Imagine LeBron signed Here?

kylepicklehead

Benchwarmer
LeBron wasn't built for New York

LeBron-James-Knicks-New-York.jpg

After coming up short in Miami, there's no way he would've made it in the Big Apple.


By Rob Parker
ESPNNewYork.com

Whew! New Yorkers were lucky.

As much as fans here wanted LeBron James to lead the New York Knicks to a championship, it was the right decision not to come to the Big Apple.
If he can't take the Heat (sorry for the pun) in Miami, he never would have been able to handle the scrutiny and criticism of playing in New York.

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The Mavericks defeated the Heat 4-2 to win the NBA title.





Never before has a player with so much talent come up so small in a pressure situation. In crunch time, with less than five minutes to go and the scoring margin five points or fewer, James scored zero points. Sadly, he had help -- with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh -- and still wilted, especially in the fourth quarter when the NBA Finals were on the line.


The only thing worse than his performance in his second trip to the Finals without getting a ring was his shot at fans.
At the news conference, after the underdog Dallas Mavericks won the title in six games, James was asked about all the fans in NBA America who openly rooted for him to lose.
James, already sports public enemy No. 1 after he bolted Cleveland via free agency last summer, bashed and belittled fans as though they were nothing and didn't matter.
It's one thing to be upset. It's another thing to handle losing with class.
James went as low as you could go, basically telling fans to go to hell and that he was still better than they were even though he lost.
"All the people that were rooting me on to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life they had before," James said. "They have the same personal problems they had today.
"I'm going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want with me and my family and be happy with that."
Wow!


It's amazing that James, 26, still just doesn't get it.
His arrogance is bigger and better than his play on the court. Eleven months ago, he was a beloved player and always seemed to say the right thing for a player thrust into the spotlight at 18 years old. Most thought he had the chance to be as good as, if not better than, Michael Jordan.
James still can't figure out why fans turned on him after "The Decision." That's when James had a TV special to announce his free-agency decision to leave Cleveland and "take my talents to South Beach."
It wasn't that he left Cleveland. People understood. He was a free agent. It's his right to move to another team. It was just the idea that James wasn't willing to work for a title, work to be the best we ever saw.


Now you know why he didn't come to NYC. He didn't want to challenge.


Instead, James decided to take the easy way out. He just wanted to be one of the guys instead of "The Guy."
That's the reason most fans didn't want him to win his first championship ring. No one wants to see someone get there on the coattails of others, and that's what it looked like.
Even though James thinks anyone not rooting for him is a hater, it was sad to see him stoop to such a level and bash the people who make the game the game. James, on this night, acted as though he was the king and the fans were mere subjects not worth his time or energy.
"They can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy that not only myself but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal," James said. "But they'll have to get back to the real world at some point."


Sadly, James isn't living in the real world.


No matter how many cars and millions he has, he still doesn't have the thing he wants the most -- a championship. That's not to say it won't happen. James has been in the league only eight years and has probably a decade to finally be the last team standing.


James represents oversensitive players who can't take criticism or fans not pulling for them. Some of the greatest players both expected it and relished the fans of their opponents to despise them. Everybody isn't going to root for you. Just ask Jordan. People love him now but not at the time he was winning six championships.
On three, New Yorkers should all give James the Bronx cheer. He deserves it.
 

tiger0330

Legend
I wonder if Scottie wants to take back what he said about Lebron becoming the GOAT. You can definitely hang that Finals loss on Lebron, he came up small at the worst possible time.

He just doesn't have a money outside shot nor is he a clutch FT shooter, things that you expect from someone that gets compared to Michael Jordan. If you can keep him from getting in the lane consistently and his jump shot isn't falling then he becomes a pretty average player.

The Heat did get to the show with that 3 max contract model so I wouldn't say it's a failure but Lebron has to play like Dirk did if the Heat want to get their championship.
 

Madhatter9382

Benchwarmer
We don't really know what would've happened this season had he come here but judging from his past, it could've been pretty bad...


Ewing never came through for NY but he had the heart of a warrior and gave it his all. NY def. doesn't respect anyone who doesn't give it his all and that appeared to be lebron in the finals...
 

