Dan Gilbert's Open Letter

[Blue & Gold]

The morning after and I still agree with everything he said.

Maybe it'll hurt us in getting free agents to come here. Who knows. It's not like Cleveland ever was a free agent destination anyway, especially for winter sports.

I'm glad we have an owner who shows his emotions. I'm glad he stood up for us. I'll be there when the ticket office opens.

Dan Gilbert called LeBron James "narcissistic". Isn't that like PT Barnum calling his tightrope walker "light-footed". Dan, I'm sorry when you took over, they didn't tell you you're paying a teenager a hundred million dollars to entertain your clients. This ain't the opera here Dan, it's much closer to WWE. Thought you would have gotten used to it by now. When Cleveland hosts Miami next year, I expect as many heat jerseys in the house as Cavs'.

I hope everyone from Akron - unless they are diehard Cavs fans - would be wearing Heat jerseys. If not, then they've been duped by the Cleveland media and the Cavs marketing department. LeBron's our boy. Clevelanders can cry themselves to sleep again tonight. Since I'm from Akron I'm getting a Heat #6 LBJ jersey as soon as they're available.

I actually LOVE that this gives us Akronites the perfect opportunity to show that we do in fact have our own identity; that we are indeed a separate entity from Cleveland. I may just buy LBJ jerseys in black, white and red! All Akronites who are not self-loathing (I'm beginning to fear that there are less of us than I had hoped) should proudly and eagerly sport a LBJ Heat jersey!

[GP1]

I LOVE Dan Gilbert. He's my hero right now.

"So now people are cheering Dan Gilbert’s manifesto tearing apart James, but no one contributed more to what the world witnessed on Thursday night than the owner’s enabling of James and his inner circle for seven years. Gilbert is the biggest con going, a man who makes his fortune peddling mortgages, and he’ll make his next on casinos in downtown Cleveland. He sells illusions for a living, and now he’s selling the biggest of all: that he’s a victim here, that James betrayed everyone. That’s a lie, and no one ought to dare buy it.

Everyone searching for a scapegoat here – Mike Brown, Danny Ferry, Delonte West(notes) – well, just understand that it was the man screaming loudest with LeBron out the door, the man most determined to deflect blame onto him now.

Now, Gilbert is the tough guy with James leaving the Cavs behind? Listen, Ferry and Brown always warned Gilbert that giving James everything he wanted – giving it when and where and how – wouldn’t be the way they would keep him. LeBron didn’t respect them because they never demanded it.

Gilbert always believed he should do everything James wanted – hire his buddies into jobs, throw them on summer-league rosters, allow him to do those stupid pregame choreographed dances – that James would love him, that he would never leave. Only, James is a taker, and he took and took until he had bled Gilbert and that franchise to the bone."

Source

Fantastic pick up DrZ.

Much of this I already said on this board. LBJ looked like a fool last night and his people allowed him to do it. Some of those around him should be fired.

[GP1]

The morning after and I still agree with everything he said.

Maybe it'll hurt us in getting free agents to come here. Who knows. It's not like Cleveland ever was a free agent destination anyway, especially for winter sports.

I'm glad we have an owner who shows his emotions. I'm glad he stood up for us. I'll be there when the ticket office opens.

Dan Gilbert called LeBron James "narcissistic". Isn't that like PT Barnum calling his tightrope walker "light-footed". Dan, I'm sorry when you took over, they didn't tell you you're paying a teenager a hundred million dollars to entertain your clients. This ain't the opera here Dan, it's much closer to WWE. Thought you would have gotten used to it by now. When Cleveland hosts Miami next year, I expect as many heat jerseys in the house as Cavs'.

I hope everyone from Akron - unless they are diehard Cavs fans - would be wearing Heat jerseys. If not, then they've been duped by the Cleveland media and the Cavs marketing department. LeBron's our boy. Clevelanders can cry themselves to sleep again tonight. Since I'm from Akron I'm getting a Heat #6 LBJ jersey as soon as they're available.

