This isnt about me, but if it was, heres what I would tell you: That I love Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert more than I have ever loved the owner of a professional sports franchise. At this moment I love him more than I have ever loved an athlete, and as a kid in Oklahoma I loved me some Billy Sims. Its possible I love Dan Gilbert more than I love my parents, my wife and my kids. But not my dog. my dog.
But Gilberts a close second, even if his reaction to LeBron James defection makes me wonder if Gilbert is housetrained. He seems a little unhinged. Unrefined. Hell, hes raw like road rash.
Dan Gilberts grasp of diplomacy went missing after LeBron James decision. (AP) Hes beautiful.
Gilbert freaked out when James announced last week on ESPN that he was leaving the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. Gilbert posted an “open letter to fans” on the Cavaliers website that called James “heartless” and “callous” and “our former hero.” And then Gilbert ceased with the niceties. He called James “narcissistic” and said James decision was a “shocking act of disloyalty” and a “cowardly betrayal.”
So of course Gilbert is being ripped for it. Classy columnist Michael Wilbon wrote that Gilbert “came off like a creep” and “leaving this idiot was the right move” for James. Wilbon decided that Gilberts image “ought to be taking a lot worse beating than LeBrons.”
Which just goes to show that even a smart man, which Wilbon is, can have a stupid opinion. Which that was.
But if this story isnt about me, its damn sure not about Michael Wilbon. Its about Dan Gilbert, and what his furious letter about James might have done to his franchise.
It sure didnt help it.
And I say that with a heavy heart, because as Ive written, Im all about Dan Gilbert. Do I root for his team? No. But I dont wish negativity on the Cavs, although I fear thats what Gilberts tirade might accomplish. There are tons of people who understand what Gilbert did, who like what he did, maybe even love what he did.
None of those people play in the NBA.
Here is how NBA players will view Gilbert: That dudes crazy, and not in the Mark Cuban, defend-my-team-to-the-death kind of way. Theyll view Gilbert as crazy in the dont-you-EVER-cross-me kind of way.
There are unique circumstances here, but it doesnt matter. It wont register with players that James was a local Cleveland hero, that he personally approved (or didnt disapprove) radical, franchise-shaking moves designed to keep him happy. The Cavs fired their coach. They essentially fired their general manager. The two most important people in the organization, not counting the owner and the superstar, are gone. Why? Because the owner thought the superstar wanted it that way. And still the superstar left. By announcing it on national TV. Without giving his hometown team a blow-softening phone call ahead of time.
When that prime-time special began, the Cavaliers were worth roughly $476 million. Less than 30 minutes later, according to , the franchise was worth nearly $100 million less. All because LeBron James is gone.
< was mind-bogglingly cold.
What Gilbert did in response was mind-bogglingly vindictive, and while I love what he did, this isnt about me. This is about Gilbert, and he was vindictive, and for that he will pay a price. Mark my words: His team will pay a price, because Gilbert crossed a line you simply do not cross.
Call it the Nolan Richardson Rule.
Richardson was the coach at Arkansas in February 2002, his team 13-13 and everyone in town angry about it, when he dared his bosses to fire him. “If they go ahead and pay me my money,” he said, “they can take this job tomorrow.”
Days later Arkansas paid Richardson his money and took his job. Richardson responded by suing the university, and eight years later he remains out of college coaching. Hell never coach in college again, and why? Because he crossed a line you si and then sued when it took him up on that offer. No school will hire Richardson now, not with this in mind: Richardson is un-hireable because hes un-fireable.
The same will hold for Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers. His post-decision rant against James will scare away potential free agents. Thats a risk some free agents will take, players on the level of Jason Kapono or Eldridge Recasner. But great players? All-Stars? Theyll have options, including teams whose owners havent publically eviscerated a player for exercising his rights as a free agent.
Thats my theory, and I ran it by some agents. I wanted agents who would talk to me on the record, without fear of backlash from either side, so I called agents of other sports to ask about Gilberts reaction to James.
Baseball agent John Boggs, whose clients have included Tony Gwynn and Adrian Gonzalez, said Gilberts reaction “definitely isnt a selling point … you can be disappointed, but to go to that extreme, I dont understand it. It wouldnt help him land any player I know.”
I talked to four other agents, two from the NFL. I got versions of that same quote, over and over again: After publicly smearing James, Gilbert will have a tough time signing marquee free agents.
I hope theyre wrong, but I bet theyre not. and Gilbert, in his fury, spilled acid into the wound.
