MITCH BLATT

After guaranteeing the Heat would win at least 8 championships when he signed with them last year, LeBron James has now taken to Twitter to try to recruit free agents Steve Nash and Jamal Crawford to join him in Miami. As if three superstars weren’t enough to win a championship (They aren’t, as last year proved.), James now wants Nash and Crawford to help Wade drag him across the finish line. According to Juiced Sports sources working with the NBA, the negotiations that started yesterday are actually going pretty well, so LeBron may have that opportunity after all.

But if Steve Nash wants to win a championship, isn’t Miami the last place he would want to go?

A.L. Ramsey of Los That Sports Blog noticed the Tweets. He said it was a good way to bring media buzz to the NBA during the lockout, but not in a positive way for LeBron James, in my opinion. One of the objectives of the deal is apparently going to be to try to make it harder for a LeBron James-style Superteam to be created, so it is doubtful that the Heat would even have enough cap room to sign Nash.

MITCH BLATT

The NFL got its issues in order, but the NBA is in for a long, drawn-out process, and many analysts don’t believe there will be a 2011-12 season. While LeBron James has publicly said he is optimistic that there will be a season, behind the scenes, sources say, the former high school all-state football star is putting plans in place to play for an NFL team if the lockout doesn’t end–his preferred destination being the Philadelphia Eagles.

James said he would love to play receiver for the Eagle’s QB Michael Vick, who was on fire last season with 252 passing yards per game for 21 touchdowns, 6 interceptions and a 100.2 QB rating, along with 676 rushing yards. While attending high school at St Vincent-St Mary, James played wide receiver sophomore and junior year, catching 52 passes for over 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns junior year, while leading SVSM to the state semifinals.

Former Packers 11-year veteran and Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer, Strong Safety Mark Murphy says that after watching LeBron James play in high school, he’d rank James up with James Lofton, Jerry Rice, and Steve Largent as the best receivers ever to play the game. However other football coaches and experts think James would be better as a tight end. Patriots defensive coordinator Dean Pees remarked on the matchup problems James would pose as a tight end: “You could never put a little guy on him. They’d just lob the ball, and nobody could defend him.”

Whether James plays tight end or wide receiver, the Eagles are the perfect fit for him. After a fast-paced start to free agency that included adding Nnamdi Asomugha, Jason Babin, Cullen Jenkins, Ryan Harris, Ronnie Brown, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Vince Young, James would be an explosive addition for the Eagles to cap off free agent season. As one of James’ loyalist’s said:

“If LeBron signs with the Eagles, it’s not 1 championship they’re gonna win, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, not 6 championships, it’s gonna be 7 at the least.”

The Eagles are perhaps an even better fit than the Miami Heat, with whom James famously announced he was signing with last year in his nationally-televised “Decision.” One of James’ handlers, again speaking on conditions of anonymity, said,

“The Eagles have 10 other players on the field helping LeBron, not to mention the deep bench and the fact that James would only have to play one way. In basketball there’s only 4 other players helping him.”

Furthermore, he continued:

“The Eagles are deep at wide receiver and tight end. LeBron wouldn’t have to play a full game. Even if he doesn’t go all four downs, there’s still probably someone else open.”

The Eagles front office is tight-lipped about any potential of signing James. While WR DeSean Jackson has ended his lockout, Jackson’s contract issues remain unresolved and will be a distraction for the rest of the season at the wide receiver position. Reached by Juiced Sports Blog, NFL analyst John Clayton said,

“A receiver quad of Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Jason Avant and LeBron James would be deadly with Michael Vick throwing them the ball… At least for the first three quarters.”

For now, James is waiting for progress on the NBA lockout, but if the situation still looks bleak a few weeks from now, he’s not going to be waiting. For the 2011 season, all odds point to this sportswriter dreaming about LeBron James being a Philadelphia Eagle.

NOTE: If the quotes from John Clayton about Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant being part of a deadly combination didn’t give it away, this article is satire. It is intended as a joke.

MITCH BLATT

LeBron James joined the Miami Heat in order to win a championship because he wanted to establish a legacy and knew he wasn’t good enough to win a championship in Cleveland. After the Heat won game 3, James is 2 games closer to achieving his goal. But if the Heat win the title, will it really establish James’ legacy as a winner, or will LeBron simply be helping further Wade’s?

Or, to be more precise, is Wade simply furthering his legacy? As CBS Sports.com’s Gregg Doyel points out, LeBron scored 17 points in game three and went one-of-three shooting in the fourth quarter. Combined, in the fourth quarter of the three games, he’s scored a total of 9 points.

That goes along with his shrinking from big games in the playoffs with the Cavs, particularly last year’s abysmal performance against the Celtics. Did LeBron think going to Miami and letting Wade and Bosh win a championship for him would establish his legacy as The Best Basketball Player Ever? He’s establishing a legacy alright, but its a legacy of folding under the pressure and expecting things to come to him without effort.

Read Gregg Doyel’s full article: LeBron James: Legacy of a shrinking superstar

LeBron James once again ended up in the crosshairs of controversy earlier this week when he (falsely) claimed that the league would be better off if there were more players like him who could create a superstar team in order to not have to work hard to win a championship. He said it would be better if there weren’t good players like Kevin Love on bad teams like the Timberwolves.