LBJ looked like a jackass last night. Why would anyone buy the jersey of a jackass?

[ZachTheZip]

LBJ looked like a fool last night and his people allowed him to do it. Some of those around him should be fired.

The biggest problem is that his "team" at LRMR consists completely of people that are his exact same age and share his background. They're all 25 years old and from West Akron. They all think the same way. There's nobody there that has a different background or world view that can step up and say "hey, this isn't going to be a good idea" and has the experience to back it up.

[ZachTheZip]

LBJ looked like a jackass last night. Why would anyone buy the jersey of a jackass?

You would have to ask all those people who wear Brett Favre jerseys around.

[GP1]

LBJ looked like a fool last night and his people allowed him to do it. Some of those around him should be fired.

The biggest problem is that his "team" at LRMR consists completely of people that are his exact same age and share his background. They're all 25 years old and from West Akron. They all think the same way. There's nobody there that has a different background or world view that can step up and say "hey, this isn't going to be a good idea" and has the experience to back it up.

Good post. With that attitude comes the mentality that one is always right. LBJ needs immediate image repair after this disaster and he doesn't have anyone around him who thinks he did anything wrong. There is nobody around him who knows what to do. People on his staff should be fired.

[skip-zip]

The morning after and I still agree with everything he said.

Maybe it'll hurt us in getting free agents to come here. Who knows. It's not like Cleveland ever was a free agent destination anyway, especially for winter sports.

I'm glad we have an owner who shows his emotions. I'm glad he stood up for us. I'll be there when the ticket office opens.

What free agents?! Because of LBJ's ego, all of the top free agents are with other teams! LeBron screwed us like no other.

I LOVE Dan Gilbert. He's my hero right now. He called out LeBron for HOW he left, not that he left. He also called him out for quitting in the playoffs. What a man.

lilroodude...this is the statement I don't understand today.

He had always said that he was keeping his options open, and met with all of those teams, and made his decision during the first week of the opening of the free agency period.

I'm sorry. I don't get this "we got blindsided", or "he took forever to make a decision" point of view.

[Dave in Green]

I hope everyone from Akron - unless they are diehard Cavs fans - would be wearing Heat jerseys. If not, then they've been duped by the Cleveland media and the Cavs marketing department. LeBron's our boy. Clevelanders can cry themselves to sleep again tonight. Since I'm from Akron I'm getting a Heat #6 LBJ jersey as soon as they're available.

I actually LOVE that this gives us Akronites the perfect opportunity to show that we do in fact have our own identity; that we are indeed a separate entity from Cleveland. I may just buy LBJ jerseys in black, white and red! All Akronites who are not self-loathing (I'm beginning to fear that there are less of us than I had hoped) should proudly and eagerly sport a LBJ Heat jersey!

Interesting concept. We are Akronites above all. Screw Cleveland. Screw Ohio. Screw the rest of the world except people from those areas we deem to be special.

But why not take it further? There are good and bad areas of Akron, so let's gerrymander the bad areas out and only pull for people from the designated good areas. Of course MY neighborhood is the best, so put it at the top of the list. You don't think so? Screw you.

Or how about further yet. Some of the people in my neighborhood are jerks, so exclude them. I'll make a list of people from acceptable properties, and screw the rest.

Or we can get really extreme. Some of the people who live in my house are jerks, so we'll exclude them. I'll make a list of acceptable family members, and screw the rest.

Sounds like the kind of elitist attitude that would make a great ESPN special on how to separate royalty from peasants. Or maybe we can outdo ESPN right here on ZN.O.

[ZachTheZip]

"@fabfiveRomeo: I'm going to stay away from twitter for few days. I don't want to say something I regret later"

You do wonder how his old teammates feel. They're pretty tight-lipped right now.

