The whole announcement show was good-bad
its good James has the following to command that much attention
its probably bad that he chose to do it that way
its good he raised money for some charities
its good he was able to leave on his own terms
its bad that the people chastise him for being selfish and self centered
But the Cavs owner trumped James as far as ego and narcissism is concerned.
James played in Cleveland for 7 years
by end of year 1, it was clear James was the real deal (by end of game 1, it might have been obvious). That means at year 2 Cleveland should have been adding talent around James which was ready to win now. It took 5 years to add a decent point guard, and 6 years to bring in a #2 scorer (Shaq). Too little too late, and the person to blame is the owner.
James did what he had to do to find
a) a team with proven management of winning
b) surrounding himself with talent which was better than the other 4 Cleveland starters
c) finding a city which he wanted to live in (for example sharing a city with Kobe probably not best choice).
Cleveland had 7 years to do a) and 7 years to do b) and its clear Cleveland had c), but failed miserably on a) and b). I put that blame on ownership and front office, not the marquee player. James cannot make trades to add talent, or sign other free agents- that is someone else's job.
Basketball is a game of superstars which cannot do it alone. Jordan had Pippen, Shaq had Kobe, Kobe had Gasol, Wade had Shaq, Bird had McHale (and Parrish and Johnson), Magic had Kareem. Drexler had Olajuwan (and a retired Jordan), and Duncan had Robinson, then later had Ginobli.
James in Cleveland had who again? The fact the Cavs made it deep into playoffs without the supporting cast shows just how good James is. But it also shows how bad the front office is to not surround him with decent players.
Wade-Bosh-James will be as good as any threesome in NBA except Rhondo-Pierce and Allen, but Pierce and Allen might only be together for 50-60 games as they are "up there" in NBA age.
Boston's big 3 are rhondo, allen and pierce (sorry Garnett) with 2 good-great role players (Garnett and Perkins I believe).
Heat are eastern conference champs next 4 years. Not sure if they can beat Kobe and Gasol though...
