James: “For me it’s not about sharing. You know, it’s about everybody having their own spotlight and then just doing what’s best for the team.”

LeBron got horrible advice…I mean, it was seriously as though he was watching an episode of Entourage and turned to his Drama and Turtle to see what the best route to take would be. For all the people that have said how he’s mature beyond his years, this reeked of 24-25 year olds with too much power and, trust me, after the backlash, some of these hanger onners will be back in Cleveland w/out a job.

Miami, as you said, is an awful sports town. I’d like to call out Israel Guttierez who sometimes does The Sports Reporters and is a Miami beat writer. He stated, “Now we don’t just have to be a football town”, shortly after LeBron’s announcement. A football town? Miami is probably #30 out of #32 teams on the list of “football towns” in this country and, is about the same on the basketball list. Hell, I’ll even give L.A. more credit for being a sports town than Miami. Even Dan LeBatard said, “Miami is a bad sports town”, and he lives and works there. He mentioned how until the Heat made the playoffs in 2006, they weren’t selling out games and, also, how when the Dolphins were 9-2 a few years back and looking like a Super Bowl team, they had to blackout local games due to non sell outs. What a joke…I loved seeing all the idiots in the Miami bar on ESPN, when the flashed over, going nuts as though they even know how basketball is played.

I also have heard today that LeBron has not returned a text or call from Dan Gilbert since the end of the season and, the only time they spoke was during their face to face meeting a week ago. That is classless. Everything about this has been unprofessional, from showing up to the meetings with teams in a t-shirt and shorts to last night…LeBron is an a-hole…

A couple thoughts about the whole thing:
• As soon as I saw the spot for the new LeBron James Vitamin Water air in the break directly before he made his decision I knew this was all just one big marketing strategy. I don’t have the numbers, but I would guess that upwards of 14M people were tuned it to the “Decision” and that ad space, especially before his announcement, was extremely valuable real estate.

• I hate Cleveland more than anyone, but I think it was truly sad what LeBron did to that town. Being an Oriole fan has heightened my sensitivity to smaller market teams being slighted by big time players, but there’s a right and wrong way to do things. Tex did it the right way, LeBron did not. If LeBron had any class or respect he would have informed Cleveland of his decision via a heartfelt statement and then a couple days later he would have flown to Miami for a presser. Instead LeBron gave a fake apology to Cleveland fans during a three-ring circus show, which he and his handlers created.

• LeBron got some bad advice. From the reported Nike free agency shoe tour idea to the primetime ESPN special to the decision to play in Miami with two other super stars. He is the victim of his own stupidity…he gave friends and family jobs within his camp that they are not qualified for.

• I really enjoyed mid-late 90’s NBA where super stars would team up with complimentary pieces and do battle with other superstars. Now we have two of the top three players in the league teaming up with another top ten guy to form a juggernaut in South Beach. I don’t care what anyone says any championships this team wins will be bitter sweet at best. LeBron’s legacy will never come close to Jordan’s or Kobe’s now.

• Miami is a terrible sports town and will care about this Heat team about a ¼ as much as their counterparts in Cleveland would in a similar situation.