[RowdyZip]

Dave In Green, right on. B & G, you contribute a lot to this board and most of it is well-spoken and intelligent. However, for a sports fan in Akron or Canton or ANYWHERE in NE Ohio to not associate with teams from NE Ohio is ludicrous. Do you really expect all Akronites to kiss this guys proverbial arse? Come on. Akron may not be Cleveland, but last I checked, the only professional team in our town was the AA Akron Aeros. Perhaps we should've been angry that LeBron didn't sport the black and purple rather than that hideous NY logo?

Look, I grew up on the east side of Cleveland (about 30 miles east) and moved to Akron for school about 10 years ago. I now reside about 45 miles south of downtown CLE in North Akron. Should that 15 miles have made me lose loyalty to my "hometown" team? LeBron made his choice, and he'll continue to digest it for the rest of his career. There's a reason they say that "you can never come home." He won't be welcome here, not in public or in private. He won't appear for his bikeathon next month, neither his 2nd fiddle self nor his new star Mr. Wade. B&G, you are in the minority if you don't associate with Cleveland sports teams. Unless you're that guy that's a Yankees fan, Saints fan, and now, well, a Heat fan. It makes me wonder how you remain loyal to the Zips.

[Zip Watcher]

I hope everyone from Akron - unless they are diehard Cavs fans - would be wearing Heat jerseys. If not, then they've been duped by the Cleveland media and the Cavs marketing department. LeBron's our boy. Clevelanders can cry themselves to sleep again tonight. Since I'm from Akron I'm getting a Heat #6 LBJ jersey as soon as they're available.

I actually LOVE that this gives us Akronites the perfect opportunity to show that we do in fact have our own identity; that we are indeed a separate entity from Cleveland. I may just buy LBJ jerseys in black, white and red! All Akronites who are not self-loathing (I'm beginning to fear that there are less of us than I had hoped) should proudly and eagerly sport a LBJ Heat jersey!

Interesting concept. We are Akronites above all. Screw Cleveland. Screw Ohio. Screw the rest of the world except people from those areas we deem to be special.

But why not take it further? There are good and bad areas of Akron, so let's gerrymander the bad areas out and only pull for people from the designated good areas. Of course MY neighborhood is the best, so put it at the top of the list. You don't think so? Screw you.

Or how about further yet. Some of the people in my neighborhood are jerks, so exclude them. I'll make a list of people from acceptable properties, and screw the rest.

Or we can get really extreme. Some of the people who live in my house are jerks, so we'll exclude them. I'll make a list of acceptable family members, and screw the rest.

Sounds like the kind of elitist attitude that would make a great ESPN special on how to separate royalty from peasants. Or maybe we can outdo ESPN right here on ZN.O.

Dave, I think you're on to something here. Starting tomorrow, all IP's from Cuyahoga Falls will be blocked, as those Black Tiger fans aren't worthy of joining the Zips discussions.

Go Bulldogs.

[mes102]

GO HORNETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(not New Orleans, but the high school one in Medina County..like that doesn't give it away...)

[ZippyforPresident]

Danny Gilbert is a piece of garbage. He's been one long before he took on the role of majority owner of the Cavaliers. I used to be a really big Cavs fan back when they played at the Coliseum and Gordon Gund was the owner. The only reason I've even bothered to watch the Cavaliers since Danny "Subprime" Gilbert became owner about five years ago is because LeBron James is one of the sickest basketball talents I've ever seen and is the most exciting basketball player in the world, not to mention the fact that we're from the same hometown.

Danny Gilbert has only taken yet another step at showing his true colors with this cowardly, classless blathering of an email. What a joke. Let's not forget, this is the same guy that had all of the water fountains removed from Q arena so that all of those beloved, loyal, ticket buying dollar signs that "simply don't deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal" and their children could pay $4 for a bottle of Aquafina or go thirsty. I wouldn't put the idea of pay toilets at the Q past this rat.

