made Sterling's racially offensive diatribes public, saying "it's unacceptable in our league." No one has accused Gilbert of holding the same misguided racial perceptions as Sterling. With Gilbert, it's about the personal attacks on LeBron's character, and his diametrically opposed views on the business of the NBA.
AP Photo/Amy Sancetta
A return to Cleveland would mend fences, but could LeBron ever forgive Dan Gilbert's infamous letter?
Gilbert, for those who never bothered to read his unhinged response to The Decision in 2010 before the Cavaliers recently purged it from their website, called LeBron's departure to the Miami Heat a "cowardly betrayal" and said LeBron was a bad example for the children of Cleveland. This wasn't just a critique of the televised announcement; it was a tantrum about the very premise of free agency, as if anything other than a career-long commitment to the team that drafted a player constituted treason.
A year later, Gilbert was among the group of owners holding to the hard line when the NBA locked out its players, willing to sacrifice games to institute a new collective bargaining agreement that limited player earnings and hampered the formation of superteams.
A return to the Cavaliers by James would be a tacit endorsement of all he rejected. It wouldn't represent just a swallowing of his own pride -- it would be a surrender in the battle for self-determination for NBA players.
There's an undercurrent to this summer's free-agency period that makes it more than just a reshuffling of rosters. The proceedings are a referendum on the labor conflict fought in 2011 and perhaps the grist for a new battle in the next round of negotiations.
I've interpreted reports that LeBron will take nothing less than a maximum contract as his way of rejecting the premise that it's incumbent on players to make the financial sacrifices to win, as if the owners don't also have the option of paying the luxury tax to assemble a championship team. To play for Gilbert would be to reward a man who wanted it this way. It would also mean leaving Heat owner Micky Arison, who made it clear on Twitter that he didn't approve of the way collective bargaining negotiations were headed in 2011. (Arison also showed he had no love for Sterling, responding to a tweet criticizing Sterling in his mentions with an "lol.")
Maybe LeBron wants to send a message that's bigger than the business of basketball. Maybe he wants to demonstrate that, to seek forgiveness, one must first be willing to forgive. LeBron returning to Cleveland in his prime could be the greatest reconciliation of a player and a fan base in sports history. But it would nullify any future commentary from LeBron about the relationship between owners and players in the NBA.
Meanwhile, Gilbert never explained why he was willing to offer LeBron a maximum contract if he thought so little of his character. Nor has his low opinion of LeBron's character prevented Gilbert from pursuing him this summer. He hasn't expressed regret for writing the letter, only a desire to reword parts of it. So until we're told otherwise, Gilbert's opinion of LeBron still stands.
Gilbert is a smart enough businessman that he wouldn't let his personal feelings interfere with an opportunity to dramatically increase the value of his franchise. The question now is whether LeBron has the same degree of tunnel vision, whether the desire to return to his home state and join a roster with more young talent under contract than the Heat have is enough for him to recuse himself from the discussion of the owner-player divide.
Would LeBron play for Gilbert again?
J.A. Adande [ARCHIVE]
ESPN.com | July 9, 2014
If I could get a meeting of my own with LeBron James, I'd ask him how he could even consider compromising his values and stepping down from the moral high ground he ascended to during the playoffs by weighing an offer from Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert.
LeBron produced the sharpest and most noteworthy criticism of Clippers owner Donald Sterling after TMZ made Sterling's racially offensive diatribes public, saying "it's unacceptable in our league." No one has accused Gilbert of holding the same misguided racial perceptions as Sterling. With Gilbert, it's about the personal attacks on LeBron's character, and his diametrically opposed views on the business of the NBA.
AP Photo/Amy Sancetta
A return to Cleveland would mend fences, but could LeBron ever forgive Dan Gilbert's infamous letter?
Gilbert, for those who never bothered to read his unhinged response to The Decision in 2010 before the Cavaliers recently purged it from their website, called LeBron's departure to the Miami Heat a "cowardly betrayal" and said LeBron was a bad example for the children of Cleveland. This wasn't just a critique of the televised announcement; it was a tantrum about the very premise of free agency, as if anything other than a career-long commitment to the team that drafted a player constituted treason.
A year later, Gilbert was among the group of owners holding to the hard line when the NBA locked out its players, willing to sacrifice games to institute a new collective bargaining agreement that limited player earnings and hampered the formation of superteams.
A return to the Cavaliers by James would be a tacit endorsement of all he rejected. It wouldn't represent just a swallowing of his own pride -- it would be a surrender in the battle for self-determination for NBA players.
