LeBron back?

[bookelly]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/cleveland-cavaliers-may-target-lebron-james-2014-free-225204694--nba.html

Want him back? Willing to bet 2 years of tanking on the chance he keeps his word?

[motherscratcher]

I can't really think of a reason he want to come back, but sure, I'd want him. Why wouldn't I?

[Govbarney]

Ugh this is exactly what the LBJ camp wants, another 2 years of FA circus. My guess is Nike is spawning these rumors.

If it did happen , and he came back (and I would bet my left nut he wont), his sabbatical which ended up giving us Irving, TT and Waiters (not to mention a lottery pick this year and next) would go down as the best thing that ever happened to the Cavs. Wouldn't it be funny if that were the plan all along , he realized they could never get the proper FA help here , so he left IOT allow the Cavs to build through the Draft for a couple of years.

[Orenthal]

I'm tired of sports drama, the kind that involves anything but on field play.

[pup]

[JJN]

Do I want the best player in the world back? That's a hard one. The only other way we will have a chance at a perimeter player anywhere near the same caliber is if we somehow manage to win the lottery next year and snag Andrew Wiggins. LBJ or tanking and, at most, a 25% chance at Wiggins. BeTeaDubs, Wiggins is redic, and I would want him more than LeBenedict Arnold.

I can't really think of a reason he want to come back

Scuttlebutt is that he still has a lot of ties to the Akron area, plus he would be playing with a top 5 PG plus cast instead of ZombieWade, the corpse of Jesus Shuttleworth, RuPaul, and a bunch of no cost doodoo.

[Spin]

One thing the modern athlete has taught me is to root for the name on the front, not on the back.

Just give us a freakin' winner.

[OldDawg]

1) LBJ wanting to draw even more attention to himself.
2) LBJ wanting to mend fences here in NEO from "the decision." He wants us to "think" he wants to come back so we forgive him.
3) Its all about LBJ promoting, umm, LBJ

[StewieG]

1) LBJ wanting to draw even more attention to himself.
2) LBJ wanting to mend fences here in NEO from "the decision." He wants us to "think" he wants to come back so we forgive him.
3) Its all about LBJ promoting, umm, LBJ

Exactly. Nothing more, nothing less.

[leadpipe]

1) LBJ wanting to draw even more attention to himself.
2) LBJ wanting to mend fences here in NEO from "the decision." He wants us to "think" he wants to come back so we forgive him.
3) Its all about LBJ promoting, umm, LBJ

Exactly. Nothing more, nothing less.

No, not close to exactly. Cause #2 on that list...if you think he gave a shit about you (the fans) then, gives a shit about you now, or will give a shit about you 5 years from now, you're sadly mistaken. Don't care about you, don't care what you think, isn't in the same world or reality.

This is the same line of thinking on these boards that lent some to believe he might stay, make some believe that local guys are gonna give the team some sort of "discount" and a bunch of other things.

And this isn't exclusive to Lebron by the way, he's just the biggest fish.

And Kyrie and a sack of shit is a draw over other sacks of shit- but not real teams.

And Wiggins might turn out to be a great player. There's a difference between a great player and Lebron.

And this talk of him coming back is fantastic.

[pup]

Cleveland : 2013 :: New York Knicks : 2010

[jerryroche]

Don't want him.
Don't even want to think about not wanting him.

[bac5665]

It would almost be as foolish to not want him back as it would be to think there is any chance that he actually will come back.

The next time a meaningful FA comes to a Cleveland team would be the first. To think that that FA would be the best player in the NBA, a league where FAs are less likely than normal to come to Cleveland, well that's just silly.

[Kingpin74]

I know in this day and age we should think of sports and athletes in the most corporate, soulless way possible, but this would be a great story. A lot better than him going to his 3rd team in 5 years, anyway. Plus doesn't he still live here in the offseason?

And strange as it sounds, they actually make basketball sense as a suitor in 2014. Our roster is garbage now but you add 2 more high lottery picks to Kyrie and Andy (or his trade return) plus Thompson and Waiters at least being rotation guys and additional cap room to play with and you have a pretty good foundation if LeBron would join it. Wade will be on the decline by 2014 (if not already), he'll have at least 1 title in Miami and probably 1 more, and both Brooklyn and the Knicks are capped out. The Lakers will have a clean slate by then but Dwight Howard is no lock to stay there and he'll be stepping immediately into Kobe's shadow whether Kobe is retired or not.

Still kind of a longshot but it'll be interesting. I hated him as much as anyone when he left but in retrospect, I've never met the guy and basketball is infinitely more fun when he's around. I think this fanbase can let bygones be bygones.

[Govbarney]

If he did come back all I know is that walking into any Cleveland area dive bar, where the regulars tend to be old washed-up drunks will instantly become more intolerable than it already is.

