![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010-07-12-jameswade.jpg\" "\\"2010-07-12-jameswade\\"")
<\/a>LeBron James (right) with his besties, and new teammates, Chris Bosh and Duane Wade.<\/p><\/div>\n
While his recent announcement that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat did<\/em> disappoint me, I have very mixed feelings on the whole shebang. I wish he had stayed at home, but he had to do what he felt was best. What I didn\u2019t like at all is the fact that he didn\u2019t make his decision until the morning of the TV spectacle. Why did he make the date for the decision announcement, when he didn\u2019t even have a decision yet? And then put pressure on himself to come up with something? He should have made up his mind first, and only then, make the date to let the world in on it!<\/p>\n He\u2019s had months to work on this dilemma. He should have waited until it was clear in his mind, then thought about it a while longer to cement for himself that that\u2019s what he truly wanted to do.<\/p>\n But, I think that we all forget that he\u2019s only 25-years-old. That might have a lot to do with the decision itself and how it was handled. I have a feeling that he doesn\u2019t really have a\u00a0keen, worldly advisor around him; rather, most likely it was just a lot of yes men, who let him mandate how everything around him works. While I stick up for him on the move, I question how the whole thing went down. And now I fear that only country-wide bad treatment awaits him for a long time to come.<\/p>\n First, my thoughts on the decision itself. I don\u2019t feel that he owes Cleveland and its fans anything. He\u2019s provided them with some great times and happiness for the past seven years, and now he deserves to do what he feels is best for him. He\u2019s a young guy who wants to work with his friends every day. He\u2019s the one with the talent to put himself in the position to be able to play anywhere, and he played loyally in that city for years, which helped them out both financially and emotionally.<\/p>\n The solution to how I feel Cleveland fans should look upon his move reminds me of this personal story: a wise older woman I know had been married to a much younger man for many years, who had more than helped bring up her three sons. He finally left her because he wanted to find someone younger so he could have children of his own. She told me that she wasn\u2019t upset because he had been wonderful to her and her family, and said that he deserved to now have what he felt was best for him, and she appreciates the time they had together and what he had brought to her family member\u2019s lives. LeBron\u2019s fans should feel the same. I feel they should have said thanks for all the years of service and happiness, and wish him well, not now despise him.<\/p>\n Therefore, I can\u2019t believe that the Cavs owner, Dan Gilbert, would make such a public campaign against him. LeBron doesn\u2019t owe them anything. I actually fear for his safety in that city because that\u2019s where he lives. There are a lot of nuts around, and Gilbert\u2019s statement may motivate some to take bad action, bite my tongue. LeBron may have to move away, after living his whole life in near-by Akron, for his safety and that of his young family. Gilbert should have thanked him and wished him well, urging the fans to do the same. His published letter was immature and ill-thought-out at best, and in reality, just plain stupid of him to do.<\/p>\n The big mistake that LeBron<\/em> made, in my opinion, is to handle it the way he did. It was great for ESPN, who had the exclusive on the announcement and probably brought in their biggest ratings ever, and for the Greenwich, Connecticut Boys and Girls Club, to whom James donated a hefty sum for the use of the facilities for the announcement. But it was horrible for the residents of Cleveland. They were broken-up with on TV. How would any of us like to go through such a public break-up, on any<\/em> level? It kind-of gives me shivers. I really don\u2019t think that LeBron thought it through.<\/p>\n From the beginning, I thought that he would stay put. And then, when I heard of the upcoming July 8th<\/sup> event, I was more sure of it because I didn\u2019t think that there was a chance in hell he would put his hometown fans through the humiliation (of sorts) on national television.<\/p>\n So, I was especially surprised when he chose to join the Miami Heat. As the special show was going on, though, and he told the insipid host, Jim Gray, (who never asks the right questions, ever, in my opinion,) that he had to do what\u2019s best for him to win, I knew that meant Miami. I actually felt kind-of sick about it, though. He really should have either told the city first that he\u2018s moving on, and the surprise could have just been where he chose to go, or just not made a spectacle of the proceedings in general. But the media would have done the latter, so I would have suggested the former to him. From what I understand, the poor city of Cleveland has enough problems to deal with, and didn\u2019t need the public slap-in-the-face.<\/p>\n