There's an undercurrent to this summer's free-agency period that makes it more than just a reshuffling of rosters. The proceedings are a referendum on the labor conflict fought in 2011 and perhaps the grist for a new battle in the next round of negotiations.
I've interpreted reports that LeBron will take nothing less than a maximum contract as his way of rejecting the premise that it's incumbent on players to make the financial sacrifices to win, as if the owners don't also have the option of paying the luxury tax to assemble a championship team. To play for Gilbert would be to reward a man who wanted it this way. It would also mean leaving Heat owner Micky Arison, who made it clear on Twitter that he didn't approve of the way collective bargaining negotiations were headed in 2011. (Arison also showed he had no love for Sterling, responding to a tweet criticizing Sterling in his mentions with an "lol.")
Maybe LeBron wants to send a message that's bigger than the business of basketball. Maybe he wants to demonstrate that, to seek forgiveness, one must first be willing to forgive. LeBron returning to Cleveland in his prime could be the greatest reconciliation of a player and a fan base in sports history. But it would nullify any future commentary from LeBron about the relationship between owners and players in the NBA.
Meanwhile, Gilbert never explained why he was willing to offer LeBron a maximum contract if he thought so little of his character. Nor has his low opinion of LeBron's character prevented Gilbert from pursuing him this summer. He hasn't expressed regret for writing the letter, only a desire to reword parts of it. So until we're told otherwise, Gilbert's opinion of LeBron still stands.
Gilbert is a smart enough businessman that he wouldn't let his personal feelings interfere with an opportunity to dramatically increase the value of his franchise. The question now is whether LeBron has the same degree of tunnel vision, whether the desire to return to his home state and join a roster with more young talent under contract than the Heat have is enough for him to recuse himself from the discussion of the owner-player divide.
A.V.
reTIreMEnt: THE ALBUM (01/22) ALL DSPs
Microfracture
Real G's move in silence
Cavs were doing the Jack trade in some form or another anyway. They had been talking about offloading that contract since before the deadline.
First all, extreme homo playboi, get the fukk out of here
, and go back to st0rmfr0nt where you belong.
Negged and I hope everyone negs you too.
I can read between the lines of what you really are trying to say you fukken cac.
How the fukk did this discussion even take place here?
BlakeSuperior
and The Scene
Thank you. I think these past 4 years have shown him that all these owners don't really care about him. So it really doesn't matter. He's doing it his way, Gilbert doesn't even matter a little bit to him. He's a bigger man than I.
Full Measures
All Star
nikka can YOU prove his agent told them to clear cap space? You the one talking like its true so the burden of proof is on you.
And post the tweet then breh if you claim one of them "twitter reporter" dudes said it.
Dam bruh this whole comparison just cuz Riley ain't lettin Brons team in?
this was my original post which started that exchange, friend.
Here is the tweet in question
keep it movin.
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Amulet of Immortality
Lost time is never found again
First all, extreme homo playboi
Negged and I hope everyone negs you too.
I can read between the lines of what you really are trying to say you fukken cac.
Your name was inspired by what you shove in your a$$hole fakkit.
@ you thinking negs mean shyt. You're retarded.
A.V.
reTIreMEnt: THE ALBUM (01/22) ALL DSPs
Scary to who?
shyt is beautiful to me. Either he goes to Cleveland and own them in practice until he literally owns them...or he stays and ethers Dan Gilbert, which will pale in comparison to the weapons grade ether when he takes the team from him anyway.
#KNICKSTAPE til I die but imagine the ether Gillies little cac soul would take, living to be like 75, and Bron at some event or crowning speech as the new owner makes a reference to how he overcame and came up... Even referencing the letter from Gilbert that motivated him to do so
BlakeSuperior
and The Scene
Im banking that he's too principled to not be a little petty. I hope it comes out more when he retires from the league. Make em mad on overdrive.#KNICKSTAPE til I die but imagine the ether Gillies little cac soul would take, living to be like 75, and Bron at some event or crowning speech as the new owner makes a reference to how he overcame and came up... Even referencing the letter from Gilbert that motivated him to do so
He about to make that demon MORE money all because they wanna go home to Ohio..
But he does too...
Dude was mad butthurt because he let Bron (and his boys) run wild in Cleveland and they did him dirty in his eyes after "all he's done for him/them"
The marketing for Bron's return writes itself...."Return Of The King"
Nike gonna have a mufukkin field day.
But if Bron doesn't go back.....
Your name was inspired by what you shove in your a$$hole fakkit.
You are the one talking about a$$holes and black men penises though.
Malcolm X was right, white people are obsessed with black people. Obsessed!!!