[swerb]

I refuse to placate this idiot's desire for attention and love and will not even begin to assess the major moral dilemma I'd face if this POS came back to Cleveland until after the press conference announcing it.

[jerryroche]

Just got around to reading "The Whore of Akron." If author Scott Raab isn't totally out in left field throwing hockey pucks, the subject of the book is a spoiled, clueless schmuck of the first order, surrounded by a cadre of other spoiled schmucks. No doubt, TWoA is a talented schmuck, but a schmuck nonetheless—and not the kind of person you want your young ballers to be exposed to on a daily basis.

[motherscratcher]

Just got around to reading "The Whore of Akron." If author Scott Raab isn't totally out in left field throwing hockey pucks, the subject of the book is a spoiled, clueless schmuck of the first order, surrounded by a cadre of other spoiled schmucks. No doubt, TWoA is a talented schmuck, but a schmuck nonetheless—and not the kind of person you want your young ballers to be exposed to on a daily basis.

Why? What would happen?

[Larvell Blanks]

I'm to the point that I only care what these guys do between the lines. So if guy comes back and helps this team win a ring, I'm in.

2012/13 LBJ is far more mature than 09/10 James could ever hope to be. He's actually become the leader on that Heat team and became Batman when we all made the call he'd be Robin.

[jerryroche]

Why? What would happen?

Who can say? Maybe some of TWoA's narcissism would rub off on Kyrie or TT or Dion or or Zeller or all of them. Maybe the possibly impressionable youngsters would join him in creating a totally screwed-up locker room reminiscent of the 2009-2010 Cavs, as chronicled in Raab's book.

Or maybe not.

No doubt, having him back would be a high-risk, high-reward situation. Some fans, starved for a championship, might be open to anything, up to and including signing a pact with the devil. But I'm not one. There are better ways to win. Finding those ways is definitely more difficult but also more rewarding— at least in my admittedly old-fashioned way of thinking.

Fool me once with your turncoat ways and phantom elbow injury, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

[YahooFanChicago]

Guy was an entitled dickhead 10 years ago, he's and entitled dickhead now and he'll probably be an entitled dickehead in 10 more years.

He's the best in the league though so if he comes back and he's good I think 99% of Cleveland will overlook his duchebaggery (including myself). Some will even convince themselves he's changed into a better person--which will be both sad and funny.

I still think he doesn't take his talents to Cleveland again for like 4+ years.

[leadpipe]

Why? What would happen?

Who can say? Maybe some of TWoA's narcissism would rub off on Kyrie or TT or Dion or or Zeller or all of them. Maybe the possibly impressionable youngsters would join him in creating a totally screwed-up locker room reminiscent of the 2009-2010 Cavs, as chronicled in Raab's book.

Or maybe not.

No doubt, having him back would be a high-risk, high-reward situation. Some fans, starved for a championship, might be open to anything, up to and including signing a pact with the devil. But I'm not one. There are better ways to win. Finding those ways is definitely more difficult but also more rewarding— at least in my admittedly old-fashioned way of thinking.

Fool me once with your turncoat ways and phantom elbow injury, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

A. If there are better ways to win, they might want to uncover one over the course of 40 years.

B. Not sure how the guy didn't help damn near everyone on the roster while he was here - including utter garbage. Hell, JJ Hickson ought to be sending him money every month, for example.

C. Not sure how you can't see how he'd make Kyrie and company better. Zeller getting the same 5 dunks a game Hickson was getting ain't gonna help him out?

And Scott Raab, a good writer, has turned himself into a cartoon character over this. Want a controlled lockeroom with Lebron in it? Go to South Beach. The Cavs let Lebron's inmates run the asylum. I would think an NBA franchise would do better.

Again, the NBA...all of these sports are filled with arrogant, selfish pricks. The teams that win have the best arrogant, selfish pricks.

Get the best, and you get yourself some wins. The guy took a shit sandwich to the Finals. Fact.

What happens on the floor matters. What happens off does not.

Look,if you don't want the guy for personal reasons, fine. And understandable. But don't act like he would do anything than improve the product on the floor 10 fold.

[jerryroche]

A. If there are better ways to win, they might want to uncover one over the course of 40 years.

B. Not sure how the guy didn't help damn near everyone on the roster while he was here - including utter garbage. Hell, JJ Hickson ought to be sending him money every month, for example.

C. Not sure how you can't see how he'd make Kyrie and company better. Zeller getting the same 5 dunks a game Hickson was getting ain't gonna help him out?

And Scott Raab, a good writer, has turned himself into a cartoon character over this. Want a controlled lockeroom with Lebron in it? Go to South Beach. The Cavs let Lebron's inmates run the asylum. I would think an NBA franchise would do better.

