Lebron to Miami or New York?

[Babak]

All the major NBA sources are currently claiming Lebron has decided on Miami at the moment. But now I'm beginning to think Lebron and Nike have something up their sleeve, and he's actually headed to the Big Apple. "The Decision" on ESPN at 6pm Pacific will be interesting, to say the least.

http://www.countdown2lebron.com/home/

[Babak]

http://twitter.com/alanhahn/status/18009137969

Multiple sources are telling Newsday that LeBron James has decided to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. The new Big Three is here. about 6 hours ago via TweetDeck Retweeted by 100+ people



Chris Broussard from ESPN on twitter:

Chris_Broussard

Sources with knowledge of the situation indeed saying LeBron will join Wade and Bosh in Miami, barring a late change of heart 6 minutes ago via web

[Team Melli Fan]

we'll find out 2mrw on espn, but yeah, i think he'll go to miami. good signing for them with the big three.

[persianbruin]

I thought we would discuss free agency on the free agency thread!

anyways, as you know I am moving to Houston and I was makind DVDs of some of my old tapes. I came across games 3 and 4 of the conference finals in 2001 and while I was watching them (which btw, I had completely forgot how athletic Kobe used to be! ) I noticed Marv albert after game 4 was over a (sweep for the lakers vs spurs) said Kobe Bryant 33 points, 7 asst and 7 rbs for the ENTIRE series!

point being here: If Kobe is discredited of his role on that team with such stats that even MVPs dont have, whats gonna happen to Lebron, wade and bosh? seriously!

[Babak]

I thought we would discuss free agency on the free agency thread!

Lebron is not a free agent. Lebron is the 13th Imam.

[persianbruin]

Lebron is not a free agent. Lebron is the 13th Imam.

lol, no titles, no Imam The IMAM is not gonna change teams. Imam will stay put and say: niggas, you want champiuonship, then come to me

If he stays in cleveland I will have the utmost respect for him, if not he will be another guy trying to buy a championship

and lol at this publicity he is creating all the writers on all websites are bashing him. Btw, just saw Kobe tonight at UCSB. so I went to LA times to see if they have somehting about it and they did:


Amid the hoopla surrounding the news that LeBron James will announce in an hourlong special Thursday on ESPN his future whereabouts, a few on Twitter and in the L.A. Times Lakers blog joked that Kobe Bryant must be laughing right now.
Actually, he's starting his basketball camp.

The Kobe Basketball Academy runs from Wednesday through Sunday at UC Santa Barbara for kids between 8 and 18, going, costing $575 for day campers and $700 for night campers. It serves as the perfect counterpoint that Bryant is teaching kids basketball fundamentals at the same time James' hourlong special reflects the excess and ego that define much of modern sports.
Bryant has often talked about how he benefited during his childhood from striking a good balance between just going out and playing and also properly learning the fundamentals of the game. So it's interesting to see how he approaches the camp. But if this video from last year reveals anything, it shows that both Bryant and the campers had a blast.

[Babak]

lol, no titles, no Imam The IMAM is not gonna change teams. Imam will stay put and say: niggas, you want champiuonship, then come to me
[/I]

Just like how Kobe publicly demanded the Lakers trade him when they weren't winning a few years ago, right? It was more like: "niggas, I want a championship, so trade me somewhere I can win motherf#cker!"

Lebron would be a loser if he decided to stay in Cleveland, a hopeless situation where he has no chance to win with the current team and organization. I'm glad he showed the balls and smarts to make a tough, but necessary decision.

[persianbruin]

Just like how Kobe publicly demanded the Lakers trade him when they weren't winning a few years ago, right? It was more like: "niggas, I want a championship, so trade me somewhere I can win motherf#cker!"
Lebron would be a loser if he decided to stay in Cleveland, a hopeless situation where he has no chance to win with the current team and organization. I'm glad he showed the balls and smarts to make a tough, but necessary decision.

it had nothing to do with that. I didn't expect this from YOU! Lakers were out of the playoffs the end of April. But Kobe demanded that a MONTH later only a day after someone in the laker organization (who asked to stay anonymous ) accused him of stuff he didnt say. So he wnt like THATS IT. I CAN TAKE THIS FROM JOURNALISTS BUT NOT MY OWN ORGANIZATION.

plus Kobe's team sucked. He stayed with the lakers becasue Buss promised him help. Kobe's teammates were CBA players! Lebron's team won 67 games. It doesnt matter how good or bad they were. If they were good enough to win 67 game sin the regular season, they should have won in the playoffs too.

Bottom line is Kobe with a guy who you say is not a hall of famer who btw, had not won one single playoff game before joining the lakers won 2 championships (making it to 3 finals) Kobe just becasme the first person in the history of the game to score 600+ points in three consecutive playoffs. Yes even Jordan didn't achive that.

