The Decision, Part II

At first, I compared the Kevin Durant to the Golden State Warriors move to LeBron James' move to the Miami Heat in 2010. Upon further review, I think the Durant move is far worse.

The only thing that would have made it even worse was to go to a Boys and Girls Club in Connecticut with ESPN cameras in tow and reveal to the national audience he was breaking OKC's heart by "taking his talents to the Bay Area."

When LeBron joined the Heat, they were decent, but not great. They had Dwayne Wade and nothing else. When Chris Bosh decided he wanted no part of Cleveland and chose Miami, it opened the door for the "SuperFriends" to align together. And, it worked -- four straight NBA Finals, two championships sandwiched in between, a couple of colossal chokes to start and finish.

When LeBron decided to "come home" to Cleveland, the Cavs were in far worse shape than Miami was 4 years ago. But thanks to some "lucky" (wink-wink) ping-pong balls, the team was armed with some up-and-coming players and some great assets that allowed LeBron and the Cavs to remake the franchise literally overnight. In one season, they were in the NBA Finals, coming two wins away from that elusive championship. In two seasons, they were champions.

Kevin Durant has none of this. He's joining a team that's already "loaded" that has one NBA championship under its belt and had just choked away a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals after a record-setting 73-win season. He's just another spoke in the wheel. He's not off to transform anything. He's just trying to shortcut his way to a championship, and that's sad.

Durant weathered a move from Seattle to help turn the Thunder into one of the NBA's most respected franchises. They built from the ground up, and Durant was the biggest piece of that puzzle. they reached the NBA Finals once (choked away to the Heat), but that was it. And let's not forget that choke job this year, blowing a 3-1 lead to the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.

If you can't beat em, join em.

After LeBron left in 2010, I felt that Durant would be the next superstar to leave a small market for a bigger one. So, I'm not entirely surprised he left OKC. However, the move to the Warriors just reeks. Fans of the NBA have a right to be upset. It's the return of the "SuperTeam," and the league is stacking the deck for a few markets. Surprisingly, Cleveland is one of them (and I'm not complaining about that).

Remember when the NBA Lockout was all about preventing teams from "stacking the deck?" How's that working out, Adam Silver? Not so good. The salary cap is a giant joke, with so many loopholes and exceptions to allow teams to go over. The Cavs benefited from this system greatly, and now have to pay a $54 million luxury tax to the NBA (and I'm sure Dan Gilbert is writing that check while staring into that Larry O'Brien Trophy in his office, knowing that it was so worth it). However, now they are hamstrung into keeping what they have without being able to add any quality assets. Hence, why they weren't involved in the Durant sweepstakes.

Fans have a right to be pissed. Sure, we're a little unhappy in Cleveland, because it's a blatant move to stick it up our asses as the Cavs try to repeat as NBA champions. But it's not just here -- it's league-wide. If you don't live in Oakland or San Francisco or San Jose or anywhere in Northern California (or aren't a front-runner), you're not happy about this! Why, because it's NO FUN!

We might as well fast forward to next June already for Cavs-Warriors III in the NBA Finals, because -- barring serious injury or stunning upset or a page torn out of the script -- this will happen again. The NBA made a ton of money on this year's postseason, and the Cavs winning was the feel-good story that captured the nation's heart (well, most of it). The rubber match, part three of the triumverate, will shatter TV records.

It's just a shame that it's effectively made every other team irrelevant. Sure, the Knicks and Celtics made some moves, as did the Hawks, but does anyone really think those will be enough to take down the Cavs? Demar DeRozen decided to stay in Toronto -- good for him, but does anyone think the Raptors can take down the Cavs?

Kevin Durant was once known as one of the best up-and-coming talents in the NBA. Today, he's just another guy and showed his true colors.

I hope the Cavs kick their ass one more time! Don't sing it, bring it!

Until next time, remember that Cleveland not only Rocks, but are also Champions!

Coincidence? The NBA wants you to think so

David Stern became the Commissioner of the National Basketball Association in 1984, at the heyday of Lakers-Celtics/Magic-Bird rivalry that helped transform the league into what it is today.

Since Stern took over, only EIGHT NBA franchises have won the Larry O'Brien Trophy, given to the champions of the league. Of those eight, seven are in what are deemed to be "major TV markets."

