# Go to Hell, LeBron James! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 10, 2014, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805 "2014-07-10T23:16:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/21 "2014-07-11T16:47:46Z")
A small, very evil part of me wants him to go on ESPN now and announce he was just kidding and he’s staying in Miami. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/22 "2014-07-11T16:52:57Z")
There’s a joke about Cleveland being Hell to be made here. > [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > Wrote a little essay mentioning Waiters specifically but not mentioning Wiggins. > > Guess he thinks there’s a pretty good chance they’re getting Love. Or Bennett. Yes, it sounds likely they’ll be traded to Minnesota for Love. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/23 "2014-07-11T16:57:46Z")
Ha. I actually forgot Anthony Bennett existed. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/24 "2014-07-11T16:58:58Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > And I’m also sick of Carmelo Anthony ! And Tiger Woods, too! Harumph! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/25 "2014-07-11T17:01:18Z")
Won’t happen, of course, but I wish the fans in Cleveland would shun him. Take your sports entertainment dollars to South Beach or anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/26 "2014-07-11T17:20:16Z")
For ease of conversation I started a [Lebron to Cleveland thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=728194) ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/27 "2014-07-11T17:30:21Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > It’s just a conspiracy to sell jerseys. Leave Cleveland and the fans all burned their jerseys. Come back and now they’ve got to buy them all over again. Bonus sales for a new number so they have to buy the vintage 23 AND the updated 6. > > I’m only half kidding. If Cleveland was a market like NY/CHI/LA, then I’d be only 1/4 kidding. Why do people always say this? Merchandising in all sports is equally divided among all the teams. For every dollar made on Cavs jerseys, the Cavs make $0.03, the same as they make on Knicks, Heat and Utah Jazz jerseys. And in all sports, jersey sales are nothing compared to TV revenue. Anyone making franchise decisions based on jersey sales is a business idiot. ---
**Author:** ![chicagowhitesox1173](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@chicagowhitesox1173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicagowhitesox1173)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/28 "2014-07-11T17:54:20Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > LeBron leaves Cleveland, announces on live television special, media and fans flip out about the surprise: fuck you LeBron, you attention whore. > > LeBron probably going back to Cleveland, doesn’t say shit to anybody, media and fans flip out speculating: fuck you LeBron, pick a team. > > Seems fair. The only thing I’m disappointed by is that most of these assholes who gave the guy this fucked up Stockholm Syndrome hometown deal that’s almost certainly pulling him back toward Cleveland would get to watch their team win (and some of them will get their own) championship rings for their troubles. He’s so intensely sensitive to criticism that he’s actually (I think) convinced this is the right thing to do now. Poor bastard; I wonder how he’s going to react when he realizes that the **dalej42** s and the **chicagowhitesox1173** s of the world can’t be won over. I think it’s a good move but still when the going gets tough Lebron quits and has to go the easy route. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/29 "2014-07-11T17:55:49Z")
> [@Mr.Greenjeans](#): > > Won’t happen, of course, but I wish the fans in Cleveland would shun him. LeBron’s rumor that he might sign with Cleveland is the only thing that makes them (the Cavs) relevant, in a basketball sense. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/30 "2014-07-11T17:57:15Z")
> [@chicagowhitesox1173](#): > > I think it’s a good move but still when the going gets tough Lebron quits and has to go the easy route. Winning championships is tough, and as I recall, he’s won two. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/31 "2014-07-11T18:04:41Z")
> [@chicagowhitesox1173](#): > > I think it’s a good move but still when the going gets tough Lebron quits and has to go the easy route. This is retarded. Staying in Miami, with two superstars alongside him, a legendary GM and everything that Miami is the easy move. Throwing it all away and going to Cleveland to play for a coach with no NBA experience is many things, but “the easy route?” That’s idiotic. ---
**Author:** ![chicagowhitesox1173](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@chicagowhitesox1173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicagowhitesox1173)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/32 "2014-07-11T21:54:50Z")
> [@furt](#): > > This is retarded. > > Staying in Miami, with two superstars alongside him, a legendary GM and everything that Miami is the easy move. > > Throwing it all away and going to Cleveland to play for a coach with no NBA experience is many things, but “the easy route?” That’s idiotic. Dwayne Wade is no superstar anymore and who knows what Chris Bosh is going to do. In Cleveland he has a young Kyle Irving and a possible Kevin Love coming to his team. A 4th grader could coach a team like this and turn it into a championship team. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/33 "2014-07-11T22:10:15Z")
> [@chicagowhitesox1173](#): > > Dwayne Wade is no superstar anymore and who knows what Chris Bosh is going to do. Stay in Miami, the same he was going to do if LeBron had stuck around. > [@](#): > > In Cleveland he has a young Kyle Irving Kyrie. > [@](#): > > A 4th grader could coach a team like this and turn it into a championship team. Aren’t you supposed to be a Bulls fan? The Bulls had Jordan and Pippen and didn’t win championships before Phil Jackson came along. ---
