| Don't Panic Authored by Keith Berzanske - April 11, 2005 - 11:42 am
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It's cliche in this internet, media driven age for everything to get blown out of proprtion. No one needs sources anymore. Fact checking? Forget it. Original thinking? Why bother, when sensationalism and controversy will sell? Everyone is busy these days - instead of doing some real analysis, they are inclined to just believe what they read. The media takes advantage of this, just like an ex-girlfriend creating some drama to get attention.
I'm reminded of the scene from 'The American President', where the media has discovered that Annette Bening's character has spent the night at the White House with the President, perfectly portrayed by Michael Douglas. The White House staff is frantic, and brainstorms ways to cause a diversion to sneak Bening out, and to spin the story to the press. Which led to the following exchange:
Michael J Fox: "The most important thing is to not appear to be panicking."
Michael Douglas: "See, now I think that the most important thing is actually not to be panicking."
The new braintrust of the Cavaliers need to do just this, maintain their cool. Forget the media backlash, forget the advice form experts. Look at facts. Build your team around LeBron James. Hire the best people for the job. Just like in "Field of Dreams", people will come, and everyone will calm down.
The new rumor is that LeBron James is already fed up in Cleveland and will leave when his contract is up and sign with the Knicks.
Ridiculous!
First of all, LeBron has only been here 2 years, and although there has been some turmoil, the team has shown marked improvement.
Does anyone remember that the team won 17 games 2 years ago?
Has anyone noticed that 2 of our starters, Ira Newble and Jeff McInnis, are guys that are essentially journeymen who have bounced around the league?
Has it occurred to anyone that the team improved this year despite getting a zero contribution from their major draft and free agent acquisitions? Lucious Harris and Scott Williams have proven that their best days are behind them, and Luek Jackson, expected to be a key contributor, had a lost season due to a back injury.
Does anyone remember that the Cavaliers lost their second best player from last year, Carlos Boozer, for nothing, and that it cost them their backup center, Tony Battie, to get Boozer's replacements?
Those are the facts, and the team has succeeded in spite of them, even considering the recent slide.
Now for the conjecture - does anyone really believe that LeBron would leave his hometown team in shambles after just 4 years? I don't know LeBron James on a personal level, but I watched him play and listened to him speak for 4 years now, and he seems to be a player and a man very aware of his legacy and hsi place in history. And I'd have to think that, as such, he would be aware that there would be no greater achievement then to play the majority of his career here and bring a championship to Cleveland, to a team that has never really come close, and to a city that hasn't tasted that final victory since 1964. LeBron seems to have the same mindset as guys like Reggie Miller, Larry Bird, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson - that this is his town, his team and he's going to do his best to win here, whatever the cost. He's not going to demand a trade. He may make demands of ownership to get some help, though, and that's OK. He's the star, and he also has the best idea of what is needed on the court for the team to best utilize his skills and to be successful. So I hope that the team takes input from LeBron as they make important decisions.
LeBron James is a winner in the highest sense, and men like that take the responsibility on their shoulders. If he were to leave Cleveland after only 4 years, that would be admitting defeat, that he could not get it done here. And that would be unacceptable to someone like LeBron James.
So relax, Cavaliers fans - don't panic!
Check your NBA history and consider the following:
Michael Jordan did not win a playoff series until his 4th season, when Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant were drafted, and did win a championship until his 7th season.
It took Kevin Garnett 9 seasons to win a playoff series, and it wasn't until Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell came aboard.
Isiah Thomas did not win a playoff series until his 6th, when Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman, and John Salley came aboard.
Allen Iverson's 76ers won 22 and 31 games his first 2 seasons before making the playoffs in his third year and advancing to the second round.
Shaq missed the playoffs by 1 game his first season and did not win a championship until his 8th season.
Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, Antawn Jamison, Steve Francis, Andre Miller, Andrei Kirilenko, Bob Sura, Zach Randolph, Carmelo Anthony, Donyell Marshall, Pau Gasol, Antonio McDyess, Mike Miller, Stephon Marbury, Tom Gugliotta, Yao Ming, Amare Stoudemire, and Rashard Lewis have never won a playoff series.
Elton Brand, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Gilbert Arenas, Carlos Boozer, Jason Richardson, Quentin Richardson, Corey Maggette, Jason Terry, and Erick Dampier, among others, have never appeared in a single playoff game.
I still believe that the LeBron will lead the Cavaliers into the playoffs this year. But even if it doesn't happen, the team still has a bright future. Luke Jackson will return. Sasha Pavlovic, Anderson Varejao, Drew Gooden, and Jiri Welsch will have another year of experience. The best free agents will want to play here, and the best coaches will want to coach here.
In the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect manage to hitch a ride off Earth just seconds before it is blown to pieces. And, as they collect themselves in the cook's quarters of the spaceship that is now light years from where the Earth once stood, moments before the Vogons come to throw them into space, at a moment of great stress and consternation, Arthur Dent looks at the cover of Ford's book, "The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and says "That's the most sensible thing anyone's said to me all day".
The note on the cover read, in large block letters, "DON'T PANIC!".
LeBron James is the best 20 year old player in the history of basketball. Is there any doubt that once there are some pieces around him (notably another shooter and another defender) and some time for the team to develop some chemistry, that he will be as successful, if not more successful than any superstar in the history of the NBA? In my mind, there is no doubt. So let's show some patience with this team, and enjoy the ride to the top, no matter how long it takes.
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