Heat: Pat Riley still mad about LeBron leaving

[Malik Hairston]

do you have a link to demonstrate that more white people like lebron now than a year ago?

because i'm assuming your source is the same as stephen a smith's... aka the streets

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...ons-homecoming

You should know by now that I almost always have proof to validate my arguments, tbh..

[Killakobe81]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...ons-homecoming

You should know by now that I almost always have proof to validate my arguments, tbh..

Smiley emoticon was missing brah ...

[MeloHype]

Says the guy that was 100% sure LeBron wouldn't leave Miami and had an "inside source" that guaranteed he was staying.

You don't know LeBron's mind. I know you want to think you do but you don't, and no amount of smug, all-knowing sentences ending with "tbh.." is ever going to change that.

Ether

[spurraider21]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...ons-homecoming

You should know by now that I almost always have proof to validate my arguments, tbh..

yeah but its not really a white/black thing, the increase has been consistent among all demographics. seems like people just like the idea of lebron going back home, and not some racist "going back to massa" conspiracy

[Malik Hairston]

yeah but its not really a white/black thing, the increase has been consistent among all demographics. seems like people just like the idea of lebron going back home, and not some racist "going back to massa" conspiracy

Kind of, not really, though..

http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2014...e-lebron-james

I don't think it's conscious racism, btw..most Whites are conditioned to cheer for the cliches that have been programmed in their brains from a young age in regards to sports, and the hometown/Massah narrative is one of them..

[spurraider21]

Kind of, not really, though..

http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2014...e-lebron-james

I don't think it's conscious racism, btw..most Whites are conditioned to cheer for the cliches that have been programmed in their brains from a young age in regards to sports, and the hometown/Massah narrative is one of them..

yeah, i get it. ethan strauss is obsessed with making articles about lebron and race

and this is an article before he came back to cleveland, so you cant really say "white people like him for going back to massa" if you're basing it on an article before that even happened

[Malik Hairston]

Common complaints among White NBA fans:

- The game is not physical enough anymore, they don't let them fight like they did back in my day
Translation: We want to see these s fighting and hurting each other

- These contracts are terrible
Translation: We hate seeing these s make so much money

- The fundamentals of the game are gone
Translation: White American players are a dying breed, currently the lowest % we have ever seen

- Too much "Monkeyballing"
Translation: White Americans are obsolete

- These players don't focus enough on basketball, too concerned with off-court
Translation: We don't want to see these s making business decisions or having fun

- Michael Jordan this, Michael Jordan that
Translation: Dad Killer is such a coon, we love him, he hates s even more than we do

[spurraider21]

Common complaints among White NBA fans:

ok so you've backed away from citing sources and are now back to "the streets" for your info

- The game is not physical enough anymore, they don't let them fight like they did back in my day
Translation: We want to see these s fighting and hurting each other

no... former black players say the same . the game has gone soft. it makes for a better, more entertaining product, but the paint is way less violent than it used to be. that's not a "white complaint" that's an objective observation

- These contracts are terrible
Translation: We hate seeing these s make so much money

no. people dont really have problems with great players getting paid. do people call lebron overpaid? no... the only ones who do are among the re class that think all athletes are overpaid, without realizing that they indeed draw the revenue.

people hate it when bad players get overpaid because it holds teams back. people hate parker's contract because its too much, not because he's french

- The fundamentals of the game are gone
Translation: White American players are a dying breed, currently the lowest % we have ever seen


- Too much "Monkeyballing"
Translation: White Americans are obsolete

when you have 7 foot giants with no post moves and 6 foot guards that can't make free throws, its a viable complaint.

- These players don't focus enough on basketball, too concerned with off-court
Translation: We don't want to see these s making business decisions or having fun

this is fan talk, not white talk. fans like it when their team does well. the same complaints go to johnny manziel too, and not because this culture is black supremacist

- Michael Jordan this, Michael Jordan that
Translation: Dad Killer is such a coon, we love him, he hates s even more than we do

MJ is also probably the greatest player of all time. football fans do the same with joe montana

[Malik Hairston]

Listening to Leba 's show right now, just confirmed for the millionth time that Riley believed Lebron was staying after their meeting in Vegas.. people ignoring Lebron's actions this time around..

