Cavs Owner Gilbert Insists Team Will Be Champions

[duncan228]

Cavs owner Gilbert insists team will be champions

Six years into the LeBron James era, the Cleveland Cavaliers are without an NBA le in a city that has waited 45 years to celebrate any major championship.

Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert believes his team will break the drought.

“We will win a championship for Cleveland, Ohio,” Gilbert said Wednesday in a meeting with reporters. “It’s going to happen. We don’t believe in any of this curse nonsense. We’re going to work very hard, beginning a couple of days ago, to make sure that happens.”

That may make this offseason the most important in team history. Superstar LeBron James is eligible to sign a contract extension with the Cavaliers on July 18, but most observers expect him to reject it and opt for free agency after next season.

Such a move would not preclude James from remaining a Cavalier, but even deciding to keep his options open is sure to raise the collective anxiety level of the city’s fans.

That includes the Cavaliers’ owner.

“If you think you’re nervous…” Gilbert joked before turning serious. “We feel very confident that this franchise and the direction we’re going will make it the best place to play basketball for our current players, LeBron James, future players and anybody else. That’s all we can do. We can create the best environment and best culture and create a team that has the best chances of ultimately winning an NBA championship. We’re doing that.”

Gilbert hasn’t had any conversations with James about what will happen this summer.

“We’ve had a lot of other business to focus on,” Gilbert said. “It takes two to make a contract. At the appropriate time, we’ll make our best efforts to make sure LeBron understands the great plans we have and all the opportunities here. We feel pretty good about it.”

In the four years Gilbert has owned the franchise, the Cavaliers have increased their payroll and wins. The 66 victories this season set a new franchise mark and tied for the 10th most in league history, while the payroll has consistently ranked among the league’s highest.

Gilbert is one of the few owners who isn’t intimidated by the league’s luxury tax—the Cavaliers have soared over the salary cap, and paid the tax, for the past two years.

He wants the team to keep improving.

“Nobody is satisfied. Nobody is happy,” Gilbert said. “Expectations were much higher. We’re not going to sit up here and say we won 66 games, we had all these awards and we had a great home record. Ultimately, you’d rather win 50 games if you’re going to win the NBA championship.”

The maneuvering to entice James to remain in Cleveland beyond this season already has begun. A deal is close to being completed that will sell a 15 percent share of the franchise to an investment group from China, a nation of 1.3 billion where James enjoys enormous popularity. Gilbert recited ratings from an NBA game in the fall of 2007, when he said 300 million Chinese viewers tuned in to watch Houston’s Yao Ming face Milwaukee’s Yi Jianlian.

The Super Bowl is the most-watched American television broadcast with an average audience of more than 100 million, according to a number of studies.

The Chinese group approached the Cavs with their proposal.

“We didn’t seek them out, they sought out the opportunity,” Gilbert said. “When you go through the checklist of good things, China is a big place. There is certainly opportunity there.”

James, who is home recovering following a procedure Tuesday that removed a benign growth near his jaw, has been the topic of debate the past few days after he failed to shake hands with Orlando Magic players following the conclusion of the Eastern Conference finals.

Gilbert did not criticize his superstar, but made it clear he would have preferred to see James shaking hands with the winners.

“As you know now, there are a lot of things going on in that young man’s head,” Gilbert said, referring to the procedure James has known he needed for months. “LeBron has given more interviews and is in front of the public and in front of the media more than maybe any sports figure that exists today … Nobody in the world can do 100 percent of the things looked upon as the right thing to do. I think overall this guy has a pretty doggone good track record.”

NBA Commissioner David Stern has said he would like to meet with James to discuss the issue. Gilbert, who grew up watching hockey in Detroit, mentioned to Stern a few years ago how he would like to see all NBA players copy the NHL custom and line up and shake hands following playoff series.

“I think people like that, I think fans like it,” Gilbert said. “It’s probably the right thing to do.”

[Indazone]

FYI

Cleveland sports curse

Main article: Curse of Rocky Colavito

There is an alleged curse on the city of Cleveland, Ohio that prevents them from winning a major sports championship. To this date, it has been arguably the biggest sports championship drought in any U.S. city. The last Cleveland le came in 1964 when the Browns won the NFL Championship. The Cleveland Indians last won the World Series in 1948 and the Cleveland Cavaliers have never won the NBA Finals, losing in their first appearance in 2007 to the San Antonio Spurs.

Some of their most infamous failures have been dubbed with a le, often with a single word preceded by an ominous "The." Amongst locals and even sports fans in general, The Catch, Red Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble, and The Shot all evoke images of Cleveland sports futility.

