Of course its sad Cleveland, but lets remember the good times:

In 2007 when the Cavaliers made it to the Finals for the first time in franchise history against the Spurs, the Cavs had no idea what they were doing there. The Spurs swept them and easily took the title. But the reason that team MADE IT, was because the 4 year seasoned LeBron James had been carrying them. How soon they forget.

Allen Iverson’s career had paralleled LeBron’s up to this moment. Iverson took his team to the Finals in his third season( one year faster then LBJ), only to lose and never return. He spent 10 years with the 76ers as the best player on the team, and look how well that worked out for A.I.

What the city of Cleveland and cities throughout the United States have to understand, is that LeBron James is a basketball player. A basketball player is NOT supposed to have a positive or negative effect on the economy, and social welfare of the city he plays in. Cleveland citizens in many ways should blame themselves, but put the MOST blame on Cavs management. Far too many cities invest undying hope in franchises that are badly run, or realisticly have no chance of winning a title.

Cleveland is a great town and will continue to be a great town without LeBron. Sorry Cleveland you should have seen it coming!

The Cleveland Cavaliers and owner Dan Gilbert released a letter earlier tonight that criticized LeBron for being a coward. After 7 years of turning the Cavs from nobody’s to one of the leagues top 3 teams, this is the reaction LeBron receives. The Cavaliers went from last to first in the NBA in merchandise and ticket sales during LeBron’s era. The Cavs in return gave Lebron the necessary pieces he needed to get a ring. Delonte West, Shaq, Antwan Jamison, and Anderson Varejao were all overpaid and not up to the challenge. For Cavs owner Dan Gilbert to speak in such a way to a person that has financially done the most any person can do for a franchise is disrespectful and out right WRONG. The fans of the Cavaliers should be upset with the ownership, and the Cavs organization itself, by failing to bring in the pieces to assist LeBron’s quest for a ring. Because they have overspent while trying to please James and win the first title by any of Cleveland’s three pro sports teams since 1964, the Cavs are strapped with a few big contracts that have eaten up salary-cap space and prevented them from making roster moves to improve the team. Is LeBron to blame for the contracts the team gave out as well?

Two years ago, Kobe Bryant complained on television and radio, that he was unhappy with the Lakers and wanted them to trade Andrew Bynum. The Lakers magically got Pau Gasol, kept Bynum, and then brought in Ron Artest. Great management and great coaching trumps skill, just ask the San Antonio Spurs how they won so many rings. Kobe bitched and got what he needed. In many ways the Cavs failed the city and LeBron. Many will critize LeBron for not sticking with Cleveland, but with a limited amount of years left the Miami oppurtunity was too much to pass up.

Joining his 03′ draft classmates in Miami proves that in this age of money over everything, there are still those that will sacrafice personal gain for the better of the group. “At this point, D-Wade, he’s the unselfish guy here,” James said. “To be able to have Chris Bosh and LeBron James, to welcome us to his team, it’s not about an individual here. Because if that was the case, D-Wade wouldn’t have asked us to join him or we wouldn’t have asked him if it was OK to come down here. It’s not about individuals. It’s about a team.” Lebron’s legacy is contingent on the ring just as all NBA players legacies are based.

Now, it’s up to Riley to build around his three superstars. Miami retained room to sign Bosh, Wade and James, but lacks significant salary cap space to fill out the remaining roster.  The Heat have agreed on a trade that will send Beasley to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who can absorb Beasley’s contract into their salary-cap space. Minnesota, according to sources, will complete the trade by sending Miami a second-round pick in 2011. The Wolves and Heat, sources said, have also agreed to swap an unspecified future first-round pick. The Heat need seven more players to fill out their roster. They drafted De’Sean Butler, Jarvis Varnado and Dexter Pittman in the second round of June’s NBA draft.

I look forward to the remaining players Riley is able to coarse into joining the south’s version of the Big Three.

LeBron James will sit down with Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America” on ABC (Friday, 7 a.m. ET) to discuss the ins and outs of one of the most talked-about free-agent decisions in NBA history.

As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier. This was announced with a several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his “decision” unlike anything ever “witnessed” in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.

