and Miss Cleo said Lebron was going to Washington several months ago on SportsNation

5/18/2010 3:58:25 PM

Don't doubt the power of a Nets team in Brooklyn with a guy who just wants to throw money around as the owner (the Russian guy, not Jay).

5/18/2010 5:34:52 PM

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/thelife/news/story?page=goingviral/051810 wow

5/18/2010 7:52:54 PM

OLD.

[Edited on May 18, 2010 at 8:01 PM. Reason : like, embedded in the previous page old.]

5/18/2010 8:00:39 PM

Clairvoyance from nasty_b ITT

5/18/2010 8:28:43 PM

5/18/2010 8:29:30 PM

5/18/2010 8:30:31 PM

New Jersey not getting the first pick yesterday all but eliminates them from getting Lebron

I really cant see him going anywhere but to the Knicks or staying in Cleveland. My gut keeps telling me that he will stay in Cleveland but will have a caveat in his contract allowing him to opt out after 3-4 years if the team isnt going the direction he wants.

Once again, I am not sold on Lebron going to New York because "its a bigger media market". Sure its a bigger city and is the center of the media universe, but I cant see Lebron becoming more famous, or more marketable by playing in New York. He is already a global superstar and has access to everything in Cleveland that he would have access to in NY. Back in the 80s and 90s, if you didnt play in a big city/market then you would make substantially less money through endorsements, etc. than if you played in the big city, that is simply not the case anymore. Hell, look at Peyton Manning and Tiger Woods, they are based out of Indianapolis and California and are still media market bombshells

5/19/2010 12:27:23 PM

NJ didn't need to win the lottery to get Lebron. NJ already has Harris, so not getting the first pick doesn't hurt them so bad. The second pick would have been nice so they could get Turner, but they can still end up with Favors and then add another star along with Lebron.

5/19/2010 12:36:21 PM

Lebron wanted to play with Wall as they are good friends and have the whole "Worldwide Wes" connection. New Jersey missing out on the top pick (and John Wall) doesnt completely eliminate them from landing Lebron, but it definitely doesnt help. In my opinion, a lot of things had to go right for the Nets to sign Lebron, the top things they needed to do were centered around the Nets getting the first pick and selecting Wall

5/19/2010 12:44:04 PM

I don't think Philly Will take a guard. They may opt for a big man like Cousins even though his stock is falling.

5/19/2010 12:56:15 PM

I'm still not buying WWW as the most powerful man in basketball. It's got this whole "Illuminati" feeling about it that I have a hard time believing.

5/20/2010 2:20:03 PM

wonder if New Jersey is already offering Harris and the 3rd pick to Washington for the 1st pick

5/20/2010 2:21:44 PM

WWW gets his clutches on ball players early. Don Corleone shit, he will do these guys a favor and then the next generation of superstars will owe him.

5/20/2010 3:05:29 PM

ahhh fuck. already been posted...


[Edited on May 24, 2010 at 12:08 PM. Reason : .]

5/24/2010 12:06:30 PM

awesome.

If there was another reason needed to leave that desperate city, there you have it.

In Sociology, this is called the Principle of Least Interest. - In any relationship, the person who has the least interest in continuing the relationship (i.e. has the best walk-away strategy) has the greatest power., and ultimately, gets turned off by the lesser of the two's desperate attempts to sway the stay vs go mentality.

5/24/2010 12:14:28 PM

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5213917

wow, brown fired. increase/decrease lebron's chances of staying in cleveland? i'd have to think they wouldn't make such a drastic move and risk losing a decent coach and their superstar unless they knew this would make james stay, and they got a good feel on a coach

[Edited on May 24, 2010 at 10:09 PM. Reason : .]

5/24/2010 9:58:04 PM

Quote :

"Iron Chef ready to serve LeBron"

Quote :

"Cleveland native Michael Symon, one of Food Network's Iron Chefs, has offered to go to James' house once a month and cook a meal for the MVP's family and friends if he re-signs as a free agent with the Cavaliers. Symon posted a letter to James on his Facebook page."

http://www.wral.com/entertainment/story/7709016/

6/2/2010 2:33:35 PM

HAHAHA, that is fucking awesome

I've always liked Symon, once I found out he was from Cleveland a couple years ago my appreciation for him went up a ton, this just pushed him over the top in my book. Next time I'm in Cleveland I'm definitely going to hit up his restaurant

6/2/2010 2:40:26 PM

^ i like Morimoto, Flay and Symon but now Symon (as you said) just went up some notches in overall coolness

6/3/2010 10:01:55 AM

man. cleveland: the city is sooo pathetic

6/3/2010 10:04:56 AM

I didn't know Lebron was a fan of Shark Head Pizza

6/3/2010 10:05:18 AM

kindof serious question: does something like this have to somehow be applied to his salary for cap-reasons?

6/3/2010 10:10:58 AM

nah...think of it as an endorsement

6/3/2010 10:12:10 AM

but it's not an endorsement, it's specific to a team. could some rich guy in cleveland pay lebron $20M/year to stay in cleveland?

clearly cooking food and money are different, but where is the line?

THIS IS A SERIOUS QUESTION YOU GUYS.

6/3/2010 10:17:51 AM

It's an interesting question. Seems like the amount would be negligible relative to his fat contract if it did have to be applied.

6/3/2010 10:59:28 AM

Its not like a school. No rich guy would pay 200k to help another rich guys business. Unleess of course rich guy 2 paid him back under the table. Then its probably illegal.

