OT: LeBron James

[jmt57]

The league will never give up the franchise tag. The best the NFLPA can hope for is a way to increase the tender offer to make it more attractive for players to get tagged.

I think they have to do something though.
The tag now has the perception of the team doing something evil to the player rather than the excersizing of a collectively bargained right.
Just today, someone said kinda off the cuff, well of course Wilfork had a right to be upset when they tagged him.
The tag seems to have become a means for a player to act violated, hold out and demand a trade, rather than a way for the team to ensure they can keep players with unreasonable demands.

If I'm not mistaken, wasn't the franchise tag originally instituted because the owners feared free agents would flock to the big market teams, in part due to the theory that the big market teams would simply outbid the smaller market teams for the best free agents?

If that was the case, then perhaps the exclusive rights franchise tag has outlived its original purpose. The salary cap has a much larger affect on where players do and don't go. At this point the biggest use of the tag is to get one more year of service out of a player, or to buy time to work out a contract extension. In addition restricted free agent tags are almost useless; how often do you see another team willing to give up their draft picks to sign a RFA?

 

[Ring 6]

Yet, to me it would mean that the team want to keep the player, and want some more time to negotiate, as VW found out.

Ultimatley though if there were no tag it would simply have the players that resign do so a bit earlier. Using the tag as a deadline extender isn't the issue, IMO.
Its the cases where they cannot come to an agreement that are the problem.
In my understanding the point of the tag is to restrict movement of top players. It seems to have turned into an evil management manuever that typically leads to a holdout and/or trade.

In other words, I have felt that the tag was a collectively bargained rule that gave extra advantage to management, ie gave them an advantage in those negotiating systems, and that players recognized as a legitimate right they agreed to, but it has now become perceived as something that is dealing from the bottom of the deck and the players shouldn't have to accept. The advantage of the tag seems to be less because players have successfully said FU I wont accept it, and won.

 

[thechris]

I hope Brett Favre announces his retirement tomorrow during King James press conference.

 

[Ian]

Here's a great column on the subject:

State of LeBron: Live at 9, from his ego - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

"That’s the hardest part here, and that makes the possibility that James would go on national television – with those split-screen shots of stunned fans in Akron and Cleveland – and completely crush those people so impossible to believe. He couldn’t be that cold, that callous, that cunning?" - Adrian Wojnarowski

 

[PatsCanDoIt]

The NBA is much different. There is no bidding war because contracts have a ceiling. Wade, Bosh, and LaBron will all get a similar a contract even though their talents are not even. The home team can offer a bigger max contract though. So this isn't about contract money for LaBron. It's about where LaBron wants to play and endorsements.

 

[TrueBeliever]

I don't watch basketball enough to know if LeBron is really any good or not... and after this I think I could care less if he never plays again. Even the ol' hillbilly Brett Favre thinks this guy is an attention whore.

And what is up with making an hour-long TV program out of this announcement? I thought it was silly when NFL Network made a whole show out of releasing the season schedule, but this is just plain ridiculous. Televise the press conference on BSPN News if you want, break in to programming on the mothership as soon as he names the team if you want, but leave it at that.

Last night I was listening to Dan Patrick's radio show and he was asking why, when LeBron decides to make his announcement on a night when he'll basically have the stage to himself, MLB went and revealed this year's All-Star teams on Saturday afternoon when no one was watching.

Anyway, what really bites about this whole thing is you just know as soon as it finally dies down, they'll immediately go right back to the Favre hype, and we'll be right back in this purgatory.

 

[Rex Ryan's Gut]

It is all overblown, but I still think it's a big deal.

LeBron is arguably the biggest athlete in this country right now. I think he's better than Kobe. Kobe has just had the benefit of a much better supporting cast his whole career.

 

[Calciumee]

I hope Brett Favre announces his retirement tomorrow during King James press conference.

The media would implode!

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Does anyone else think this is the most overblown bs ever?
The guy hasn't won anything, and its 24/7 coverage on where he will sign a FA contract. He is now going to have his own special announcement show on, of course, ESPN, and I think its an hour long show.
I hope whereever he goes he wins nothing his entire career.

Ha! You should live in New York! The Tabloids have it All LeBron All The Time. I'm sick of it and hope he stiffs both the Knucks and the Nots.

 

[JR4]

Lebron James has proven repeatedly that he is not a winner. The guy is all hype.

Honestly, if it weren't for all the King James crap and all the buildup to him coming into the league, would he have won MVPs at this point? Lebron is closer to Durant or Melo or other guys with great stats, but without anything to show for it. The only difference is Lebron's reputation, which is mostly a media fabrication. He has limited basketball skills. Offensively, all he can do is drive the ball, and even that, he wouldn't be elite if it weren't for what the refs let him get away with.

