A little more than a week ago, even as Chris Sheridan assured me LeBron James was going back to Cleveland, I dismissed his assurances and wrote a column saying the exact opposite.
How could James leave a situation with a guaranteed berth in the Eastern Conference Finals – at worst?
How could he play for an owner who called him a coward and a traitor?
How could he play for a coach who had never coached in the NBA and who he had never met?
How could he leave Miami for a 33-win team?
How’d that work out?
Not well, obviously. (Hey, I got the part about Carmelo right!)
I made the mistake of believing James when he said he was all about winning championships. I made the mistake of believing James when he said he would bring a slew of championships to Miami. I shoulda’ known better. To quote the ever-malleable Rick Pitino, “I meant it when I said it.”
I wasn’t alone. The great, Hall of Famer Mark Heisler wrote in Forbes that James was a certainty to stay in Miami once the news broke that Joel Embiid had a fractured bone in his foot. “You should never forget that your logic isn’t necessarily another person’s logic, especially if he’s a worldwide icon,’’ Heisler wrote.
Chris Broussard of ESPN sent out a Tweet after the Cavs hired David Blatt as head coach saying it greatly diminished James’ chances of returning to Cleveland.
Those guys are plugged in.
In retrospect, 2014 proved eerily similar to 2010. The 2010 Cavs lost in a humiliating series to the Celtics and James kept everyone on hold before announcing on ESPN that he was going to Miami. Four years later, the Heat were humiliated by the Spurs and James again kept everyone on hold before announcing in Sports Illustrated that he was going back to Cleveland.
NBA Photos; Retouch by @stevesolis
It’s always been an occupational hazard to go out on a limb and write a column predicting something is going to happen. I wrote a similar piece last summer for Sheridan Hoops saying Dwight Howard would never re-sign with the Lakers and would choose Houston because of its roster. I felt just as certain about LeBron staying in Miami because I relied on my logic – bad idea – and James’ own statements – worse idea.
You learn to live with the consequences, especially when you’re wrong. I’m still waiting for some positive comments after the Howard piece. On the James misfire, I could post many of the Tweets I received, but I’m guessing the editors at Sheridan Hoops would remove them. Someone with the handle “Uncle Tuna” Tweeted, “is it safe to say you have no clue what you’re talking about?” (On that topic, guilty as charged.) That came immediately after one that said, simply, “f*ck you.” (It’s those that make you want to channel your inner Pat Riley and tell the readers to get a grip.) The tenor of most of the comments resembled the latter.
The one unintended consequence? I doubled my number of Twitter followers, although I’m still 54.399 million behind Katy Perry.
_ _ _
We don’t know how the 2014-15 season is going to play out, but if the Cavaliers do win it all – a reach right now with their current roster – then Danny Ainge might put in a claim for a ring. It was Ainge who stepped in and made the deal that gave the Cavs the needed cap space to sign James. He got well rewarded for his largesse – Tyler Zeller, Marcus Thornton and another first-round pick while giving up a second-round pick.
Ainge did a similar thing in 2004 at the trading deadline, when the Detroit Pistons were angling to get Rasheed Wallace from Atlanta (where he played one game after being dealt there by Portland.) Ainge was the midwife in that deal as well, helping out Detroit (which got Wallace and Mike James) while adding a No. 1 pick, which turned out to be Tony Allen. It didn’t bother Ainge a whit that he was facilitating a conference opponent. He needed assets and his team wasn’t championship-ready. The same is true today. (Atlanta also got a first-round pick in that three-way and used it to select Josh Smith.)
The Pistons won it all in 2004 and went to the conference finals five straight years with Wallace as one of their cornerstones. The fifth year, 2008, they were defeated by a Celtics team which had been reconfigured – Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen had come aboard – thanks in part to all those assets Ainge had accumulated along the way.
So who will benefit most from the deals that went down to facilitate LeBron-to-Cleveland? For now, I’ll hold off on making that prediction.
Peter May is the only writer who covered the final NBA games played by Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. He has covered the league for three decades for The Hartford Courant and The Boston Globe and has written three books on the Boston Celtics. His work also appears in The New York Times. You can follow him on Twitter.
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Because he’s the hero the NBA deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we’ll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he’s not our hero. He’s a sinlet guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight. He’s LeBron James.
kobe cant carry them, he had a good team with his champs loebrn carried clevland farther than kobe has the lakers with a crap team stop your hate. who won the mvp? not kobe. LeBron
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Follow up article-
May: I’m A Clown With An Internet Connection
Sheridan, you did an amazing job getting the LBJ scoop but this goofball May is making your site look bush league.