LeBron is 25 years old, although a man, at 25 we all still have some growing up to do. He made a rational decision to go to a team that he felt gave him the best chance at winning an NBA championship, even taking less money than he could have made by staying. How can one fault that decision? I wouldn't refuse an opportunity to advance my career, or put my family in a better position. Lets also not forget about the commercial proceeds that went to the boys and girls clubs of america as a result of his "decision" special. At least LeBron is and has been involved in some philanthropic endeavors throughout his career, I can't say I have known many that are or would have been that charitable if they had virtually unlimited resources at that age.

And then you have Danny Gilbert who, one would think, is the age of a grown man, and yet here he is acting like a spoiled little child. I have two questions for him after reading that rallying cry of embarrassment; (1) What player in their right mind is going to want to come to play for the Cavaliers after seeing the way their jack@ss of an owner treats and talks to his players/former players? (2) If LeBron is the quitter that Gilbert is implying that he is, why was it that as of 9pm yesterday ol' Danny boy was begging to pay Mr. James the league maximum? Go back to michigan and sit on your dwindling pile of dishonest money, crook. You have no loyalty to northeast ohio and you certainly have no clue what it means to have heart.

Go Miami! I hope you win the Finals every year for the next decade LeBron! Although to be honest, of course I would have loved it if he decided to stay. It is sad to see the guy leave, it's almost like having a friend or little brother leave to go pursue their career and make their mark in the world, just as most of us try to do at some point.

Just don't forget to come back and visit every once and a while

[GP1]

I hope everyone from Akron - unless they are diehard Cavs fans - would be wearing Heat jerseys. If not, then they've been duped by the Cleveland media and the Cavs marketing department. LeBron's our boy. Clevelanders can cry themselves to sleep again tonight. Since I'm from Akron I'm getting a Heat #6 LBJ jersey as soon as they're available.

I actually LOVE that this gives us Akronites the perfect opportunity to show that we do in fact have our own identity; that we are indeed a separate entity from Cleveland. I may just buy LBJ jerseys in black, white and red! All Akronites who are not self-loathing (I'm beginning to fear that there are less of us than I had hoped) should proudly and eagerly sport a LBJ Heat jersey!

Interesting concept. We are Akronites above all. Screw Cleveland. Screw Ohio. Screw the rest of the world except people from those areas we deem to be special.

But why not take it further? There are good and bad areas of Akron, so let's gerrymander the bad areas out and only pull for people from the designated good areas. Of course MY neighborhood is the best, so put it at the top of the list. You don't think so? Screw you.

Or how about further yet. Some of the people in my neighborhood are jerks, so exclude them. I'll make a list of people from acceptable properties, and screw the rest.

Or we can get really extreme. Some of the people who live in my house are jerks, so we'll exclude them. I'll make a list of acceptable family members, and screw the rest.

Sounds like the kind of elitist attitude that would make a great ESPN special on how to separate royalty from peasants. Or maybe we can outdo ESPN right here on ZN.O.

Dave, I think you're on to something here. Starting tomorrow, all IP's from Cuyahoga Falls will be blocked, as those Black Tiger fans aren't worthy of joining the Zips discussions.

Go Bulldogs.

I think he is also. I remember living on the west side of Akron and thinking to myself, "Self, I don't want those people form Ellet coming over here to shop at West Side Market." As far as I was concerned, if you live anywhere where a catchy phrase to describe your area could be, "Ellet...you can smell it", I didn't want you where I lived.

[Spin]

Here's what he did for Akron.

He stayed true to his word, held his skills camp on campus, and didn't let anyone leak a word about his decision until it was over. He was a professional during the camp, by all accounts, and spared Akron and the U a tremendous amount of C-town hatred if he announced it before or during the camp. It couldn't have continued. There would have been a riot.

C-town can rip him apart for taking so long to decide, for doing it in ESPN's back yard, if you look at it, he spared us. Can you imagine the riot if word had leaked during the camp? Can you imagine the riot if he announced it in Cleveland? (Come to think of it, a good riot in most parts of Cleveland would actually be considered "urban renewal").

He had Akron's back.

