The Lebracle... Where will James go?

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by Miss Foxy

I say bring it on!! All the Kobe/Laker haters are going to try to avenge their teams losses and honestly Lebron James is a diva!!! All his parties, rapping, and other nonsense arent gonna get him nor Miami nada!! Mark my words!!!

If Ron Artest can do it, LBJ can do it.

[VCURamFan]

Originally Posted by J.B.

If Ron Artest can do it, LBJ can do it.

President Johnson?

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by VCURamFan

President Johnson?

Him too

[Bonnie]

Originally Posted by J.B.

It means that each one of those players (Lebron/Wade/Bosh) are so good at scoring that most teams need to use two men to cover each of them, which is impossible with only 5 men on the court. Teams will likely be forced to work in some sort of "zone" defense to even try to contain all 3 of them at the same time, and even that not gonna work forever. That doesn't guarantee success though. There is always injuries to worry about, and a lot of it comes down to coaching too. It's one of the most interesting scenarios I can think of in all of sports for quite some time.

As for the second part, we may not have basketball after next season because the NBA and the Players Union have to hammer out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), and it's been looming for the last few years that the owners are fed up with getting bad returns on a lot of their investments. To be fair, that is largely their own fault for overpaying the wrong players in the first place, but on the other side of the coin the league actually LOST money last year. Then to top it all off, you have the giant media circus over this years free agency and Lebron James, so the owners feel like they need to rope the egos of the players back in. The feeling right now is that the owners are going to make some huge cuts that the players union isn't going to want to go for and we could end up seeing a lockout after next season. It happened in 1998-99 and the season ended up starting like 3 months late because they were haggling over the deal, some think this is going to be worse, but who knows at this point.

When this happens, do the players still get paid during this time even though they're not playing?

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by Bonnie

When this happens, do the players still get paid during this time even though they're not playing?

Nobody gets paid, and they don't get the money back.

It's bad for everybody if it happens at all, but the longer a lockout drags on the more adverse effect it will likely have on the overall product when the league does resume. Fans HATE hearing multi million dollar owners and athletes haggle over money. The league really can't afford that right now, especially now that the stars have aligned in Miami and media attention will be HUGE over the next few years to see how this trio pans out.

[bj44]

Eastern conference playoff teams next year in order

1. Miami Heat
2. Orlando Magic
3. Boston Celtics
4. Chicago Bulls
5. Atlanta hawks
6. Milwaukee Bucks
7. New york Knicks
8. Clevland cavaliers (i wish lol)

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by bj44

Eastern conference playoff teams next year in order

1. Miami Heat
2. Orlando Magic
3. Boston Celtics
4. Chicago Bulls
5. Atlanta hawks
6. Milwaukee Bucks
7. New york Knicks
8. Clevland cavaliers (i wish lol)

Are you a Cavs fan?

[J.B.]

I'm not always the biggest fan of Robert Sarver, but Dan Gilbert would be wise to take a lesson in professionalism from the Phoenix Suns owner in this case. This was posted on the Phoenix Suns website yesterday.

Thank You, Amare

On behalf of the entire Suns organization I want to thank you, Amar’e, for eight special years as a Phoenix Sun. We couldn’t have achieved all our success without you. We wish you nothing but the best in the next chapter of your basketball life with the New York Knicks. We look forward to being able to honor you in some way in the future….. maybe in the Suns Ring of Honor.

Robert Sarver
Managing Partner

[bj44]

Originally Posted by J.B.

Are you a Cavs fan?

im a bulls fan... I just thought it be awesome if the cavs got matched up with the heat in a playoff series

ps you think the suns make the playoffs next year?

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by bj44

im a bulls fan... I just thought it be awesome if the cavs got matched up with the heat in a playoff series

ps you think the suns make the playoffs next year?

Oh, lol, I thought you were a Bulls fan but that comment just threw me for a loop. It would be cool to see the Cavs make it next year, but Cleveland fans might give up all hope if Lebron and mWo had to hand them a beat down in the playoffs.

As for the Suns, we are going through our own phase of being butt-hurt over losing our ace in Amare. We also need a general manager ASAP. I think we may be looking to deal Barbosa, but I'm not sure what is out there at the moment that would greatly improve our situation. I was hoping something could have been worked out to bring David Lee over here when we did the sign and trade for Amare to the Knicks, but they managed to miss that boat too and Lee is on Golden State now. Still, we have a solid core and a lot of chemistry with a group of guys who will be able to deal with the change much easier than I think Cleveland will (and obviously Amare is not Lebron). This only really started to become "Amare's Team" last season, and even then it hadn't fully crossed over because of the looming free agency. So we still have Nash as our leader and we will just have to find other ways to replace Amare's points. Jason Richardson was one of our biggest factors in winning during the regular season last year, and Grant Hill, Jared Dudley, Goran Dragic, and Channing Frye are all going to be poised to step up their games even more now that Amar'e isn't around. I think the Suns should do good and likely make the playoffs as long as they don't fall into any horrible shooting funks or get riddled with injuries.