LeBron tells GQ he isn’t sure Gilbert ever cared

MIAMI (AP)—Adding a new layer to the rift between LeBron James(notes) and Dan Gilbert, the NBA’s two-time reigning MVP and new Miami Heat forward has told GQ magazine that he isn’t sure the Cleveland Cavaliers owner “ever cared” about him during their time together.

In an article released Tuesday, James spoke of how widespread criticism of his decision—and how he chose to make it a television event—is fueling him this offseason, plus reiterated how Ohio will always remain his home.

But perhaps his sharpest words were reserved for Gilbert, the owner who lashed out at him shortly after James announced that he would be joining the Heat
“I don’t think he ever cared about LeBron,” James is quoted as saying. “My mother always told me: ‘You will see the light of people when they hit adversity. You’ll get a good sense of their character.’ Me and my family have seen the character of that man.”

Gilbert did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

James made similar remarks on the night Miami signed him to a six-year contract, doing so while sitting alongside the other two legs of the Heat superstar triangle, Dwyane Wade(notes) and Chris Bosh(notes).

Gilbert was clearly scorned by James’ choice, firing off a now-infamous letter to Cleveland fans describing it all as “a shameful display of selfishness and betrayal.” He called James “narcissistic” and “self-promotional” and vowed the Cavaliers would win a championship before “the self-titled former king.”

Further, in an interview the same night with The Associated Press, Gilbert said he felt James quit on Cleveland during the 2009 and 2010 playoffs. Gilbert was ultimately fined $100,000 by the NBA for what commissioner David Stern said were comments that fell into the category of being “a little extreme.”

In the GQ article, James took exception to the “quitter” tag.

“Every night on the court I give my all, and if I’m not giving 100 percent, I criticize myself,” James said.

He added that he’s looking forward to seeing the Cavaliers as opponents this season.

“I do have motivation,” James told GQ. “A lot of motivation.”

Among other highlights from the article:

— James said he wouldn’t change any part of “The Decision,” the made-for-TV event in Greenwich, Conn. where he announced his playing plans to an audience of about 10 million viewers. The hourlong show made $2.5 million for Boys & Girls Clubs. “When I found out I had an opportunity to do that for those kids, it was a no-brainer,” James said.

— Despite his feuding with Gilbert, James thinks that if he could ever play for the Cavaliers again someday, it would be “a great story.”

— James explained he’s always had an uneasy relationship with Cleveland because he’s from Akron, a half-hour away. “It’s not far, but it is far,” James said. “And Clevelanders, because they were the bigger-city kids when we were growing up, looked down on us. … So we didn’t actually like Cleveland. We hated Cleveland growing up. There’s a lot of people in Cleveland we still hate to this day.”

James’ ‘Decision’ earns rebuke from Stern

LAS VEGAS – LeBron James’(notes) decision to sign with the Miami Heat made NBA commissioner David Stern go “Hmmm…”

James’ decision to turn his decision into a made-for-TV spectacle called the “Decision”?

That made Stern cringe.

Stern said Monday he has no problem with James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join Dwyane Wade(notes) and Chris Bosh(notes) in Miami – and he has no reason to think the Heat engaged in tampering to get him. But he does wish James had chosen a better platform to announce his decision, particularly because he didn’t give the Cavaliers more notice he was leaving
“Had he asked my advice in advance, I might have suggested that he advise Cleveland at an earlier time than apparently he did that he was leaving, even without announcing where he was going, so we could have eliminated that,” Stern after a meeting with the NBA’s board of governors. “I would have advised him not to embark on what has become known as ‘The Decision.’

[Video: LeBron’s iconic mural comes down]

“I think that the advice that he received on this was poor. His performance was fine. His honesty and his integrity shine through. But this decision was ill conceived, badly produced and poorly executed. Those who were interested in it were given our opinion prior to its airing.”

James’ decision prompted Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert to send a scathing letter criticizing his former star to the team’s fans. In it, he called James “narcissistic” and said he displayed “cowardly behavior.” He also vowed that Cavaliers would win a championship before James did with the Heat.

Stern said he had fined Gilbert $100,000 for the comments.

One league source said the Cavaliers’ media relations staff begged Gilbert to not send the email, but he ignored the pleas and wanted it out immediately. Gilbert also told The Associated Press that he felt James quit on the Cavs during the playoffs the past two seasons.

“Remarks by Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers, catalyzed as they may have been by hurt with respect to the manner and the fact for himself, his team, and particularly for the people of Cleveland, though understandable, were ill advised and imprudent,” Stern said.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson had previously criticized Gilbert’s comments, saying they”personify a slave master mentality” and sounded like they were directed at a “runaway slave.”