The list is:

Los Angeles Lakers (8 titles, 13 appearances)
Chicago Bulls (6 titles, 6 appearances)
San Antonio Spurs (4 titles, 4 appearances)
Boston Celtics (3 titles, 6 appearances)
Detroit Pistons (3 titles, 5 appearances)
Houston Rockets (2 titles, 4 appearances)
Miami Heat (1 title, 3 appearances)
Dallas Mavericks (1 title, 2 appearances)

Going back to 1979-80, when Magic Johnson entered the league, the list only bumps up to NINE franchises (Philadelphia 76ers in 1983). The Lakers have won the title 10 times since 1980, while the Celtics have won it four times.

Coincidence?

Even Major League Baseball, which operates without a salary cap and allows the larger market teams to outspend the smaller market ones, has more parity than this. And, the NBA has had a salary cap, although that cap is rife with loopholes and other exceptions that basically make it a "salary cap" in theory.

Nine championship franchises in 32 years? Eight of which are in major markets, and all of which had some sort of gimmick going for them (a superstar player, a team nickname, etc.)?

Throw in the list of teams that reached the NBA Finals during that span and lost, that number expands to just 18 different franchises. 18 franchises in a 30-team league.

The franchises that have thrown the "olive branch" include:

Portland Trail Blazers (2 appearances)
Utah Jazz (2 appearances)
New York Knicks (2 appearances)
New Jersey Nets (2 appearances)
Orlando Magic (2 appearances)
Phoenix Suns (1 appearance)
Indiana Pacers (1 appearance)
Seattle SuperSonics (1 appearance)
Cleveland Cavaliers (1 appearance)
Oklahoma City Thunder (1 appearance)
Philadelphia 76ers (1 appearance)

None of these franchises made the NBA Finals until 1990. From 1980-89, the finals were dominated by just five teams -- the Lakers (5 titles, 8 apperances), the Celtics (3 titles, 5 appearances), the 76ers (1 title, 3 appearances), the Rockets (2 appearances) and the Pistons (1 title, 2 apperances). All of the 76ers appearances came from 1980-83, which was before Stern took over. The Sixers have only made it back once during the David Stern era.

Stern also ushered in the era of the NBA Draft Lottery, which began following the 1984-85 season. Stern's reasoning behind the lottery was because there was a belief that the Houston Rockets and other teams were "tanking" games in order to land the No. 1 overall draft choice in 1984 (which was Hakeem Olajuwon; Michael Jordan wound going third to the Chicago Bulls after Portland selected Sam Bowie).

For the first two years, all of the non-playoff teams had an equal chance of getting the top pick. From 1987-89, only the top three picks were "randomly" selected out of a hopper -- the remaining teams filled out the fourth pick on down based on their win-loss records.

In 1990, they changed it to "weighted" system, so that the team with the worst record had the most chances of landing the top pick on down. However, after the Orlando Magic wound up with the top pick in the 1993 draft despite only having one chance to land it, the NBA tinkered with their theory again.

From 1994 through now, the NBA uses 14 numbered ping-pong balls and assigns a certain number of four-digit combinations to the non-playoff teams. The worst team has the highest number of combinations, on down. The NBA draws three four-digit combinations, and the teams with those combinations land the top three draft picks. Picks four on down are assigned based on record.

Only twice has the team with the worst record in the NBA won the lottery and gotten the top pick -- 1990 (New Jersey Nets; Derrick Coleman) and 2004 (Orlando Magic; Dwight Howard). The Cavs were tied with Denver for the worst record in 2003, but yet won the lottery and selected LeBron James.

The team that has won the draft lottery the most since 1985 is the Los Angeles Clippers. Twice, they traded that top pick, and both times, that top pick wound up in the Cavs' hands -- 1986 (Brad Daugherty) and 2011 (Kyrie Irving).

The first draft lottery is the most suspicious of them all. With Patrick Ewing being the projected top choice, and the Knicks struggling in the top-media market, it seems pretty coincidental that the Knicks landed the top spot.

First, before the envelopes were placed in the hopper, the deputy commissoner banged one envelope on to a counter-top. Just one envelope. That gave that envelope a bent corner. Then, Stern drew out three envelopes at once, fumbled around a bit, and dropped the other two back in the hopper. The envelope he kept had the bent corner. That envelope had the Knicks logo on it.

