No Easy Answers for LeBron James, Cavs

Prior to last night’s pivotal Game 6 in Boston, there was an overwhelming sense of inevitability for fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The shaken nerves were palpable, because what was at stake was so meaningful to the future of their team, to say nothing about the future of so many other NBA franchises.

Following the Celtics’ unceremonious elimination of the underachieving Cavs — Cleveland became just the third team in NBA history (including last year’s Cavs) to fail to reach the Finals after winning 60 games in the regular season — we are left with many more questions, and very few satisfying answers.

What does Cleveland and their owner Dan Gilbert do about Mike Brown, Shaquille O’Neal, and the remainder of the supporting cast (which came up short on the big stage, yet again)?

Oh, right. There’s the matter of the elephant in the room: LeBron James’ impending free agency. James, as is his custom (and given right), played it close to the vest during the postgame press conference — he gave no real hint as to what his future plans are.

Before the final buzzer sounded last night, media members were already trotting out rumors from their so-called sources about where LeBron James will end up after July 1st. Even Kevin Garnett couldn’t help himself from opining on LBJ’s dilemma.

The truth of the matter is that no one truly knows anything about his future, that of the Cavs, and that of many other franchises who are preparing their pitches to James.

The courtship of the most hyped free agent in NBA history officially begins in about 7 weeks. The only guarantee, is that you will already be sick and tired of hearing about it well before then.

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Tags: Antawn Jamison, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert, Free Agency, Mike Brown, Mo Williams, Shaquille O'Neal

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http://Www.slamonline.com Myles Brown

Oh and Kobe quit, Jordan quit, and Wilt quit. Look it up. Then add Bron to the list. I don’t blame any of em since they essentially did it for the same reasons.
kobesbestfriend

i bet if u switched kobe 4 lebron the cavs woulda won the chip this year
truthteller

@ben hogan: if you are telling me that the Cavs weren’t a great team then why was everybody including the media calling them a championship team? they were ready to just hand the Cavs the ‘chip. Now they weren’t good enough?
truthteller

@Sparker: you’re forgetting that Kobe carried his team in ’06 all the way to the 7th seed in the playoffs (when they had just missed the playoffs the year before and were not picked to make it in ’06)and nearly beat the Suns in the first round! Kobe’s been there too!
http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Eboy

@ AL29: how many superstars were on the last Pistons championship team? None. Jamison and Mo Williams and a host of good role players and defenders in Parker, Verajao, JJ Hickson isn’t a line up so anemic that everybody should be pointing their fingers at management again. Especially for a guy who is supposed to be the best at makin his teammates better. Kobe unfairly gets a bad rap and LeBron unfairly gets absolved of blame. Kobe’s current teammates all put up numbers similar to LeBrons’ teammates when the Lakers lost the Finals to Boston 2 years ago. Nobody was blaming management then.
http:slamonline.com Allenp

Lebron doesn’t get a pass from the media. He gets more scrutiny than anyone not named Kobe, and he might get more than Kobe.
I hope he re-ups for 2-3 years, and at least gets to the Finals one more time in Cleveland.
Honestly, Mike Brown has to go. I’ve defended the brother, and I want him to get another job, but he can’t coach Lebron. Lebron doesn’t respect him, he basically blamed Brown for the lost because of the gameplan. Brown is a decent coach, and he will have more success, but he doesn’t have the credentials or the makeup to coach Lebron.
Also, Jamison was not the answer and I believe I said he would disappoint EVERYONE when the trade was made. I watched him in Washington, I knew what he was all about. The reason he’s protected from intense criticism is because he has a rep as a “good guy”.
He can’t defend threes and he can’t defend fours. That’s unacceptable given the fact he is not an absolute BEAST on offense. True, Lebron didn’t play like he needed to last night, but the mismatch with Jamison was the problem for the entire series. I said before hte series began that it hinged on whether KG had the legs to attack the Cavs, and once he proved that he did, it was a massive problem for the Cavs.
DS44

EPIC FAIL,couldn’t have happened to a more deserving over hyped overrated player.
Jose

Bron technically almost had a quadruple double. 9 turnovers…i’m just sayin’
http://www.youtube.com/user/CathedralsRecords?feature=mhw4 Earl

Sorry Anton
Shem

Let me say that Bosh and Joe Johnson are the only free agents that might leave. I hate it, but it is what it is. Bron is staying. period. The problem with the Cavs are their offense. Mike Brown is a great defensive coach but he can’t run an offense. Also, Mo williams plays good in the regular season but during the playoffs he’s just awful. He had awful D as well. I’ve loved Anthony Parker since he was in Toronto but he’s gotta come off the bench. Get a scoring shooting guard that can play D. Too bad Salmons off the block right? Basically what I’m saying is bad coaching, needed upgrade in the back court. Shaq was a liability with the pick and roll this year so they might want to think about replacing him but he played really well at some points during the season so yeah tough decisions have to be made..
http://www.nba.com olive_akiko

