Message To LeBron & Cleveland: Let It Go

You would think that after all this time someone would be mature enough to be the bigger person, but that clearly has yet to happen in the LeBron James vs. Dan Gilbert breakup.

Tuesday evening, while the Cleveland Cavs were suffering a 50+ point dismantling at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers, #6 sent out this tweet during the fourth quarter:

First off, that tweet shows how little class LeBron has. It also shows that his PR team is failing miserably. Throwing God into the mix just made it worse. To top it all off, LeBron's explanation for the tweet shows us that he just may be as clueless as we think he is:

"It was just how I was feeling at the time," he said. Yet he added in the same breath, "It wasn't even a comment from me. It was someone who sent it to me and I sent it out."



It was a mixed message less than 24 hours after seemingly offering clear intent.

"I don't think it was no intent at all," he said. "I think everyone looks into everything I say. Everybody looked too far into it. It wasn't no intent at all"


"No hit toward that organization. I've moved on. Hopefully that organization has continued to move on. But I'm happy where I am as a Miami Heat player.


"It wasn't no hit at that franchise, no hit at that team, especially those players, at all."

Yo LeBron; WE DON'T BELIEVE YOU. Not only is he failing at public relations, he also has yet to grasp proper usage of the English language (but that's for another day). The tweet was sent via Ubertwitter so the "my twitter was hacked" excuse wouldn't be valid here. LeBron would be well served to learn that sometimes the best thing you can say is nothing at all.

Clearly Bron Bron is still trying to stick it to Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who released this open letter to fans after "The Decision". Gilbert gets no pass for acting like the bitter ex who found out he got dumped thru the grapevine. But it looks like #6 hasn't quite let go either. It was evident by the way he showed out back when the Heat embarrassed the Cavs in Cleveland and also by the karma tweet. The Cavs suck this season. That should be enough punishment without #6 continuously rubbing their face in it.

The only solution to this spat is for both sides to simply move on. Yes, James was unprofessional with "The Decision" and "the tweet", as was Gilbert and Cavs fans for their reactions. I was taught as a child that two wrongs don't make a right. Someone has to start acting their age and not their shoe size here. In this case, why not both sides?

Ironic that right after that "karma" tweet, the Los Angeles Clippers snapped the Heat's 13-game road winning streak and #6 suffers an ankle injury in the fourth quarter.

I guess karma shows no favoritism.

-ALR

LeBron James Return To Cleveland Draws 2nd Highest NBA Ratings

Unless you were stuck under a rock or still down in that Chilean mine you were aware of the heavily hyped return of now Miami Heat SF Lebron James to the home arena of his former team the Cleveland Cavaliers. Media was all over the event (from ESPN to CNN) which of course created a frenzy with the general public and fans of all types. Security was ramped up and there was even coverage of the Heat's flight issues en route to Cleveland (like airplane trouble NEVER happens -_-).

Cleveland fans who felt abandoned by the uncrowned "King" went as far as to organize synchronized taunt chants for #6 throughout various portions of the game. So it was kind of a a big deal to say the least, and the ratings for the game last night prove that to be true. TNT's telecast of the Cavs/Heat game drew it's second largest overnight of the season with a 5.0 rating, preceded only by the 5.8 overnight delivered by the season opener featuring the Heat & the Boston Celtics (which the Heat lost).

I'm curious to see the ratings trend from the first half of the game to the second, when the Heat pulled away in a 3rd quarter where the Heat outscored the over matched Cavs 36-25 (24 poured in by James alone). Miami cruised to a 28 point victory and #6 finished with 38, 8 assists and 5 boards.

The ratings show me one thing; people love drama. The Cavs were 7-10 coming into the game and were clearly out of their league in this one. Unless you live in the Cleveland area or have NBA League Pass, don't expect to see too much more of the Cavs this season as they only have 2 more nationally televised games, 1/9 @ the Suns and 3/6 vs. the Hornets. Oh joy.

I will say this; although many (including us here at LTSB) have been critical of #6 and his antics this summer, James put on quite a performance last night. He played with an aggression that we have not seen much of this season. If he can continue to harness that energy and bring it like that in every game he may be able to reacquire some of the fan support that was so quickly jettisoned in one off season.

But uh... where was Mo Williams? I expected more than 11 points on 2-8. Dah well. Oh and the DJ spinning Snoop's "Ain't No Fun" in the fourth quarter had to be somehow intentional (paging Delonte West).

-ALR

Phil Jackson On Cavs Home Atmosphere "It’s Just An Obnoxious Place”

Phil Jackson is quite the character. I saw this over at insidehoops.com... It appears as if there is a lot of general interest regarding #6's return to Cleveland while playing for the Miami Heat, but according to a report from LA Times Broderick Turner, Jackson says he doesn't share the sentiment. Here are some quotes:

“That’s not of interest to me,” he said. “I hate to listen to the Cleveland broadcast. Their announcers are so loud on the court. It’s just an obnoxious place.”

But almost everybody will be watching on Thursday.

“That’s my night off,” Jackson said, smiling.

The "Zen Master" has had some interesting input regarding the LeBron and the Miami Heat situation this season. Maybe it's just Phil being Phil and working his mind games that he is so well known for. Maybe it's a media distraction from the Lakers own current 3-game losing streak. Either way, you can always count on Phil to stir things up a bit.

But how about getting a W tonight against the Rockets, Phil? Thanks!

-ALR