6/3/2010 11:04:54 AM

you'd just think of it (a $20mil "signing" bonus) as paying the dude $20mil to do one small time local commercial. If he signs with another team then that local commercial, wearing a clippers jersey, isn't useful and then he wouldn't get that spot and they'd pay big z $20k instead.

6/3/2010 11:58:31 AM

I read in an article yesterday that Cleveland can give Lebron $30 mil OVER the max contract that any other team can give him since its the team he is already with. Has anyone else heard about this? I had no idea that the home team can offer more money than anyone else. I would think that would be a huge advantage for the Cavs

6/3/2010 12:09:00 PM

that is for more years in cleveland too though

6/3/2010 12:13:44 PM

that is for more years in cleveland too though

6/3/2010 12:13:44 PM

One more year, I think

6/3/2010 12:18:50 PM

^^^^ its part of the current NBA agreement which was put in place to try and allow teams to keep their players such as in this case. Thats why Cuban was talking about the possibility of a sign and trade. Seems to me that would be more of a possibility given the better teams already have pieces in place and he could still get that extra 30 mil. Plus if the Cavs were to lose him they would get something in return.

[Edited on June 3, 2010 at 12:54 PM. Reason : .]

6/3/2010 12:53:22 PM

The Cavs aren't going to help anyone take their biggest star in sports history away from them. There's simply no offer good enough to do it.

Bosh and Joe Johnson might wind up elsewhere via a sign-and-trade, and possibly even Carlos Boozer, but LeBron James is the absolute last person in the NBA that would garner a sign-and-trade deal.

6/3/2010 3:22:23 PM

^ honestly I think Lebron could pull whatever stunt he wants this offseason. If he wants to get that extra 30 mil and wanted to go somewhere like Dallas, he could. Im not saying there is a good enough package out there to entice the Cavs to just get rid of him, but when you're faced with "he goes to New York or Chicago and we dont get shit, or we could sign and trade him to wherever and get something out of it." If he's dead set on leaving, they'd be better off to try to sign and trade him because if he just leaves that will be the most pathetic looking roster ever assembled in the NBA.

6/3/2010 3:46:10 PM

At some point it just seems like the money wouldn't matter. He lives next to my grandpa and the last time I was there, it looked like he threw as much money as he could at the house. How much did he make last year?

6/4/2010 12:50:14 AM

he wants to be a billionaire and do more than just play in the NBA

money matters

6/4/2010 1:02:45 AM

^^^ and completely destroy their fanbase in the process.


Ladies and gentlemen, the Louisville Cavaliers!

6/4/2010 2:06:01 PM

can someone explain how exactly playing in NYC helps make Lebron a billionaire? why would his Nike, McDonalds, etc contracts be higher if he played in NYC?

6/4/2010 2:34:31 PM

NYC is a slightly larger market than northeast Ohio. People get paid more to shill burgers and shoes there.

[Edited on June 4, 2010 at 2:37 PM. Reason : ]

6/4/2010 2:37:44 PM

he'll get paid less to play basketball there. are you saying he'll help sell more shoes and burgers because he plays in NYC? wouldn't he sell more shoes and burgers if he won a championship?

6/4/2010 2:40:58 PM

David Lee and Nate Robinson were in the top 15 in jersey sells for a reason (and it wasn't being a top 15 basketball player). You just move more merchandise and other shit being in a large market.


[Edited on June 4, 2010 at 2:58 PM. Reason : .]

6/4/2010 2:53:27 PM

the old way of thinking is that he would get more media exposure by living/playing in a bigger market and by making the team in the biggest market in the world a moneymaking machine again. he would theoretically bring more money to the city/team/sponsors by playing in the bigger market

this may have been the case back in the 80s and 90s, but in todays world with all of the media exposure via tv and the internet, Lebron is just as marketable in Cleveland as he is in New York.

maybe I'm just naive since I'm a Cavs fan, but I still dont think Lebron is going to go anywhere.

6/4/2010 2:54:27 PM

I went through this list and I really don't see much of a correlation between big markets and wealth for athletes. being successful and marketing yourself intelligently just seem more important to me. only possible way I can see being in NYC meaning more $$$ for Lebron is that it will make it easier for him to align himself with other billionaires that live there (Jay Z, Trump, etc.....)


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/specials/fortunate50/index.html

6/4/2010 3:05:08 PM

^ that shit is skewed by salaries. The example I take out of that is Eli Manning. Annoying douche to everyone else in the world, but in the endorsements area he makes about half of his brother, 3/4 of Tom Brady, 3 times what Big Ben makes, and about 50 times as much as Jared Allen.

Add to that he has about 1/10 the success/talent and about 1/100 the personality

[Edited on June 4, 2010 at 3:27 PM. Reason : ]

6/4/2010 3:25:01 PM

they are tied in championships though. i see what you're saying. still not sure that going to NYC would really mean more money for lebron

[Edited on June 4, 2010 at 3:30 PM. Reason : `]

6/4/2010 3:29:32 PM

Quote :

"After his Super Bowl XXLI MVP performance, Eli's handlers say he has opportunities on the table to more than double his endorsement portfolio."

That right there would put him up to Peyton's endorsement earnings and thats off of winning 1 Super Bowl.

Of course that could be assuming Lebron would wins there.



[Edited on June 4, 2010 at 3:34 PM. Reason : ]

6/4/2010 3:33:26 PM

what difference does a few million dollars make to these millionaires anyway. im betting all of my posts that lebron stays in cleveland.

6/4/2010 3:35:52 PM

i think he is going to miami with D wade. i still say the wizards are a sleeper

6/4/2010 3:37:20 PM

Quote :

"he wants to be a billionaire and do more than just play in the NBA money matters"

6/4/2010 3:39:41 PM