Z has been on the Cavs longer than any other player in history with 11 years in tow. By the time he is done he should be the all-time leader in several categories.
To keep perspective, look how much he's changed. I try and use the earliest available picture I can find of the player when they begin their Cavaliers tenure. Just looking at the difference of what he looked like when he first suited up at 20 (before he went off for his first surgery) and what he looks like now lets you now how long he's been here. On a personal note, Z is one of my all-time favs. A guy who has really embraced Cleveland as his second home. His quote of "...I couldn't sign with another team because I'd be checking the box scores to see how the Cavs did..." let me know that he plans on retiring here as well.
If LBJ and crew can secure a Championship before Z hangs it up, I can easily see number 11 hanging up in the rafters.
Happy November 16th. Its LeBron shoe day and i went out and bought em. Crunch suggested that I write something up, so here I go.
So, I live in LA... 2,500 miles from Cleveland. Wonder how popular LBJ is out here? I went to Footlocker in Santa Monica at 10:30am... AND THEY WERE SOLD OUT ALREADY! OK, they only open up at 10am, so we know that either there are some people more into LBJ than me or shoe "copping" is more popular out on the west coast.
Anyways, $150 bucks later, I had my Zoom LBJ IV's. (check them all out on my table)
Since I have all his kicks, I thought I'd review 'em all briefly. Air Zoom LeBron IV Heavy, not very detailed but feel great on the foot. I should explain what I mean by "not very detailed". The reason that LeBron's shoes are so cool is because they have lots of little cool details on them. They aren't just a shoe with his name on them. 3rd best overall
Air Zoom LeBron III Almost perfect. Tons more detail than the the other three. Even his name on the agletts (the tips of the laces). They are ulra cool looking and feel great to wear. But... 2nd best overall
Air Zoom LeBron II Cool freaking shoe. Looks like a bullet-proof vest. Nice velcro strap to tighten around your ankle. Not too heavy either. They are simpler than the AZLIII, but still have some cool nooks and crannies. #1 LeBron shoe so far! They are, by FAR, the most comfortable and freakin' great to play in.
Air Zoom Generation LAME name (how can they not name them "THE LEBRON" or something?). Too thin. Not good to wear or play in. But nostagia goes a long way. These are the shoes he wore in Game #1 and the ones he's wearing in his first "Tomahawk Dunk". The photo of that dunk has become THE iconic image of his career (see below).
Other Info. None of these are his best feeling shoe. The LBJ 20-5-5 shoe (below), is the best feeling shoe I've ever played in. But, since its not an "official" numbered seasonal shoe, I'm not counting it.
I know its probably not the most exciting part of the site... but the Media Guide page in the Miscellaneous section has been updated with the new cover.
Thought the topic was interesting: "Is LeBron MEAN enough to get a championship" but the article was fluff basically. Check out the cover here on the magazine covers' page.
In the current issue of SLAM Magazine (the one with either Amare or Big Ben on the Cover)
There is a free LeBron DVD included with lots of cool stuff. So i added the vids from it to the Nike Year Four page of The LeBron Phenomenon section. Or, just check em here:
In the city of Dayton, Bob and Jim Pollard were legendary athlete's. Bob once threw a no hitter for Wright State University. Jim received a full ride to play basketball at Arizona State, unfortunately knee injuries derailed his career. Combined, no other rocker/rapper/opera singer could beat them on the court or on the stage. Some of their songs could even fit for some of this years Cavs team:
Our long lost Cavs legend has a new gig this upcoming year. He is going to be a NASCAR commentator.
Here is Cleveland.com's blurb: "Who would have thought that former Cavaliers center Brad Daugherty would become the first full-time African-American NASCAR commentator? Not me. Then again, Brad always has been a little unpredictable.
Upon further review, Daugherty has had his hand in the sport for the past 20 years, owning race teams in the Busch and Craftsman Truck Series as well as being a member of the rules and competition committee.
Daugherty will join the ESPN NASCAR crew in 2007. He'll host the NASCAR Pit Studio Show, which will provide pre- and post-race coverage as well as segments during the race."
Good for Hooch. Now, just come to the Q so we can honor you. I don't know where it started but you and the Cavs need to bury the hatchet.
The Boston Herald is reporting the Cavs will trade Luke Jackson to the C's for some big guy that will probably be cut by the Cavs. Luke got caught up in a numbers game with the Cavs. Although his injuries didn't help much either.
You know this is a blah trade when the career highlight for one player involved is being designated to Florida Flame of the D-League for the 2005-06 season and the other doesn't even have a career highlight.
Ok, i FINALLY updated the playoff stats from last year. Wow, that's way late. But, I'm getting the site ready for the upcoming year so i did it today. Needless to say, i need to get the playoff stats into the all-time leaders page, because I'm sure you guys are gonna want to track LBJ going up the list... but the playoffs are a looong ways off, so i have some time.
Anyways, you can view the updated stats on the individual player's pages or check it on the team page here.
In a previous post (which i have deleted out of embarrassment), i thought i had the new floor... i was wrong. The ultra cool Brian Windhorst broke the actual pic of the new floor in his blog (which i found linked from a YAYSports article).
I think it looks pretty cool Check it out on the Courts page
This is the one ESPN really got on Reghi for, its a real mouthfull.
