So Long and Good Luck, Chris Bosh

I am back. Been crazy for a while. You know what with NHL and NBA free agency. Well that is done, by and large, and that got some of the sillies out in the world.

LeBron James, and Chris Bosh, leaving their respective NBA teams and heading to Miami to play together with Dwyane Wade. That is some super team that came together with the US National team in both 2006 and 2008. Let me state upfront, I have no quibble with either player move. Contracts were up, fulfilled them, free to do as they pleased with regard to their next gig. They were free agents.

For Chris Bosh, he fulfilled his contract for the seven years he played for my Raptors. He is a good player, a complimentary player, not a great player. His position did not lend itself to greatness. I define "greatness" as being a good player (statistically it depends upon the position played) that can create for himself. Bosh does not handle the ball well enough to be that guy. That is okay. In my humble opinion, he is not a max dollar player. (Truth is that I see only a handful of max dollar guys by my definition...James, Wade, Kobe and perhaps Chris Paul with Kevin Durant knocking on the door)

I was not happy with his Twitter thing. But that does not matter nor does it change the fact that he made a business move. He did what was best for him in terms of people he wanted to play with and where he wanted to play. I tip my hat to him and thank him for his hard work. He was a true professional and does not deserve the treatment accorded Wince Carter, Tracy MacGrady or Damon Stoudemire who all left with a pout.

Not Chris Bosh. He played hard, gave his best, and earned the right to do what he did, sign with Miami. Good luck to him and thank you for showing other players how to try to carry a franchise with dignity. He was not a Michael Jordan/Larry Bird/Kobe Bryant-type of leader; he is also not that type of player. It is not him. He did the best with who he is. He will be a great complimentary player and championships are won with pieces like him in place.

LeBron is different, yet I would say the same about him, except that he is a superstar in the league whereas I would classify Bosh a star (the difference between good/great and what a max dollar player should be). I cannot say how hard he played for Cleveland as I did not watch him game in and game out. I would think that he gave it his all considering he put that team on his shoulders and really carried them.

There has been a backlash regarding Lebron's decision. Dan Gilbert, the Cavs owner had many negative things to say about James. It is no wonder. He bent over backwards to cater to Lebron's desires hoping that he would stay with the Cavs. Gilbert is hurt. The funny thing is that as a successful business man (Quicken Loans), Dan Gilbert knows business. This was purely business, nothing personal. Gilbert did not treat it as business. He let James call the shots hoping he would stay. HOPING!

Hope is not a strategy. Gilbert has to pay the price, and he is, for that gambit. It is just business. This is what the owners say when trading players midseason. It is just business. The players are expected not whine then and the owners should be expected not to whine now. It is just fucking business. Of course, that does not mean feelings do not get hurt with business, it just means that is way it is and take responsibility for your own actions in the whole interaction.

Now, we have Jesse Jackson nattering on about Gilbert and saying he treated LeBron like a freed slave. Jesse, slave my fucking ass! Not at that price, he was no fucking slave. He is no fucking victim. Jesse, have you channeled your inner Sharpton?????

Fuck, man, you have been irrelevant for a good decade. Shut the fuck up, man. Perhaps, Dan Gilbert is a man who got stung in a business transaction. He got personal because the relationship (Lebron, the money and intertwining of Lebron and the Cavs) was a business one with some personal crap involved. The man is hurt because he believed the personal relationship with James along with a max dollar deal would keep his prized star and revenue generator in Cleveland. It did not and that does not mean his remarks are racially motivated.

Leave it to Jesse Jackson to play the race card first chance he can get. That's it Jesse, way to try and steal, or at least slime in on, somebody else's spotlight. Fucking IN-fame whore!

Wow, I cannot believe that I am just seeing that now. Ciao!