Why I am a fan of Cleveland Sports?

[NorthDakota]

You are the owner of an expansion team....You get first pick, who do you build your team around...Kobe or LeBron? Both are in their prime.

Bron. No explanation necessary because no one in their right mind would choose Kobe.

 

[GATTACA!]

Lebron for the versatility alone. Lebron could be the best player at his best position at any given point in any era. In today's NBA he's the greatest PF alive. In ultra small ball situations he's a freakish center. In the smash era he would've been the greatest SF. He has the slashing ability of an elite SG and the vision and passing of an elite PG. James is a deficiency eraser, wherever you have a deficiency he can be plugged in and play at an all star level at minimum.

Vs a volume shooter.

Yeah LeBron and it's not even close.

 

[T Town Tommy]

Congrats to all the Cleveland fans out here. Awesome win for the team, city, and fans.

 

[Irish Insanity]

More has to be taken into account than ability to win you titles. As the owner, you want a guy who can be the face of your franchise, is marketable, has a clean image, and is affable to the press and fans. One of those guys fits the bill more than the other, so if I'm taking everything into consideration, Lebron is the slam dunk choice, no pun intended.

I can't remember a single player who ever said they wanted to play with Kobe. Or after playing with him had anything positive to say. It's pretty much the opposite with LBJ. One guy thinks he is the team. One guy ensures everyone knows they're a team. (We'll maybe excluding Love.)

 

[koonja]

I can't remember a single player who ever said they wanted to play with Kobe. Or after playing with him had anything positive to say. It's pretty much the opposite with LBJ. One guy thinks he is the team. One guy ensures everyone knows they're a team. (We'll maybe excluding Love.)

Selective memory at its finest. Pau Gasol loved playing with Kobe. Fisher loved playing with Kobe. Ron Artest took a pay cut to play with Kobe. Matt Barnes wanted to play with Kobe. Winners want to play with Kobe. The ones with grit.

"If I want to have fun, I'd play with Lebron. If I want to win, I'd play with Kobe" ~ Larry Bird.

 

[KPENN]

Selective memory at its finest. Pau Gasol loved playing with Kobe. Fisher loved playing with Kobe. Ron Artest took a pay cut to play with Kobe. Matt Barnes wanted to play with Kobe. Winners want to play with Kobe. The ones with grit.

"If I want to have fun, I'd play with Lebron. If I want to win, I'd play with Kobe" ~ Larry Bird.

This is just such a wrong and asinine quote.

 

[woolybug25]

This is just such a wrong and asinine quote.

Not expressing an opinion one way or the other, but I'll tell you one thing...

If you're main goal is to have fun, Kobe is the last person I would want to play with. He's infamous for being a bad teammate.

But he was a stone cold killer on the court. There is no doubt about that.

 

[Irish#1]

Don't mistake my comment. I agree that those guys took it to a new level, but the style of play that Doc brought to the NBA from the ABA put more eyes on the league. Prior to Doc, the college game was a bigger deal than the NBA. IMO Doc was the foundation for the league to survive so Magic and Bird could make it thrive.


To Koon's point - Kobe would have been just another guard in the 80's. He would not have been anything special and the physicality of the game would have slowed him way down. The changes in the defensive rules from that era to today has made it much easier for a guard to be the dominate player in the game.

It wasn't just Dr. J. The top ABA players came in and did more than hold their own. They were usually ranked in the top in scoring. Dr. J, George "The Iceman" Gervin, Big George McGinnis, Moses Malone. There's more but my brain is failing me at the moment.

NDC is right about the Big O. I can only imagine if he played in today's game.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

It wasn't just Dr. J. The top ABA players came in and did more than hold their own. They were usually ranked in the top in scoring. Dr. J, George "The Iceman" Gervin, Big George McGinnis, Moses Malone. There's more but my brain is failing me at the moment.

NDC is right about the Big O. I can only imagine if he played in today's game.

Dan Issel and Artis Gilmore off the top of my head also.