[Brazil]

I would be mad too even furious to be honest in Riley's shoes

[DMC]

What's happening with Lebron is simple: He sees "legacy" and thinks his is that of a person who dumped the poor, downtrodden masses in Cleveland to rub elbows with the rich and famous in Miami. He basically did, but he doesn't like that story line. He created a commercial talking about it. No one does that unless it bothers them. So how does he salve (noticed salve is an anagram of slave) that wound? He goes back under the guise of trying bring a championship to Cleveland, and he might, but he's stated in front of God and everyone else that in the 1st year it's not that likely.

That grants him some reprieve, which no one else would even need in his same predicament. 4 straight Finals and he "might" make a 5th with a team that didn't make the playoffs since he left 4 years ago? Yeah, that happens like once in your lifetime. So he's trying to right the story line (no I didn't mean "write", KK81 is the illiterate one, not me). I think he can go where he wants after this 2 year stint, perhaps to LA once Kobe goes into remission or NY to play for Phil once Fisher is made the ball boy and someone serious is brought in to coach. That's when you'll see a couple other big names join him in a big market and there they'll reign for a while.

[Malik Hairston]

What's happening with Lebron is simple: He sees "legacy" and thinks his is that of a person who dumped the poor, downtrodden masses in Cleveland to rub elbows with the rich and famous in Miami. He basically did, but he doesn't like that story line. He created a commercial talking about it. No one does that unless it bothers them. So how does he salve (noticed salve is an anagram of slave) that wound? He goes back under the guise of trying bring a championship to Cleveland, and he might, but he's stated in front of God and everyone else that in the 1st year it's not that likely.

That grants him some reprieve, which no one else would even need in his same predicament. 4 straight Finals and he "might" make a 5th with a team that didn't make the playoffs since he left 4 years ago? Yeah, that happens like once in your lifetime. So he's trying to right the story line (no I didn't mean "write", KK81 is the illiterate one, not me). I think he can go where he wants after this 2 year stint, perhaps to LA once Kobe goes into remission or NY to play for Phil once Fisher is made the ball boy and someone serious is brought in to coach. That's when you'll see a couple other big names join him in a big market and there they'll reign for a while.

Good post, and ya, the "greener pastures" arguers seem to ignore that Lebron immediately dismissed Cleveland's chances of winning the le, as soon as he got there..

[DMC]

Says the guy that was 100% sure LeBron wouldn't leave Miami and had an "inside source" that guaranteed he was staying.

You don't know LeBron's mind. I know you want to think you do but you don't, and no amount of smug, all-knowing sentences ending with "tbh.." is ever going to change that.

So many of you are basically audience members who respond to the "applause" indicator and "boo" indicators, but you don't provide anything of substance. There's a whole list of you people, you file in one by one and lodge your vote and that's it.

How about you step up and do something interesting instead being post reviewer?

Yeah didn't think so..

cue "but you're doing the same thing"...

[D-Wade]

Riles is just playing on team spirit and Heat Nation loyalty in the wake of a disappointing season but a promising future (provided everything falls our way). He's been doing the same in season ticket commercials on Sun Sports, without naming Lebron directly of course.

[DAF86]

Good post, and ya, the "greener pastures" arguers seem to ignore that Lebron immediately dismissed Cleveland's chances of winning the le, as soon as he got there..

To reduce the pressure. You are fooling yourself if you trully think Lebron went to Cleveland without any hope at all of winning the championship, and even if he really thought the Cavs had no chance of winning a championship this year he still saw that possibility more close to coming to fruition in the next few years in Cleveland than in Miami. He sold the "coming back home" story but what he's really after is the rings, imho.

[AlexJones]

Common complaints among White NBA fans:

- The game is not physical enough anymore, they don't let them fight like they did back in my day
Translation: We want to see these s fighting and hurting each other

- These contracts are terrible
Translation: We hate seeing these s make so much money

- The fundamentals of the game are gone
Translation: White American players are a dying breed, currently the lowest % we have ever seen

- Too much "Monkeyballing"
Translation: White Americans are obsolete

- These players don't focus enough on basketball, too concerned with off-court
Translation: We don't want to see these s making business decisions or having fun

- Michael Jordan this, Michael Jordan that
Translation: Dad Killer is such a coon, we love him, he hates s even more than we do

[HI-FI]

^^Lebron leaving had very little to do with Miami's talent level, tbh..

