CLEVELAND – The Cavaliers’ owner didn’t exactly offer LeBron James his blessings on his new move to Miami!
Cleveland Cavaliers nation lies in ruins this morning. The greatest player to ever wear a Cavaliers uniform has left them high and dry for a move to sunny Miami. LeBron James bolted to join a superstar trio in Miami and Cavaliers fans were left in a pool of misery. If there was one bright side to this story, it’s that it provided owner Dan Gilbert to share his real thoughts on James and the situation that transpired.
Gilbert has gone on record and unloaded on his former superstar. Gilbert spared no details and has undoubtedly turned King James from hero to villain.
“He has gotten a free pass,” Gilbert said in a phone interview with the AP. “People have covered up for James for way too long. Tonight we saw who he really is.”
Gilbert said James quit on the Cavaliers during their second-round series against the Boston Celtics, who rallied from a 2-1 deficit to eliminate Cleveland.
“He quit,” Gilbert added. “Not just in Game 5, but in Games 2, 4 and 6. Watch the tape. The Boston series was unlike anything in the history of sports for a superstar.”
Gilbert, who has owned the Cavs for five years, said he was most disappointed by James’ behavior in the months leading up to the superstar’s announcement that he is going to Miami to play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Gilbert said James never returned a single phone message or text since the end of the season and that the Cavs were not informed of James’ decision until he went on the air.
Gilbert posted a letter to Cavs fans on the team’s website shortly after James announced his plans to sign with the Heat. In that letter, Gilbert called the process on James’ free agency “narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his ‘decision’ unlike anything ever ‘witnessed’ in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.”
Gilbert added: “You simply don’t deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal.”
“I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE,” said Gilbert.
Cavaliers nation certainly has reason to be upset. The LeBron James free agency saga was slightly ridiculous and overly anti-climactic. There was no need for all the bells and whistles. You never saw Michael Jordan do something like that – or even Kobe Bryant. Why? Because they were too busy winning championships, that’s why. Poor moves on James’ part – one that will certainly tarnish his legacy.
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