Salt in the Wound

So, you are a Cleveland basketball fan as the millennium turns. After losing 4 straight first round play off matches from 94-98, frustration starts to build. Not to worry though, the future looks bright in Cleveland as the Cavs have 4 first and second team all rookie team members and an executive of the year!

Here we go; the 99' season! The year of the Cavs! ..........Well....sometimes things don't always play out the way we anticipate. The Cavs end up 11th in the Eastern Conference. All is not lost however, as the Cavs have 2 draft picks in the top 11. Those picks are used on Point Guard Andre Miller and Shooting Guard Trajon Langdon!

The Cavaliers nose dive has been averted and the saviors of the franchise are on boa.......but, but they finished 11th again next year!? ok fine! another lottery pick at least. With Chris Mihm on board an NBA championship is all but assured; right?

Well another 11th place finish and yet another lottery pick leads to..... DeSanga Diop? really? Well it could be worse the Toronto Raptors selected Michael Bradley in that same draft. This is it though, their abundance of lottery picks leads the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals ......or at least back to the glory days of the mid 90's where they were losing in the first round. What? they finished 14th in the East?

Yao Ming may have hoarded the publicity but it would be sixth overall pick Dajaun Wagner that would lead Cleveland to the promise land. Somehow, after all those lottery picks the 2003 version of the Cavs managed to lay an egg and produce 17 wins.

All around Cleveland, proverbial thuds were being heard as the team bounced off rock bottom and kept falling. Faith had been lost in the coach, the General Manager, the players, and a little extra emphasis for that scouting staff that seemingly managed to set the franchise back a decade!

Just when all looked lost....again.....all those years of futility, all those lottery picks that contributed to the team about as much as the Hot Dog vendor at the main entrance to Quick and Loans Arena on the corner of Huron Road and Ontario Street all those failed coaching experiments seemed to .......fade into the abyss AS WITH the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft the Cleveland Cavaliers selected from St. Vincent/ St. Mary's High school LeBron James.

The Savior, the franchise, the chosen one, the kid who played his High School ball down the street in Akron Ohio had landed and Cleveland Cavaliers basketball was born......yes born....not re-born....i don't consider multiple first round defeats as a sports franchise establishing themselves.

The Cavaliers turnaround was not immediate, however vast improvements in James rookie and sophomore seasons had them on the cusp of the playoffs. James success seemingly upset the Cavaliers managerial staff as they drafted Luke Jackson 10th overall the following year in an attempt to push the franchise back towards the basement of the Eastern Conference. However, King James excelled past his endless expectations and could not be stopped as he put the Cavaliers, the fans, and the city of Cleveland on his back.

Endless personal achievements were matched by developing playoff success. No matter who owner Dan Gilbert and General Manager Danny Ferry surrounded James with he was a one man show winning Rookie of the Year, 2 MVP's, a scoring title, 6 All-Star game appearances, and 2 All-Star game MVP's.

In modern day professional sport an athletes success is judged by the amount of rings on his finger, banners in the rafters, parades and trips to visit the commander in chief (or I suppose the Prime Minister but that hasn't been an issue since 1993). When it comes down to it, the all-time greats in any professional team sport are determined not by personal statistics, but by playoff success and the ability to personify the logo on your chest.

LeBron James found this out the hard way. In just his fourth year in Cleveland, LeBron lead the Cavaliers to the NBA finals before being disposed of in four games by the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs being a team that exemplified that team first identity. The name on the back of the jersey can never surpass the logo on the front. For as great as names like Jeter, Brady, Jordan and Gretzky are they never became more important than the team and further more had strong supporting casts to help drive them through times of adversity.

James never had that supporting cast in Cleveland. The aforementioned names all carried their teams to numerous championships, however in order for an athlete to carry his team to victory; he secondary role players to carry. For seven seasons James gave his heart and soul to the city of Cleveland. He was embraced by Clevelanders on and off the court.

