May 24, 2013

Choose Your Own Adventure…Cleveland Style

February 3, 2009 by 25 Comments

It certainly is a great time to be a Cavalier fan. Confidence and expectations are at an all time high. Most experts agree that the Cavs are certainly capable of winning the whole thing this year, bringing Cleveland it’s first NBA championship, and first major title since the Browns back in 1964. Not even the shadow of LeBron’s impending free agency is big enough to block out the brilliance of this team. Or is it?

I have a question for you. Well, a scenario really. The best possible outcome for Cleveland fans would be the Cavs winning the Finals this year or next with LeBron deciding to stay put, culminating in a Jordan-like 4 or 5 championship banners hanging from the rafters of the Q, and a statue in the plaza. But let’s just say for argument sake we can’t have that scenario.

What if you were forced to make a choice? What if I could guarantee you a Cavalier championship this year or next, (just one, not both years) but then you would have to say goodbye to LeBron as he signed elsewhere in free agency? The other option is that the Cavaliers do not win the title either of these two seasons, but LeBron does sign a max deal for 6 more years with the team. No guarantees about titles for those years though. But you would still have LeBron, and the rest of the guys under contract plus Danny Ferry as your GM. What do you say?

Are you so desperate for a title that you would take the guarantee and enjoy it for years to come? Nobody would blame you. We have certainly had our share of losing, and it would be nice to be on top for once. I also understand that for most of this town the Cavs have always been the third team. For so long they were what we watched in between the end of the Browns season and opening day for the Tribe. Not always, and not for every fan I know, but let’s be realistic about their place in Cleveland’s heart through the years. If the Cavs were to ‘break the curse’ so to speak, would that satisfy you enough?

Or do you want the chance for multiple titles? Would you not be satisfied with ‘one and done’ knowing that without LeBron the chances of signing the marquee players would be slim? Yeah, it would be nice to have one of the all time great teams, not just a team that won one once. Many Cavs fans probably never watched the team until LeBron came. Are you fans of the Cavaliers, or are you fans of LeBron James? Would the team be dead to you without him, so you’d take your chances on a title later on?

So those are your choices. You can have one guaranteed title in the next two years, but LeBron goes, or you can keep LeBron and take your chances on a title (s) in the future. What would you rather have?

[poll id="48"]

Related Posts

Zemanta
Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: , , , , ,
  • P@

    I’ve been saying this for a while, but I want the Cavs to play for right now… there is never a better time to win a championship for this team, so Danny Ferry, make whatever moves you can to win now.

  • http://www.jrosen.wordpress.com Jacob Rosen

    Good post. I think it would be more important to just have LeBron nearby. He has lived his entire life in the Northeast Ohio area, and the entire state would be devastated by his exit in the summer of 2010. Keep in mind, LeBron turns 25 in December 2009, and thus would still have 10-12 good years of playing time, plus his prime years, ahead of him after signing that contract. That means he will turn a seven-year championship drought into at least three or four championships by the time he is done playing.

  • Chris M

    I keep LeBron. with Ferry doing what he does, I think they can win more than one if Lebron extends his contract. Kind of the old question, you can have a dollar now, or 2 tomorrow. I’ve been waiting a long time ( 30 years ), why not wait a little longer?

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Craig

    I take my chances and choose more years with Lebron. It is easy not to take the quick championship in this scenario, because I don’t know what I am turning down, really. I don’t know what a championship feels like, so I will bet on him doing it multiple times down the road.

  • Scott

    You can’t say you would be happy regressing to the days of Ricky Davis in exchange for one title could you?

  • Harv 21

    Want to watch him play for us 81x/year x 6 years, not watch him on TNT once per week getting better and better, and listen as everyone desribes him as the greatest ever. Want the best playing for us, for years, and will trust the banners will come. Can you just imagine your bile when you see him on the cover of SI in another team’s uni?

  • B-bo

    Gotta take the title now–sports are far too unpredictable, so it’s impossible to know what will happen during those 6 years. I’d take the sure thing over speculation every time.

  • Jeremy

    As a fan of the Cavaliers first and LeBron second. I would want the title. Could imagine seeing how happy AC would be, or seeing Price and Daugherty back celebrating the championship. That is worth it in my opinion.

  • xt04

    If I was from any other town, I’d say take the years and it will sort itself out. This is Cleveland however. Nothing is a sure thing, so if I get a guaranteed title now, I’ll take it happily.

    Besides, a championship might bring more top athletes here. Sure they wouldnt be LBJ, but still might be enough to contend.

  • Adam

    nooooooooo i refuse to answer that… one game at a time!