He left Cleveland to be loved again, and it's working..everybody loves him, his popularity increased dramatically, especially with White people..also, he's the best player in the NBA and a top 5 peak player of all-time, any team he goes to will automatically contend(and the team he leaves will go downhill, as we have seen several times)..

The Cavs are a terribly constructed team, yet they're the favorites to win the East and Vegas has them as le favorites..a team with the 20th ranked defense in the league, which is almost unheard of..

I think they're the favorites. If the Cavs don't win this season, , when will be the next time they get a hometown superstar or 3 no. 1 picks to lure him back. Whoever faces the Cavs better prepare for subtle shekelsteining imo.

[Mr Bones]

It's ironic that GMs get mad when a player leaves, because the way they usually acquire a guy in the first place is by convincing him to leave another place first. Everyone gets so emo and self-interested in these situations. I don't see what the big deal is... A grown man comes to a point in his life where his contract is up, and he takes a look around to see what his next best move is. LeBron's move especially seems pretty unremarkable: a guy returning to his home state to finish his career, and hopefully to bring a le to the team he grew up watching. It doesn't strike me as all that outlandish.

So many of you are basically audience members who respond to the "applause" indicator and "boo" indicators, but you don't provide anything of substance. There's a whole list of you people, you file in one by one and lodge your vote and that's it.

How about you step up and do something interesting instead being post reviewer?

Yeah didn't think so..

cue "but you're doing the same thing"...

My first post was about the topic, but you chose to focus on the second post, which responded to Malik.

[Malik Hairston]

To reduce the pressure. You are fooling yourself if you trully think Lebron went to Cleveland without any hope at all of winning the championship, and even if he really thought the Cavs had no chance of winning a championship this year he still saw that possibility more close to coming to fruition in the next few years in Cleveland than in Miami. He sold the "coming back home" story but what he's really after is the rings, imho.

I don't think he would have went to Cleveland if they didn't have any chance of winning, but let's be real here..the 2014 Eastern Conference was probably the worst conference in 10 years, and this year's East is just as bad(or worse)..if he stays in Miami, their team is just as good as this year's Cavs IMO..

The narrative is more important, though..he has proven many times that he's sensitive and cares about the opinions of his "legacy"..if he wins a ring for his hometown and a ty Cleveland franchise(and city), it would be much bigger than anything he did in Miami, including a repeat, from a narrative perspective..

[DAF86]

I don't think he would have went to Cleveland if they didn't have any chance of winning, but let's be real here..the 2014 Eastern Conference was probably the worst conference in 10 years, and this year's East is just as bad(or worse)..if he stays in Miami, their team is just as good as this year's Cavs IMO..

The narrative is more important, though..he has proven many times that he's sensitive and cares about the opinions of his "legacy"..if he wins a ring for his hometown and a ty Cleveland franchise(and city), it would be much bigger than anything he did in Miami, including a repeat, from a narrative perspective..

Maybe (although I mantain the idea that it would have been extremely hard for Miami to reach the NBA finals for a fifth straight year) but with this move to cleveland Lebron expanded his window of oportunity of winning a championship for at least 5 or 6 more years (maybe even more), in Miami that window didn't go further than 2 or 3 years as currently constructed.

Sure, the "comeback" story weighed-in on Lebron's decision but I'm pretty sure it came as a very distant second to his main goal, which imho was getting to a team that could become a championship contender in the short term and remain as such for a longer period of time than what he would have had if he stayed in Miami.

[Thebesteva]

Lebeta returning to massa Gilbert:

[DMC]

My first post was about the topic, but you chose to focus on the second post, which responded to Malik.

I digress. Barber.... proceed.

[cd021]

Wade broke down like everyone thought he would. And Riley is a ty GM who traded for Dragic who is going to opt out anyway.

21.5 ppg, 5 APG, 21.4 P.E.R and 47% from the field is breaking down? He missed 20 games, quite of few players did this season. Dragic was always going to opt out that's common knowledge, He is getting the max and the Heat have his bird rights. Thats why Dragic had the Heat on his list. He wanted to play in a big market/ city and get paid where he can play closer to his style.

Riley is a great GM, Next you gonna say Jerry West was a terrible GM.