Larry Bird told me that Phil Jackson is going to sign a short-term deal with the Cavs.
wad da f$$K

the differences between kobe quitting and james quitting is that, Cleveland was the best team in the NBA, they were given the trophy at the start of the NBA, while the Lakers in the 05 season wasn’t expected to even make the playoff, let alone the number 7 seed in the West, which would be 4-5 in the Eastern Conference. They gave the suns a run for their money (suns had one of the highest chances to win the championships that year). Yes Kobe quit that last game to prove his point, but Lebron is talked about more because of the high expectations: from the media, from fans like you, so of course it is more ridicule than when Kobe quit, because the Lakers wasn’t even suppose to be in the playoff especially with the line up they had (smush, walton, mihm, kwame).
http:slamonline.com Allenp

There is no difference between quitting.
And Kobe quit when he played with the Lakers as well. And let’s not forget those two stinker performances he turned in against the Thunder this year.
I know I’m guilt of this, but I really wish we could discuss Lebron without having to disparage Kobe, and vice versa.
wad da f$$K

Yes im a kobe fan but Im tired of people saying lebron has no “team.” If you don’t have a team then you won’t have the best winning records for the past two seasons. I don’t like Lebron at all but I respect his game, his athleticism. I feel sorry for the dude cause you (the fans, media) set him up so high to make him fall that much harder.
hello

IF Lebron leaves the Cavs because he wants to win a championship pretty soon, and because the cavs don’t have the supporting cast, he isn’t going to NY or NJ to start all over again!
wad da f$$K

of course there is no difference between quitting, but i was explaining why Lebron quitting is talked about more than kobe quitting. Im a lakers,and kobe fan and I still have a grudge for kobe for that game.
http://www.realcavsfans.com Anton

Steve Nash never quit on his team.
http://www.realcavsfans.com Anton

Oh and Mike Brown just got fired. The issues were poor in-game adjustments, lack of respect from the players, an unavailability due to him filming Toy Story 3.
http://bleacherreport.com/users/42594-hoops4life Overtime

No way they are just the third team to not make the finals after getting 60 wins? I can think of at least 2 off the top of my head in last 6 years:
2004 Pacers
2007 Mavs
Fairly sure Phoenix got 60 either in 05 or 06 didnt they?
http:slamonline.com Allenp

Overtime
They did. And Cleveland’s actually done the 60 win thing twice.
T-Money

I think that in retrospect this current Cavs team will be looked at as a bunch of regular season overachievers. They’re a 60-win team on paper but they lose every single match up besides the Bron one. Rondo and Meer are better than Mo. Vince and Ray Ray are better than Parker. Shard and KG are better than Twan. Dwight and Perk are better than Shaq. It always comes down to matchups. / I can’t see Bron staying because Cleveland is not in a position to get better. They don’t ahve the cap room to sign a big time FA.
giogolo

@Myles Brown
Jordan retired. NOT quit.
http://Www.slamonline.com Myles Brown

He quit against the Pistons. Look it up.
http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Eboy

I thought the Minister of Misinformation ceased to exist when Professor Grif left PE.
OBJECTIVE RESEARCH

We all know LeBron’s bread and butter: driving the lane. It is from here that I draw my argument.

When James goes to the hole, he simply runs at defenders full speed and hopes to get fouls called.

This is done after taking 15 seconds off the shot clock deciding what he wants to do.
Weed

Did anyone notice how KG killed LBJ mentally. He was just to strong for LBJ to handle. He did the same to Kobe in the finals in 08. When he is focused for the series like against Cavs or Lakers you just can’t play against him.
http:slamonline.com Allenp

T-Money
Honestly, I didn’t see the Rondo and Mo matchup being that one-sided before the series. I had seriously underestimated Rondo and Cleveland’s ability to contain him. Hell, he did NOTHING like that against Miami.
I knew the Jamison matchup could be a problem, but only if KG wasn’t dragging the leg. He wasn’t, so that was a big deal.
I don’t think you can say Perkins is better than Shaq or Big Z. At most, it’s a push.
Ray is better than Parker and Bron is better than Pierce.
That said, the Cavs could have and SHOULD have still made this series competitive and they had a great shot at winning it if Lebron doesn’t take a major dump in three or four games. That’st he bottom line and their is no debating it. He failed big time. Sure, his teammates were flawed, but the big problem was that he failed to shine.
I keep saying this, but the Celtics have done this before.
ben2424