[Photos: Fallout from LeBron’s decision]

“Equally imprudent, I believe, are the remarks by my good friend Jesse Jackson, which purport to make this into a racial matter,” Stern said. “I find that to be, however well meaning Jesse may be in the premises on this one, he is, as he rarely is, mistaken. I would have told him so had he called me before he issued his statement this morning.

“But he is a good friend of the NBA and our players, and has worked arduously in many good causes, and we work together in many matters. I have a great deal of respect for him. We would just call this a disagreement amongst friends.”

Stern had no problems with James and Bosh joining Wade with the Heat to form a team that Las Vegas odds makers are already calling the favorites to win the 2011 championship. Stern compared the new Heat to the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s and the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty of the 1990s. Those teams, he said, “didn’t have three Hall of Famers, but sometimes had four and a half.”

When asked about his immediate response when he learned of James’ decision, Stern said: “I wasn’t like, ‘Whoa.’ You know, it was more like, ‘Hmm, that’s pretty good.’ ”

James left fans in Cleveland angry, crying and shocked after the decision. Some even burned his Cavaliers jerseys and T-shirts. His famous mammoth Nike billboard in downtown Cleveland was also brought down.

“We touch an emotional cord in our sport,” Stern said. “That’s what happens. Fans feel disappointment. You might feel jilted. We’ve seen that in other circles. Maybe not quite as dramatically.”

With a representative from every franchise on hand at the board of governor’s meeting, Stern also said no team expressed any desire to file tampering charges against the Heat for allegedly talking to James prior to the beginning of the free agency period on July 1. When asked if there were any exchanges between the Cavaliers and Heat ownership, Stern said it was “all very cordial.”

“There’s nothing here at this time that is causing us to launch an investigation,” Stern said

LeBron James is a Heat

LeBron goes to the Heat

State of LeBron: Live at 9, from his ego

The Championship of Me comes crashing into a primetime cable infomercial that LeBron James(notes) and his cronies have been working to make happen for months, a slow, cynical churning of manufactured drama that sports has never witnessed. As historic monuments go, this is the Rushmore of basketball hubris and narcissism. The vacuous star for our vacuous times. All about ‘Bron and all about nothing.

James is throwing a few foosball tables at Boys & Girls Clubs, an empty gesture out of the empty superstar. He’s turned free agency into the title of our times, a preening pageant of fawning, begging and pleading. Hard-working people are dragged into municipalities and told to hold signs, chant scripted slogans and beg a diva who doesn’t care about them to accept a $100 million contract

Privately, Dwyane Wade(notes) and Chris Bosh(notes) weren’t pleased on Wednesday morning with the belief that James’ camp was responsible for leaking their plans to a television partner, but then again it makes perfect sense: This isn’t about Wade and Bosh choosing the Heat. It’s about LeBron getting the stage to himself on Thursday night.

One front-office executive whose team made a presentation to LeBron James told Yahoo! Sports that he believes James is choosing between Miami and Cleveland. And yet, if James wants to deliver the biggest kick in the gut to his hometown, he’ll pick the flat-lined New York Knicks. Whatever the decision, he’s made clear that the teasing and tormenting of the loser isn’t his concern.

Team LeBron is having the time of its life, but has no idea the repercussions of what it’s done here. All that comes to James now is the biggest burden to win a championship that sports has ever seen. They aren’t making James a bigger star with this big-top, but a bigger target. All those teams that marched into the presentations and listened to some of the foolish and naive questions asked of them believed these kids had no idea what they were doing, or what they had gotten themselves into. They’re all feeling more validated every day. From beginning to end, this process has been a farce.


[Photos: See images of the coveted NBA superstar]



On James’ new website, under the headline dubbing this TV debacle “The Decision,” there come these words: “Maverick Carter, CEO of LRMR Marketing said…” This explains everything. Carter’s marketing company isn’t doing so well trying to get its one client Jonny Flynn(notes) a used-car dealership endorsement in the Twin Cities, and now Carter’s going to try to justify all that plush office space, staff attorneys, private planes and resort hotels by translating the Championship of Me into the making of his reputation.

Carter’s pushed one agent – Aaron Goodwin – and one advisor – William Wesley – aside because he wanted to be the voice in James’ ear and the one getting credit on the masthead. So far, Carter’s been a superstar at spending James’ money on LRMR, but now he’s getting the company name out there and turning LeBron into Mr. July after LeBron didn’t have the stomach to be Mr. June.