STAT1

Starter
Personally I think articles like this just makes us Knick fans look like a buncha whiny bitter fans. If Lebron had signed here, we'd all have been doing cartwheels in the streets, ALL of us. Let's be real about it, hate on him all you want (& I don't like the guy either I think he's an arrogant & immature kid), but don't try & present the case that Lebron would have choked in NY had he signed here, cuz none of us know that to be the case. Everyone said A-Rod wasn't built for NY either the first few years he was wearing the pinstripes but he practically carried them to their championship in 2009 in the postseason. As much as I don't like Lebron now, if you told me I could trade Melo for him right now, I do it, no questions asked.
 

MSGhobo247

Rotation player
Personally I think articles like this just makes us Knick fans look like a buncha whiny bitter fans. If Lebron had signed here, we'd all have been doing cartwheels in the streets, ALL of us. Let's be real about it, hate on him all you want (& I don't like the guy either I think he's an arrogant & immature kid), but don't try & present the case that Lebron would have choked in NY had he signed here, cuz none of us know that to be the case. Everyone said A-Rod wasn't built for NY either the first few years he was wearing the pinstripes but he practically carried them to their championship in 2009 in the postseason. As much as I don't like Lebron now, if you told me I could trade Melo for him right now, I do it, no questions asked.

I understand where your argument is coming from but if given the opportunity I'd still take Melo over Bron for the exact reasons you give... Lebron is an arrogant & immature kid... do you really want someone like that leading your team in New York of all cities... Melo is a home town guy who has a lot to prove now that he's playing in his backyard again... and his backyard happens to be a place where everyone from the hot dog vender to the Wall St. CEO knows a thing or two about basketball.... Yeah I know what Bron can do on the court but I feel that we still haven't seen Melo's best yet... and that's scary beautiful.

lebron-melo-2.jpg
 
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STAT1

Starter
I understand where your argument is coming from but if given the opportunity I'd still take Melo over Bron for the exact reasons you give... Lebron is an arrogant & immature kid... do you really want someone like that leading your team in New York of all cities... Melo is a home town guy who has a lot to prove now that he's playing in his backyard again... and his backyard happens to be a place where everyone from the hot dog vender to the Wall St. CEO knows a thing or two about basketball.... Yeah I know what Bron can do on the court but I feel that we still haven't seen Melo's best yet... and that's scary beautiful.

lebron-melo-2.jpg

Believe me I was one of the biggest supporters for Melo to come to NY when a lot of Knick fans were talking about how we should have held onto scrubs like Timo Mozgov instead. You don't have to make a case for Melo as a Knick to me, I'm right there with you on that one.

In terms of whether we've seen the best out of Melo yet, I agree also I think he's got more to give, but I also think Lebron can as well. I think for him it's more a mental & maturity hurdle than anything else. Once he learns that it takes more than just talent to win in the NBA, he's going to take the next step towards becoming an alltime great playing this game. Much like it took A-Rod to learn how to relax & stop putting the pressure of the world on his shoulders whenever he stepped to the plate in the postseason to be successful, so it will be the same for Lebron IMO.

Look, I'm not saying I wish Lebron were a Knick instead of Melo right now. I'm happy with what we got I think we can build a winner here with STAT & Melo. Just need to add a coach who can coach some defense along with someone who can orchestrate on the floor, & we'll be on our way. Still that doesn't mean I think Lebron would be a total failure in NY just because of how badly he handled things in Miami this year from a PR standpoint. When you're put into a different surroundings it's hard to predict how you would react from one to another. NY & Miami are not the same. Maybe Lebron has an easier time maturing in NY without being surrounded by his buddies Wade & Bosh? Maybe Lebron actually embraces the pressure of taking a franchise on his shoulders the way he did for the first several years of his NBA career in Cleveland? We really can't say for sure how things would have turned out if he'd taken his talents to Broadway instead. A Lebron & STAT combination would have been pretty damn scary too if you ask me (in a good way).
 

MSGhobo247

Rotation player
Believe me I was one of the biggest supporters for Melo to come to NY when a lot of Knick fans were talking about how we should have held onto scrubs like Timo Mozgov instead. You don't have to make a case for Melo as a Knick to me, I'm right there with you on that one.

In terms of whether we've seen the best out of Melo yet, I agree also I think he's got more to give, but I also think Lebron can as well. I think for him it's more a mental & maturity hurdle than anything else. Once he learns that it takes more than just talent to win in the NBA, he's going to take the next step towards becoming an alltime great playing this game. Much like it took A-Rod to learn how to relax & stop putting the pressure of the world on his shoulders whenever he stepped to the plate in the postseason to be successful, so it will be the same for Lebron IMO.

