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NBA Debate – The legacy of LeBron’s decision

10 years ago the most anticipated free agency period in NBA history began, culminating on July 8, 2010, with The Decision and LeBron James announcing that he was bringing his talents to South Beach.

We asked our NBA insiders to reflect on LeBron’s show, relapse and time with the Miami Heat – which produced four final trips and two titles before he returned to Cleveland – and what it all meant for the NBA .

Podcast for the anniversary of the decisions: The Hoop Collective | The Lowe Post


1. What do you remember most of seeing “The Decision” 10 years ago?

Kevin Arnovitz: The extent to which it was produced. James and his camp had already modeled his free agency as a competition reality show, and the announcement was the culmination. In many ways, unbeknownst to anyone at the moment, The Decision has been a pilot for a decade of shows produced and performed by athletes. That night seems almost strange now.

Chris Herring: I worked for the Wall Street Journal and was sent to a New York bar to cover the local reaction to LeBron’s choice. It was a reaction that was somewhat suitable for the best part of the past 20 years: Knicks fans were disappointed. It was speculated that by announcing the decision in nearby Connecticut, LeBron would bode well for the Knicks’ chances. No

Jackie MacMullan: I happened to be in Bristol doing SportsCenter in the days before the decision. Although ESPN would broadcast it, many of us thought it was a horrible idea, and I remember saying “LeBron, it’s not too late. Don’t do it!” I called David Stern a day before The Decision and he made it clear to me that he would not comment. But, when I asked him out of the album, “Did you try to convince LeBron?” he snapped back, “What to do you to think?”

Dave McMenamin: The day before I was covering the Kobe Bryant basketball court in Santa Barbara, and all someone wanted to talk about was what LeBron would do. I went out to dinner with some of the coaches that night and we saw Chris Broussard say on SportsCenter that Miami would be the destination. So by tuning in to the actual show the next day, it was more about trying to see LeBron say it and how he would say it. And as soon as he said “take my talents,” he immediately made me think of seventeen-year-old Kobe, with a pair of Oakleys on his head, announcing his decision to skip college and go straight to the NBA.

Royce Young: The Wait Once it was announced, the spec machine started up at a high speed. But even with news of LeBron popping up elsewhere, the general feeling was in no way that he would go on national TV and break the heart of his hometown. It was all uncomfortable, especially the time that had to pass before LeBron announced his choice. But the 24 hours that preceded us were the birth of the transactional fever era we live in now.


2. Thinking about it now, which was more surprising: LeBron’s TV special, Dan Gilbert’s letter or Heat’s “We Did It” gathering?

Young: The letter is the most shocking of the three, just because the potential consequences of this should not have required hindsight to see it. It was an emotional reaction, of course, and in the end it didn’t stop LeBron from returning, but it was definitely an obstacle. A decision-making announcement is somewhat the norm now, and it is not unusual to overdo it with seismic transactions. But an owner who absolutely blows up a player publicly – a franchise icon – is something quite unthinkable in 2020.

MacMullan: The heat gathering. The decision was incredibly inconsiderate and self-indulgent, but we all knew it would come. Gilbert’s disconcerting reaction was somewhat predictable, as he discovered that LeBron was leaving at the same time as all of us. But that gathering was so exaggerated. I will never forget the look on Pat Riley’s face when they approached him in the stands. He seemed mortified. Riley told me years later that he was so busy making sure all the contracts for LeBron and Chris Bosh were in order that they didn’t pay much attention to what the team had planned. It showed.

McMenamin: Gilbert’s letter. The TV special raised millions for charity. The gathering was exaggerated and premature, but it was rooted in joy. The letter was hateful and ugly.

Arnovitz: Gilbert’s letter, because it was the only one of the three that was a spontaneous event. With a few exceptions, NBA directors are highly filtered androids. Gilbert’s letter was pure, pure resentment written by someone without anyone’s advice.

Herring: Probably the demonstration. There was really no possible advantage to having one. One day down the line, I was able to see another superstar advertise her free agency decision with a cable network. I could see an agitated owner shooting from a wild screed. But another event like that would have shocked me.


