As a Cavs fan on Thursday night I was completely crushed by LeBron's decision. I agree Gilbert never should have wrote/said what he did (for the simple fact that this will have negative effects on the Cavs in the future), but nearly everyone in Cleveland was glad to hear our owner stick up for us. We felt betrayed. I can understand LeBron wanting to leave, but the way he did it was totally unprofessional and a complete load of bs. Plus ESPN and other sports media constantly treat Cleveland as a joke with their constant showing of our misfortunes in sports. The montage is shown not only when times are bad like last night, but nearly every playoff round since LeBron joined the Cavs even when we would be leading a series they would pull that damn montage on us.
I agree with the statement about having trouble attracting free agents, but LeBron did nothing to help this. When he signed his three year extension the Cavs were put in a tough spot because no free agents wanted to come if LeBron wasn't committed to being in Cleveland. Look at Ariza last offseason, he came out and said the reason he didn't sign in Cleveland was because LeBron wouldn't tell him he was planning on staying. As for the recruiting of Bosh, I guarantee that was smoke and mirrors from Bron's "team" to try and make it seem he was staying in Cleveland. I have no doubt Bosh, Wade, & LeBron had this all planned from the start.