Look, I'm not saying I wish Lebron were a Knick instead of Melo right now. I'm happy with what we got I think we can build a winner here with STAT & Melo. Just need to add a coach who can coach some defense along with someone who can orchestrate on the floor, & we'll be on our way. Still that doesn't mean I think Lebron would be a total failure in NY just because of how badly he handled things in Miami this year from a PR standpoint. When you're put into a different surroundings it's hard to predict how you would react from one to another. NY & Miami are not the same. Maybe Lebron has an easier time maturing in NY without being surrounded by his buddies Wade & Bosh? Maybe Lebron actually embraces the pressure of taking a franchise on his shoulders the way he did for the first several years of his NBA career in Cleveland? We really can't say for sure how things would have turned out if he'd taken his talents to Broadway instead. A Lebron & STAT combination would have been pretty damn scary too if you ask me (in a good way).

I see where you're coming from and I agree... you can't assume the same thing would happen here but I'm just throwing this out there... I think the Melo & Amar'e combo works better just for the fact that Melo on a night in night out basis can spread the floor a lot better then Bron can, which can allow Amar'e to work his magic with more space... but i guess we're just speculating.
 
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STAT1

Starter
I see where you're coming from and I agree... you can't assume the same thing would happen here but I'm just throwing this out there... I think the Melo & Amar'e combo works better just for the fact that Melo on a night in night out basis can spread the floor a lot better then Bron can, which can allow Amar'e to work his magic with more space... but i guess we're just speculating.

I think you raise a good point about the spacing, Melo is obviously a much better perimeter shooter than Lebron. However, Lebron is a much better distributor of the ball, so you can flip the argument & say that STAT would have benefitted more by having Lebron on the ball to feed him the ball also. Either way, I would have been ecstatic for either of them to be a Knick, & still would be today, regardless of all the idiotic things Lebron has said since he joined up with the Heat, because in the end, that's all it is, just words. He hasn't committed any crimes the way Michael Vick did, hasn't destroyed his team chemistry by undermining his own head coach or turned his back on his teammates when they needed him to play the way Stephon Marbury (NY born & bred) did when he was here. I think right now it's easy to hate on Lebron, & in many ways I'm sharing in the revelry, but I'm gonna stop short of saying the Knicks are better off without him here, because I think it's a silly thing to say that your franchise is better off without probably the most talented player in the NBA on your team.
 
Rob Parker wrote a great article, respect to him!

It's none of that cheap stuff, bashing Lebron in one liners, like some other 'journalists do'. Good analysis and justified criticism.

I still think Lebron would have rocked in D'Antonis' offense though.
And no I can't stand him, I seriously dislike him, but it's not hate.
I'm very close to hating Wade, who has gone even below Lebron in my level of estimation - and that's quite an achievement. I don't think there's a bigger cunt in the league than Wade at this point. I've never wished an injury to a player, but I wouldn't feel sad if Wade does his ACL in preseason...I know I shouldn't think like that...but...
 

ChrisN7

Benchwarmer
On the maturity front, I think its as much about the guys LeBron is surrounded by in Miami. Currently, regardless of performance on the court, LeBron is the main man. Watch the Finals mini movies on NBA.com and in the Heat huddles pre-game its LeBron taking charge. Despite Wade being in Miami longer, the Heat have become LeBron's team, and Bosh isn't at the level to lead a team with both LeBron and Wade.

However, be it in Miami, New York, Chicago, New Jersey, possibly even back in Cleveland, if one of the stars surrounding LeBron is Amar'e Stoudemire, that helps LeBron grow up a bit. Amar'e showed as soon as he became a Knick that he was ready to be a leader and take charge of the team as the guy the rest of the players look up to. That would take a lot of the pressure off LeBron and at the same time wouldn't stand for him sulking when things weren't going right.

I think we'd have seen a VERY different LeBron James througout the season and these playoffs had he been paired with Amar'e rather than Bosh.
 

SSj4Wingzero

All Star
The Heat vary between LeBron's team and Wade's team depending on how they're playing. If they win, it's Wade's team, and if they lose, it's LeBron's team. I feel as if it's being seen as LeBron's team mostly because of the attention LeBron calls to himself...
 
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