**Author:** ![chicagowhitesox1173](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@chicagowhitesox1173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicagowhitesox1173)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/34 "2014-07-11T22:34:27Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Stay in Miami, the same he was going to do if LeBron had stuck around. > > Kyrie. > > Aren’t you supposed to be a Bulls fan? The Bulls had Jordan and Pippen and didn’t win championships before Phil Jackson came along. Lebron James is acting like he’s coming back to Cleveland because of some love for the city but if that team didn’t have kyrie Irving, there is no way he’s coming back. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/35 "2014-07-11T23:00:34Z")
> [@chicagowhitesox1173](#): > > Lebron James is acting like he’s coming back to Cleveland because of some love for the city but if that team didn’t have kyrie Irving, there is no way he’s coming back. Let’s just say he’s doing the pragmatic thing. Miami’s getting old, Wade isn’t the superstar he once was, and the Heat tried to win a championship on the cheap when they dumped Miller and asked him to take a pay cut. Lebron’s not going to Cleveland entirely out of the good of his heart. He sees a good players in Kyrie, he sees Wiggins, and possibly room for another star, and he sees that his chances of winning in Cleveland is better than if he had stayed. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/36 "2014-07-11T23:02:42Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/37 "2014-07-11T23:03:28Z")
Bosh staying in Miami now for 5 years/118 mil it seems. Houston looks pretty screwed. Desperate move by Riley. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/38 "2014-07-11T23:11:44Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Lebron’s not going to Cleveland entirely out of the good of his heart. What makes you such an expert on his motivations? Have you read [his explanation](http://www.si.com/nba/2014/07/11/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers)? ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/39 "2014-07-12T16:34:09Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](#): > > What makes you such an expert on his motivations? > Have you read [his explanation](http://www.si.com/nba/2014/07/11/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers)? He can say whatever he wants but if he were really just joining Cleveland out of the goodness of his heart, it wouldn’t have been such a tough decision and he wouldn’t have dragged it out. It shows he had to consider other factors, and if it was really 100% about heart, then he would have signed for the minimum or some other nonsense. He wants money, a chance to win, and to be in Cleveland. How much he wants each is debatable from his actions ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805/40 "2014-07-20T03:48:22Z")
Swear to god, if _I_ won two championships and five conference titles and still got zero respect, I’d feel damn well _justified_ in not giving a crap what anyone thought. Swear to _god_, if the fans move those goalposts any further, they’re going to end up in a friggin’ hockey rink. Swear to **god** , if everyone kept going on and and on about one admittedly ill-advised PR stunt I did that took up one hour four flippin’ years ago, I’d think that whoever’s perpetuating this irrational rage ad infinitum would be far more deserving of hatred than me. “I’m sure you’d just love to have another ESPN special to announce which team will be privileged enough to have you play for them. However, that didn’t work out so well last time.” Wow, no kidding. You thought Star Wars fans had no sense of perspective. In fairness, he probably figured that the worst case scenario was that he’d win the champinship and that would be the end of it. Heck, that’s how it was for Shaquille “I’ve won at every level except college and professional” O’Neal, right? It’s insane that this is still an albatross for him. Who could’ve predicted that? “While I know ESPN just loves hyping anything NBA. especially in a slow sports news cycle, this is getting ridiculous.” More ridiculous than ESPN’s usual level? Go look up “Tiger Woods” sometime, it’ll be a real eye-opener. “Pick a team, then decide how you’re going to quit your teammates in the playoffs. Buy a Hummer for Delonte West and your mother. But, please, just end this drama.” You make it sound like he actually has that kind of power. It’s the offseason and big moves are being made. He has his rings; he has nothing to prove to anyone (not that anything’s ever going to shut anyone up). As the current hottest player in the league, he can go wherever he wants, and this wasn’t a decision he was going to make lightly. And looking back on it, I wasn’t sure at the time, but now I’m convinced that signing with Cleveland was a great decision. At this stage of his career, he wants one of three things: 1. A team strong enough for him to get a third ring, 2. a long-term deal with a solid core (including coaching staff) that he can eventually turn into a dynasty, or 3. a way of making some people, _any_ people, **shut the goddam hell up**. By returning to Cleveland, that pretty much ends the rabid hatred there. Sure, there’s might be some lingering bitterness, but c’mon, it’s not like they’re going to root against him (and it’s not like things were wine and roses before he went back). He’s got a fine contract and is close to home, so he can put all the pressure and ridiculous expectations behind him and just be the alpha dog of Cleveland sports. Besides, nothing’s preventing him from closing out his career elsewhere if something opens up. There will be angry Miami fans, of course, but with the big three broken up, they’re going to have exactly jack squat to rub in his face. Furthermore, unlike four years ago when an entire league was united in Lebron hatred, Miami is all alone on this one, and given that they got four conference titles and two championships, safe to say that there is no violin in the world small enough. Face it, Lebron James won this battle. Now all you can do is hold out for a fake girlfriend prank or gambling debt or whatever. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-hell-lebron-james/692805.md?page=3)