TSS Reacts: LeBron Signs with the Cleveland Cavaliers

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Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably heard the news that LeBron James signed a 2 year, $42.1 million contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The hometown kid from Akron, Ohio rejoined the team after a four year hiatus with the Miami Heat in which he went to the NBA Finals four times and won the NBA Championship and NBA Finals MVP twice. Like “The Decision” back in 2010, LeBron didn’t fail to cause even more controversy. With all that said, in this article, TSS Reacts to the drama that is known as LeBron James signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Harvin Bhathal:

Twitter: @Vinchenzo_34

LeBron James has shifted the balance in the East once again. The Miami Heat are no longer the pride of the East and the picture is cloudy on who will make the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2014-15 NBA season. It may be his Cavaliers, who knows.

LeBron caused quite the stir signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He gave the franchise that drafted him, seven seasons of his talents and then signed with the Miami Heat, winning two NBA Championships in four seasons, and now he’s returned. LeBron said in his essay for Sports Illustrated that he wanted to raise his family in Ohio and that his relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I respect him for saying this and I believe his humble words. I don’t know if there was a better way LeBron could have done this and I’m glad he didn’t do a “The Decision” like event again.

As a player, LeBron James elevated his game in Miami and become an even better player who was much more efficient to say the least. The 29 year old LeBron that decided to return to Cleveland is way different (in a good way) than his 25 year old counterpart that decided to leave Cleveland in the first place. Those four seasons in Miami taught LeBron many things and he’ll use those to finally bring a championship to Cleveland. I’m not saying they’ll win next season but who knows about after that.

As a fan of LeBron James, I absolutely loved him on Cleveland; he was the NBA’s love child if you may. Being a Celtics fan, I still pulled for his success (except when he played us of course). However, that changed in 2010 when he decided to “take his talents to South Beach”, forming a Big Three with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. That love soon began to turn into hatred as the Heat and the Celtics formed a rivalry and in those four seasons, they would battle each time they faced each other. The thing is, LeBron did decide to return to his hometown team so I can’t really hate him anymore. Of course, things will never be the same but I’m honestly extremely glad about this. I never wanted to hate him, it just happened and now that it’s over, I can return to being a much more happy person. Thank you LeBron James.

Frazer Loveman:

Twitter: @FSGLoveman

I’m a Heat fan, obviously LeBron leaving leaves a major hole in the organization, but whilst most people are obviously looking at the impact in Cleveland, for Miami it represents a crossroads. It appears Chris Bosh will re-sign on a 5yr/$118m contract, making him the franchise leader following the King’s exit. Dwyane Wade likely will re-sign, but given his knees is no longer a superstar in the same theatre as LeBron. This means that the Heat have to find a new way to win. In my opinion, the best move for is to shift Bosh to Power Forward, allowing him to stretch the floor, but this then requires them signing a true Centre, perhaps Greg Monroe if they delve into the RFA market, or Emeka Okafor if they don’t.

What is apparent is that losing LeBron removes the Heat from real Championship contention for next year, and the best they can probably hope for is to make the playoffs in order to keep the franchise relevant for major FAs in 2015 with a hope of rebuilding a competitive roster. It may be that Pat Riley chooses to aggressively pursue other Free Agents this offseason, but there is a possibility he gets overly desperate and burdens the roster with overpaid guys as a way of trying to keep the team afloat post-LeBron.

Brian Rzeppa

Twitter: @brianrzeppa

Although I’m a fan of the Pistons, I don’t think I was alone in hoping that LeBron James would return to Cleveland. Everything that he laid out in his letter in Sports Illustrated really justified why I wanted him to go back, and it seems that that has been the case for most fans. With Kyrie Irving, Andrew Wiggins and possibly Kevin Love, this team should be set to compete for years to come. The amount of young talent that the Cavaliers have stockpiled while LeBron was gone will get to have a phenomenal mentor as they gain experience, and they should be able to step up in a few years once James starts to take a backseat. This was truly the perfect scenario for all those involved.

John “The Informer” Zelasney

Twitter: @therealinformer

First things first, The Informer has to admit that he was wrong. All summer he has been saying there was no way LeBron James would go back to Cleveland. Not after the way Cavs owner Dan Gilbert reacted four years ago, when he basically called LeBron the scum between his toes.

But here we are four years and one very well written si.com story later and the basketball universe has been made whole again. “The King” is back home where he belongs trying to deliver on a promise made 11 years ago to bring the first sports championship to the city of Cleveland in over 50 years.

It truly was a great day for the city of Cleveland and an even better day for LeBron James.

With that said, The Informer can’t help but wonder who is more excited about James returning to Cleveland –Dan Gilbert or Chris Sheridan?

At gun point The Informer would probably say Sheridan, because he had everything to lose if his source was wrong.

For those that don’t know, Sheridan is the writer who broke the news on Wednesday afternoon that James had told Miami he was planning on signing with the Cavs. Of course, like any other internet rumor/story, once no decision was announced on Wednesday night the people on the Tweeter and other social media outlets started saying Sheridan was an idiot who didn’t know what he was talking about.

To his credit, the creator of sheridanhoops.com stuck by his report and eventually came out one of the biggest winners of this entire process. Needless to say, the dude has to pretty happy this morning.

As for Gilbert, I think we all remember his “Little Rascals-like” temper tantrum the first time LeBron left Cleveland, but now the Cavs owner can put his letter behind him because he has brought the prodigal son back to Ohio. All that bad blood from four years ago has been washed away.