I hope people stop calling him “king”… the finals mvp is the one that counts…..
Sparker

is writing “look it up” kind of like quitting?
http://wildcat4life@live.com The Promise

I would say I’m one of the only people on here that can honestly say that I picked the Celtics in 6, and sure, people probably thought I was crazy, heck, a lot of my friends thought I was, but see, I don’t ride the bandwagon(not saying everyone on here does but there are plenty that do),I’m a basketball guy, its my love, my passion, and When I looked at this series before it started, I said, you know, Boston is as healthy as they have been all season, and probably in the last 2 years for that matter, and I have thought all year that Cleveland wasn’t quite a championship team. Last year they brought in Mo, a guy that isn’t a point guard, isn’t really a shooting guard because of how small he is, and this year, they brought in a role player at best in Anthony Parker, and, a guy that is only know for his dunks in Jamario Moon, a washed-up, beat up Shaq, and traded for a quickly-detiorrating Antawn Jamison. Ilgauskas is way npast his prime, seems like all he can do now is make an occasional jumper, isn’t much of a factor on the boards because of his low strength and speed, and Varejao is no threat on offense whatsoever, all he is good at is flopping. The only consistent player on that team is LeBron, period. What people seem to be missing is, what if Boston just outplayed them? Looks that way to me. They coudn’t stop KG or Rondo the whole series, and Ray played well for the most part, and they had enough pieces in place that, when one guy didnt play well, another guy(Tony Allen, Glen Davis, Sheed) stepped up in their place. Not so for the other team. When things didnt go right, as always, they stood back and watched LeBron. And one guy can’t take it to the hole on 5, as you saw with the 9 turnovers. What I’m trying to say is, The Cavs didn’t lose it, the Celtics won it.
http://www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com Tarzan Cooper

U hear that? Its the sound of lebronze casting his line in a quiet cool isolated creek. He sighs heavily before reeling in his line.
Elmago901

How come everyone is talking about where LeBronze is going and not how he choked yet again? The so called best player in the world and best team in the nba but can’t live up to the hype year after year. When will people get that lebron and the cavs are the Dallas mavericks of the east, great regular season record, crappy team killers, Superstar stat padding, but when it comes to performing and living up to the expectations when it really matters….a big zero. Experts always say that it’s the playoffs where you make a name/legacy for yourself – what is lebron’s legacy so far? based on his playoff performances…not so good. Face it people lebron is the best athletic player in the world but that doesn’t make him a winner, it just makes him a great player but not in the same class as Kareem, Wilt, Russell, Jerry West, Magic, Larry, MJ or Kobe. These guys have the track record to prove it. In the words of Denzel, lebron is all cheese no toast.
http://Www.slamonline.com Myles Brown

Writing look it up is kind of like a suggestion. You’ve got three choices: Believe someone who saw it and did the research, believe the mouth breathing troglodyte who did neither, or look it up for yourself and know for sure. Choose wisely…..
bashmo

First of all, Lebron is VERY annoyed right now. We all know that. He shouldnt blame his players. Shaq and Mau Williams played great yesterday. However, he should look at himself and ask “Do I have what it takes to lead a team to the finals? And win?” Give the celtics credit. They defended everyone on the cavs roster with excellence. They limited James and made him perform at his worst, and generated a lot of turnovers off of him. Perkins defended shaq well, and made him take a lot of shots, something he didnt do much in the reg.season. The C’s piece by piece broke the cavs down, and the team that C.Barkley chose to “win it all” failed to win again. Danny Ferry was given so much credit toward the end of the reg. season for assembling this championship caliber team, who visually had fun in game, dancing, singing, posing for team pictures. But when it came down to business, they couldnt even take a 4th seeded Celtic team that is arguably worse from 2 years ago to 7 Games. They didnt even get outta the conference semis. Shame on the Cavs….
bashmo

As for where Lebron is going to end up next season…right now we really dont know..however, you can bet your ass that he wont be going to New Jersey, or Chicago. NJ because they lack any legitimate role players. Their young pieces are not used to winning at all in the reg.season, let alone, attempt to qualify and go far in the playoffs. They lack the consistency and depth to win a scrawny 20 games in the reg. season. Imagine the heart and consistency they’d have in the postseason? None. He wont go to Chicao quite simply because of Jordan’s stature, as Eboy mentioned. His best best is to New York, where another possible Superstar may be signed, or Miami, with Wade, but that may not happen as Pat Riley will probably plan to go signing with a big man, a la CB4, since shaq helped a younger D-Wade win a ring after only a season of playing with him, or to stay in Cleveland.
The Philosopher

