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No Longer Witnesses: Removal Of Sign Ends LeBron James Era

The time has come for Cleveland fans to move on from LeBron

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17 Total Updates since July 8, 2010
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Nike Removing 'Witness' sign from Cleveland Building

Nike is in the process of removing the LeBron James witness sign, the final step in a process to remove LeBron James from the identity of Cleveland.

“We are removing the LeBron James Witness mural in downtown Cleveland and expect the process to be completed within a few days,” Nike spokesman KeJuan Wilkins said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Wilkins said he does not yet know what the company’s plans are with the gigantic sign on the side of the Landmark Office Tower.

How about another local athlete? Josh Cribbs??

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Cavaliers Complete SIgn-and-Trade Deal With Miami Heat

Cooler heads prevailed. The Cavaliers have agreed to a sign-and-trade deal with the Miami Heat, assuring the Cavaliers of at least something in return for LeBron James.

It breaks down like this:

MIAMI GETS:

LeBron James, who signs a 6-year, $110 million contract

CLEVELAND GETS:

Two first-round picks, that must be used starting in 2013 and ending by 2017

2012 second-round pick Miami received from New Orleans

Future second-round pick Heat acquired from Oklahoma City

Cleveland can also swap first round picks with the Heat in 2012

A large trade exception($15 million or so) that the Cavs must use in trades for one calendar year.

Not a bad haul, when LeBron was leaving any way.

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Jim Gray Paid For By LeBron James

Were you as confused as I was with the softball questions tossed at LeBron James? What about the 6 minutes – and 18 questions – it took Gray to finally ask LeBron what team he would be playing for(even Gray looked uncomfortable with this)

There’s a good reason. LeBron James paid the bill.

ESPN didn’t play down one part of the business arrangement of the deal — that Gray, the former ESPN and NBC reporter who is now working on a freelance basis, was James’ preferred interviewer. But the network didn’t say, and now says they didn’t know, that Gray’s travel and payment for “The Decision” show was being paid by the entity set up by Team LeBron and not by ESPN, as CNBC has learned.

“We aren’t privy to Gray’s arrangement,” said ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys. “He came as part of the package. We accepted Jim knowing that we would have extensive time for our people to interview LeBron, which was bulk of the show.”

The worst play-by-play voice in the history of the Cavaliers proves to be the worst fake interviewer as well. Truly great journalism.

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LeBron James Calls In Paparazzi To See His Arrival

LeBron James arrived in Miami in the middle of the night and wanted to make sure the photogs were ready for him -

Tabloid reporters were all called by LeBron’s people to the hotel at around 3:00am to get pictures of the prima donna basketball player arriving, according to Media Take Out.

Expect to see lots of LeBron on the gossip websites in the coming years from the Sunshine State.

It seems LeBron’s real thirst was for attention. We’ll see how long D-Wade basks in the shadow of the Paper King.

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A Look Inside Dan Gilbert's Frustration

For those that think Dan Gilbert’s letter to fans regarding LeBron James was over the top, take a moment to investigate the reasons why Gilbert may have felt that way. Brian Windhorst does a great job giving us a glimpse inside the Cavaliers day-to-day operations.

In every trade Gilbert made, he took on more money than he sent out, his payroll spiraling into the luxury tax and then more deeply into the tax. Each, whether it was for Ben Wallace or Mo Williams or Shaquille O’Neal or Antawn Jamison, came only as James signed off. Yet when it was time to sign free agents, James would not commit to the future.

It left the team being forced to improve mostly through trades, deals they often made with the short term in mind that required them to give up future assets in the form of draft picks and prospects. Largely it worked, as the Cavs became one of the league’s most successful teams.

Gilbert hired one of James’ friends and paid him more than some assistant coaches to hang out with the team so James would be comfortable. Gilbert allowed members of James’ management team to fly on the team jet. He spent $25 million to construct a practice facility that was located 20 minutes closer to James’ home than the old one. He rebuilt the locker room. He hired a masseur to travel on the road because James likes massages.

Perhaps that helps shed some light on the situation.

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SI: LeBron James Hardly A King

Reaction to ‘The Decision’ is flying in, but perhaps SI has done the best job so far explaining just how weak LeBron’s reasoning for heading to Miami with D-Wade and Chris Bosh is.

“Michael Jordan announced on national television he’s leaving Chicago to join the Detroit Pistons. Jordan said it was tough to bolt Chicago, where he was the most popular athlete in many years, because he thinks he has a better chance to win a championship if he plays with Pistons star Isiah Thomas. Jordan said by playing together, he and Thomas “won’t have the pressure of going out and scoring 30 every night.”

Does that help you see how ridiculous all this is??

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Photographs by spatulated, Triple Tri, and chrischappelear used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.