Miami has a deeper team than CLE, and when wade comes back with a chip on his shoulder, 9 time allstar in bosh, Deng(Who said CLE enviornment sucked and miami wlll get chicago Deng), added Mcroberts who dominated miami in round 1, and brought back 2 of the best bigs off the bench in Birdman and Haslem, quietly has 1 of the deepest rosters in the east.
Dwade recouping from Kobe shock surgery last year still avg 20 on 55% shooting. Wade already has dropped 15 pounds and wants to get to 2006 weight and will have a chip on his shoulder. A team that has gone to 4 straight finals and has most of that experience coming back ,CAN NOT BE WRITTEN OFF, not when 1 of the 3 best SG’s of all time is only 32 and now 2 years removed from the surgery.
How can anyone write off Miami? Deng(Not Cle Deng, Chicago Deng) Bosh and Wade are 3 allstar players, McRoberts is a Better younger Boris Diaw, and a deep Bench(Riley is not done yet) will be a top 3-4 seed at the worst.
Spoken like a true clueless heat fan. Depth (lack of) was the main reason that Miami got embarassed this past season against San Antonio and lost in 5 games. Lebron left because DWade is a shell of himself and Chris Bosh is the softest stretch 4 in the league. Luol Deng? Josh McRoberts? Danny Granger? Lmao bruh. The oldest player on the Cavs outside of Lebron is 24. The pressure is off of the young core now that Lebron will lead them. Oh and they might still get Kevin Love.
Back in 2010 at a dumpy little bar on the west side of town,Harry Buffalo’s,6-8 drunks decided to burn their James jerseys.Oddly enough,the owner wasn’t among them.He had is on a hanger at home.But the national media has for years told us that that was the typical,widespread reaction of Cavs fans.A half-dozen drunks playing with matches.
And ever since,all we’ve heard is that no one else would have had so little class.Miami fans certainly would handle his leaving so much better.
So,May,what about the reports of them burning his jersey in Miami? Defacing public murals that took the artist 2 years to paint?
And no one,anywhere,at any time,ever accused anyone in Cleveland of this :
Reports of the S Florida Santeria faithful putting curses on James and his family.
Lets here it Mr May,tell us all again how much better S Fl is than NE Ohio.
And especially how classy the fans there are.
Peter May’s office
[IMG]http://i59.tinypic.com/ac8j68.jpg[/IMG]
You mad, Peter May? Please do us all a favor and quit your job. Go wash cars down in Miami or something. Chris Broussard isn’t plugged into anything. He takes guesses just like all of the other guys on ESPN. No one is connected to Lebron’s camp in the national media except for Lee Jenkins of SI. So, Are you going to write your next article about how Miami man’s defaced Lebron’s mural, burned his jersey and destroyed their copies of NBA 2k14 with LeBron on the cover? Or when you bashed Clevelanders for doing it, was that just another opportunity to bash Cleveland that you couldn’t pass up? Calling us faux fans was cute too. We stick with our teams, its about the name on the front of the jersey, not the back. Lebron and johnny football are the center of the sports universe and their is nothing you can do about it.
spelling: Miami fans* Btw Peter, I’m surprised you have internet connectivity and computer capability from under that bridge. #TROLL
Peter May is just another out of shape sports journalist that has no idea what he is talking about. The type that gloats when he rarely makes a correct prediction and makes excuses when he’s wrong. This article is an adorable attempt to make humor out of being wrong. To deflect the attention off of yourself by saying it was Lebron’s fault that you wrote the article. You arrogantly announced that LeBron would never return to Cleveland and bashed the Cleveland fan base. Its a shame that people like you have a national mouthpiece to publish such garbage.
“I made the mistake of believing James when he said he would bring a slew of championships to Miami. I shoulda’ known better. To quote the ever-malleable Rick Pitino, “I meant it when I said it.””
Didn’t LeBron make another promise about championships a few years before Miami?
Much like everyone else in mainstream media Mr. May is an educated guesser. The days leading up to LeBron coming back to Miami, 95% of the sports media (excluding Mr. Sheridan) did not just believe he was going to back to Miami – they were almost certain of it. ESPN published on their front page stories about how LeBron could not play for a team owned by Gilbert the day before his announcement. Taking a step back it is pretty clear, in my opinion, that Pat Reilly was one of the main sources quoted by every major outlet. LeBron has a very tight team around him. His wife, mom, agent, Maverick Carter, and his 4 high school teammates/best friends were probably the only ones who knew about his return. But with Reilly feeding as much false information as he could to the media I believe most sports reporters were as pro-Miami as possible in order to keep the “leads” coming.