Clearly, this is bitterly disappointing to all of us.

The good news is that the ownership team and the rest of the hard-working, loyal, and driven staff over here at your hometown Cavaliers have not betrayed you nor NEVER will betray you.

There is so much more to tell you about the events of the recent past and our more than exciting future. Over the next several days and weeks, we will be communicating much of that to you.

You simply don’t deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal.

You have given so much and deserve so much more.

In the meantime, I want to make one statement to you tonight:

“I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE”

You can take it to the bank.

If you thought we were motivated before tonight to bring the hardware to Cleveland, I can tell you that this shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own has shifted our “motivation” to previously unknown and previously never experienced levels.

Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there.

Sorry, but that’s simply not how it works.

This shocking act of disloyalty from our home grown “chosen one” sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn. And “who” we would want them to grow-up to become.

But the good news is that this heartless and callous action can only serve as the antidote to the so-called “curse” on Cleveland, Ohio.

The self-declared former “King” will be taking the “curse” with him down south. And until he does “right” by Cleveland and Ohio, James (and the town where he plays) will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma.

Just watch.

Sleep well, Cleveland.

Tomorrow is a new and much brighter day….

I PROMISE you that our energy, focus, capital, knowledge and experience will be directed at one thing and one thing only:

DELIVERING YOU the championship you have long deserved and is long overdue….

Dan Gilbert

Majority Owner

Cleveland Cavaliers

With the start of the NBA’s free-agent period just three days away, details are starting to emerge about the meetings LeBron James will hold with potential suitors Thursday, when all parties can begin talking.

According to sources and media reports, the meetings with James will take place in northeast Ohio near — but not at — his suburban Akron home. The Bulls, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets and Los Angeles Clippers are expected to make pitches to James. There also was talk Sunday that the Dallas Mavericks, who are over the salary cap and only could acquire James through a sign-and-trade, want to make a presentation as well.

The Knicks have the most cap space of all the teams. They can get $34.15 million under the projected cap of $56.1 million. Next up are the Bulls, who can get roughly $29.1 million under the salary cap, followed by the Heat ($27.6 million) and the Nets ($27 million).

Just think if LeBron was to have cameras present, he could turn the entire process into a critically acclaimed reality show. Or LeBron could have each team compete in challenges (VH1 style) and prove which one really is up to the task of aiding James to a championship. Each team that proved its worth, would stepped down and receive a game ball, meaning they were still in the running towards~proving their love to LeBron. Teams that failed would be told by LeBron “You have fouled out, please return to the locker room and collect your things”. ” I have no love for you”.

This show would squash the entire Summer lineup on ABC by the way!

After a few days to reflect, and juxtapose the Cleveland Cavaliers season and playoffs and like many in the sports world I can’t help but to point a finger at Cavs head coach Mike Brown. Finishing with the best record in the NBA two years in a row is an extreme accomplishment, but not making it to the Finals shows very large weaknesses in either the coaching, or players, or both.

In last years Playoffs, Cleveland steamrolled the competition until they ran into the much taller Orlando Magic. This season they added taller players(Jamison, Parker) to help on perimeter defense and also to lift some of the weight of the team off of LeBron’s shoulders. From the beginning of this years Playoffs something wasn’t the same about the Cavs. Eliminating the Bulls in five games seemed to show how good the Bulls could be in the future and less how the Cavs looked like champs. Aside from LeBron(this is an understatement) the Cavs had an aura of nervousness surrounding them, and they carried it into the series with Boston. Majority of the news was about LeBron’s elbow, and you would think alleviating the focus off of the Cavs other players would help them to fully contribute, it didn’t work.

A full season of pre-game extreme hi-five routines, staged photos, and talcum showers, was simply hiding the inner struggles of the Cavaliers. They are a team that relies heavily  on the impact that LeBron James has on the game. When LeBron shot poorly in Game 5 against the Celtics scoring only 15 points, the Cavs were blown out at home. When LeBron had 21 points in the first quarter in Game 3 in Boston, the Cavs won in a blowout. Of course throughout the years their have been teams that rely solely on one player to hit clutch baskets, and to dominate games, and maybe doing it for an entire season was too much for LeBron to contend with once Playoff time rolled around.

