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So the Bulls signed Kyle Korver to a 3 year $15 million dollar deal. They also extended an offer sheet to J.J. Redick for 3 years and $19 million. That's waaaaaaaaay too much money for him...and Orlando has a week to match it since Redick is restricted. But still, good day for the Bulls, as they're addressing their most pressing flaw and weakness from last season...three-point shooting. And addressing it in a major way. But I'll get to all that later. I have some more pressing things on my mind.
There is nothing I can say about LeBron that hasn't already been said by every media member anywhere. But I'm going to say something anyway.
I have never been more proud of my city and its sports fans. Pride. That's what this city is about. Pride. When we found out LeBron was going to Cleveland...we didn't cry. We laughed. Yeah, that's right. We laughed. We laughed at Wade. We laughed at Bosh. We sure as hell laughed at LeBron. We laughed at New York. We cracked up at New Jersey. Don't get me started on the Clippers. And yeah, we even laughed at Cleveland. Why? Because. It's a feeling only Chicagoans can understand. True Chicagoans. You know the first thing that ran through my mind when LeBron said Miami? Okay, fine...first it was disapointment...but I kid you not when I say that less than a minute later I was thinking to myself, "Good, can't wait to see the three stooges in the playoffs." This city is about proving we are the best. This city is about taking whatever challenge is thrown at us and ripping it to shreds...just to prove that WE'RE BETTER.
I hate to be brutally honest, but I laughed at Cleveland because it's Cleveland. I got nothing against Cleveland, but hey, Cleveland fans have been giving us crap ever since LeBron came into this league. Should I feel sympathy for them because LBJ left? Nope. "Noah sucks" anyone? Hey, that's not to say I'm glad he left. It would have been better for the Bulls had he stayed. Cleveland would have continued to be mediocre in the playoffs, and the Heat wouldn't be nearly as good without LeBron. So the Bulls obviously would have been in better shape. But that doesn't mean I wanted him to stay for the sake of Cleveland fans. And guess what...would a home-grown superstar athlete from Chicago who rose to superstardom on a Chicago professional sports franchise ever bounce from our city like that? No way. Why? Because we're Chicago. I'll put any amount of money on the fact that Derrick Rose retires a Bull. Even players who aren't from Chicago do everything they can to stay in this city. This is the land of Jordan. This is the land of Sweetness. Players come here to win, and they don't leave until they do...or until they're forced out because they're not getting the job done. Because the fans demand it. Like I said...pride.
And that's why immediately after LeBron said "Miami", everyone's mindstate shifted from "we want LeBron" to "LeBron is a little girl." I'm telling you, excitement is in the air now. Bulls fans are foaming at the mouth...just drooling and dreaming about crushing the SuperBestFriends. This city has seen winners. This city has seen the greatest winners of all time. Like I said...Jordan. Pippen. Payton. Hull. Ditka. I have no problem with LeBron leaving Cleveland...simply becase it wasn't going to happen for him in Cleveland. It was obvious. Leaving Cleveland made sense. Completely. My problem is more with LeBron being scared. A scared little girl. This guy wants to be mentioned amongst the greats? Please. I don't care if Jordan was in the same draft class as Magic, was related to Magic, or was conjoined twins with Magic...he would have NEVER EVER EVER NEVER EVER NEVER teamed up with Magic. Even if the opportunity presented itself. Because Jordan wanted to destroy Magic. He did destroy Magic. He loved destroying Magic. He LIVED for it. And he loved destroying Drexler, Barkley, Kemp, Malone, Stockton, Payton, Reggie, Ewing, Shaq, Isiah...all of them. The only reason he even was cool playing with Pippen is because Pippen happened to be drafted onto his squad. HIS SQUAD. Emphasis on the "his." And here we are. LePansie is being mentioned in the same sentence with MJ and Kobe, and we find out this guy doesn't even want to be the face of HIS OWN franchise. He wants to go to someone else's franchise. He wants to willingly be a second fiddle. He doesn't want to be the guy to take the last shot. He doesn't want the pressure. He won't embrace it. HE'S NOT EVEN PIPPEN. You think Pippen wanted to be 2nd fiddle? Pippen didn't have a choice...like I said, he was drafted onto Jordan's squad (well, acquired on draft day). Pippen was a killer. He wanted to be THE GUY. When Jordan retired the first time and Phil drew up a "last shot buzzerbeater" play for Toni Kukoc in a crucial game in the playoffs in '94, Pippen refused to come into the game. He was the opposite of LeBron. Pippen needed...begged...pleaded for the chance to prove that he could be THAT GUY. LeBron is scared to even TRY and be that guy.
