Six Reasons Cleveland Fans Should Burn Their LeBron James Jerseys
I gotta be honest: I’m more upset about LeBron James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers than I thought I’d be. But I get the feeling nothing can compare to what Cavs fans are feeling right now. I’ve never had to sit back and watch the best player from my team up and leave. And being that LBJ is from Cleveland? Well, that must only make things more difficult.
During last night’s broadcast of “The Decision,” ESPN played clips of Cleveland fans burning their LeBron James jerseys out on the street after he made the announcement that he was leaving the Cavs to play for the Miami Heat next season. And while it might seem barbaric (and even stupid—we are, after all, still in a recession!) I can see why they’re doing it. Here are six emotions that Cavs fans must have been feeling last night when they took torches to their LBJ jerseys.
1. Anger
Did LeBron really refer to himself as “loyal” during “The Decision” tonight? Just hearing that word come out of his mouth seemed inappropriate at the time. Here’s the thing: LBJ has stuck by the city of Cleveland for seven long seasons and hasn’t been able to get over the hump. But he’s turning his back on the city right now and sending them back to the bottom of the league by going to Miami.
2. Sadness
Before LeBron, the city of Cleveland didn’t have much to cheer about when it came to the Cavs. But LBJ gave them plenty of good times and took them as far as the NBA Finals. After LBJ? Well, let’s just say things aren’t looking good right now.
3. Betrayal
The way the whole LeBron James/free agency thing played out was terrible. It made for good TV and gave us all plenty to talk about, but it didn’t give Cleveland fans any time to prepare for the devastation of LeBron leaving. Had they had more time to get ready—and if they didn’t have to hear about him heading to Miami during a live TV interview—they might have been able to keep their cool a little bit better.
4. Hopelessness
It could take years for the Cavaliers to become relevant in the NBA again. Literally, years. And if you look at some other teams throughout pro sports, they never recover when a superstar leaves town. That probably has a lot of Cavs fans burning their jerseys and thinking, ‘Who cares? I’ll never go to another Cavs game again anyway.’ Ouch.
5. Fear
If LeBron James—a guy who’s from your city and grew up there all his life—doesn’t want to play in Cleveland, how are the Cavs possibly going to get someone else to take his place?
6. More Anger
Cleveland hasn’t had much to cheer about over the course of, oh, the last five decades or so. The Browns stink. The Indians stink. And the Cavaliers? Well, sorry, Cleveland fans, but they stink now, too. You’re out $70 for a LeBron jersey, $5000 for all the tickets you’ve bought over the course of the last seven years and $1500 for all the odds and ends you’ve bought to rep your Cavs squad in recent years (you just had to have that LBJ bobblehead, right?). And now, it’s all gone and it’s all over. Priceless, huh?
So, go ahead, Cleveland—and let it burn. I didn’t think I’d really care if LeBron left Cleveland. But I feel your pain.
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even if lebron goes on to win a championship his reputation will be tarnished. He has a monkey on his back. He needs multiple championships to justify his actions. he might get one or two. Robert Horry has 7 rings. Is Robert Horry that good? Carl Malone has zero rings. Is Malone that bad? Lebron is stupid. If you are going to be a traitor, at least be smart and go to NY where you could become a billionaire.
