Veteran Cavs broadcaster Joe Tait calls the LeBron James TV show "an embarrassment" to everyone involved. A quick chat with Cavs radio broadcaster Joe Tait.
View full sizeCavaliers broadcaster Joe Tait.Did you watch the LeBron James special?
I mostly certainly did.
Your reaction?
It was an embarrassment to everyone involved -- the league, ESPN, LeBron, everyone. Making it worse, they didn't even know it was an embarrassment.
Is that all?
How about this: It also was a culmination of six weeks of [free agent] unbridled idiocy.
What did you think James would do?
I thought he'd stay with the Cavs.
Why did he leave?
Pure ego.
Meaning?
He played here for seven years and didn't win a championship. He wants a championship now. He's got everything else. In Miami, he may or may not get it.
How did James look on TV?
Uncomfortable, not natural. I wished I was watching it with someone who knows about body language, because it seemed to me that there was something wrong.
Did it surprise you that Jim Gray put together the idea of the special, persuaded James to go along and then sold it to ESPN? Then Gray, who was paid by James, did the interview?
In that embarrassment, nothing surprises me.
What did you think of [Cavs owner] Dan Gilbert's letter?
It was great! Outstanding! He said what a lot of people felt. I understand, because I felt the same way. A lot of people did. I give him credit for saying it.
-- Terry Pluto