Magic Johnson had a bad playoff season one year, (worse than LeBron’s) and he is the best of all times.
http://slamonline.com nbk

If New Jersey wins the lottery they are the most likely destination for LeBron. They actually have a SOLID roster of ROLE players. Which is what their problem was this season, they were a full team of Role Players. If NJ wins the lottery that means they have Wall, & Lopez (PG & C – Which is most important part of winning a championship) and Devin Harris as a trading chip. Terrence Williams who finished the last month of the year at 15 6 6 is the perfect SG/SF backup type player to have with LeBron. Courtney Lee already proved he plays well in clutch situations. and as disappointing as Yi has been, he becomes a lot more intruiging as a 4th or 5th option with no pressure on him whatso-ever. Either way if LeBron is about winning the Statue of MJ will not be enough to deter him from Chicago. With him that team has CHampionship caliber written all over them for the next 6-10 years. Especially if they sign and trade for LeBron using Luol Deng and James Johnson, because then they can sign another Max guy, like say Chris Bosh.
http:slamonline.com Allenp

Why would Cleveland trade for Deng and James Johnson? I mean, Deng’s contract is atrocious.
http://slamonline.com nbk

lets not forget though, whoever LBJ wants as his coach he will get. Whether he signs in Chi, NJ, Miami, or LAC. Cleveland has no chance of retaining LeBron, they have made the mistake of trading for older players that has completely and irreversibly handicapped them from improving. There is no basketball sense in staying in cleveland. NY is in a similar boat, because even if they get a sign and trade with david lee for another big time free agent that only leaves them with 5 players that would even get minutes on an NBA team. the other 7 would have to be filled out by minimum salary Free Agents. and thats assuming they find a way to rid themselves of the $10 million dollar donut, eddy curry
http://slamonline.com nbk

Because its better then losing LeBron for nothing DUH
http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com BETCATS

This is off topic, but has anyone heard those Delonte West/Gloria James rumors?
http://slamonline.com nbk

nope but it sounds awesome. LeBronte West
SeanJaye88

I just heard that Delonte West had been sleeping with LBJ’s mom and he found out rite before game 4 LMAO!
Marco

Sign and trade with the lakers.James comes to L.A., CLE receives Bynum, Brown, 2012 and 2014 1st round picks, a half dozen of Larry O’ Brien trophy replicas, 2 first row season tickets and the possibility of having Chris Wallace as a private adviser paid by the lakers
bill breedley

even if lebron has another 7-8 seasons in the league, he will still not get close to winning even 2 championships…. unless david stern forces dwade and another star to play with lebron.

2 years with a stacked lineup and still no ring. enough with the excuses for lebron. even he said during the bulls series that the team was starting to feel like a championship team. give dwade that same lineup and he would be representing the east in the finals. you do not need a triple double to get to the finals, you need to be the dominant scorer and maybe just a trickle of assists to keep defense honest. just like wilt in his prime, lebron will collect nothing but stats records til he figures it out or ends up teaming with a couple of legit superstars.

totally do not like this guy but still feel pity for him looking like a chump right now. his mother should have taught him to be humble. focus on getting a semblace of fundamentals before you go all hiphop and dancing on the sidelines and being a fool whenever the camera is on you as if you’ve already won something.
Yesse

I feel bad for LeBron, Cavs, Mike Brown and Shaq. Shaq didn’t get what he wanted and he is probably going to retire. Atleast he didnt retire at the bottom. LeBron is could end up somewhere else. Mike Brown might get fired and Cavs might not even make the playoffs if they lose LeBron and other guys too.
The Philosopher

To the masses: I’ve tried valiantly to vindicate The King for his failure in this year’s Playoffs. Truth being truth, his greatness wasn’t enough to overcome the mighty Celtics. Now, I’m going to attempt to help the world understand why LeBron James IS THE KING, despite his recent on court failures. A definition of a king is one who is at the top, therefore possessing great influence. In six weeks, this particular king has the power and the unprecedented influence, authority and ability to change the structure of an entire global entity (The League). He has the power to change and alter lives. THIS IS WHY HE IS THE KING. PERIOD. And this is why he doesn’t HAVE to win a ring. And he knows it.
The Philosopher

Not even Michael Jordan possessed that much power…ever.
bill breedley

blah blah blah. without a ring you have to be an idiot to still call yourself The King. king without a ring just doesnt have any zing.
http://www.youtube.com/ The Promise

@The Philosopher: You kiddin man? People hung on every word MJ said, and they still do. Dude is sellin tons of kicks 7 years after he retires, and will for many many years to come. Thats what I call power. Lets not get too ahead of ourselves.

No Easy Answers for LeBron James, Cavs

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