Team and league officers shot back, saying that contraction would be a bad idea. Of course LeBron was never referring to “contraction” specifically, because of course he doesn’t know what the word means:

“That’s crazy, because I had no idea what the word ‘contraction’ meant before I saw it on the Internet,” James said after the Miami Heat’s practice Monday. “I never even mentioned that. That word never even came out of my mouth. I was just saying how the league was back in the ’80s and how it could be good again. I never said, ‘Let’s take some of the teams out.’ “

- ESPN

I don’t doubt LeBron’s excuse that he doesn’t know what “contraction” means, but his comments themselves were supportive of the practice of contraction, as you can see.

He said:

“Imagine if you could take Kevin Love off Minnesota and add him to another team and you shrink the [league]. Looking at some of the teams that aren’t that great, you take Brook Lopez or you take Devin Harris off these teams that aren’t that good right now and you add him to a team that could be really good. Not saying let’s take New Jersey and let’s take Minnesota out of the league. But hey, you guys are not stupid, I’m not stupid, it would be great for the league.“

Of course, there is one section of his quote that some people might disagree with. I’m sure you can find it easily…

You can see how he first mentions “shrinking the league” then denies that he wants New Jersey and Minnesota out of the league but then reiterates that “it” (presumably referring to “let’s take New Jersey and let’s take Minnesota out of the league”) “would be great for the league.”

We all know how “great for the league” LeBron creating a “tri-nasty” on a nationally televised ego-trip is turning out and for LeBron’s publicity…

Actually, the comments really seem to be LeBron’s way of trying to rationalize his easy-way-out decision. Its as if he wants to say, Hey, I don’t think I’m being an ego; I want this for everyone!

Maybe LeBron wants everyone to play for a laboratory-made superteam (or not: It would bring back the competition that he sought to avoid.), but competitive players don’t want to.

As Jordan said, “There’s no way, with hindsight, I would’ve ever called up Larry, called up Magic and said, ‘Hey, look, let’s get together and play on one team. I wanted to beat those guys.”

MITCH BLATT

The Cleveland Cavaliers have lost five straight (and 2-9 in the last 11), by an average of 22 points per game, including a 118-90 loss to Miami and a 129-95 loss to Minnesota, and Dan Gilbert is mad. Most of the team is on the trade block, and it wouldn’t be surprising if only two or three of the players from last season’s roster remain at the end of the season, a source in a scouting department says. One of the players that the Cavs might try to trade for is Andrew Igoudala. Anderson Varejao will probably bring good value for the Cavs in a trade, the source said.

“Every team has a star, someone who can score, whether they’re top level or not, but the Cavs don’t.”

Also, in the Miami game, there was not much contact with LeBron James or many hard fouls against him, the source noted.

Previous JSB News Reports:
Confirming that C.C. Sabathia will get traded, 2008
ESPN’s Will Carroll: Cadillac Williams has herniated disks, 2007
Bronson Arroyo trade value down, going nowhere
C.C. Sabathia wants the Giants, but the Giants don’t want him!

“Maybe it’s my own fault. Maybe I led you to believe it was easy, when it wasn’t. Maybe I led you to believe that the highlights started at the free throw line and not in the gym…”

Obviously this wasn’t actually Jordan’s own commercial. It is a clip made by someone featuring one of Jordans’ old commercials.

South Park also took a stab at it:

UPDATE: Michael Jordan also responds! Well, a video clip of him responds: Watch it here.

For example, LeBron asks, “Should I remind you I’ve done this before?” which, since it is apparently referring to LeBron being a a-hole this summer, is probably something he shouldn’t remind us of if he wants to promote his image. And he asks, “Should I admit that I made mistakes?” which is something he hasn’t admitted yet, because he has instead criticized his fans in Cleveland. Yes, it has been a whole summer of mistakes, and he hasn’t shown any empathy for Cavs fans at all (which is just to say that he shouldn’t be rubbing dirt in their faces like he does every time he attacks their response to his ego show).

The Big Dead Sidebar answers all of LeBron’s questions in detail.

Excerpt:

Should I give you a history lesson?

Really? You give me a history lesson. A 25-year-old with no college education, no moral compass, limited common sense giving yours truly a history lesson?

Read the rest here.

SCOTT JACOBS

LeBron James gets it.  He’s not stupid.  Maybe a little naive.  Maybe a lot self-centered, but give the kid credit, he’s not backing down.  He’s already waged war on Twitter with his many critics, telling them they’ve only added fuel to his already burning fire.  The Heat have become the new Yankees of sports overnight because of his The Decision, and his Q ratings have plummeted because fans think that, well– he’s a diva.  And he might be.

But he also knows how to stir the pot, how to market the hell out of himself, and how to create a six city war for his services, the likes we had never seen.  The Heat open in Boston tonight, where James will probably get booed louder than he ever has before. This is just the beginning.  From here on out it will be a circus, every night.  LeBron’s made his decision and he’s not backing down.  He takes on “The Witness” poster, Charles Barkley, and even Miami Vice. Must see TV, if you ask me.

Kobe made those comments when asked a question by Hoops Fix on October 2 at the London School of Basketball. (Hoops Fix link)

To be fair, Kobe also noted that he grew up playing one-on-one while LeBron is more of a Magic Johnson-esque player.
“He’s a great passer and plays an all around game. At the core of me, I’m a one on one player.”

Nonetheless, his answering the question–and doing so with a look of satisfaction–rather than being diplomatic can be interpreted as something of a shot at LeBron. (Here at Juiced Sports Blog, with our drama-hungry coverage about LeBron, I certainly take it that way.)

At the same time, a former-Kobe hater like myself can certainly agree with Kobe’s assessment of himself being a “one on one player” rather than a great passer.