He has no post game, a mediocre jumpshot, and apparently lacks the drive of a Kobe or a Jordan who would go out and fix those things ASAP.

yeah ... like Jordan, if the refs didn't let him get away with half the stuff
he gets away with he wouldn't get over 30 points very often.
It really ticks me off when he lowers his shoulder like a battering ram
and plows though guys who clearly have position and the refs call a
blocking fowl. over and over and over he does it. Then he walks to the
line trying not to show a smile.
Jordan use to get away with pushing off to get space. His last shot
in Chicago was a definite push off.
Fans need heroes and the refs are have made quite a few.

 

[BradyManny]

yeah ... like Jordan, if the refs didn't let him get away with half the stuff
he gets away with he wouldn't get over 30 points very often.
It really ticks me off when he lowers his shoulder like a battering ram
and plows though guys who clearly have position and the refs call a
blocking fowl. over and over and over he does it. Then he walks to the
line trying not to show a smile.
Jordan use to get away with pushing off to get space. His last shot
in Chicago was a definite push off.
Fans need heroes and the refs are have made quite a few.

Poor comparison - Jordan did not abuse or use the refs the way Lebron does, its not even comparable. Lebron, due to his size, is on a whole new level. There was no denying Jordan's skill - he mastered moves that were completely unguardable. Whether the refs gave him star treatment or not was - much like it is for Kobe - completely irrelevant, b/c he was that good. I don't think the refs factored much at all into Jordan's success.

Lebron, on the other hand, would not be a star without the refs turning the other cheek every time he goes towards the basket.

 

[Rob0729]

It is all overblown, but I still think it's a big deal.

LeBron is arguably the biggest athlete in this country right now. I think he's better than Kobe. Kobe has just had the benefit of a much better supporting cast his whole career.

Will he be overrated if the Knicks don't get him?

 

[Ring 6]

Ha! You should live in New York! The Tabloids have it All LeBron All The Time. I'm sick of it and hope he stiffs both the Knucks and the Nots.

Imagine what it would be if the Knicks or Nets even had a legitimate shot at getting him?

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Imagine what it would be if the Knicks or Nets even had a legitimate shot at getting him?

I can't imagine any player in his right mind wanting to work for the Dolans, who are idiots. The Rapper Jay-Z is a part owner of the Nets, though, and tight with LeBron, so that's not out of the question. Personally, I think he's going to stay in Cleveland or go to Miami.

 

[sbpatfan]

Who was that ref that got caught gambling or whatever, it was a big deal on ESPN a few years ago. I think his name started with a "K." Anyways, wasn't his winning percentage for gambling on NBA games like 60 to 80 percent or something ridiculous? One of my friends always complains that the NBA is staged. I always just laughed but now I somewhat believe him, and that's why I no longer watch pro Basketball.

 

[Pewsterbaby]

Imagine what it would be if the Knicks or Nets even had a legitimate shot at getting him?

Yer gonna eat that tomorrow night. You wanna climb to the TOP of the success mountain, you go to NEW YAWK frickin' CITY, 'cause that's where the pinnacle is. And coming from someone who ran an indie record label there for 17 years, I know a thing or two about what that means. It's not like I coulda reached those sociological heights tryin' that where YOU live.
The Lebron scale is tipping towards Gotham with each passing hour and I'm loving every minute of it. I mean, when you REALLY break it down to its essence, playing ANYWHERE outside of New York is always gonna be a "what if I was able to do all this good stuff in New York? Oh man, that woulda been even better."

There ain't no place that touches New York City as far as personal accolade experiences go. And that's coming from someone who's had a LOT of them.

.... you just wait 'till tomorrow night. You just effing wait. You're gonna be reminded of what you're NOT once again. Yeah, a NON New Yorker. As if you count for anything. lol. You're just a lesser version of who you COULD be to all of us looking down from the summit of the place they call Capitol Of Earth.

Now Lebron is gonna join our ranks. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Yeah, afraid of your inferiority complex rearing it's head once again when Lebron tells yer ass how much it rules here.

And that's from a Pats fan since 1979 who's originally from Connecticut (New England, anybody?).

 

[TrueBeliever]

I will say one thing for the guy. At least he's made it clear he wants to go somewhere that he can win (hopefully), instead of just going wherever he can get the biggest payout. Course when the Patriots have that philosophy, then "they don't know how to treat their players."

As to the guy's ego, this article says it best:

State of LeBron: Live at 9, from his ego - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

 

[Kontradiction]

Imagine what it would be if the Knicks or Nets even had a legitimate shot at getting him?

According to multiple rumors, the Knicks actually do have a shot at getting him. He's gonna go for the Brinks truck and not the championships.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

What i want to happen...i want lebron to stay in Cleveland where he will NEVER get a ring because he cant win there...wait...i want him to leave so the city riots and the cavs are a 15 win team after he leaves....wait


Eaither way i like it



Whats really going to happen...going to Kincks

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Imagine what it would be if the Knicks or Nets even had a legitimate shot at getting him?

The Knicks do..what are you talking about?