Team LeBron had discussed a documentary on the free-agent process, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported, but the narrative changed after James’ Game 5 meltdown in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Carter says there was never a plan for a free-agent tour, but this is what he means: There was never a plan for James to get held accountable, to have his motivations and priorities called into doubt. There was never a plan for the blame to shift from Danny Ferry, Mike Brown and his Cavaliers teammates. There was never a plan that real-world rules applied to the self-proclaimed King.

They scrapped the tour, the documentary and set sights on hijacking the network for an unprecedented special they believe will elevate James’ brand. Only, James has never looked smaller, never more insecure and unsure of who he is and what he wants to be. He won’t look so much like Kobe Bryant(notes) and David Beckham, but rather a three-star linebacker from Shaker Heights picking Bowling Green over Kent and Ohio U. on local access television.

Team LeBron has known all along it was going to do this, and the cushy, protective relationship with that television network culminates with a basketball player commandeering his own coverage on his own terms. Now James and his buddies spoon out misdirection plays on his possible destination – feeding everyone for days and weeks that the Knicks were dead, only to say now, “Well…who knows?” – to build back drama for the infomercial.

This is some plan they’ve hatched and some game they’re playing with those Cleveland fans who’ve been so relentlessly loyal to James. First, he marched the biggest suitors in the sport to come court him in downtown Cleveland with those pointless presentations. He wanted those people out there creating a visual public push-and-pull for him, and because James needed to be told something that probably isn’t completely true anymore: Cleveland loves him.

Well, Cleveland craves him. Love is a strong word, and it ought to be unconditional, but loving a sports hero is the most conditional kind of love there is. Only, it was different with Cleveland. He’s one of them, but you still have to wonder: Are they one of him?

James never shared that town’s angst with the Browns and Indians. He wanted winners in his life, and rooted for the Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees. He doesn’t feel the pain of a city’s broken heart. Shaquille O’Neal(notes) leaving the Orlando Magic for the Los Angeles Lakers 14 years ago was a hard hit, but LeBron bailing on Cleveland is far more devastating on a different level.

Everyone ridicules Cleveland, makes it a butt of jokes, but LeBron James has the chance to change all of that. And even then, it has to crush Cleveland’s sporting psyche that James could still walk out. If one of our own won’t stay, what does that say to the rest of the country?


That’s the hardest part here, and that makes the possibility that James would go on national television – with those split-screen shots of stunned fans in Akron and Cleveland – and completely crush those people so impossible to believe. He couldn’t be that cold, that callous, that cunning? Or perhaps, maybe this is all a rollout – the website, the Twitter page and the infomercial – to introduce a new LeBron, a new city, to the world.

Whatever happens, James and the television network will hide behind some money going to the Boys & Girls Clubs. But this isn’t about kids and sports, and it sure isn’t about the credibility that comes with winning championships. Something’s changed here, and LeBron James has gone a long way to devaluing winning and losing in the NBA. David Stern has long pushed the individual over team, marketed showy over substance, and LeBron James represents the manifestation of it all.


Greatest talent to ever walk into this league, the self-proclaimed King, and now everyone gets a front-row, primetime seat for how it means to live without self-awareness, without restraint. The vacuous star for our vacuous times, live on Thursday night and fitting himself for a ring as the undisputed Championship of Me. All about ‘Bron and all about nothing.

T.I. Discusses Lebron James' Free Agency w/ DJ Skee

The new big Three?LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh Discuss Futures in Miami

Sources close to the situation said Monday night that three of the biggest names in basketball -- Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James -- met over the weekend in Miami to seriously discuss their futures, with a focus on the increasingly plausible possibility Yet sources with knowledge of the meeting stressed to ESPN.com that James, while clearly intrigued by the possibility of forming a star-studded Miami trio with Wade and Bosh, has not yet committed to leaving his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers for South Beach.


One source did label Miami as the new frontrunner to land James in a package deal with Bosh and a re-signed Wade but also cautioned that James was "non-committal" with the start of free agency fast approaching.


Sources said James remains committed to fielding free-agent pitches from several teams when free agency officially opens Thursday at 12:01 a.m. ET, with the Chicago Bulls continuing to rank as a highly appealing destination and a return to Cleveland still figuring prominently in his thinking and with the Dallas Mavericks looming as an intriguing outsider.


The Miami Herald reported Tuesday on its website that two Wade representatives deny that the meeting took place, saying that Wade was in Chicago all weekend. Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that the three players were initially drawn to Miami in conjunction with an annual two-day party and golf tournament hosted by DJ Irie -- who serves as the Heat's official team DJ -- and were seen in Miami.

