In it, goes my respect for LeBron James, goes Cleveland tumbling down a spiral towards “shit-town,” goes any class the NBA still had.<br/><br/>In case you’ve been living in a hole for the past few months, LeBron James, a basketball player of Michael Jordan caliber, became a free agent. He grew up in NE Ohio, and has played his entire career with his hometown team, the Cavaliers. In his tenure with them, he has set numerous records, been to the finals, earned several MVP awards, led them to being the most winning team in the league a few years, but has never landed the big one, the championship. In becoming a free agent, he became one of the biggest free agent names of all-time. Not only because he’s a stellar player, but he alone could have saved an entire region from [what’s now] certain downfall. They were already falling, but the bottom just got a lot closer.<br/><br/>What happened? Well, he decided he’d rather win a near-certain championship by forming a “super-team” with two other NBA stars, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade. I find the move to be incredibly weak because sure, a dream team can win… What does that really say about the individuals? It would say a lot more if they were able to do it on their own, like many before them have… You know, the legends.<br/><br/>LeBron is all about becoming “a legend.” The best move towards that would have been staying in Cleveland and winning a championship on his own, for his people, for his state. A Miami Heat championship is an empty one… Dwayne Wade is the star of the Heat… That’s not going to change… Do you think people will remember Scottie Pippen forever? No, they’ll remember Michael Jordan… LeBron just became Scottie Pippen. I can only hope he revives the haircut. <a href=”http://sfj70.typepad.com/.a/6a00d834515ddf69e2012875a0d924970c-500wi” target=”_blank”>Hiiiiigh and tight</a>.<br/><br/>What does this say about the NBA? Well, I suppose not much, but I’m sure it hurt a lot of fans. I miss the days where players play in a city their entire lives… It wasn’t too long ago that they did that… Kobe, Duncan, Jordan (his Wizards tenure does not count), Stockton. Hey Bron-Bron, Stockton never won a ring, but he’s gonna be a legend because he reeked of class. You don’t… You stink, and I wish you the worst (within reason).<br/><br/><a href=”http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-plaschke-lebron-james-20100709,0,5931688.column” target=”_blank”>The LA Times has a good article on the subject</a>.<br/><a href=”http://bleacherreport.com/articles/417668-lebron-to-miami-grow-up-dan-gilbert-you-cant-blame-james-for-jetting” target=”_blank”>BleacherReport has another, coming from another angle</a>. My response? Forget Gilbert. Play for the people.<br/>