THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

I can’t believe I am about to type this next sentence, but I have to say I AM SPEECHLESS! The NBA Free Agency period has come and gone. Yes, I realize that there are still lots of guys who have not signed yet and they will be signing over the next week or so, but this class was about the Big 3 of LeBron James, Dewayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. On Thursday night, LeBron made the announcement that he would be “taking his talents to South Beach”. There are many things that can be said about this decision and I am going to give you both the positive and the negatives to this decision. I want to start with the positives that goes into this unbelievable collection of talent. So here you go, the good, the bad, and the ugly with this Super Team…

THE GOOD:
LeBron, Bosh, and Wade are all going to be taking less money in order to play together. Athletes get killed by fans for being all about the money and not playing for the love of the game. These guys will certainly be getting a little compensation (yes, that’s an understatement). I realize they are all going to collect several million dollars, but all three of them walked away from more money and that has to be recognized. It is nice to see that these guys were able to “sacrifice” a little money in an effort to reach the ultimate goal of obtaining several rings.

THE BAD:
There is something about this that feels wrong on so many levels. I can’t help but say as I sit here now and think about the possibility of the guys winning championships, that it seems cheapened. This is not how championships are supposed to be gotten. What happened to building a team through the draft and careful free agent acquisitions? You don’t go out and find the best three players and put them on the same team while releasing everyone else on the team. I have seen this type of behavior before, it is what happens every time I play NBA Live on the playstation. I cut everyone and always get me 3 players and pick up guys who are past their primes, but I still have a soft spot in my heart for them, because I grew up rooting for them. That is ok in playstation, but in real life, it is just wrong.

THE UGLY:
The ugly has not and will not occur for several months. The ugly will come if this “MONSTER” comes back to attack Dr. Frankenstien. The ugly will be when these three ELITE ATHLETES ARE DIVIDED OVER WHO IS THE LEADER ON THIS TEAM. Never before in the history of professional sports have you had this much talent in the prime of their career on the same team. I do not believe this can work. LEBRON HAS A DESIRE TO BE THE BEST BASKETBALL PLAYER IN THE HISTORY OF THE GAME! How is that going to happen when he is going to be viewed as the second fiddle who had to go looking for D-Wade’s help to get his rings. I watched the interview with Jim Gray and watched and listened to LeBron’s face and answer to the question in which Jim Gray called the Heat Wade’s team. LeBron’s answer was “it is not about sharing”. I hate to break it to you LeBron, it is exactly about sharing and unfortunately for you, you will now be second in command because you failed to stay and fight with the people who gave you everything you had in Cleveland, or go to Chicago and try to battle it on the court and prove your ability to lead a team. Maybe you can not do it, maybe the problems in Cleveland were not the teammates, maybe it is your ability to win on the biggest stage. I don’t know and because of this decision, I never wil.

I know what you are saying, the Celtics were able to put their ego’s aside and win and look at how successful they have been. You can say whatever you want to, but from the very first press conference, KG and Ray Allen always stressed it was Paul Pierce’s team. They let it be known, they all realized they were on the backside of their careers and needed to do what was necessary to get their rings. Ray Allen has never been considered in the top 5 best players in the NBA, and KG never played with anyone close to his talent level during his prime. This is not the Boston Celtics, the talent of all three guys is better than what the Celtics have, the egos are bigger, and all 3 of these guys are just now entering the best years of their careers.

There is another side to the ugly. LeBron James made this statement, “You feel like you let a lot of people down.” Yes LeBron you let a lot of people down, but in 15 years when your career is over and you are a 1st ballot Hall of Famer, you will look back on your career and realize that on July 8, 2010 THE PERSON YOU LET DOWN THE MOST WAS YOU!!! See you have as much talent as anyone who ever played the game of basketball. On this night you chose to take the easy way out instead of overcoming. DeWayne Wade said I am staying in Miami, come play with me. What would have happened if James said I want to play with you, but only if we can do it at a neutral site. Would these 3 ended up in the same city, not if you believe Wade. Make no mistake about it, THIS IS DEWAYNE WADE’S TEAM!!! If LeBron can accept that, this team will be ridiculously good, but if not this will get real ugly real fast.

UNTIL NEXT TIME…
This was written at about 11:30 on Thursday night. I will be posting my thoughts on the personal side of it as far as what this decision says about LeBron, the Cavs fans burning LeBron’s jersey, and he letter written by Cavs owner, Dan Gilbert, on the team website.