And because Gilbert was able to patch things up with James, we get to spend the next four years watching the United States LeBron throwing alley-oops to the Canadian LeBron (Andrew Wiggins). In the words of former New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott, The Informer “CAN’T WAIT!!!”

In the end, whether you are an ecstatic Cavs fan, an intrigued NBA fan or one of the millions of people who just jumped off the Miami Heat bandwagon; The Informer thinks we can all agree on one thing –thank “Timothy H Tebow” that a decision was made and this whole mess is finally over.

Clevis Murray

Twitter: @nbaflashnews

The King has returned to the empire he was just starting to build. LeBron James is heading by to Cleveland to join the Cleveland Cavaliers. When I first learned of his decision, I was ecstatic because personally I am a LeBron fan and a Cavs fan. Seeing LeBron and the Cavs reunite after four years is tremendous and great for the city. LeBron going back to Cleveland is like a couple getting back together. James was too young in the relationship and decided to leave for the more enticing opportunity. But after four years gone, he realized that it wasn’t really worth it. The 29 year old LeBron has grown up from his 25 year-old self.

“The Chosen One” is heading back to Cleveland not guaranteeing a championship. And in my eyes that’s a somewhat good thing, because it shows he isn’t enamoured in chasing Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant or any of the other legends. James saying that shows that he has matured into a man. He isn’t caught up on becoming the man or player the media and fans want him to become, he is more perturbed about the community. James realizes that basketball is a platform to help others less than him, and he is doing just that. He seems complacent with two rings, and there is nothing wrong with that, because he actually has a ring and some players don’t.

People love to hate LeBron because of how good he is and how great he is becoming. The four-time league MVP hasn’t done anything bad with the law. Not to belittle anybody, but some of the All-Time greats have. LeBron’s “worst decision” was probably “The Decision” in 2010. If that’s the worst thing James has done then he is a quintessential role model for kids of this generation. He has been in the spotlight since he was about 15 years-old, and hasn’t cracked like most people might’ve. His actions and words are just as inspiring as his game on the court.

LeBron in Miami was a great four years. He won 2 championships, 2 league MVP’s and 2 FInals MVP’s. He returns to Cleveland knowing that it will be tough. The Cavs were one of the youngest teams in the league last year. But like I said before, James is man now and not a boy. He is returning there to mentor the young stars of tomorrow. James will most notably team-up with other No. 1 picks by the Cavs. Kyrie Irving (2011), Anthony Bennett (2013) and Andrew Wiggins (2014). Irving is already a star in the league, Bennett to me shouldn’t have went No. 1 over Victor Oladipo, but judging by his first summer league game he has improved. To me Wiggins won’t be that good of a pro, but with LeBron by his side things might change. I see Wiggins eventually becoming a Iguodala type of player.

Everyone who considers themselves a basketball savant knows that Miami changed LeBron as a player and a man for the better. In four seasons with the Heat, LeBron’s PER was a 29.6 which is 2.7 points higher than the 26.9 he had in seven seasons as a Cav. His TS% increased immensely from 56.2% in Cleveland, to 62.2% in South Beach. James’ efG% went from 50.9% to 57.7%. As a Cav he was notorious for taking many 3-pointers, in Miami he reduced his 3PAr from 20.6% to 18.4%. LeBron became a more effective rebounder, which is interesting. Went from 10.2 as a Cav to 12.1 with the Heat. You’d think teaming up with Wade and Bosh would make LeBron less of a scorer. Well, that theory was wrong. In Cleveland he had a ORTg of 114, and in Miami his ORTg was a ridiculous 120. His DRTg had changed from 102 to 101, which wasn’t a big difference. But during his ’11-12 championship season ti was a a 97, which is insane. The most interesting stat of them all is win-shares. In Cleveland LeBron had a total win-share of 103.3. and a 65.3 in Miami. Now the difference is quite noticeable. But if you look at WS/48, James’ win-share in Miami is a .281, which is higher than .224 in Cleveland.

But nonetheless, James is returning home as an evolved player.

Xaivier Carr Jaxson:

Twitter: @TSS_XJaxson

On Friday, LeBron James announced his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Obviously, it is a huge gain for the Cavaliers and a huge loss for the Heat. However, it’s hard to forget how Cavalier fans treated LeBron when he left four years ago. They burned his jersey and hated him. Even the owner Dan Gilbert showed his hatred toward LeBron. He wrote a letter on the Cavaliers’ website where he said LeBron quit on the city and team, while also saying that Cleveland would win a ring before LeBron. The letter was only taken down recently. Now, Cavalier fans are “forgiving” LeBron and he’s forgiving them. It’s pathetic. For the last four years, Cavalier fans have hated him. All of a sudden, they have forgotten what happened in the summer of 2010 and they love him again. Maybe, they think they can win a championship with LeBron. We’ll see how the rest of the offseason goes, but as currently constructed, the Cavaliers are not the favorites to win. However, that can change.

Paul Martinez

Twitter: @PaulWrites23

Bron going back to Cleveland repairs his image for the general NBA fan base.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a playoff team again.

It’s good for the NBA’s pocket book and LeBron’s brand. Time to see what LeBron does as the Cavs’ 2014-2015 leader. Not much more to say.

Juan Rivera

LeBron and Gilbert have a better love story than all of Kim Kardashian and her exes

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Brendan Taylor

Twitter: @Thatboybtaylor

Everything I could say about this game changing public relations move can be found in my article from earlier today (Click Here). Aside from that I just want the Hornets to get Lance Stephenson.

Nine of TSS’ finest writers have given their opinion on LeBron James signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers. What’s yours?