 

[NDRock]

Found this funny.

 

[koonja]

Found this funny.

Not relevant, but funny.

 

[Irish Insanity]

Selective memory at its finest. Pau Gasol loved playing with Kobe. Fisher loved playing with Kobe. Ron Artest took a pay cut to play with Kobe. Matt Barnes wanted to play with Kobe. Winners want to play with Kobe. The ones with grit.

"If I want to have fun, I'd play with Lebron. If I want to win, I'd play with Kobe" ~ Larry Bird.

You're clueless. Pau, maybe. Fisher loved being able to stand and jack a shot and get paid and not have to do much else. He loved being a Laker and having a shot at a title. Just because he didn't shit talk about Kobe after he retired doesn't mean he loved playing with him. Artest took what he could get. He was damaged goods. He's a fucking nut case and wanted any shot he could at a championship and a bigger city to push his music career. I'm surprised however, you missed maybe the only other one. CP3.

 

[koonja]

You're clueless. Pau, maybe. Fisher loved being able to stand and jack a shot and get paid and not have to do much else. He loved being a Laker and having a shot at a title. Just because he didn't shit talk about Kobe after he retired doesn't mean he loved playing with him. Artest took what he could get. He was damaged goods. He's a fucking nut case and wanted any shot he could at a championship and a bigger city to push his music career. I'm surprised however, you missed maybe the only other one. CP3.

Derek Fisher diagrees, but you tell him how he feels about Kobe.

“Kobe, by far is my favorite teammate from a basketball perspective, in terms of what we were able to accomplish,” Fisher told LakersNation.com. “It would be a disservice to guys like Devean George, Luke Walton, Horace Grant, guys that I really got close to over the years in terms of being friends to automatically put Kobe at the top of that list. We definitely shared some special years and I miss him everyday, and I just want him to get healthy and get back on the court as soon as possible.”

You want to win, play with Kobe. Not everyone wants to win. They say they do, but some are happy to have fun and be rich. It'd like recruits saying education is important. Everyone says it, but few mean it. Fisher, Artest, Barnes, Odom, Pau, CP3 - all wanted to win.

Winners want to play with Kobe.

 

[Irish Insanity]

He loved being a Laker and having a shot at a title.

from a basketball perspective, in terms of what we were able to accomplish

Glad I could speak for him.

 

[KPENN]

Glad I could speak for him.

Lol.

 

[koonja]

Glad I could speak for him.

Lol.

He loved being a Laker because he specifically loved playing with Kobe, by far, per his actual words. If you're going to pick and choose partial sentences to put your narrative together, that's where I can tell this discussion will go no where. Hate on. Mamba out #5 #81 #60.

 

[Blazers46]

You are the owner of an expansion team....You get first pick, who do you build your team around...Kobe or LeBron? Both are in their prime.

Kobe

1) Kobe will stay, can't build a team around someone that might flake out and go play with the enemy.

2) Kobe was an assassin in his prime. Kobe and MJ would step over and through their mothers to win, Lebron flails and flops his way through at times.

3) Lebron should be doing what he did against the Warriors (2015 and 2016 series) every game. He hit the genetic lottery, build like a bulldozer, fast like cheetah, and jumps like a rocket ship. He is only mentally tough when backed into a corner.

 

[Blazers46]

Good thing he won 6 MVP awards then... wait he only has 1?

Seasons with a shooting percentage of 47% or better:
Kobe: 0
LeBron: 12

Sorry man LeBron is better. More efficient scorer, better rebounder, much better passer.
The only thing Kobe had was playoff success.

LeBron just carried a CLEVELAND team to the first ever 3-1 finals comeback, against the 73-win defending champions, leading all players on both teams in all statistical categories.

You could say "led" but carried is an overstatement considering Kyrie did his thing as well. Its not like he was playing with Eric Snow, Larry Hughes and that tall bald white guy with a Z in his name.

 

[ulukinatme]

What makes a city "deserving" ?

