Cavs’ Gilbert answers questions surrounding LeBron
Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and infamously bitter as LeBron James’ jilted suitor a few months ago, said he hasn’t gone out of his way to make James The Player Whose Name Shall Not Be Spoken around Quicken Loans Arena. But he went more than 10 minutes into a 12-minute gathering with reporters Tuesday before he uttered “LeBron” just once. No “James,” certainly no “LeBron James.”
The rest of the time, Gilbert talked of “the player,” “the player who left” and, in one case, the player who is “under contract with” another franchise.
So you had to figure that a question about James’ worthiness to have his jersey number retired some day in Cleveland wouldn’t get very far.
“We haven’t had that discussion on anybody yet,” Gilbert said, referring to his five-year stewardship of the Cavs. “I would assume that’s something you would do once they retire. … I’m sure it will come up and as it comes up, we’ll address it.”
Six former Cavaliers — Nate Thurmond, Bingo Smith, Austin Carr, Larry Nance, Brad Daugherty and Mark Price — have had their numbers retired and there’s not a two-time Most Valuable Player award winner among them. So would James seem to belong among them up in The Q’s rafters?
“Twenty-five-year old player, I don’t know if any franchise or anybody can make that kind of judgment on somebody that young until their career is over,” Gilbert said.
It was the first extended session with Cleveland reporters since the ill-fated night in July when James announced on national television that he was signing with the Miami Heat as a free agent, leaving Cleveland after seven seasons. The news and the manner in which it was delivered triggered an angry response from Gilbert, who fired off a blistering e-mail letter to fans that attacked the player’s character and ultimately managed to gain James a little sympathy. To some, it justified James’ decision to go.
Any regrets about that impulsive act?
“No, I don’t regret it, and I’ve said that over the last couple of days,” Gilbert said. “Look, that letter was to the fans and the supporters of the Cavaliers. It wasn’t to the player who left. It wasn’t to the rest of the world. I wanted them to understand not only how I felt but how everybody felt in the entire organization.”
The owner did crack a joke about “a certain font that you all loved,” referring to the Comic Sans typeface used in his e-mail.
Gilbert also disputed various stories and Internet reports that James was given too much sway over organizational decisions and that he and his friends demanded or were given special perks and privileges.
“In all due respect, I think there’s a lot of nonsense that LeBron was asking for all these things and doing all these things,” Gilbert said. “Having all these privileges. It’s just simply not true. None of that stuff happened. None of his friends flew on the plane to games. That’s simply not true.
“With respect to him, he didn’t ask for huge material things. That’s just not the case. There were some people who had some tickets before we got here, which we honored the five years we were here. But there really wasn’t that much ‘stuff.’ People write about it in the big-picture sense, but you never hear what the details are because there aren’t any.”
Gilbert, about a half hour before tipoff of Cleveland’s home opener against Boston, responded to questions on a variety of topics, most related to James’ abrupt departure — a move that was estimated to sap the Cavaliers of about $100 million of their franchise value:
• How would the Cavs go about winning a championship before Miami, as vowed in the letter? “Well, it wasn’t ‘before Miami.’ If you read the letter, it was really before the player who left. Look, these things will play themselves out and we’ll see what happens. It was certainly something that put more emphasis on the future and put more pressure on everybody here to say, ‘Hey, let’s deliver as smart and efficiently as we possibly can.’ ”
• James said in a magazine story he would be open to playing for the Cavs late in his career. Would Gilbert be receptive? “I learned my lesson. Based on certain NBA rules, we’re not allowed to comment on players who are under contract with other franchises.”
• Does he still think James did not give 100 percent in Cleveland’s playoff elimination against Boston? ” It’s a subjective judgment when you watch a game or watch a tape. … Everybody’s got to come to their own decision on that.”
• Did he watch James and the Miami Heat on opening night Tuesday? “Was there a game? … Hey, it’s one game in a long season. I don’t think it’s a commentary on what really will happen. We saw that last year, too: When we were 0-2, the whole world was falling apart. So I don’t want to say that means much.”
• Is it a relief now to finally move on from dwelling on James’ whereabouts? “You had this happen in July and the season really doesn’t start until late October, early November, so you’ve got this huge gap where there’s really nothing to talk about. I’m very happy that the season’s starting. We can focus on the future, for sure.
“I think this team can certainly make the playoffs, and maybe beyond that. I think we have some very good players. Not a lot of teams have players the quality of Antawn Jamison and Daniel Gibson coming off their bench. And having the kind of quality coach we have, anything can happen. We’re very optimistic.”