Only 16 different NBA franchises have landed the top pick in the draft lottery. A lot of them seem too coincidental to be true.

The Magic got back-to-back top picks in 1992 and 93, which they selected Shaquille O'Neal and Chris Webber, who was promptly traded for Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway. O'Neal and Hardaway helped the Magic reach the NBA Finals once (losing to the Rockets) before Shaq bolted for the bigger L.A. market, joining the Lakers. The NBA really wanted basketball to take off in Florida, and the Magic reaped the early rewards.

The San Antonio Spurs had become a good franchise once David Robinson was able to report following two years of Naval service duty. But, Robinson was injured and missed most of the 1997 season. That enabled the Spurs to finish with the third-worst record in the league, and they won the right to pick Tim Duncan, one of the most dominant big men coming out of college the NBA has seen in a while. Duncan and Robinson immediately transformed the Spurs into a franchise that would win four NBA titles.

In 2003, an Akron high school athlete had NBA scouts drooling. The Cavs were slagging in attendance after a few miserable seasons plagued by miserable roster decisions. Akron is only 30 miles south of Cleveland. Coincidence? Why not put the local phenom on the local team to inject life into a franchise that had just built a new downtown arena. For 7 years, it worked until that local phenom decided to sign with the Miami Heat as a free agent, who he's helped get to back-to-back NBA Finals berths.

In 2008, there was a Chicago high school phenom who went to Memphis for a year and entered into the draft. The Bulls had been struggling after Michael Jordan retired and needed a shot in the arm. What better way than to follow the LeBron-Cavs method. It's worked.

Before 1993, the once-proud 76ers had fallen on hard times, finishing with just 18 wins. What better way than to enliven one of the NBA's foundation markets by giving them the top pick, which turned out to Allen Iverson. Iverson was controvercial, but he turned the Sixers into must-see TV for a long time, even getting them to an NBA Finals.

In each of the last two seasons, two franchises lost two superstar players and then struggled in their wake. Both franchises wound up with the top-overall selection in the two most recent draft lotteries -- the Cavs (who lost LeBron) and the New Orleans Hornets (who lost Chris Paul and were owned by the NBA when Paul was traded).

Coincidence?

So, what does all of this mean, the stats on the lack of diversity atop the NBA's championship ranks and the holes in the draft lottery?

It basicially means that David Stern is the Vince McMahon of sports commissioners.

It means that the NBA is scripted and rigged.

Watching the most recent NBA Farce ... errr ... Finals between the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder has conspiracy theorists, such as Joe Cleveland, beating their chests about how the NBA is rigged. The foul disparity between the two teams has been glaring. The referees are calling a lot more questionable fouls on the Thunder than on the Heat. There have been a few glaring no-calls, such as one on LeBron on a shot from Kevin Durant that could have tied Game 2 in the waning moments.

Tim Donaghy, a disgraced former NBA official who was busted betting on games he officiated, basically let the cat out of the bag in his book, "Personal Foul." I highly recommend any sports fan to pick up this book and give it a read.

Donaghy talks about how refs look the other way when superstars are involved, how certain refs will start calling fouls in favor of the losing team when a team opens up a big lead to try and make the games more competitive in the end, how violations like travelling, up-and-down, defensive three-seconds, and others get ignored, especially when superstar athletes are involved, and how sometimes, they'll nail a superstar with a call just to make a point.

He talked about how some refs would fraternize with the players. This was exposed during Michael Jordan's gambling bust, when it was revealed that he was hanging out with NBA ref Ed Rush Jr.

Basketball is one of the easiest sports to rig. Why do you think there are so many point-shaving scandals? Sure, teams have to make their shots, and sometimes, the ball just doesn't go into the little round cylander. But, refs can directly impact the flow of the game by their foul calls, or their non-foul calls.

All during the playoffs, there have been a lot cries from opposing fans and media about the seemingly preferrential treatment the Heat have gotten from the officiating crews during the postseason. This, on the heels of the draft lottery that seemed so obviously rigged that David Stern was outright asked about it on a national radio show (Stern embarassed himself by not denying it, but instead asking a rhetorical question about the radio host beating his wife), and the consipracy theorists are out in full force.