I’m 100% sure Mike Brown is not going to be in Cleveland next season. How does a player like J.J. Hickson play 81 games during the season averaging 20 minutes a game, get zero minutes in an elimination game. MAKES NO SENSE. Putting Shaq on KG in Game 6 MAKES NO SENSE. Playing Zydrunas Ilgauskas 14 minutes in Game 5, and 15 minutes in Game 6, after not playing him the since Game 2 of the first round MAKES NO SENSE. Mike Brown was Coach of the Year last year, and in hindsight that was a major mistake.

James is eligible to opt out of his contract this summer, a move that would make the two-time MVP — and zero-time NBA champion — a free agent and set off a scramble for his services from New York to Miami to Los Angeles and, of course, back in Cleveland. Here’s hoping he does whats best for him and his family, not whats best for whichever cities budget.

I refused to call LeBron James “King” until he gets a ring. I prefer “Duke James” or the more popular “Akron Hammer”. Upon being the 10th player to win back-to-back MVP trophies, he may be worthy of the “King” nickname without the coveted ring. LeBron is the youngest back-to-back MVP winner by two months(Kareem Abdul-Jabber).

Watching the press conference I cant help but feel that LeBron is going to stay in Cleveland when the season is over. Only LeBron and Tyreke Evans had the public at their presentations, and there was quite a large crowd in the Rhodes Arena at the University of Akron. “It’s another humbling experience,” he said before the Cavaliers beat Boston 101-93 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Saturday. “It’s hard to grasp, honestly. You put in a lot of hard work as an individual, you get an opportunity to showcase your talent with teammates that you love in a city that you love, it’s great.”

The Cleveland Cavaliers star received 116 of a possible 123 first-place votes to win in a landslide Sunday over Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant. Durant was picked first on four ballots. James led the Cavaliers to 61 regular-season wins. He averaged 29.7 points, 8.6 assists and 7.3 rebounds. James had nearly double the point total of Durant in the voting and was way ahead of Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers. Voting was done by a nationwide panel of sports writers and broadcasters. This year one ballot was cast by fans in an online vote.

LeBron total of votes was second all-time to Cavaliers center Shaquille O’Neal who received 120 of 121 first-place votes in 2000.

(Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)

All the talk coming in to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals was about LeBron’s elbow. Was he going to favor it?Could it keep the MVP from playing at his normal level? After a 37 points, 7 boards , 7 dimes game for Lebron hopefully all elbow talk has been extinguished. The Cavaliers went on a 11-3 run to end the game, holding the Celtics to 5-19 shooting, winning Game 1, 101-93.

Boston had an eleven point lead at halftime due mainly to the outstanding play from Rajon Rondo who had 19 points and 8 dimes at the half, finishing with 27 points and 12 dimes. The Celtics got average games from the Big 3. Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce combined for 2 free throws, and 20-51 from the field. Throughout the season the Celtics played brilliant during the first and second quarter followed by unfocused and visibly fatigued play down the stretch.

LeBron played the way many expected, but the key to the victory for the Cavs was the third quarter play by Mo Williams, who had 14 points in the quarter finishing with 20 points.

Game 2 is Monday night. Cavs lead series 1-0

The crowd is sleep walking!(Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)

Zydrunas Ilgauskas returned to a hero’s welcome on Sunday in his first home game back with Cleveland, after being traded to Washington for Antwan Jamison. He was then released by Washington and just like magic 30 days later the Cavs re-sign him, thus tradeding Washington no one.

When Ilgauskas, known simply as “Z” to Cleveland fans, checked in with 4:02 left in the first quarter for Antawn Jamison, fans held up “Z” placards and filled Quicken Loans Arena with the familiar, droning “Zeeeeeeee,”! The 7-foot-3 Lithuanian was drafted by the club in 1996 and overcame serious foot injuries that nearly ended his career.

The Cavs have 9 games remaining and need to readjust   “Z” with the team while they prepare for the playoffs. But seeing how lgauskas is the Cavs’ career leader in games played, blocked shots and rebounds, I think they will be okay.

Just think if Shaq came back to the Cavs playing like this: