Did Dan Gilbert Act Like a Child with Respect to James?
True story: the whole world’s experienced heartbreak and loss, and knows there’s nothing like it. But the whole world hasn’t lost LeBron James, mega-basketball star, super celebrity, and king of the world. Nope, that fate’s been reserved to Cleveland and their basketball franchise, the Cavaliers. That said, probably nobody can predict what it’s like to be them in this situation. But we can make some educated guesses.
Late Thursday night, after “the King” announced he will be taking his kingdom to Miami, Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert released a letter to the public chastising James for his decision. It took no prisoners. Gilbert accused James of betraying Cleveland and all of his home fans. In his words:
“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.”
Caps not mine. Clearly Gilbert was serious, and quite devastated. But what we should be asking is whether this is how majority holders of professional basketball teams should be responding to the loss of their players. Many have already suggested he acted in bad form and did not ‘take the high road.’
Chris Broussard of ESPN said: “I'm beginning to wonder if Dan Gilbert's real name is Benjamin Button. You know, the character from the smash hit movie, ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,' who looks old when he's young and young when he's old. How else to explain a 48-year-old man -- an intelligent, accomplished, incredibly wealthy 48-year-old man -- sounding off like an acne-riddled 13-year-old who'd just been jilted by his first love?”
In the wake of his decision to join the Heat, LeBron James has been criticised squarely. And there’s validity to that response. James should have told his home team his plans before making them suffer it on live TV, with no backup plan or foreshadowing. It’s not fair, but then let’s not forget James is 25, not 65, and can’t always be expected to make the wisest choice.
But Gilbert—who is nearly twice his age—really has no excuse. This isn’t the kind of thing you’d expect from a 50-year-old GM. But then, more and more we’re surprised. And sure enough, Gilbert surprised everyone again soon after with another bit class A maturity, dropped the price of James fatheads from $99 to $17.41, the year Benedict Arnold was born in.
The whole ‘you have revealed yourself’ motif feels a little dried up at this point. Whatever James has revealed, it’s been a long time coming, and out there since day one. The guy likes to win. He wants a championship. He’s young. We don’t know if he has that je ne sais quoi of Michael Jordan, or whether he can be a clutch player like Kobe. He might have taken the easy road to a championship, but that remains to be seen. Playing with Bosh and Wade may just turn out to bite him you know where.
But regardless, let’s face it: Gilbert has matched the venom of James with his decision. And to act as if he is the ‘betrayed party’ is weak. The reality is that coaches and managers betray players far more than the other way around. They may be friendly face to face, but the minute a business opportunity rears its head, they’ll pick up the cell phone and sell that player out.
So there’s probably some justice to this whole James move—whether he knows it or not. I guess we can only hope other managers in similar positions would react with the overt silliness on display this time around.
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