The Heat making the NBA Finals in back-to-back years is generating a lot of money for the league, the networks (specifically ESPN) and the sponsors, namely Nike.

Did you know that if LeBron James wins a championship, which could very well happen tomorrow night, it will generate $4 billion for Nike? Check out this link below:

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/05/19/lebrons-4-billion-ring/

Stern knows the networks love it when a major market is playing in the finals, or a team with a major superstar. One of the lowest-rated NBA Finals was the 2007 finals when the Cavs were swept by the San Antonio Spurs. Does it not seem surprising that the wheels began to churn in motion at that point for what transpired in July of 2010 and beyond?

In 2009, Nike would have loved an NBA Finals featuring Kobe Bryant's Lakers and LeBron James' Cavs. They even engineered a marketing campaign around it using puppets. Of course, the Orlando Magic had other plans and denied that from happening. Perhaps, at that point, Nike knew the NBA would never solidly get behind the Cavs and their championship dreams.

LeBron leaving the Cavs to sign with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh reeks of something right out of a professional wrestling script. Remember Hulk Hogan aligning with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall to form the New World Order (nWo) in 1996, and how much money pro wrestling generated from that maneuver through the early 2000s? This was LeBron's heel turn.

LeBron got the proverbial "chair shot to the head" last year when Dallas (led by one of the loudest consipracy theorists of them all in owner Mark Cuban) upset his "dream team" in the NBA Finals last year. This year, however, it appears to be time for the nWo to figuratively spray paint all over the NBA trophy.

Sure, a longer series might generate more dollars. However, a dominating Heat win reveals two things:

1. Super teams, regardless of their lack of chemistry and puppet head coaches, will always succeed in the modern NBA.

2. A superstar playing for a middling market may find it best to jump to a bigger lake when the time comes, because rarely does a middling market (such as Oklahoma City) get a moment of glory.

ESPN will start speculating on Kevin Durant's next move immediately after Game 5 ends (and the Heat win, although I'm praying for a miracle to happen) and won't let up until his contract expires or he demands a trade.

That's the way that it goes, unfortunately, and, as long as fans watch, Stern and his cronies will continue to get away with it.

One last thought: The NBA lockout cost every team 16 games of the regular season. That is the exact number of games that the Heat needed to win their "long awaited" NBA title. With those additional 16 games, Miami fell two wins short last season.

Coincidence?

This is why I love hockey and college basketball. This is also why, when I cover high school hoops, players get whistled for travelling one out of every five offensive possessions, and the players look to the refs and wonder why.

Screw you, LeBron James!

Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!

Thanks, LeBron, but no thanks

So, LeBron James made his lone appearance of the regular season back to the place he stabbed in the back almost two years ago this past week, and had to put himself back in the spotlight and open up some old wounds in the process.


LeBron, the attention whore that he is (thanks, Kendrick Perkins), couldn't stand turning on ESPN -- you know, the network that televised his "Decision" special and then created a special Web page devoted to his new "super team" called the "Heat Index" -- and seeing some undrafted guard named Jeremy Lin dominate SportsCenter. So, he decided -- in typical LeBron fashion -- to put himself squarely in the spotlight again, simply by opening his mouth.

Rumors of LeBron having an interest in opting out of his Heat contract after 2014 and potentially showing an interest in returning to Cleveland have been circulating since the lockout. Fox Sports Ohio's Sam Amico quoted several sources on this subject a month ago for a blog. So, naturally, in his first meeting with Cleveland reporters the day before his Miami individuals met the Cavs, it was asked if it was true.

LeBron responded by saying that he would like to eventually return to Cleveland, that he had fond memories of playing at Quicken Loans Arena and playing in front of the fans, that he was hurt by the reaction but understood the passion of Cleveland fans, that he doesn't hold a grudge against Cavs owner Dan Gilbert anymore for his remarks, admitted his "Decision" was the wrong move and apologized for it, and said that it wouldn't bother him to play for a Gilbert-owned team again and that "Dan's not the coach, and I can play for any coach."

