NBA commissioner David Stern congratulated LeBron James on his decision. He just wishes it came without "The Decision."
UPDATED: 10:24 p.m.
David Stern endorsed LeBron James' move to Miami, but said the way he gave his decision "was ill-conceived." He said Dan Gilbert's diatribe was "a little bit extreme" and said Jesse Jackson's comments about Gilbert were "mistaken."LAS VEGAS -- NBA Commissioner David Stern issued a stinging rebuke Monday to LeBron James, his management team and Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert for the way all handled James' departure from the team last week.
He also rebutted Rev. Jesse Jackson's criticisms that compared Gilbert's comments to that of a slave owner.
Speaking after the league's summer Board of Governors meeting at The Palms Casino, Stern sharply criticized "The Decision" show on ESPN that James used to announce he was going to play for the Miami Heat last Thursday.
He was just as harsh in reviewing Gilbert's follow-up open letter to Cavs fans and slapped Gilbert with a $100,000 fine for the remarks.
Stern stopped short, however, of finding fault with James and new teammates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh meeting to discuss their free-agent future while they were still under contract with other teams.
"I would have advised [James] not to embark on what has become known as 'The Decision,'" Stern said. "I think that the advice he received on this was poor. His performance was fine. His honesty and his integrity shine through. But this decision was ill-conceived, badly produced and poorly executed. Those who were interested were given our opinion prior to its airing."
In announcing his fine to Gilbert, the most the Cavaliers have been publicly fined in Gilbert's five-year tenure, Stern said Gilbert went overboard in his criticism of James. He also referenced an interview Gilbert gave to the Associated Press following the release of the letter in which he branded James a "quitter" for his performance in the playoff series with the Boston Celtics in May.
"I think the remarks by Dan Gilbert, catalyzed as they may have been by a hurt with respect with the respect to his team and the people of Cleveland, though understandable, were ill-advised and imprudent," Stern said.
"I think the remarks by Dan Gilbert, catalyzed as they may have been by a hurt with respect with the respect to his team and the people of Cleveland, though understandable, were ill-advised and imprudent," David Stern said Monday."I think Dan Gilbert is a good owner and I think he was completely correct in expressing his disappointment and his determination to win. In fact, if he wants to guarantee a championship, more power to him. I'm going to tune in to watch to see if he can do it. But you would read the rest of the statement to see where I think it was a little bit to the extreme and his follow-on interview."
Then Stern turned his focus on Jackson, who issued a statement Sunday saying that Gilbert's "feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave."
Stern said he called Jackson Monday to express his disappointment.
"Equally imprudent are the remarks by my good friend Jesse Jackson, which purport to make this into a racial matter," Stern said. "And I find that, however well meaning Jesse may be with the premise on this, mistaken."
In a statement released Monday, Gilbert responded to Jackson.
"I strongly disagree with Rev. Jesse Jackson's recent comments and we are not going to engage in any related discussion on it," Gilbert said. "Going forward, we're very excited about the Cavaliers and the positive future of our region."
Despite complaints that James, Wade and Bosh's meetings before the start of free agency were a combination of collusion and tampering, Stern said they were not. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said before the meeting that he planned to bring up the issue and perhaps seek to create stiffer rules to prevent it from happening again.
Stern said the league would look at the issue in the future, but that no team had formally lodged a tampering complaint.
"The three players are totally within their rights to talk to each other," Stern said. "That is not tampering."
Since the announcement, there have been reports that the three stars agreed in advance to go to Miami and the drama built up in the first days of July was for a benefit of a documentary that Wade and Bosh were shooting and James' primetime special. Media and television critics from around the country have panned "The Decision."
Over the weekend, Advertising Age published an article with the back story of the production, saying it was in the works for nearly a month. Also that ESPN wanted James to wait until July 14 to make the announcement so it could do it in conjunction with the ESPYs show. The network then cleared air time when July 8 was "chosen" as the date. James' manager Maverick Carter put the show together with Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel.
The implication that James knew his decision and waited, causing the Cavs harm as they waited and missed out on other free agents, was targeted by Stern. The Cavs were not informed of James' choice until minutes before it was revealed on national television.
"I think [James] is both a terrific player and a very good person," Stern said. "Had he asked my advice in advance I might have suggested that he advise Cleveland at an earlier time than he apparently did that he was leaving even without announcing where he was going."
Though James' departure will likely have a severe impact on the Cavs' business, Stern said he was confident the team would get through it and remain a success.
"We value our players, they're human and they make choices sometimes that we wish they hadn't made," Stern said. "Based on Dan's record in this league and other business endeavors, I think the Cleveland market will do fine. As transcendent as any player is, they don't win games by themselves.
"LeBron didn't win 60-plus games for Cleveland, it was a team that did that."