Report: Lebron going back to Cleveland

I don't doubt that there are people close to the situation who think and believe that LeBron going to Cleveland is 100 percent. As Windhorst said on SportsCenter yesterday he thinks teams will find out what he's doing, when he makes the announcement and not a minute before.

Good sources with good intentions can be wrong.

 

Who is "They"?

 

Who, other than LeBron, would you accept as a source where you would feel comfortable saying anything is 100 percent that LeBron is going anywhere.

If Riley said "LeBron is definitely going to the Cavs" I would probably accept that. "If he said, "Oh, he's definitely staying in Miami." I would probably qualify it.

I'm not sure I would even trust his wife or agent. I might if his agent was David Falk or Arn Tellem, but LeBron's agent wants him to go to Cleveland and will make more money if he signs a long-term deal in Cleveland than if he signs a one or two-year deal in Miami. LeBron is on his third agent (not uncommon) but Paul doesn't have a long list of NBA clients like some others do. I think he has Eric Bledsoe and maybe a couple other lower-level guys.

 

It was a roundtable discussion with Windhosrt, Broussard and a couple others. I think Broussard said it and one of the others (not Windhorst) challenged it.

 

What makes these players flaky? Free agency has been open for only 36 hours.

 

They've only been able to "make it official" for the last 36 hours. It's been open for 10 days.

 

I hope he's just fucking with Dan Gilbert and pulls the rug out from under him again.

 

Well, without any evidence, it's a dumb assertion regardless of who said it, but even more galling if it came from someone at ESPN, the party actually most responsible for making this such a (seemingly) drawn out over-the-top spectacle.

I see nothing unreasonable nor "flaky" about the amount of time these guys have taken to make this decision. It only feels that way because of the absurd 24/7 wall to wall coverage ESPN has chosen to give the story, even on days when there's nothing of substance to report (ie. most days). These guys weren't even allowed speak to other teams until just over a week ago, so it's hardly shocking that they might still be undecided about such a huge decision.

I've not noticed Lebron or Carmelo doing anything to draw attention to themselves here. The reason this anticipation has built up, and why we're endlessly hearing about it, is because of the agenda/efforts of others, not them.

 

It's at the point where I can send 30 tweets with "Sources tell me LeBron is going to the xxxx" and listing all 30 teams, and then I can claim I was right all along. It's theater of the absurd.

 

So what if players are generating publicity for themselves? The more brand recognition they achieve, the more they command in endorsements and sponsorship opportunities. In turn, the recognition helps Nike or whatever brands they endorse as well as the various rights holders and the NBA itself. One of the first things brand marketers consider is how many Twitter/FB followers athletes have.

 

There may be some truth to that. When people are reporting that both players are 100 percent going to Cleveland/NY and they truly haven't decided, it makes them look bad, even though they're actually still weighing their options.

It also doesn't help that the teams are telling the media that they expect to have an answer before LeBron leaves for Brazil, which means it would have to come today.

 

So what, where is it said that they need to sign immediately?

I still have yet to see LeBron say a damn word, is he supposed to rush his decision to appease the morons that are checking twitter every few minutes to see if he's signed?

I assume you have the same problem with athletes in other sports that don't sign day one of free agency? The free agent tours that football and baseball players take.