What is Your Reaction To

[Dr Z]

Feel free to discuss below.Here is Channel 5's Mark Johnson's reaction:

[GP1]

Great video DrZ. Probably one of the best videos of a local news cast in a long time. Good thing for the internet or not many people would have watched it.

I didn't vote because none of the candidates reflect my emotions about LBJ winning a championship. Basically, I have no emotion because I didn't watch 30 minutes of the NBA playoffs this year. I can't remember the last time I spent more than an hour watching an NBA games for a while. LBJ is a bit of a jerk the way he left Cleveland. He also admitted he left Cleveland the wrong way. How much longer does the guy have to hang on the cross for it?

Deadspin had a good take on LBJ.

[Zip_ME87]

I didn't vote because none of the candidates reflect my emotions about LBJ winning a championship. Basically, I have no emotion because I didn't watch 30 minutes of the NBA playoffs this year. I can't remember the last time I spent more than an hour watching an NBA games for a while. LBJ is a bit of a jerk the way he left Cleveland. He also admitted he left Cleveland the wrong way. How much longer does the guy have to hang on the cross for it?

Well said GP1. +1

[Big Zip]

GP1 being a Steelers fan I wouldn't expect you to understand what it is like to be a Cleveland fan. I don't know you from Adam, but if you are one of those born and raised in Cleveland Steelers fans that makes you even worse.

I didn't vote either because my feelings are captured with any of the choices. The guy is an ass, but I certainly won't go to the extent of the article on Deadspin. I saw that earlier today and was dumbfounded by the vitriol.

[Kangaroo Craig]

GP1 being a Steelers fan I wouldn't expect you to understand what it is like to be a Cleveland fan. I don't know you from Adam, but if you are one of those born and raised in Cleveland Steelers fans that makes you even worse.

I didn't vote either because my feelings are captured with any of the choices. The guy is an ass, but I certainly won't go to the extent of the article on Deadspin. I saw that earlier today and was dumbfounded by the vitriol.

I agree with you. I voted for "still mad that he left Cleveland" I am actually happy for him, but will always be bitter for what he did to the City of Cleveland. This was another punch to the gut for Cleveland. Very similar to the Ravens winning the super bowl just a few seasons removed from Cleveland. No City in America has suffered greater than Cleveland and this is another reminder. I do not know GP1's connection to Pittsburgh, nor do I care, but if he's from there, then okay. If not from there, then he's a bandwagon fan. Just like anyone else who roots for teams that are not from their hometown, or from where they currently reside.

[skip-zip]

Well deserved title for the King. Spending 7 years in Cleveland, he's paid his dues in more ways than one. As an Akronite, I appreciate everything he does, and the way he has conducted himself in the face of criticism and pressure.

Cavs fans should be saying one thing to LeBron......THANK YOU for spending 7 years of your career playing for our crap town.

[Zip_ME87]

Cavs fans should be saying one thing to LeBron......THANK YOU for spending 7 years of your career playing for our crap town.

Crap town Many Cavs fans don't live in Cleveland. Cavs fans thanked LeBron by selling out the Q every game to watch him and ensuring that he had his way with Cavs management. The fans were there for him, and he knew that. What bigger thank you could his fans give him than that. LeBron should have thanked Cavs fans when he left. I don't care about Dan Gilbert or the City of Cleveland, but CAVs fans were the ones who were wronged. They need to move on, but they certainly don't owe LeBron anything.

[Z.I.P.]

The only thing I am upset about is the article this morning on MSN, stating that people in his "hometown of Cleveland" are still upset at his team selection. Sheesh to the Nth!!!

[skip-zip]

The only thing I am upset about is the article this morning on MSN, stating that people in his "hometown of Cleveland" are still upset at his team selection. Sheesh to the Nth!!!

I feel your pain. I've heard that more than once today.

[ZippyRulz]

I'm glad he shut up those who won't give a great player his/her due unless/until winning a championship. Now that he's got his ring, let the LeBron vs. Michael debate begin...

[ZippyRulz]

Well deserved title for the King. Spending 7 years in Cleveland, he's paid his dues in more ways than one. As an Akronite, I appreciate everything he does, and the way he has conducted himself in the face of criticism and pressure.

