Dear Dan Gilbert: You are the best owner in Cleveland sports in my lifetime. Probably the only one who rivals your passion and willingness to invest in a franchise for a quick turnaround is Bill Veeck, who delivered World Series championship to Tribe fans in 1948. When you took over the Cavs in spring 2005, I was worried. Very...
Dear Dan Gilbert:
You are the best owner in Cleveland sports in my lifetime. Probably the only one who rivals your passion and willingness to invest in a franchise for a quick turnaround is Bill Veeck, who delivered World Series championship to Tribe fans in 1948.
When you took over the Cavs in spring 2005, I was worried. Very worried. I sensed you knew just enough about pro basketball to get almost everything wrong. You had the team for three weeks, and fired coach Paul Silas. You said some silly things.
I also thought it was a bad idea to hand Mike Brown a clock when hiring him as coach, indicating time was ticking down. A rookie coach has enough pressure. He doesn't need more from ownership -- even if it was meant as a joke.
But you learned from your mistakes to the point where I will defend your ownership of the Cavaliers to anyone.
I just wish you had taken about 15 deep breaths and walked around the block a few hundred times before firing off that public e-mail after LeBron James announced Thursday he will join the Miami Heat.
And I liked most of the letter.
About James appearing on ESPN, you wrote, "This was announced with a several-day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his 'decision' unlike anything ever 'witnessed' in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment."
That was better than what I wrote about it.
You also wrote: "I can tell you that this shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own has shifted our 'motivation' to previously unknown and previously never experienced levels. Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there. Sorry, but that's simply not how it works."
Great line.
Your new coach Byron Scott said he could never imagine Michael Jordan leaving the Bulls early in his career to play for the Detroit Pistons, because "they hated each other too much."
The same with Magic Johnson switching to the Boston Celtics, or Larry Bird heading west to the Los Angeles Lakers. Jordan didn't win his first title until his seventh pro season.
I'd have loved to have seen Scott coach James, because perhaps he would have held the star to the "accountability" you said was lacking in James' life.
Well, Dan, part of that was on your management team. If James lacked accountability, it was up to you to make it happen. My guess is you know that now, too.
The part of your comments that bothered me the most came in an interview with the Associated Press, where you said James "quit" in the Boston series: "Not just in Game 5, but in Games 2, 4 and 6. Watch the tape. The Boston series was unlike anything in the history of sports for a superstar."
If that's the case, then why were you trying to sign this guy to a maximum contract worth $130 million over six years? Why want him at all? A quitter? That makes no sense.
James did you dirty, not even informing you or any of those teams until the ESPN spectacle had started, and then a call came from a member of James' camp only a few moments before James uttered the self-serving, "I'm taking my talents to South Beach."
That's like watching TV and someone telling you they just filed divorce papers. James had no class by refusing to answer your calls and texts in the final few days before heading to Miami. You and Cavs fans had every right to feel sabotaged and betrayed.
But when you charge an elite athlete with quitting, you have to realize you'll be spending some time explaining those remarks when trying to sign other free agents to play for the Cavaliers. The national media will portray you as being petty and say James was right to leave.
I know better.
So do the fans. James will look back at the first part of his career and realize he was never in a better comfort zone, considering being at home with fans who loved him and with tremendous support from the front office.
If any owner can bring the Cavs back from this loss and make them contenders again, it's you.
I have been impressed with how you upgraded the arena, built the magnificent practice facility and consistently had one of the top three payrolls in the NBA. You play to win, and that should speak loudly to players.
When they ask you about some of what you said after James left, use this line from Bishop Joey Johnson of Akron's House of the Lord, "When your heart is broken, your head won't work right."
I know you well enough to realize that was what happened. And I also know you'll learn from all this, not just in terms of interviews and e-mails. But also in how to deal with some players in the future.
P.S.: Dan, as for your letter, I give you a B-plus. Loved the passion, and most fans agreed with you. As do most general managers and owners, only they are afraid to say it.