I feel bad for the people of Cleveland, and the entire state of Ohio. At least they still have the Buckeyes
At least CLE still has a franchise, unlike SEA
I agree with Lebron (however I’m not one of his fans). I disagree with Dan Gilbrat (Ohh, yes…Gil-”brat”). On Jordan: Before the Chicago Bulls won their first championship in 1991. They were getting their “kicking in by the Chuck Daly (R.I.P.) led Detroit Pistons. Doug Collins ran a maniacal offense in which Jordan shot all the shots and everyone watched, included his teams. In the 1990-1991 season, Phil Jackson became the head coach…instituted the Tex Winter designed “Triangle Offense”…and the rest is history. However IF Phil never coached Chicago, Jordan may have left Chicago or demanded a trade, who knows. (Read Jordan Rules by Sam Smith)
It took Jordan about 6 or 7 NBA season to reach the NBA title. This was Lebron’s 7th season. If your really watched that 2010 Eastern Conference Finals game, Cleveland vs. Boston, you’ll notice that Lebron grabbed 19 rebounds…over 20 points…over 5 assists….and lost. The other Cleveland teammates missed almost all their “wide open” shcts. IF I’M LEBRON JAMES, AND I GRAB ALL THE REBOUNDS, AND I’M A SMALL FORWARD, AND I DISH ALL THE ASSISTS, AND I SCORE ALL THE POINTS, AND I STILL LOSE – WHY SHOULD I STAY. And on top of that Lebron’s highly paid teammates’ under-performed (i.e. Shaq, Jamison, Varejo, West, and etc.) in the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals. During the off-season, the head coach is fired, Mike Brown…Cavs management pursues a collegiate coach (Izzo) and gets rejected…and Cavs GM, Danny Ferry, quits. AND during the most anticipated Free Agency in NBA history, Cavs failed to sign zero (i.e. nada or none or non) new players to assist Lebron James in winning a NBA title. Dang! Jordan had Pippen. Russell had Cousy. Ojawawon (yes I misspelled it) had Drexler. But Dan Gibrat gives Lebron, Mo Williams.
Soooo! The majority owner Dan Gilbert berates Lebron for pursuing a multiple champions. Forget that Lebron played 7 seasons in Cleveland…increased tickets sells…increased merchandizing of Cleveland apparel…made it cool to rock a retro Cavs jersey. Noooo! Dan Gilbert spits on Lebron and shows other NBA players how they should not play for Cleveland either. Good work Dan Gilbrat.
I’m sorry I just “going off” – Fireworks.
Why is everybody hating on Lebron? He’s looking out for his career, his future, and his image. He IS a human being and he already knows that the only person he has to look out for is himself. Forget the fans. They’re not on the court playing the game and taking them to the finals. His own TEAM barely helped him out with that. In my opinion it’s a smart move on his part. If you think burning his jersey will make fans and everyone feel better, you’re on drugs. He was ONE man on that team and EVERYONE expected him to carry them on his shoulders. SCREW THAT, Basketball is a TEAM sport. Cav’s fans are giving up before the game has even started, so there’s no doubt that they won’t come back from this. My hat is off to you Lebron, make next season something everyone will remember.
K.R.J. has the right idea! Hit’em where it hurts homie.
LeBron has the right to play where ever he wants, that is what being a free agent is all about but greats like Jordan, Magic, Larry, Duncan, Robinson, Kobe and others never had to put a dream team together behind closed doors to win a NBA championship for themselves and their cities. These players made the players around them great they did not jump teams seeking great players.
Well, at least reading Twitter over the past few days was fun.
http://sportschump.net/2010/07/09/lebron-james-mania-sparks-an-imaginative-48-hours-on-twitter/4074/
Although Im not a Cavs (or any OH sports team) fan myself, I felt a lot of sympathy to the Cavaliers franchise and its fans for being abandoned by their so-called “Queen” after seven long years playing for a city who never won a sports title since 1964. In fairness, the city itself and its fans deserve the right to burn their LBJ jerseys on live TV. Also, while the former “Queen” and his new court are sippin’ mojitos in South Beach, I begin to respect the franchise (and new coach Byron Scott) for moving on without LBJ for ditching them for Miami. However, the long hard road on the top for the Cavaliers has already started……..again.
I dont feel sorry for cleveland at all…. Stop putting your hopes into a man who is bigger than your city he stayed when he didnt have to made your city relevant and all good things come to an end. He owes that city nothing he has done enough time to keep your head up and move on
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You just more or less gave 6 reasons on why they SHOULDN’T burn his jersey. And the fact that Mo Williams is the best player he has played with doesn’t help either.
It’s so sad.