  • Cindy

    I would take the championship. I’ve had more than 20 years of waiting and hoping…getting close, but not quite there.

    Plus, I think any championship would do good things for the Cleveland sports scene in general.

  • Bobby O’Brien

    Hoowee, this is the tough decision. But I agree with some of the comments above, Team first, LeBron Second. Gimme the title, lets enjoy it.

  • Eric

    Take Lebron for the 6…not because I don’t want the Championship, I just want a formal apology from Stephen A. Smith for being an —.

  • hectorakacd

    Man you gotta take Lebron and the future. One title and done is all good and fine (especially for Cleveland), but when you got the greatest player on the planet and a chance to be a real live Dynasty you gotta take that ride.

    Imagine a Cleveland team being named among the all time great dynasty’s in team sports. That can’t happen without Bron, and damn sure won’t happen with the Clowns or Tribe!

  • Swig

    I might be the only one, but I don’t get this obsession with the championship. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to watch the cavs bring it home this year. But 2 years from now would that really lift you up while watching the Browns for another losing season?

    I am fist and foremost a Cavs fan (my favorite team of any sport at any level). I voted for keeping LeBron because I want to see the franchise be successful for the next 6 years (more than specifically watching James for the next 6 years).

    I’d rather watch 7 good movies with potentially bad endings, than one amazing movie and 6 that are a complete waste of time.

  • Josh

    Being a Cleveland fan since birth, I initially thought – take the championship and let him walk.

    but if i could be SURE he was staying, i say pass up the title, take the max contract and put your trust in Ferry GM skills, Mike Brown’s Coaching and LBJ’s recruiting pull to create a dynasty.

    If the decision was in front of Bulls fans early on, i would bet they would take all those years of Jordan even if they didn’t win a championship.

    LeBron is so special, i want him in Cleveland for life.

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com/ Rick

    I gotta tell you I’m struggling with my choice on this one. Watching the Buckeyes lose two straight title games was a lot easier to bounce back from because we had beaten Miami. I’m wondering if I might feel the same about watching the Cavs sans LeBron…

  • DCBucks

    Show me the money.

  • http://mvn.com/cavalierattitude Amar Panchmatia

    Keep LeBron for six years with no titles this year or next, easy. The Cavs are stockpiling assets to assemble a dominant team after 2010 if LeBron stays. I know that you said that there are no guarantees of a championship in those six years he re-signs for, but there might as well be. LeBron would be in his prime, the young pieces on this team are several years older, and who knows who we scoop up in 2010 free agency? We’d be scary good…even better than we are now.

  • http://shakesthesnowglobe.blogspot.com EZ

    I take Lebron. Looking at Ferry’s track record as GM, our young talent, and the Cavs’ finances in two seasons, I think we’d have a great chance at building a dynasty here.

  • AMC

    I want LeBron to stay in Cleveland more than anything in my sports desires – except for one of my teams bringing home a title. I’ve devoted way too much of my life to this point not seeing a Cleveland team host a championship trophy. It would be brutal, and I mean BRUTAL to see LeBron leave town, but the guarantee of a title would soften the blow enough.

    Hopefully, we get both.

  • SambofromOH

    I dont think I can agree with the ‘championship softens the blow’ arguement. If someone gave you a diamond and it suddenly turned into poop would you still keep it? Remembering how shiny it was doesnt make it smell less.

    The Buckeyes beating Miami and then losing two NC games isnt close to the same thing. What would be similar is the Cavs winning it all and then getting swept in the Finals after Lebron leaves. We are talking about a Cavs team thats marquee player is Big Z, Mo or Delonte. I love those guys but they are not superstars, they complement a superstar.

  • Tsunami

    I want Z to win a title.

    Give me championships the next TWO YEARS.

  • mendy

    well this is a win-win for me:

    as i’ve said before, i reeeaaally want the drought to be broken by either the tribe or the browns (no particular order… so, uh… get to it boys).

    so if we could hold off on the cavs for a couple years, get the indians to win the series this season, the browns in 3 seasons, followed by the cavs in the same year i may just die a happy, happy, clevelander.

    but being a realist: i’m of COURSE rooting like crazy for the bron and boys to bring home an association title. (if only to get a HUGE blow up championship statue next to the Q like we had when we were playing san antonio)

  • SambofromOH

    @mendy: I think the Cavs are a lot closer. I have seen the Tribe on the doorstep many times and the Browns, well, they’re the Browns. This is the first time I have felt like it is almost a given that we will get a championship. I am hoping that the Cavs snap the drought and then the Browns and Indians catch the championship fever creating the Cleveland Dynasty!