Lebron is only 25 and he hd a good team. good enough to have the best record in the NBA and to add to that, they have a real coach now. for his own benefit he should stay. He goes to miami people in Ohio will hate him and he wont get the credit he deserves if he wins any # of championship

[Demis-11]

I hope he stays in Cleveland, but even if he goes to Miami should be fun to watch..may work out..may implode, what happens if one goes down with a big injury at a crucial time..what if they cant mesh, sure all three is a dream for any team, but many like to look past other factors..especially starting Joel Anthony at C and Carlos Arroyo at PG lol

[persianbruin]

I dont even know why I am arguing! there is no argument really. My guy has won 5 championships and is the king of the world right now. Let this losers try to figure out a way to knock him off! I still believe if the celtics are the team to beat in the east. Let the rest take the regular season and let the combined 33 champions take the final

Its good to be a laker fan these days and I am gonna enjoy it as much as I can

[Babak]

it had nothing to do with that. I didn't expect this from YOU! Lakers were out of the playoffs the end of April. But Kobe demanded that a MONTH later only a day after someone in the laker organization (who asked to stay anonymous ) accused him of stuff he didnt say. So he wnt like THATS IT. I CAN TAKE THIS FROM JOURNALISTS BUT NOT MY OWN ORGANIZATION.
plus Kobe's team sucked. He stayed with the lakers becasue Buss promised him help. Kobe's teammates were CBA players! Lebron's team won 67 games. It doesnt matter how good or bad they were. If they were good enough to win 67 game sin the regular season, they should have won in the playoffs too.
Bottom line is Kobe with a guy who you say is not a hall of famer who btw, had not won one single playoff game before joining the lakers won 2 championships (making it to 3 finals) Kobe just becasme the first person in the history of the game to score 600+ points in three consecutive playoffs. Yes even Jordan didn't achive that.
Lebron is only 25 and he hd a good team. good enough to have the best record in the NBA and to add to that, they have a real coach now. for his own benefit he should stay. He goes to miami people in Ohio will hate him and he wont get the credit he deserves if he wins any # of championship

All I see up there is a couple paragraphs of excuses. There is 1 bottom line that you can't change no matter what you say, or what excuses you try to bring up: Kobe publicly demanded that the Lakers trade him. No superstar in NBA history ever had the nerve to publicly betray and turn his back on the team like that while under contract. Jordan didn't do it, Magic didn't do it, nobody did it.

Your excuse is that they "accused him of stuff he didn't say?" LOL, think about that for a second, is that not the most pathetic thing you've ever heard in your life? Mageh Kobe bachas? How about the fact that Lebron's own teammate f*cked his mom? And you are going to bash the guy for wanting to move on to bigger and better challenges?

No respect for the fact that Lebron showed he is willing to put the spot light of being "the #1 man" aside and sacrifice to play with 2 other superstars for the sake of winning? That's something even Kobe wasn't willing to do. If winning was his #1 priority, he wouldn't have driven Shaq out of town to satisfy his own ego. He would've learned to co-exist with Shaq and win a few more titles. The ring on Wade's finger would've belonged to Kobe right now had he not been so egotistical.

If the King is truly headed to Miami, there is a new 3-peat on the way and it will belong to the Miami Heat.

[Babak]

This will be the only trophy Kobe will be winning for the rest of his career with Lebron in Miami:

[Babak]

Guys, I have a feeling we may be in for a BIG surprise tomorrow at 6pm Pacific time. If there's 1 thing I know when it comes to seeking the truth, it's to "follow the money." Shares of MSG, the home of the New York Knicks was up 7% and traded at over 7 times its regular volume 2 days ago, just before it was announced that Lebron had made up his mind. Those are the people "in the know". Lebron is attending Carmelo Anthony's wedding on Saturday night in New York City, and I think it will be as a member of the New York Knicks.

Also, I have a hard time believing that this secret would be leaked with less than 24 hours to go until the press conference after all the secrecy. Something tells me the Miami rumor was leaked to throw people off who already know what's coming tomorrow. What's the point of ESPN leaking the "truth" on their website when they have such a huge televised, suspenseful event planned for tomorrow night? Lebron and his team have played everyone brilliantly.

Some more interesting facts:

- The show is not taking place in Connecticut because ESPN studios are located in Connecticut. This popular rumor fails to realize that ESPN headquarters is a 90 minute drive away in Bristol, CT. However, it should be noted that Greenwich, CT is home to many Knick players, including Allan Houston. It's also only 5.3 miles from the Knicks Practice Facility in Purchase, NY.

- Two Cablevision helicopters have been flown to the New York Knicks practice facility, according to numerous sources.

After the location was announced Twitter began to buzz:

Suns Forward Jared Dudley tweeted: Breaking News!!! My sources tell me Lebron will announce that he will be goin to the NY KNICKS tomorrow on ESPN.. This is serious.. WOW!!!!


Chad Ochocinco tweeted: #OCNNBREAKINGNEWS *Empire State of Mind* *wink* *wink*only the smart folk will put this together and figure out what i am talking about #6

A number of journalists continue to report that LeBron has been in regular contact with Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony (he's attending Anthony's wedding this weekend) who are said to be pressuring him to come to NY.

Amare wasn't shy about his recruitment this afternoon when he tweeted: @kingjames come join me @Amareisreal in NY, we can do something really special. "Oh let's do it" !!

[tashakor]

I think he might stay in Cleveland.

[tashakor]

This will be the only trophy Kobe will be winning for the rest of his career with Lebron in Miami:

I thought she was kissing a dildo for a second.