Cavs fans should be saying one thing to LeBron......THANK YOU for spending 7 years of your career playing for our crap town.

It was well pointed out today that he couldn't help assemble a dream team in Cleveland because it's so hard to get the other stars to come to a "boring" town that's not NY, LA, Chicago, Boston, Miami...sometimes you have to face the reality of things.

[Big Zip]

Nobody would come here because Cleveland was always a few year destination for him never committing to Cleveland. If he would have committed they would have come....they were right he jumped ship first chance. Nobody discounts his talent they discount his character.

[ZachTheZip]

It doesn't affect me, so I don't really care about LeBron or the Heat. I am concerned about the effect on the league, though. I hope that it doesn't inspire an exodus from the small markets and make an uninteresting league even less interesting. Who wants a four team league with a bunch of non-competitive cupcakes as schedule filler?

LeBron would be fine with it, I imagine. After all, he spent his entire childhood pretending he was from three of the four major US cities (NYC, Dallas, Chicago) instead of actually being from Akron. Add in Los Angeles and there you go.

[GP1]

GP1 being a Steelers fan I wouldn't expect you to understand what it is like to be a Cleveland fan. I don't know you from Adam, but if you are one of those born and raised in Cleveland Steelers fans that makes you even worse.

Not born in Cleveland. Not born in NE Ohio. Lived in Akron most of my adult life and developed a good understanding of Cleveland fans.

I tried to explain Cleveland fans to someone here in SC once. Modern Cleveland fans are very angry. Pre-Browns leaving, Cleveland fans were very smart and understood their sports well...especially football. They have had a lot of crap piled on them. They have piled a lot on themselves. However, there isn't a fan base in the United States, that actually cares about their teams, that has had it worse than Cleveland fans. One of the good things about Cleveland fans is they are starting to get a good sense of humor about their teams. If they didn't, half of them would throw themselves off of the I-480 bridge. In the end, I believe Cleveland fans have the teams they deserve.

Is it easy being a Steelers fan? Of course it is. They play in the AFC North. They split with Baltimore most of the time and they have four guaranteed wins against Cleveland and Cincy almost every year. When I was growing up, the AFC Central was a much, much, much better conference with Cleveland, Cincy and Houston (This is why Bill Cowher should not be mentioned in the same sentence as Chuck Noll). Five wins are almost guaranteed. 10 wins gets a team in the playoffs almost all of the time. They only have to go 5-5 in the remaining 10 games to get to 10 wins. Normally, they do better so we can talk about things like a bye week or home field throughout the playoffs. It's good stuff.

Then....the Pirates. While it looks like they are good being in second place and all behind the Reds, let's remember that July is right around the corner. The Pirates are five games over .500 and could easily be 15 games under .500 if history is any indication.

[skip-zip]

Nobody would come here because Cleveland was always a few year destination for him never committing to Cleveland. If he would have committed they would have come....they were right he jumped ship first chance. Nobody discounts his talent they discount his character.

What have you been smoking? He extended his contract with the Cavs after the 2007 season, and he made it a Multi-Year extension.

[Spin]

I'm over it, and I wish a lot of other people were too.

Every city has lost free agents, nobody acts like Cleveland does. And we are a joke to the rest of the nation. Did anyone else hear Mike Tyson singing the other day?

He had every right to leave, and he left. Maybe he did it the wrong way, but I have left some jobs the wrong way over the years. He was immature, and he was told over and over by the fans and media that he never had a college signing day, he never sat in front of the camera with 3 or 4 hats on the table, and picked one up and put it on. That he missed out. So he did that. And now those same people are still pissed two years later. It got to the point the "fans" were cheering for the NBA's Baltimore Ravens to beat the hometown guy.

He's not the first player to join another "alpha dog's" team to get a ring, the best example I can think of this early in the morning is A-Rod. I don't hear Ranger's fans still thumping their chest over that one. And I get it he is the hometown guy, but why wasn't there so much hate when Scott Fletcher turned down the Indians?

I'm a born and bred Cleveland fanatic, but I still don't get it. I'm not as much of a fan of his as I was, but I still hope he does well.