So yeah, to the people of Chicago, where MJ is and always will be the real "KING", LeBron is nothing more than a joke. There are guys like Broussard and Mark Jackson that say LeBron should be saluted for choosing to take less money and trying to win titles. But they forget that players aren't just judged by the amount of titles they win. If that were the case, wouldn't Robert Horry be an automatic Hall of Famer? No...they are judged by HOW they win titles. By the ROLE they play in winning the title. Look, if he came to Chicago, he really could have been great. He could have been a level below MJ. AT THE VERY LEAST, on the same spectrum. It would have been his town, his team, HIS CHAMPIONSHIPS. He obviously would have been the epicenter of how we won championships. But the guy just doesn't believe in himself. He's capable of everything and anything on the basketball court...everyone who watches him can see that. But he can't. So he picked the easy way out. Ride Dwyane Wade's cotails. So now he won't be the epicenter. Wade, Bosh, and LBJ will equally be the epicenter. His detractors will forever look at it this way. To willingly tarnish your legacy and stare down greatness and turn away...this city...this country...will forever view him as a coward. Because he can never be considered great now. Sure he may win a few titles down the line. Maybe two or three or four. I don't think any more than that. But Kobe has 5, and he's won by being THE MAN...multiple times. Jordan has 6 and we know how his career went. Even Wade has won a title by being THE MAN, which brings me to my next point...
You know who the biggest winner is after all of this? Dwyane Wade. Wade already brought home a title for the Heat. Wade stuck with the franchise that drafted him. Wade brought 2 superstars along with him. Wade will remain the face of that franchise. And Wade will continue to take the big shots for that team. He's a hero in that town and always will be. In this town, we don't care about him. Sure he's from here...but we don't wallow and cry because a Chicago kid refused to come home. We just wanna kick his ass on the court. No hurt feelings here...just pride.
But yeah, I don't even want to discuss the whole "process" at this point. Debacle doesn't even begin to describe it. Train wreck is an understatement. Forget the irrationality and weirdness of his decision, because the way he presented "The Decision" quadruples that. I don't really sympathize with Cleveland fans...sorry. But that doesn't make it ANY less absurd. He clearly has no judgment, no values, no father figure to teach him how to make sound decisions, no perspective, and approximately zero ability to put himself in other people's shoes. If he was at all able to put himself in the shoes of a Cleveland fan, his hometown fans, then there's no way, as a human being, he would have been able to do what he did. And the ability to put yourself into other people's shoes is not something you are born with...you learn it through experience and guidance. Due to him being overpriveleged and fed all sorts of BS since he was about 12, he just doesn't get it. It's a lack of emotion that stems from a lack of basic experiences that most people who develop under normal circumstances are able to acquire. Basically, he's an 8 year old in a 25 year old's body. Hence, his desire to recreate his high school hoop glory days with his newfound superbestfriends Wade and Bosh, who can play the roles of his former teammates from his glory days at St. Mary-St. Vincent. Whatever...all I know is that if I were the greatest athlete in the world playing for the Bulls...I could NEVER EVER EVER EVER do that to my team. Never. Couldn't pay me to do it that way. And I'm pretty sure that is the concensus across the country.
So yeah, LeBron chose playing sidekick to Dwyane Wade over being the face of a franchise and cementing his legacy as one of the greats. Now, instead of being compared to Jordan and Kobe...he can be compared to James Worthy (no offense Worthy, you were at least drafted onto Magic and Kareem's team and didn't have a choice).
More on Korver and Redick tomorrow.
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What a horrific and funny analysis because I'll laugh my ass off when LeBron wins MVPs, playoff MVPs, and Finals MVPs.
Guess what, Shaq has 4 rings, Kobe has 5. But Shaq has what counts, more value in the post-season and Finals MVPs. He's both a great player and was the best player on a championship squad. When you win the guy with the NUMBERS gets the Finals MVP. The guy with the most talent, who doesn't get hurt and is durable gets multuple Finals MVP. Take a hint that's LeBron.
Go cry in your house somewhere when LeBron's image continues to soar as the best player in a Dynasty, your analysis is weak. Mo Williams is not Pippen, now LeBron can make up for lost time.