He's not the first high profile free agent to go somewhere else, heck look at the Yankee's roster. He's not the first person to leave "home" (cough cough) for greener pastures. He's just the first to bruise Gilbert's ego.

Like Goldhammer said, guys in their 20's LEAVE CLEVELAND. It happens every day.

Sorry Dan. Love what you're trying to do with the Cavs. Love the casino. But you made yourself look like an

[zipzippy]

There are a lot of people on here talking about how Lebron is Akrons guy he has done this city right he has nothing to do with Cleveland besides the fact that he played there. Well if you look at past interviews he talks about how its been a dream since he was young to be in cleveland to take the city to new heights he loved it their he also called it his home several times. I know Cleveland is not Akron Akron is not Cleveland and Youngstown is none of the above but people always refer to this as northeast Ohio and most of us would call any guy from north east ohio their hometown boy so I think that those who argue it is is home have a valid point. And I lost all respect for Lebron back on "Lebron" day when he had enough respect for the city of Akron to show up at the end of his own ceromony I felt terrible watching these young kids walk out of the stadium decked out in Lebron gear the man is a god to them and he didnt show enough respect to show up for a couple hours or even an hour to give these kids what they came for.

[Dave in Green]

After a lot of reading and a lot of thinking about what happened, I've come to the following realization.

We all know that LeBron is a really special basketball player who happened to be born, raised, and become famous in Akron. The dream scenario continued when the Cavs lucked into drafting him, he developed into one of the very best ever to play the game, and helped the Cavs become one of the best teams in the NBA. The dream would have been complete if LeBron had defied the norm of star athletes ditching the snow belt for glamour locations, remained a Cav for life, and led the Cavs to one or more NBA championships.

It was at this point that he failed the greatest dream of so many Ohio sports fans and ditched the team with the best record in the NBA over the past two seasons to go to a glamour location with his other star buddies who were unwilling to sacrifice the good life to play for a snowbelt team. In this he is not so special, but just like so many other physically gifted professional athletes who want a big helping of glitz and glamour along with the millions of dollars they get from the working stiff fans. Without the paying fans, they're just a bunch of amateurs shooting at rusty rims without nets on a playground somewhere.

Bernie Kosar is, to me, a good example of a special player and a special person. A stellar athlete who always dreamed of leading a Cleveland team to greatness, he never dreamed of ditching his local team. Although he was from Youngstown, he never wanted to play for any team but the Browns. He was a college star at a glamour school (mighty Miami in Florida), and many NFL glamour teams wanted him. But he made it clear that he only wanted to play for the Browns, and he made it happen. He gave it everything he had, and was a highly rated NFL quarterback. But a combination of his slow foot speed and a porous offensive line resulted in his body taking a beating and eventually breaking down. He still bleeds Cleveland sports to this day.

Kosar fought off tears watching LeBron announce his big decision. "I would have loved to sit down and talk to him. I tried at times, but I was never able to get to him," Kosar said. "He has a lot of people around him." ( Kosar Link ).

Kevin Durant is another good example special player and a special person. He led the NBA in scoring, and would have been the number one target for all the glamour teams when his rookie contract ran out. But Durant signed a 5-year contract extension with no opt out clause with the far from glamorous Oklahoma City Thunder. He announced it with a simple, informal Twitter. He's not only a great player with tremendous talent, but a modest man with strong values and tremendous loyalty to an NBA team who he feels has taken good care of him and his family.

Like so many others living in the Akron/Cleveland area, I personally hoped that LeBron would prove over time to be a special person in addition to being a great athlete. In my mind, he's still a better person than many of his contemporaries. But with this move he lowered himself a few notches on the scale. So it's a disappointment to me, and I can never feel the same about LeBron the person as I once did. I'm not losing any sleep over it. In fact, I'm surprised at how quickly I've bounced back and started anticipating what the Cavs will do to become a better team.

I have no malice toward LeBron. He did what he thought would be best for himself as so many others do on a daily basis. That's precisely why it's so special when someone does things that go beyond that, and why it was understandable but still disappointing that LeBron did not.