[jem101]

He's not the first player to join another "alpha dog's" team to get a ring, the best example I can think of this early in the morning is A-Rod. I don't hear Ranger's fans still thumping their chest over that one. And I get it he is the hometown guy, but why wasn't there so much hate when Scott Fletcher turned down the Indians?

A-Rod was traded. That example doesn't apply. Besides, you can't compare superstars joining forces to get rings in baseball as opposed to basketball. Basketball much more of an individual sport where one superstar can carry a team to a large part. Then rivalries are built off those superstar's teams going head to head. To see the NBA become a league where superstars want to join each other instead of beating each other is what has really turned me off to the league. I've gotten over my hate of LeBron. I was rooting against the Heat though due to the principle I just outlined. That said, I didn't watch 5 minutes of the playoffs.

[Class of 82]

As a Cavs fan, I was certainly disappointed to see LeBron leave. (And the way he and Maverick set the thing up was a PR disaster of epic proportions.) But it didn't take me very long to move beyond that, especially since the arrival of Kyrie Irving.

But I'm still a LeBron guy, and always will be. Mostly because LeBron is an Akron kid like me. I watched him play in high school. I've watched him develop into one of the greatest players in history. I like how he's added to the legacy of great Akron players like Nate Thurmond, Gus Johnson and Jerome Lane (not much of a pro, but a pretty great college player at Pitt). And for all the fame, accolades and cash thrown at him at such a young age, I like how, behind the ego, he remains generally a pretty decent guy.

So, congrats to him. Just wish he would have realized how winning it all in championship-starved Cleveland would have been twice the achievement.

[skip-zip]

A-Rod was traded. That example doesn't apply.

It was a technicality. Technically, LeBron was "traded" too. He did a sign-and-trade after he elected to go to Miami in order to allow the Cavs to recover more money on thier salary cap for their future.

I just want to point that out, since some people still want to run around saying that he was trying to screw Cleveland. That wasn't the case. He could have walked away without the Cavs gaining anything. And if he had known that Gilbert was going to go on a whining, irrational tirade after he left, I wish he would have considered just walking away without giving them anything.

It shouldn't be any mystery to anyone why Cleveland remains a loser city.

[Dr Z]

It was a technicality. Technically, LeBron was "traded" too. He did a sign-and-trade after he elected to go to Miami in order to allow the Cavs to recover more money on thier salary cap for their future. I just want to point that out, since some people still want to run around saying that he was trying to screw Cleveland.

Now tell me again, what did the Cavs get in this trade for the greatest basketball player on the planet? I think I missed that in all the chaos that was created.

[Spin]

Now tell me again, what did the Cavs get in this trade for the greatest basketball player on the planet? I think I missed that in all the chaos that was created.

Two first round draft picks and two second round draft picks. Would those be Tristan Thompson and Milan Macvan?

[LZIp]

Two first round draft picks and two second round draft picks. Would those be Tristan Thompson and Milan Macvan?

No. Maybe Milan. Not Tristan.

[Dr Z]

No. Maybe Milan. Not Tristan.

Maybe it was because Milan wasn't on the roster, but I didn't realize we got a 22 year old Serbian power forward for LBJ. That was some trade. Wonder if he ever went one on one with Cvetinovic?

[skip-zip]

Now tell me again, what did the Cavs get in this trade for the greatest basketball player on the planet? I think I missed that in all the chaos that was created.

Two first round picks, two second round picks, and a 15 million exemption on their salary cap.

They could have been left with nothing. He was a free agent. With the way so many people in Cleveland decided to act like idiots, and think he "screwed" them, and the behavior of their owner, they deserved to be left with nothing.

[Spin]

Two first round picks, two second round picks, and a 15 million exemption on their salary cap.

They could have been left with nothing. He was a free agent. With the way so many people in Cleveland decided to act like idiots, and think he "screwed" them, and the behavior of their owner, they deserved to be left with nothing.

+1

Bron never said he was going to stay, never said it wasn't about the money, and then left for more $$$$$. You know, then same guy we sold out the stadium to see come back and almost built a statue for at Gateway...