Again, the NBA...all of these sports are filled with arrogant, selfish pricks. The teams that win have the best arrogant, selfish pricks.

Get the best, and you get yourself some wins. The guy took a shit sandwich to the Finals. Fact.

What happens on the floor matters. What happens off does not.

Look,if you don't want the guy for personal reasons, fine. And understandable. But don't act like he would do anything than improve the product on the floor 10 fold.

TWoA is most definitely the most talented player in the game today—maybe ever—good enough to make the Cavs a 60-win team rather than a 20-win team, a three-fold improvement. Granted.

There is very definitely a way to win without getting involved with arrogant, selfish pricks. Case in point: the Cavalier teams of Brad Daugherty, Larry Nance and Mark Price—good guys, one and all—who very nearly equalled the success of a couple of TWoA's most successful teams. Good guys do exist in pro sports.

And in my admittedly archaic book, what happens off the floor DOES matter. Character counts. You can take all the awards that Ray Lewis has won and shove them where the sun don't shine. While you're at it, you can do the same with all the bicycle races that Lance Armstrong won and all the home runs Mark McGuire hit. Give me a team with an Ernie Banks or a Kevin Durant any day. I might never hoist a trophy, but the journey would be exciting and memorable. That's really all I ask. But that's just me.

[leadpipe]

A. If there are better ways to win, they might want to uncover one over the course of 40 years.

B. Not sure how the guy didn't help damn near everyone on the roster while he was here - including utter garbage. Hell, JJ Hickson ought to be sending him money every month, for example.

C. Not sure how you can't see how he'd make Kyrie and company better. Zeller getting the same 5 dunks a game Hickson was getting ain't gonna help him out?

And Scott Raab, a good writer, has turned himself into a cartoon character over this. Want a controlled lockeroom with Lebron in it? Go to South Beach. The Cavs let Lebron's inmates run the asylum. I would think an NBA franchise would do better.

Again, the NBA...all of these sports are filled with arrogant, selfish pricks. The teams that win have the best arrogant, selfish pricks.

Get the best, and you get yourself some wins. The guy took a shit sandwich to the Finals. Fact.

What happens on the floor matters. What happens off does not.

Look,if you don't want the guy for personal reasons, fine. And understandable. But don't act like he would do anything than improve the product on the floor 10 fold.

TWoA is most definitely the most talented player in the game today—maybe ever—good enough to make the Cavs a 60-win team rather than a 20-win team, a three-fold improvement. Granted.

There is very definitely a way to win without getting involved with arrogant, selfish pricks. Case in point: the Cavalier teams of Brad Daugherty, Larry Nance and Mark Price—good guys, one and all—who very nearly equalled the success of a couple of TWoA's most successful teams. Good guys do exist in pro sports.

And in my admittedly archaic book, what happens off the floor DOES matter. Character counts. You can take all the awards that Ray Lewis has won and shove them where the sun don't shine. While you're at it, you can do the same with all the bicycle races that Lance Armstrong won and all the home runs Mark McGuire hit. Give me a team with an Ernie Banks or a Kevin Durant any day. I might never hoist a trophy, but the journey would be exciting and memorable. That's really all I ask. But that's just me.

If the Price/Daugherty teams had a prick, perhaps they wouldn't a let teams with one walk all over them. Oakley/Jordan faced zero repercussions for mugging Price once Mark West went West.

And Ray Lewis is a perfect example. Being an alleged felon didn't prevent him from the bowl, just like Lebron being a dick didn't prevent him from the ring - despite numerous delusional cries from hurt Cleveland fans it would.

Point is, if you want a great bunch of guys who lose - we've had that several times over the years.

But are tryin' to WIN?

Look, if you're goal isn't really winning, then ignore my post.

[Govbarney]

Just got around to reading "The Whore of Akron." If author Scott Raab isn't totally out in left field throwing hockey pucks, the subject of the book is a spoiled, clueless schmuck of the first order, surrounded by a cadre of other spoiled schmucks. No doubt, TWoA is a talented schmuck, but a schmuck nonetheless—and not the kind of person you want your young ballers to be exposed to on a daily basis.

I took away from that book that while yes Raab feels he is a total "spoiled, clueless schmuck of the first order". He also felt truly sorry for him, and the combination of his upbringing and his once in a lifetime talent made it all but inevitable he would turn out like he did.

A few months ago Raab was on the XM Radio show Ron & Fez and echoed what Leadpipe says: Yes he is a world class dick (which I think we can all agree on) but he is also the best chance a team like the Cavs would ever have to win a ring , and if he did come back , he thinks a ring would make a lot of people , 'maybe' even Raab himself at least partially forgive , and just appreciate the man for his talents.