LeBron was born into poverty, to a 16 year-old single mother.  But because he grew into a 6'9 man-child, the basketball phenom, Ohio gets to claim him?

If you dont think that LeBron matters, the Knicks basically tanked two seasons for the chance to sign him.  Chicago traded Hinrich (with a first round pick) for a second round pick for more cap space to try to lure him.  The Clippers chose 20 years of losing just for the chance, no they just suck.  Miami basically went to shoot the moon and traded its entire team to try to sign the trio.  Did Cleveland ever go all in on LeBron?

Depending on who you believe, the Cavs had the chance to acquire Amare rather than Jamison but decided against it because they didnt want to give up JJ Hickson.  That really should be on the LeBron in Cleveland tombstone..."we could have gave you Amare, but JJ was too much".  I can just imagine the Lakers saying that to Kobe.  We tried to get Pau Gasol, but Marc Gasol has WAYYY too much upside.  But we got you Shareef Abdul-Raheem!

There is no loyalty in sports.  None.  If LeBron had torn all the ligaments in his knee in the first game of his career, would Cleveland still claim him now as he struggled back ala Shaun Livingston?  Cavs fans dont want to hear it, but he became bigger than the city, bigger than the franchise.  He increased the worth of the Cavs by hundreds of millions of dollars.  Can you name the owner of the Raptors?  Me neither, and soon Dan Gilbert will be just as irrelevant.  Everyone benefited from LeBron being in Cleveland, except him.  Quick who the beat writer for the Portland Trailblazers?  Its Jason Quick (ironic huh?), but you didnt know that because the Blazers dont matter.  But because of LeBron,  Brian Windhorst became a regular on national sports radio.  LeBron lifted the entire city, but it was a one-sided affair.

Purely as a basketball fan, I am excited to see the LeBron-Wade-Bosh trifecta.  As the fan of a small market team, I dont expect my team to win, yet I still watch.  Because I love basketball.  I love it even more because the three chose each other.  Its why I still hate Kobe.  He chose to run Shaq out of town to seek his own glory, then couldnt get it done, threw a national bitchfest asking to be traded, then loved him some Pau Gasol and the titles that came with having a top-10 running mate.

Dan Gilbert preaches loyalty, but fires a coach that won 60+ games last two seasons, and the GM who assembled the roster that was supposed to be good enough for LeBron to stay.

The end of the story is that Kobe got Gasol, won the titles, and stayed.  LeBron got Jamison, lost in the second round and left.

(now lets hope that Beasely and Love can be surgically combined into a supra-playa).

Results have not been good. 9.7 points a game, under 35% from the field...yikes.

But all stats aside, he hasnt looked good.  He doesnt stand out as an athlete even in summer league, getting multiple shots blocked.

But other rookies have looked bad too, Favors and Orton is particular have looked bad.  But Turner was the finished product, the upperclassman, and he has been so underwhelming.  One play today stood out.  The shot clock was around 5 sec or so when Turner was imbounded the ball to and he dribbled, dribbled, and continued dribbling as the clock ran out.  Totally oblivious.  Not good.

What does everyone think?  Is it just summer league or is Turner not all he was made out to be?

http://www.nba.com/summerleague2010/players/evan_turner/index.html