This doesn't apply to people on IE but I have many friends that are from Ohio/Cleveland and they are some of the most ignorant and annoying sports fans I have ever met. 90% of Cavs fans are also Ohio St. fans. We shit on Ohio St. fans on this site but all of a sudden those same people are deserving of a championship because it's the Cavs and not Ohio St.? Not IMO.

You know there's a lot of Michigan fans in northern Ohio too? Mostly towards the north-western section, but it's still pretty grimy and sad.

Every fan base has that ignorant and annoying group though. Keep in mind that not everyone follows every sport. There are Cavs fans, Ohio State fans, and fans that follow both. I grew up an hour from Cleveland and an ND Fan. Don't paint all of Cleveland as douchebags. It's a die-hard sports town that loves their pro sports more than anything, much more so than their college teams. Having lived near both Cinci and Cleveland I think you would agree that Cinci is very much a pro sports town first as well, but they're much stronger in their college affiliations than Cleveland. Cinci seems to be predominately Bengals country, followed by the Reds, and then a smattering of strong but divided college fans. There's just too many colleges/universities in close proximity....Bearcat fans, Xavier, ND fans in the strong Catholic sections, definitely Kentucky basketball fans, the rare Dayton Flyer fans, and yes Ohio State fans.

 

[ulukinatme]

 

[Booslum31]

LOL...Nice!

 

[Irish#1]

Found this funny.

Hilarious

 

[BobbyMac]

Cinci seems to be predominately Bengals country, followed by the Reds, and then a smattering of strong but divided college fans. There's just too many colleges/universities in close proximity....Bearcat fans, Xavier, ND fans in the strong Catholic sections, definitely Kentucky basketball fans, the rare Dayton Flyer fans, and yes Ohio State fans.

No Redskin fans? Nirvana is just 30 miles up US 27.

 

[gkIrish]

You know there's a lot of Michigan fans in northern Ohio too? Mostly towards the north-western section, but it's still pretty grimy and sad.

Every fan base has that ignorant and annoying group though. Keep in mind that not everyone follows every sport. There are Cavs fans, Ohio State fans, and fans that follow both. I grew up an hour from Cleveland and an ND Fan. Don't paint all of Cleveland as douchebags. It's a die-hard sports town that loves their pro sports more than anything, much more so than their college teams. Having lived near both Cinci and Cleveland I think you would agree that Cinci is very much a pro sports town first as well, but they're much stronger in their college affiliations than Cleveland. Cinci seems to be predominately Bengals country, followed by the Reds, and then a smattering of strong but divided college fans. There's just too many colleges/universities in close proximity....Bearcat fans, Xavier, ND fans in the strong Catholic sections, definitely Kentucky basketball fans, the rare Dayton Flyer fans, and yes Ohio State fans.

I said 90% and I will stand by that.

Edit: I'll leave it at that.

 

[NDgradstudent]

What makes a city "deserving" ?

This doesn't apply to people on IE but I have many friends that are from Ohio/Cleveland and they are some of the most ignorant and annoying sports fans I have ever met. 90% of Cavs fans are also Ohio St. fans. We shit on Ohio St. fans on this site but all of a sudden those same people are deserving of a championship because it's the Cavs and not Ohio St.? Not IMO.

I don't dislike OSU that much. OSU doing well means that Michigan does not do as well. I dislike Michigan much more. There are plenty of ND fans in Cleveland, too. Are we supposed to dislike the Celtics because of BC? Or the Lakers because of USC?

What makes a city "deserving" is that it has been a really long drought for the teams in that city, and none of us have a reason to dislike those teams. I guess Bulls and Pistons fans dislike the Cavs for some reason. And of course lots of people dislike Lebron. Beyond that, why any non-GS fan would root against the Cavs is beyond me.

I'm an "aspirational egalitarian" when it comes to sports. If my team is not going to win, and I am indifferent about the other teams (i.e. no Michigan), I want the team that has not won in awhile to win. That's why I will root for the Cubs in the playoffs, unless of course the Indians are still in it.

