LeBron To Miami: So Refreshing, So Naive

I was duped. I really believed LeBron was going to stay in Cleveland. Looking back, just two hours after he announced his decision on national TV, I guess it never made sense. The only reason to stay in Cleveland was out of loyalty to his home state and his fans. The Cavs had no resources in place to ensure that they could compete for a title in the near future. The last three years (no Finals appearances) have proved that LeBron can't do it on his own, and the Cavs hadn't exactly stockpiled young talent to give LeBron any sense of a nucleus he could grow with. But, I had also duped myself into believing that staying with the home team, the team that drafted him, the only NBA team he had ever known, the team he singlehandedly lifted out of the dredges of Lake Erie, was the only noble action he could take.

Don't get me wrong, the manner in which he broke Clevelanders' hearts was cruel and unusual. There was no call to embarrass them on live TV. Would you announce a divorce of a 7-year marriage in front of millions of viewers? Sure, he would eventually have to have the awkward press conference where he discussed his hand-wringing decision, but he didn't have to throw himself a day-long media circus before jabbing his jilted lover in the back. On the other hand, if you're a Cleveland fan, when the emotional (and literal) flames have been put out, you'll probably appreciate the following:

A) He legitimately went to a team that has the major pieces in place for a dynasty. I don't necessarily believe that the Heat are a shoo-in for 4 or 5 titles in the next 5 years, but it's not like he left Cleveland for the Nets or Clippers.

B) He didn't go to the Knicks. There's no doubt Cleveland fans' insecurity as a sports city and a city in general runs deep. And they get it: they're David, New York is Goliath. They're the faithful wife, New York is the vapid supermodel. Nobody wants to get dumped for the supermodel. It's just too painful. As much as the NBA's salary structure ensured that Cleveland could offer the most money, leaving for New York would have been about money. It would have been the chance to pursue all the endorsements and global icon status that the title of King of New York would have been privy to. It would have been about trying to become the "billionaire athlete," not a champion.

C) He didn't go to Chicago. Losing your star player, nay, your reason for being, to a division rival might be too much to bear. Playing each other at least 4 times a year, watching LeBron take home division title after division title at your expense year after year, that would be a kick in the gut. I thought LeBron's best chance at multiple titles and sole glory was to team up with Derick Rose, Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah in Chicago. That's a sick starting five, and there's no doubt who the alpha dog is there. In Miami, Dwayne Wade is the King and LeBron will be petulantly seeking the crown the whole time he's there. Still, Miami is in the same conference and Cleveland has no chance of making the playoffs without LeBron anyway, so it probably doesn't matter, but the sting would be especially painful if he went to the Bulls. However, a bitter Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cavs, has gone on record to guarantee an NBA championship before LeBron's Heat win one. Incredible. Clearly, this man has lost touch with reality, but I also hope he's right.

That's it. Those are the only three reasons I can come up with for Cleveland to feel good about itself in its moment of agony. If they want to add another irrational level of self-loathing, they can talk themselves into the bitterness of interpreting LeBron's feelings about Cleveland as a city so degrading that he left over $30 million on the table just to get away from the place. It's like a man leaving a woman right after she got a boob job- and taking the boobs with him.

However, what is refreshing is that in an era of egos and money-grabbing, three stars who could each have commanded the maximum salary on their own teams have decided to take less money (albeit in an income tax-free state) to chase their goal of winning championships together. I don't think it will be that easy, but I admire the idea. It almost never happens in baseball because the players union would never allow it, and there's no salary cap, anyway. It sometimes happens in football, but almost always in the form of a "hometown discount," not in a new free agent situation. Sure, LeBron will be making something like $16 million, instead of $20 million if he had signed with, say, Chicago. He'll still be able to live and feed his children. But, in a league and a culture where money has a tendency to define people, Wade, LeBron and Chris Bosh have each chosen to forgo "max status" to build a championship team together. Or, possibly to chase girls on South Beach together.

The irony, however, is that even with taking less money for themselves, their team is left in an awkward position of having 25% of the roster take up 95% of the salary cap space. The Heat are now going to have to find 9 guys to play for the minimum to help the new Big Three succeed. Two of them are going to have to starters. The bench is not going to be impressive. Add an injury here or there to just one of the triumverate and you could be looking at some version of the Phoenix Suns of the past decade. Very good, but not great. And I really don't believe that Wade and James can coexist as teammates for an extended period. One of them is going to want to be the man and when one of them isn't, it's going to be a full-on ugly diva show.

I feel bad for Cleveland. I really do. I don't know how they bounce back from this. I don't know who they convince to play there from the free agent market. They only got LeBron in the first place because they were so terrible and they won the draft lottery for the right to choose him with the #1 pick. They're probably going to be terrible again. This isn't college. You can't win an NBA title with 5 guys who just make a great team, with the 2004 Pistons being the rarest of exceptions. As a Celtics fan, I'm not as concerned about Miami as I would have been in LeBron had joined the Bulls. The Heat may win a title or two, but they won't have a chokehold on the Eastern Conference the entire time. Good luck, LeBron. You'll need it.