This article accomplishes two things for Mr. May. First it reaffirms how “crazy” the idea of LeBron going back to Cleveland was. I have yet to read a story on why LeBron returning to a team with a past his prime Dwayne Wade and above average Chris Bosh could help him win any more championships. In Cleveland he does not just have a solid young core to build around, the Cavs also have the ability to add more talent to their roster, and LeBron has more control over a team than any player in recent memory. Second it allows him to steer the conversation away from LeBron and towards his vast knowledge of the NBA. The”I was wrong but…” part gets old pretty quick.
In terms of him predicting Howard to the Rockets. I wonder where he got that idea -http://www.lakersnation.com/lakers-rumors-dwight-howard-leaning-towards-houston-rockets/2013/05/19/ – that was published four days before his article.
In the other article,you also said that if you were wrong,the article would immediately disappear.
You were wrong about that too.
Don’t feel bad Pete, most of the people bashing you are the same ones that bashed the king himself when he left Cleveland and also the same people to be the firsts to jump back on the bandwagon. No one can discredit LeBron’s skills on the court but I couldn’t agree with you more about his lack of professionalism when it comes to his commitments. I can’t wait to hear everyone’s opinion in another four years when he leaves Cleveland again for another team he feels has more potential to win more championships
Skyler,
I understand how you and the other nine Miami Heat fans feel. But, don’t worry. The bitterness will pass. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy Luol Deng.
Take care.
Hey Sky, cool name btw bro. Your not a Miami heat fan, your a wherever HE-AT fan (where ever LeBron is playing) Cleveland fans stuck with the cavs when LeBron left, they didn’t become Heat fans like you. We embrace Lebron back, because he apologized and is the best player on the planet. He and kyrie become the best 1-2 punch in the league. You guys don’t deserve any of your NBA titles or any of the titles that Florida Marlins won either, (1 against the Cleveland Indians in 97). You guys can’t even sell out a game without a promotional giveaway to get people to come. Have fun watching Chris Bosh become exposed and DWYANE wade physically fall apart this season.
So your way of saying your wrong is to mention other people who were wrong who are plugged in (presumably more than you, though of course Broussard never said he was never going back), and imply LeBron somehow duped you.
Well done, sir. Way to really fess up. Dolt.
Haha, well said. In the same breath, he would be beating his chest about how great and plugged in he is had his “prediction” came true and LeBron stayed.
Peter, besides the fact that you were wrong on about 10 things in that article, and literally everything you said happened the opposite(side note, you called the team that would help Cleveland unload Jack a sucker, and it turned out to be your Celtics, and now in this article you write as if Ainge is some sort of a genius for accumulating assets in that deal. Hilarious!), but the article you wrote was offensive, inaccurate, poorly written, arrogant, etc etc. It’s one thing to simply be wrong in a prediction and eat some crow. But you ripped the Cavs players, the fans, and Gilbert, just to name a few. You sounded uninformed. Even your description of the state of the Heat at the time of the article was off base. I mean, you said any team with LeBron and Wade is the favorite in the East? Have you watched Wade play lately May, that is when Wade actually does play? I could go on, but you get the idea. Just a pathetic article, and this excuse article written here is almost equally pathetic.
You deserved more than a couple “F*CK YOU” replies after your ‘faux fans’ comment. Completely off base. It makes you no better than a Twitter troll.
If Sheridan wants to continue to establish himself as a reputable journalist while flipping off the established industry, he can’t afford to have such buffoonery on his site.
Pete,
Even retired race car drivers lose their license when they get too old to drive. Now, slowly and carefully, step away from the keyboard… everything is going to be alright. These nice men are here to take you to your new home.
Seriously, though. To those who know and care about Peter. Please help this man. It’s no longer about journalism. It’s about picking up the pieces and retiring with an ounce of dignity left.
All my best.
hahah that is fantastic. Peter May looks even worse after this article than in his first one. Nice attempt at saving face. Can’t wait to see what you write about next. How about Faux Miami fans.
hahaha
RE: Paragraph by Dwight Howard pic:
Uncle Tuna @TheBigTuna2