Earlier Monday, Fox Sports Radio's Stephen A. Smith reported on his morning radio show and via his Twitter feed that James and Bosh have committed to joining Wade in Miami. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper, in a report on its website Monday afternoon, quoted a source close to Wade as saying that the 2006 NBA Finals MVP "believes his team is poised to pull off a free-agency coup" by signing James and Bosh and re-signing Wade.
of those three teaming up with Wade's Heat

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, in a subsequent report on its website Tuesday, quoted a source close to Wade confirming that the All-Star guard "in recent days" has addressed the possibility of playing alongside James and Bosh and that the three have discussed the "financial machinations" required to get all of them on the same roster.

Unless Miami trades away former No. 2 overall pick Michael Beasley to a team with salary-cap space, so it can avoid taking salary back, Heat president Pat Riley will not be able to offer the estimated 2010-11 maximum salary of $16.5 million to all three Team USA stars.



But sources told ESPN.com that James, Wade and Bosh all expressed confidence at the meeting that contractual complexities to make this ambitious triple signing work can be achieved, although it was not immediately clear if all three players would receive an equal amount or if one or two would receive the max. Another variable is whether Bosh would be willing to sign with the Heat outright or if he wants to hold out for a sign-and-trade.



Toronto Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo acknowledged Monday for the first time in a radio interview with the Fan590 in Toronto that "it's becoming more and more clear" that the prospect of Bosh re-signing with the Raptors is "not going to happen." But sources close to the situation have maintained for months that Bosh was likely to work with the Raptors on a sign-and-trade if he ultimately decided to leave in free agency, thereby ensuring that Toronto doesn't lose him without compensation and enabling Bosh to get an extra year on his contract potentially worth as much as $30 million.



Sources insisted, meanwhile, that other scenarios were discussed at the weekend meeting apart from the Miami plan. One source said James' admiration for Bulls legend Michael Jordan is such that he is determined to hear Chicago's pitch later this week, keeping alive the possibility that both James and Bosh could still wind up together with the Bulls.



In that scenario, sources said, James and Bosh would join Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah in Chicago, while Wade would hope to be joined in Miami by close friend Carlos Boozer, who was not at the meeting.



Sources said James, furthermore, has not ruled out staying with the Cavaliers. Although Cleveland does not have the financial flexibility or the trade assets to import Bosh or Wade and enhance its chances of retaining this summer's face of free agency, James is a proud Ohioan who is said to be still wrestling with the notion of leaving his home state, no matter how enticing the possibilities are in Miami and Chicago.



The Sun-Sentinel reported that Wade is also exploring his options by planning free-agent sitdowns in coming days with the Bulls and Mavericks. ESPN.com had previously reported that Wade and Bosh are scheduled to be in New York on Friday for separate recruiting visits with the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets.


It was not immediately clear, as details of the Miami option emerged, whether the 65-year-old Riley intends to stay in his front-office role and let coach Erik Spoelstra return for his third season or return to the bench for a third stint coaching the Heat.


The original notion of a summit was hatched in late May, when Wade told the Chicago Tribune that he planned to talk with fellow free agents James and Joe Johnson before making a decision in free agency. It later emerged that Bosh, Boozer, Amare Stoudemire wanted to participate as well, leading to the "summit" concept.


But Wade and agent Henry Thomas insisted that a formal gathering involving all those free agents was never the intent.


"Dwyane never made reference to a summit," Thomas told CNBC.com in early June. "He said that he'd have conversations with some of these guys and that still will happen. These guys came into the league at the same time and they're in similar situations, so it's unrealistic to think that they won't talk."


James, however, left little doubt that the top free agents will discuss their futures together before July 1 in his recent interview with CNN's Larry King, telling King that he would be the "ringleader" for the conversations.


But NBA commissioner David Stern said during the NBA Finals that he would not prevent a summit if the league's top free agents -- many of them Team USA teammates -- wanted to get together.


"They can have it," Stern said, explaining that the league does not treat player-to-player interaction in the offseason in the same way it warns teams against tampering with other teams' players or pending free agents before July 1.

The NBA announced after Wade's initial comments that it only metes out discipline for player-to-player tampering in what it regards as "the most egregious" cases and said Wade's comments "do not meet that standard."


Although free-agent negotiations begin Thursday, teams and free agents are not permitted to actually execute new contracts until a leaguewide moratorium is lifted July 8.

LeBron James dancing during a timeout.

LeBron James & Joakim Noah fight about dancing

LeBron James - Joakim Noah Blow The Whistle !