After five straight playoff appearances that same familiar frustration began to build in Cleveland. After leading the Cavs to the finals in his fourth season James and the team lost in the conference semi-final twice to the Celtics and in the conference final to the Magic once in the following three seasons.

After losing in six games to the Celtics in the 2010 playoffs James symbolically took off his Cavaliers jersey in frustration as he left the court. He would never put a Cavaliers jersey on again. James, along with several other big names from the 2003 NBA draft class had hit free agency and the speculation began. The city of Cleveland simultaneously inhaled as Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade aligned in Miami. There was much speculation that James would align himself with the fellow superstars, or maybe even pursue the glitz and glamour of New York or New Jersey.

There were so many questions to be answered, so many potential scenario's that could play out. Every analyst, player, manager, and fan had their own ideology of where LeBron should sign. Clevelanders feared the worst, but intrinsically thought that their hero, their savior, their King would not leave them. All the speculation climaxed with ...."The Decision".

" In this fall, this is very tough, in this fall I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat... I feel like it's going to give me the best opportunity to win and to win for multiple years, and not only just to win in the regular season or just to win five games in a row or three games in a row, I want to be able to win championships. And I feel like I can compete down there"

LeBron had already been heavily scrutinized for the way he had handled his free agency. The process had been so drawn out and speculated upon that hostility was starting develop. LeBron did his part to further entice criticism and seemingly put himself above every other athlete that had ever been a free agent. Free agency can be a stressful time for an athlete and for this reason many do not talk to the media or tease where they plan on signing and for how much money. This was not the case for LeBron who constantly reminded fans how big of a deal it would be if he signed with there team. The ultimate loser in this was the Cavaliers and the city of Cleveland as James had subtly hinted he wanted to stay in Cleveland and dedicate himself to bringing a championship to Cleveland.

The professional reality is that players switch teams all the time. Sports after all is still business and players are going to explicitly do what is best for themselves. James entire reputation and personal brand suffered irreparable damage that could have been avoided through a good public relations plan. From a basketball, business and narrative stand point the transfer from Cleveland to Miami was logical. However, sometimes the means surpass the ends. James egotistical comments were finalized by the public relations plunder of the year in sports; "the decision"

So why was the decision viewed as such a negative public relations move? Why did the decision turn one of sports more idolized figures into the number one sports villian?.....well number two....I still love you Tiger. I mean from a basketball standpoint the transition made sense

, from a business standpoint the transition made sense, from a narrative standpoint the decision made sense.

LeBron's tarnished image could have been avoided simply by improving his community relations and a bit of image consulting. "The decision" put James on such a proverbial pedestal that not even 7'7 Manute Bol in heaven could see him. In fact James only informed the Cavaliers management of his decision minutes before the live television program aired. James and his public relations team did not consider that his hour long television show was essentially giving the finger to all those other teams that LeBron publically considered signing with. If LeBron wanted to sign in Miami he should have done so at the same time as Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. He should have also done so at a press conference with the other two superstars. If LeBron James wanted to donate money to the Boys and Girls Club of America, he could have done so by donating a portion of his massive new contract.

As a television show "The Decision" was boring, and redundant, as a public relations tactic, it was catastrophic. If LeBron's career has taught sports anything to this date it is that no matter how talented and individual is they have to incorporate proper public relations strategies in order to achieve and maintain there desired personal brand and reputation.

For all the parties involved life goes on. The Heat made it to the NBA finals before the basketball Gods looked down on James and the Heat and cursed them - or maybe it was the public relations God's? Anyway, it was some external force, there is no way LeBron and his "superteam" just were not good enough. Maybe there is a reason why superstars do not align themselves with other superstars. I doubt Crosby, Ovechkin, and Stamkos are collaborating.

The Cavs....oh the Cavs........Well they went back to where they are most comfortable. They finished last in the Eastern Conference again. But dont worry Cavs fans; Your beloved owner "GUARANTEE(s) THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER 'KING' WINS ONE."