Thank goodness for the Bernie Kosars and Kevin Durants of the world.

[skip-zip]

Danny Gilbert is a piece of garbage. He's been one long before he took on the role of majority owner of the Cavaliers. I used to be a really big Cavs fan back when they played at the Coliseum and Gordon Gund was the owner. The only reason I've even bothered to watch the Cavaliers since Danny "Subprime" Gilbert became owner about five years ago is because LeBron James is one of the sickest basketball talents I've ever seen and is the most exciting basketball player in the world, not to mention the fact that we're from the same hometown.

Danny Gilbert has only taken yet another step at showing his true colors with this cowardly, classless blathering of an email. What a joke. Let's not forget, this is the same guy that had all of the water fountains removed from Q arena so that all of those beloved, loyal, ticket buying dollar signs that "simply don't deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal" and their children could pay $4 for a bottle of Aquafina or go thirsty. I wouldn't put the idea of pay toilets at the Q past this rat.

LeBron is 25 years old, although a man, at 25 we all still have some growing up to do. He made a rational decision to go to a team that he felt gave him the best chance at winning an NBA championship, even taking less money than he could have made by staying. How can one fault that decision? I wouldn't refuse an opportunity to advance my career, or put my family in a better position. Lets also not forget about the commercial proceeds that went to the boys and girls clubs of america as a result of his "decision" special. At least LeBron is and has been involved in some philanthropic endeavors throughout his career, I can't say I have known many that are or would have been that charitable if they had virtually unlimited resources at that age.

And then you have Danny Gilbert who, one would think, is the age of a grown man, and yet here he is acting like a spoiled little child. I have two questions for him after reading that rallying cry of embarrassment; (1) What player in their right mind is going to want to come to play for the Cavaliers after seeing the way their jack@ss of an owner treats and talks to his players/former players? (2) If LeBron is the quitter that Gilbert is implying that he is, why was it that as of 9pm yesterday ol' Danny boy was begging to pay Mr. James the league maximum? Go back to michigan and sit on your dwindling pile of dishonest money, crook. You have no loyalty to northeast ohio and you certainly have no clue what it means to have heart.

Go Miami! I hope you win the Finals every year for the next decade LeBron! Although to be honest, of course I would have loved it if he decided to stay. It is sad to see the guy leave, it's almost like having a friend or little brother leave to go pursue their career and make their mark in the world, just as most of us try to do at some point.

Just don't forget to come back and visit every once and a while

I was thinking these same two EXACT things last night. Great post.

[tbozeglav]

He's at it again, folks. Found this on ESPN in an article about the "Witnesses" banner being taken down:

"In addition, Fathead.com, an online retailer owned by Cavs owner Dan Gilbert dropped the price of its LeBron Fathead wall decals from $99.99 to $17.41, which happens to be the same year Revolutionary War traitor Benedict Arnold was born."

[ZachTheZip]

He's at it again, folks. Found this on ESPN in an article about the "Witnesses" banner being taken down:

"In addition, Fathead.com, an online retailer owned by Cavs owner Dan Gilbert dropped the price of its LeBron Fathead wall decals from $99.99 to $17.41, which happens to be the same year Revolutionary War traitor Benedict Arnold was born."

How was anybody supposed to figure that out unless they told you?

I bet it's just an easy excuse to slash the price to clear the now-outdated inventory while riding the hype wave.

[Spin]

A good salesman always has an angle.

I hate salesmen...

[ROCK1]

People say James tanked during the playoffs, but didn't the Cavs tank when they wanted to get the first pick in the draft to get LeBron?

[Dr Z]

How times have changed. Dan is now making it rain in Cleveland.

I'm a little surprised how this is playing out.

[Hilltopper]

I can't wait to see who they get for Brendan Haywoods expiring contract.

[LZIp]

How times have changed. Dan is now making it rain in Cleveland.

I'm a little surprised how this is playing out.

what's surprising?