Less famous outside of Cleveland, Game 7 of the 1997 World Series is commonly referred to as The Error (briefly known as The Mesa).
Cleveland has also had two franchises cease operations. In 1978, the Cleveland Barons of the National Hockey League vanished after two unsuccessful seasons by merging with the Minnesota North Stars. The Cleveland Rockers of the WNBA shut down in 2003 after seven seasons of existence.

In 2004, ESPN named Cleveland the most tortured sports city.[15] That same year,the 40th anniversary of the last championship, the local newspaper The Plain Dealer produced a special section do enting the losing seasons of the three major teams since 1964.[16]

[BRHornet45]

sons basically he is saying ... "please King Crab don't leave us!"

[Ghazi]

I AGREE if they keep King JAMES for the long haul. A player with the brilliance of James simply has to win a le (and likely more) eventually.

They have to RETOOL their ROSTER though.

[gaKNOW!blee]

Theres just no way Lebron, only being 24, doesnt win at least two rings. All these haters are really gonna be silenced in the next few years.

[sook]

sons basically he is saying ... "please King Crab don't leave us!"

hahahaha so true

[NewJerSpur]

What else is he going to say.

[JoeTait75]

FYI

Cleveland sports curse

Main article: Curse of Rocky Colavito

There is an alleged curse on the city of Cleveland, Ohio that prevents them from winning a major sports championship. To this date, it has been arguably the biggest sports championship drought in any U.S. city. The last Cleveland le came in 1964 when the Browns won the NFL Championship. The Cleveland Indians last won the World Series in 1948 and the Cleveland Cavaliers have never won the NBA Finals, losing in their first appearance in 2007 to the San Antonio Spurs.

Some of their most infamous failures have been dubbed with a le, often with a single word preceded by an ominous "The." Amongst locals and even sports fans in general, The Catch, Red Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble, and The Shot all evoke images of Cleveland sports futility.

Less famous outside of Cleveland, Game 7 of the 1997 World Series is commonly referred to as The Error (briefly known as The Mesa).
Cleveland has also had two franchises cease operations. In 1978, the Cleveland Barons of the National Hockey League vanished after two unsuccessful seasons by merging with the Minnesota North Stars. The Cleveland Rockers of the WNBA shut down in 2003 after seven seasons of existence.

In 2004, ESPN named Cleveland the most tortured sports city.[15] That same year,the 40th anniversary of the last championship, the local newspaper The Plain Dealer produced a special section do enting the losing seasons of the three major teams since 1964.[16]

There is no curse. Just a lot of teams that haven't been good enough.

[sook]

I think they will...next year


I knew they wouldn't this year but damn if they get a post player...70 wins...no lie

[Showtime24 LAKERS]

Will he feel that same way when LeBron leaves for the Big Apple?

[Thunder Dan]

I 'll believe it when I see it. I've been around this town too long and know it's history.

[Allanon]

Cavs are between a rock and a hard place. 2009/10 is another heartbreak Cavs year.

They're too good to miss the Playoffs but not good enough to win a Championship. So no high draft picks for a long time.

They can change it around in 2010 if they can get a Superstar player like Dwade. But even with D Wade, it will take them another 2-3 years to win it all.

Chris Bosh, Amare, Shaq (right now) aren't going to win 'em a championship without another Star level player....Dwight would be but he probably ain't leaving Orlando anytime soon.

Minimum 3 years to a Championship for LeBron, but will he wait that long in Cleveland?

[lefty]

What else is he going to say.

"We suck"

[JamStone]

Dan Gilbert, from Michigan, went to college at Michigan State, owns a company which was the former presenting sponsor for the Detroit Pistons.

C.I.A. Gilbert

[Ghazi]

Cavs are between a rock and a hard place. 2009/10 is another heartbreak Cavs year.

They're too good to miss the Playoffs but not good enough to win a Championship. So no high draft picks for a long time.

They can change it around in 2010 if they can get a Superstar player like Dwade. But even with D Wade, it will take them another 2-3 years to win it all.

Chris Bosh, Amare, Shaq (right now) aren't going to win 'em a championship without another Star level player....Dwight would be but he probably ain't leaving Orlando anytime soon.

Minimum 3 years to a Championship for LeBron, but will he wait that long in Cleveland?

lol, D-Whistle and Lebron on the same team would result in instant championships. 4-5 of them.

[pawe]

I think they will...next year


I knew they wouldn't this year but damn if they get a post player...70 wins...no lie

Your roster might be complete, good chemistry, yadda yadda but there's still the possibility of a season ending injury.....