 

[gkIrish]

I don't dislike OSU that much. OSU doing well means that Michigan does not do as well. I dislike Michigan much more. There are plenty of ND fans in Cleveland, too. Are we supposed to dislike the Celtics because of BC? Or the Lakers because of USC?

No, you are supposed to dislike the Celtics because Boston fans are the worst.

What makes a city "deserving" is that it has been a really long drought for the teams in that city, and none of us have a reason to dislike those teams. I guess Bulls and Pistons fans dislike the Cavs for some reason. And of course lots of people dislike Lebron. Beyond that, why any non-GS fan would root against the Cavs is beyond me.

Like I mentioned earlier, there are plenty of reasons to dislike teams. Annoying fans and annoying players are two simple reasons. The other big reason for me is that an Eastern conference team winning is not good for my Knicks.

I'm an "aspirational egalitarian" when it comes to sports. If my team is not going to win, and I am indifferent about the other teams (i.e. no Michigan), I want the team that has not won in awhile to win. That's why I will root for the Cubs in the playoffs, unless of course the Indians are still in it.

I guess I don't think a team deserves to win just because they haven't won in a long time. Let's take the Knicks as an example. They haven't won since the early 70s. Ownership and management have absolutely BUTCHERED the last 15 years. Do the Knicks deserve to win just because it has been over 40 years? Hell no. It's their own fault. Same with the Browns and Bengals. Terrible ownership and management over the years. I think players "deserve" to win but not teams. Richard Jefferson deserved to win because he has busted his ass for 15 years and has come up just short. Dan Marino deserved to win. Patrick Ewing deserved to win. I'm sorry but some dude from Cleveland who shit on Lebron when he left doesn't deserve to win.

 

[ACamp1900]

No, you are supposed to dislike the Celtics because Boston fans are the worst, and you're supposed to hate on tOSU because out of the rest of the entire sports world they are the most like Boston fans.....

FIFY

 

[ulukinatme]

I don't dislike OSU that much. OSU doing well means that Michigan does not do as well. I dislike Michigan much more. There are plenty of ND fans in Cleveland, too. Are we supposed to dislike the Celtics because of BC? Or the Lakers because of USC?

What makes a city "deserving" is that it has been a really long drought for the teams in that city, and none of us have a reason to dislike those teams. I guess Bulls and Pistons fans dislike the Cavs for some reason. And of course lots of people dislike Lebron. Beyond that, why any non-GS fan would root against the Cavs is beyond me.

I'm an "aspirational egalitarian" when it comes to sports. If my team is not going to win, and I am indifferent about the other teams (i.e. no Michigan), I want the team that has not won in awhile to win. That's why I will root for the Cubs in the playoffs, unless of course the Indians are still in it.

I think you also have to go with the fact Cleveland fans are notoriously die-hard. The teams aren't always good, they lost the Browns for a period there (And they honestly never really returned), they deal with the nasty cold and snow that comes with living by the Lake, and they still show up to the games regardless. Yes, there are other cities that have fans that endure similar situations, but Cleveland has to be up there in the Top 3 when it came to economic status, shitty weather, and crappy team performance.

 

[NorthDakota]

I think you also have to go with the fact Cleveland fans are notoriously die-hard. The teams aren't always good, they lost the Browns for a period there (And they honestly never really returned), they deal with the nasty cold and snow that comes with living by the Lake, and they still show up to the games regardless. Yes, there are other cities that have fans that endure similar situations, but Cleveland has to be up there in the Top 3 when it came to economic status, shitty weather, and crappy team performance.

Yeah, I can't even bring myself to hate the Browns as a Steelers fan. I feel too sorry for the fans in that city. The Cavs have made it easier...even if only slightly, to hate the Browns.

 

[Ndaccountant]

won't let me embed, but on topic with the crappiness of the cleve

https://youtu.be/oZzgAjjuqZM