3. Fact or fiction: LeBron James was expected to win MVP in 2010-11.

Herring: Done. Fiction and voter fatigue clearly played a role. Derrick Rose’s team won slightly more and set the best record. But LeBron had superior counting and efficiency statistics, led the NBA in winning actions and valued the replacement player and was far superior in defense, which he demonstrated by blocking Rose at key moments during the conference finals. However, LeBron finished third in the vote, behind Dwight Howard, who also had a strong case on Rose.

MacMullan: Fiction. Now if you want to rephrase and say that LeBron may have won in 2011, then yes. He had a better PER than Derrick Rose and his mark on the game was indelible. But I believe in the voting process and, at the time, 22-year-old Rose, who had not yet suffered her horrible life-threatening knee injury, was dynamic, exciting and prolific and led her team of 62-game bulls. Did LeBron, who finished third behind Dwight Howard, suffer from backlash for his improper decision? Most likely.

Arnovitz: Done. It is difficult to find any criterion – apart from the team’s victory – that values ​​Derrick Rose more than LeBron James. Was it a narrative-based vote and / or one that punished James for stacking the deck in the eyes of the voters?

Young: Fiction. Rose was a perfectly acceptable choice. The bulls were the best seeds in the East, winning 62 games. There may have been a reaction against LeBron’s decision, but it’s not as if Rose was undeserving. He followed the standard MVP votes: the new rising star at the helm of a mega-market crown jewelry franchise at the best record in the league. LeBron was sensational, because it always is, and we all know that he could have won practically all MVPs from 2008 onwards. But working with the idea that someone else is allowed to win, Rose has been a worthy winner.

McMenamin: Done. He has four MVPs, which is remarkable, but he probably should have about six.

4. Have LeBron’s Heat teams been mostly underachieve, mostly overachieve, or have they mostly met reasonable expectations?

McMenamin: Meets expectations, which has won numerous championships. Did we think it would start with a loss for the Mavs and end after just four years? No. But we hadn’t expected that 27 game streak, the incredible comeback against San Antonio or the dominant victory over the Thunder.

Arnovitz: The LeBron teams will always be synonymous with running the regular seasons with an impeccable effort, but two titles and four trips to the final seem right. The 2010-11 Heat lost to a team with less raw talent, but other than that, they shot at par.

Herring: If we had known in advance that he would only spend four years in Miami, then winning two titles – while playing in the final for all four years – would have been a fairly reasonable prediction. Considering the tension that such a race can have on the players’ bodies (Wade’s struggles have highlighted it), or the challenge of trying to continually put talents around an expensive core without ever having a margin to do so, expecting something more “I was unreasonable.

Young: Mostly it met reasonable expectations. It’s easy to mock their era because of the “Not one, not two, not three” proclamations, but look at their four-year resume: four finals, two titles, better than the winning percentage of .700. They were the most insulted basketball team in the world, but also the most famous. The legacy of Heat is balanced on the edge of a knife. If their streak against Dallas goes right, it’s a dynasty. If Ray Allen’s 3 don’t fit into game 6, they’re a failure. So they fall right in the middle.

MacMullan: Considering that LeBron insisted that the Heat would win “not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven …” I guess, in the end, you should say that I am not up to par . To begin with, they should have beaten Dallas in 2011; it was the lowest moment of LeBron’s career, but also a turning point. And as soon as the redeeming Spurs hit them in 2014, playing almost perfect basketball to do it, LeBron was On to the Next. Who knows what would have happened if he got stuck?


5. What is the lasting legacy of LeBron’s move to Miami?

MacMullan: Player empowerment. Whether you liked or hated it, The Decision was a preview of LeBron that took control of his career in a way we had never seen any other superstar do before. No more coaches, GMs or owners could dictate how long their franchise players stayed. The power has irrevocably shifted on the athlete, thanks to LeBron. His NBA brothers should never forget it.

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