His quote was: "I think it would be great. It would be fun to play in front of these fans again. I had a lot fun times in my seven years here. … I’m here as a Miami Heat player, and I’m happy where I am now, but I don’t rule that out in no sense.

“And if I decide to come back, hopefully the fans will accept me.”

Sports talk stations blew up with this little announcement, and every Cleveland news station led with this little nugget of information. And yes, ESPN made it one of their top stories, temporarily shelving their "Lin-sanity," if only for one day.

Twitter and Facebook blew up with the fans weighing in on whether or not they'd welcome him back. People imagined a lineup of LeBron with Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson and whoever they draft in next year's draft, if they were to get a lottery pick again, and how that team should be an instant championship contender.

Blah, blah, blah ...

That next night, LeBron -- playing in front of mostly boos but also some scattered cheers from the sold-out crowd at The Q -- had a game like he did the first time he came back here last season, and his Heat blew out the Cavs in a lackluster effort eerily reminiscent of that one back on Dec. 5, 2010.

Whether or not LeBron was serious, his comments did their job. It temporarily disarmed the Cavs and Cavs fans, and the Heat finshed their series with the Cavs at 3-0, after two close wins at home earlier this year.

Joe Cleveland certainly doesn't speak for all Cleveland sports fans, but he likes to think that his opinions are the ones that most Cleveland sports fans have. At any rate, he has two words for LeBron James:

HELL NO!!

Do you think that I would welcome you back with open arms should you decided to waltz back into our lives, after the way you spit on Cleveland with your "Decision?" The way you embarassed us? The way you added another Cleveland punchline to the many, many Cleveland punchlines that are out there? We're lucky Johnny Carson is dead, or else he would have had a field day with that one.

LeBron didn't make his decision based on money. The Cavs could have guaranteed him more money and more years, even with the sign-and-trade agreement they came to with Miami after the fact. He made his decision because he didn't want to play for Cleveland, simple as that.

All LeBron did was make excuses. The Cavs were one of the best regular season teams in both 2009 and 2010. Both times, they suffered colossal chokes in the playoffs and didn't even get to the NBA Finals like they did in 2007.

In 2010, the Cavs didn't even get the chance to play in the Eastern Conference Finals. That's because LeBron quit on his team during the series with the Celtics.

Even with the obvious tank job, Cleveland was willing to take you back. We came up with stupid, sappy song parodies to lure you back. Gilbert commissioned a Family Guy-esque cartoon made about you in their pitch to keep you aboard. Gilbert hired members of your entourage to the front office, and no move the Cavs made from 2006-2010 wasn't made without your consent.

The signing of Larry Hughes? LeBron stamp of approval.

The trade for Delonte West, Ben Wallace and Wally Szczerbiak? LeBron stamp of approval.

The trade for Mo Williams? LeBron stamp of approval.

The trade for Shaquille O'Neal? LeBron stamp of approval.

The trade of Zydrunas Ilgauskas for Antawn Jamison, and the subsequent re-signing of 'Z'? LeBron stamp of approval.

LeBron claims he couldn't win a title all by himself. That's great. But you signed off on all the help that Gilbert and Danny Ferry tried to give you.

You had a coach in Mike Brown you used like a puppet. You loved him when things went well, but then blasted him and turned on him in the playoffs when he dared try to stand up to you. Now, you have a similar coach in Erik Spoelstra, except he's got a boss with a backbone behind him in Pat Riley. Riley is nobody's puppet. You don't like that very much.

You said you couldn't win a title all by yourself, so you teamed up with your superstar friends Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh to try to win, oh, how did you put it, "Not one ... not two ... not three ... not four ... not five ..." You get the picture.

How many did you win last season? Wasn't it ZERO?!?

It was LeBron's cronie, Brian Windhorst, who went on to Cleveland radio and opened up this Pandora's Box by discussing LeBron's wish to return to Cleveland at some point. Windhorst, who began covering LeBron when he played in high school at St. Vincent-St. Mary and then followed him as Cavs beat reporter for two of the largest newspapers in Northeast Ohio before following him down to Miami with ESPN's "Heat Index," claimed that Cleveland would embrace him when, and if, he returned.

"The Cleveland fans gave Jim Thome a standing ovation when he came back," he said, presumably believing that they'd do the same thing for his old buddy LeBron.

