Gilbert Lashes Out at LeBron

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert posted a hyperbole-laced letter on the team's official website on Thursday after his star, LeBron James, announced he was leaving the organization to sign with the Miami Heat.

Gilbert used terms such as "narcissistic," "cowardly betrayal," "shameful display of selfishness" and "disloyalty" to describe James and his live ESPN-broadcast announcement.

It's understandable that Gilbert is upset. Reports have indicated that the owner found out when the rest of the nation did - on national TV, and not from any personal contact with LeBron himself. I get the frustration that must come from that, and from losing such a marquee player.

But given Gilbert's reaction, it's difficult for me to blame LeBron for not conversing with his owner before announcing his decision.

And it's also not that uncommon for players to announce free-agent moves such as this without first talking to their teams.

Nor is it uncommon for teams to trade or waive players without first talking to them, so the blade cuts both ways.

But to hear Gilbert tell it, LeBron's decision to leave for Miami is one of utter betrayal. As I said, I understand Gilbert is upset to lose such a star. LeBron James singlehandedly and for the first time in a long time made Cavaliers basketball relevant to people outside of Cleveland - and in Cleveland, if we're being honest - for seven seasons.

The Cavs have had good teams in the past, but they'd never reached the NBA Finals before LeBron arrived.

They'd never had the type of national - no, make that international - attention that comes from having one of the greatest players on the planet.

Gilbert and his franchise reaped the rewards of all that adulation in the form of marketing deals and sold-out arenas, for seven years. They called LeBron "King James." They echoed Nike advertisements that declared "We Are All Witnesses."

Yet on Thursday, what the sporting world witnessed was an owner who seemed to have forgotten all of the money and attention LeBron had brought his team, attention that had been extremely rare in the years before James' rookie season.

Gilbert lashed out at his former star, mocking his nickname by writing "The self-declared former 'King' will be taking the 'curse' with him down south."

The curse is Cleveland's, everyone knows that. The city hasn't had a championship trophy in one of the three major sports - baseball, basketball or football - since 1948, when the Indians claimed the World Series. The Browns won the NFL championship in 1964, but that was before the Super Bowl era; the team has never been in a Super Bowl.

And the Cavs? LeBron led them to their first and only appearance in the NBA Finals in 2007. They finished second.

Yet Gilbert is so convinced that LeBron's act of "betrayal" was egregious enough that karma would reward his Cavs for being scorned.

In all capital letters and bolded for effect, Gilbert wrote: "I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER 'KING' WINS ONE"

That seems unlikely, at best.

So, LeBron leaving stings, I get that.

Gilbert tearing down his former star for moving on, and seeming to forget, so quickly, all he'd done for the team?

That, I don't get.

Source:
Open Letter to Fans from Cavaliers Majority Owner Dan Gilbert, Cavaliers, NBA.com