I’ll give credit where credit is due. I stole this idea from Dan Patrick Radio again. It’s an interesting debate.
It won’t happen under current ownership. But based off of the previous retired jerseys, I think they should.
I think more weight should be given to playoff performance and less on regular season performance when thinking of retiring a player’s jersey. So no.
So the fact that he took them to the finals doesn’t matter? Or that he practically averaged a triple double in the playoffs? What exactly is your point?
what did he do for them?
Made them relevant for 7 years.
He turned that franchise around and won multiple MVP’s. They would be stupid not to. Look at the other numbers retired for the Cav’s and then try to argue those players mean anymore to Cleveland than Lebron has in the last 7-8 years.
I’m probably the biggest LeBron fan on the board but I would say no. I think it’s based on a total career to a point.
Yankees retire Jeter- Hell yes. ARod, not at this point although ARod is the better player.
Made you think of LeBron in a Cavs jersey, not Ehlo being Jordan’s bitch.
Cleveland has actually retired jerseys?
To quote my wife quoting Whitney, “Hells to the no”.
Sure. It would give the fans a chance to boo him some more and a nice target during boring games. I don’t think it will happen though. No matter how good James was for them, rejecting them in an hour-long national t.v. special is going to make honoring him too much for the fans to handle. That was the dumbest pr decision I’ve ever seen a pro athlete make.
Cleveland should be retired.
I don’t care how good he was for them, he left them at the peak of his career, on national tv, to play with his buddies. It was a GREAT move for him, playing on a team with 2 other perennial all-stars, an instant title contender and most importantly Miami>>>>>>>>Cleveland; but he just set the cavs franchise back 20 years and the city of cleveland sports are once again completely irrelevant. So no.
I think LeBron just did that.
So the fact that he took them to the finals doesn’t matter? Or that he practically averaged a triple double in the playoffs? What exactly is your point?[/quote]
You are right, but that doesn’t over ride the fact that he gave up this year, pretty much quit. It’s always Lebron this Lebron that all over the sports stations during NBA season, and even the offseason, and for all that coverage and talk about how he was the second coming of God I think he choked. False messiah. Yes, he brought them to the finals and did statistically well in the playoffs, but being the best isn’t about statistics, it’s about being clutch, it’s about not giving up, it’s about winning championships, it’s about giving it your all. I wouldn’t retire the jersey of a quitter.
I would’ve said “yes” if he didn’t leave the way he did with the live Tv show and dragged them through the dirt while everyone waited for his decision.
I see nothing wrong with him leaving Cleveland, he did take them to another level, but after 7 years, he wants to win championships and not have to carry the team by himself. That’s understandable. But you don’t have to be a douche when you leave.
If they do not retire his jersey (and do not think they will), they should un-retire all of the other jerseys. He’s better than all of the other players, regular season and post season. Nance was a better shot blocker. Daugherty was a better rebounder. Price was better at assists and 3pt shooting. But Lebron is hands down the best with the combination of all of those stats.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Cavaliers#Retired_numbers
First team all NBA - 4 times, Price is next with just 1
NBA MVP - 2 times, nobody else won the award
NBA all star - 6 times, Daugherty is next with 5
All Star MVP - 2 times, nobody else won the award
All NBA Defensive team - 2 times, Nance is next with just 1
[quote=“J Felt, post:16, topic:23639”]I would’ve said “yes” if he didn’t leave the way he did with the live Tv show and dragged them through the dirt while everyone waited for his decision.
I see nothing wrong with him leaving Cleveland, he did take them to another level, but after 7 years, he wants to win championships and not have to carry the team by himself. That’s understandable. But you don’t have to be a douche when you leave.[/quote]
Well said.
Why aint we got no 3rd option? We got a YES option. We got a NO option. Why aint we got no “I dont give a damn” option?
Wow, the bitterness is more than I expected, and we aren’t even in Cleveland. I thought the results would be 50/50.