There's a big difference between Jim Thome and LeBron James. In fact, there's a big difference between every free agent the Indians lost from those 1990s powerhouse teams and LeBron James.

Jim Thome, Albert Belle and Manny Ramirez all left because of the money. The Indians wouldn't break the bank for any of them, so they left for greener pastures. Perhaps Belle would have left anyway because he was sullen and just a complete jerk. But Thome and Manny left because there were teams that were willing to give them exhorbitant amounts of money -- money that the tight-fisted Indians could not afford.

Sure, fan reaction from Cleveland was anti-Thome and anti-Manny for many years. However, most fans realized that there no such thing as a "hometown discount," and, had the Dolans ponied up an additional year or two, perhaps both players would have stayed put. Both made it known they wanted to return. When Thome did, fans were ready to embrace him.

When Manny decided he wanted to come back to baseball this season, SportsTime Ohio (the Dolans' own network) polled callers on whether or not they'd welcome him back to the Indians. Overwhelmingly, there was support among Cleveland fans to have Manny Ramirez back in a Tribe uniform, even with a steroid suspension looming.

Cleveland fans (and Joe Cleveland is one of them) are great at holding grudges. We booed Carlos Boozer every time he came back, although that has softened since LeBron did what he did. We booed Gerard Warren at a Patriots game last year, even though he hadn't played for the Browns in almost six years. Heck, some of us still boo Bill Belichick, even though he hasn't coached in Cleveland since 1995.

But, LeBron's act of betrayal only ranks him below Art Modell on the Cleveland public enemy scale. All Modell did was move the Cleveland Browns out of town and lie about it every step of the way. He hasn't returned to Northeast Ohio since 1995, and that's because he fears for his life.

LeBron still returns to Akron, but I believe he's starting to realize just how good he had it in Cleveland. He was the undisputed "King James" in these parts. Ownership and coahces cow-towed to him. His under-tipping became a stuff of urban legend around these parts, but people accepted it. Fans bought his jersies in droves. They believed he would bring a championship to Cleveland.

But he didn't, and he left when he couldn't do it. And the fans responded with anger, hurt, vitrol ... all things that have supposedly stunned and hurt LeBron.

Yahoo! Sports has added fuel to this fire when they quoted various sources as saying that LeBron sent emissaries to Dan Gilbert during the summer proclaiming his desire to return to Cleveland and that he would be open to it. Gilbert never responded, and has not responded publicly to LeBron's recent comments that all but confirm this notion.

Nor will he, due to NBA tampering rules. Sure, that didn't stop Pat Riley from doing the same thing in 2009, but whatever.

Speaking of Riley, he is livid that LeBron would openly flirt back with Cleveland like he has, especially in the middle of a season. They stood by him through his struggles last season to fit in and through his collapse in the NBA Finals with Dallas. LeBron has two-and-a-half more years left in Miami, and they are incredulous that he's already plotting his escape.

Sounds a little familiar, no? Didn't we, as Cleveland fans and the Cavs organizaion, go through that same song and dance for the three seasons after LeBron signed his contract extension? The same exact contract extention that Wade and Bosh agreed to shortly after LeBron agreed to his?

Would Gilbert stick by his principles, or would he put things aside for the betterment of his business? Sure, there would be a reaction from either side of the fense if LeBron were to re-sign with the Cavs for 2014-15. Or, would he sell his team before he would even think of bringing him back?

If the shoe were on the other foot, wouldn't Gilbert enjoy telling LeBron what LeBron essentially told the world back in July of 2010?

Instead of Cleveland not being worthy of LeBron, perhaps it would be LeBron who is not worthy for Cleveland.

Mrs. Joe Cleveland (yes, there is a Mrs.) came up with a list of things that LeBron should have to do if he wanted to come back. One of those was that he had to sit in every single seat in The Q -- all 20,562 of them -- for a minute each to put himself in the shoes of the fans he betrayed. Another was to take a bottle of his VitaminWater, dump it out, refill it with water straight from the Cuyahoga River, and drink it, so that he could physically feel what the fans felt like when he said he was "taking his talents to South Beach."

What would it take for you to welcome him back? Or, are you like Joe Cleveland and have this response for him?

Thanks, LeBron, but no thanks.

Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!