An open letter to basketball fans everywhere

Funny old world sport isn’t it? I have decided to move this story back to the front page and also to add the new Nike advert. Kinda says it all!!!

This is the original story.
Well as regular readers of mikeshaft.com will know I do not spend much time on here talking about the NBA, but I love just about everything about the greatest league in the world.

Like most basketball fans I was intrigued by the news that LeBron James was a free agent and would be making an announcement as to where he would be playing for the coming few years.

The Time of the announcement was 9pm Eastern I think. I had no idea what time that would be in the UK so I thought I’d get up early and take my chance. The recent news that the New York Knicks had signed Amar’e Stoudemire certainly led me to believe that he was going to the Knicks.

I used to love the Knicks back in the day when they had Patrick Ewing in their ranks but in recent years they have been sad. I thought this would be a great fit for LeBron. A chance to build a new Knicks dynasty around probably the greatest player in the NBA at the moment. I wouldn’t have minded him going to Chicago. The chance of seeing Loul Deng in the same team as LeBron would be a joy.

Of course LeBron might fool us all and stay with the Cavaliers for a few more years.

Well I did get up early and tuned into ESPN who were in full flight with the programme, the crawler along the bottom of the screen said that “Lebron had signed to the Miami Heat.”

This was massive news as the Heat had also signed Chris Bosh from Toronto and that D Wade was also staying. Oh BABY! Talk about an all-star team!

But of course there will have to be other additions…the blue collar workers who can get the job done. I have to admit that these guys are some of my favourite players. Guys who turn up every night…guys like Manu Ginobli, Horace Grant, Leandro Barbosa, Scottie Pippin and probably one of the greatest ever in my eyes, Robert Horry.

Now younger readers probably won’t even know who Robert Horry is but why don’t you put his name in Google and see how many rings he’s won. I’ll save you the trouble…the number is 7…YES 7. Robert Horry is still one of my favourite players. Horry won two for the Rockets (93-94, 94-95) Three for the Lakers (99-00, 00-01, 01-02) and Two for the Spurs (04-05, 06-07).

There are many other great players who were not the stars of their teams, in fact far too many to list here.

So it is congratulations to the legendary Pat Riley, President of the Miami Heat on pulling off one of the greatest signings ever.

If he can get the rest of the roster right we could see the Heat winning Championships for a few years too come.

I had the pleasure of meeting Pat Riley some years ago and what an imposing presence he is. He drew up some of his favourite Xs and Os but reminded us that having the best plays was just part of the strategy. You also needed players like Magic Johnson to execute those plays. Pat had just left the Lakers when we met.

So, having not spent a lot of time writing about the NBA on mikeshaft.com, why have I chosen this moment to do it. Well I can tell you.

In an article entitled, Sheffield Sharks ready to get it on, I told the story of the Sharks signing the awesome player Tafari Toney. I commented on Tafari, one of the nicest guys you could ever meet, being called a traitor for leaving the Eagles and signing for the Sharks.

What has shocked me more than anything this morning was the sight of Cleveland Cavaliers fans burning their LeBron James shirts. This brought tears to my eyes. No honestly I cried. Later in the day I read the open letter from Cavs Owner Dan Gilbert to his fans. I was shocked by the contents of the letter which was highly critical of LeBron James. I wanted to cry again but this time I didn’t.

For the last 7 years LeBron James gave his all for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Is it too much to expect the organisation and its fans to thank him for all that he has done for them? Why should he be treated in this cavalier way?

LeBron James is one of the greatest players of the game of basketball. I think he deserves better from an organisation to whom he has given 7 years of his life.

Later

Mike S

PS. Gracious thanks to David Shankbone for his permission to use his fabulous photo of LeBron James

PPS – Re-posted on 31st October 2014