I quoth the great Reghi (I really struggled to figure out how the punctuation would be):
"LEBRON JAMES!!! Flight number 23 LOVES levitation; coming out of the attic to SMASH it home!!!" and then... "LeBron with STRENGTH! YOU can count THAT! And one coming at the line! THE MEGAWATT! The brilliance of LeBron James is again SHINING brightly in Charlotte tonight!"
Cavs signed veteran guard David Wesley to play for them. This seems strange for two reasons, one the Cavs have a glut of guards, second Wesley and Damon Jones are very similar in their role. Both are about the same size and weight, can play a little PG, are more suited for SG, and the Cavs need them hit open jumpers and drain three's. Although Wesley should provide more defense. So, they got two players to do the same thing? We think it's pretty obvious the Cavs are going to move one or more of their guards at some point in the season, whether it be Luke, Sasha, Ira or DJ, someone has to go.
All summer we've been hearing that the Cavs need an enforcer on the inside. That the current frontline is too soft. Maybe not, allow us to submit this video as exhibit "A". Check out Andy jackin' some dude in his face. Apparently, he broke the guys jaw.
Also, it appears that Varejao has Anderson on the back of his jersey. Is he going Nene on us?
Most of us loved the "Miracle Year" throwbacks from two years ago, and it looks like they are going for it again. But, this time (according to Uniwatch.com) LBJ, Z and company will be sporting World B. Free era throwbacks. Check it out (its the last article before the comments)!
Over at LeBron Talk (a website that I subscribe to and is quite cool if you are as obsessive about LBJ as me), they are linking this pic: (the pic is from the NT)
So those ARE the IVs that have been floating around the web, so... yeah. We saw 'em back in like April.
The other good thing is it looks like they may actually wear the Wine colored uni's again someday (all blue in the playoffs was a little overkill if you ask me)
Eddie Basden is now a Cav but we had to trade somebody to get him, and that means that our favorite stringbean in gone. Happy trails Marty we barely knew ya, enjoy eating Ben Wallace's HUGE elbows in practice everyday (remember what that did to Darko).
We welcome Scot Pollard, the new big guy to the team. Scoty's not known for being "sane" or an offensive juggernaut, but he should play solid D and hustle a la the Wild Thing.
We could have a very irritating defense next year (for other teams, I'll love it)
Drew Gooden and trade rumors will continue to swirl for three more years. Drew signed a 3yr/$23 million contract extension with the Cavs, thus cementing his future as the player most fans will mention when they want the Cavs to make a trade. Forums and Kenny Roda's show are already lighting up with potential deals proposed by delusional fanatics.
Signing Drew is a good thing for the Cavs. First, they retain the service of a talented, yet sometimes focus-challenged, power forward who proved he's a team player. Second, Drew is capable of having a huge game once every three weeks, whether the Cavs win is another questions. C, Lebron Love Levitation. And finally, the contract does not break the bank, allows the Cavs to remain flexible and comes off the books before the big free agent class of 2010.
It's not like trade rumors are unprecedented for Drew, he has bounced around during his 4yr NBA career.
The always stylish and equally chatty Damon Jones had a chance to give a tour of his home to MTV. Nothing to special about Damon's digs. Walls, stairs, carpet and furniture pretty much fill up the whole place. He's got a movie theater, but is that really a big deal anymore?
His cars are where it's at, all three of them. It's a toss up whether his house or cars are worth more.
In a stunning move, the Cavaliers (err, Dan Gilbert) have fired long time play-by-play man and noted word aficionado Michael Reghi. Trying to fill his shoes will be some guy who used to do play-by-play for the Pistions.
We get it Dan, you're from Detriot. You like to benchmark winners. Can you please leave something Cleveland? First we had to endure Public Address announcer Ronnie "Slam" Duncan, a blatant Mase rip-off, yelling at us the entire game and now this? Reghi, while at times a little over the top and maybe a little corny, brought a certain flair and life to the broadcast. His rapport and camaraderie with AC and Scott Williams was both genuine and entertaining.
You'll be missed "Plugs".
Reghi-isms: Flight Number 23 lift and lace sweet stroke that jumper bottom out that jumper stick back jumper ripping some cord the Candyman The Wonder Kid from Akron St. Vincent St. Mary's wheeling in the lane the rip away hammer it home the blow by gets a blow You can book this one for the Cavaliers
The NBA announced the regular season schedule for the league and as a memeber of said league, the Cavs are included in this announcement. They open at home against the Wiz, then do a strange San Antonio to Charlotte back to back on the road. Some games to note: @LAC Jan. 13th, @Denver Jan. 19th (a day everyone should celebrate), LAL Feb. 11th, and ironically enough @Utah Feb. 14th (be sure to give Boozer my love) before wrapping up the regular season against Milwaukee at home on April 18th.
Also if you live out of market, don't fret. The Cavs are on national TV a ridiculous 33 times this season. I'm all for promoting Cleveland and the Cavs, but lets save some for the wedding night.
Came across this pretty authentic looking pic of the (maybe?) AZLBJ IV for next year. We won't know if this is real for probably about 6 months, but I'm posting it now anyways because I'm a little LeBron obsessed at the moment.
OK, as you may know because of so many people downloading the Videos off of the Multimedia page, I had to remove them and rework the hosting. Well... its done and back up
Lebron got the proverbial monkey off his back by hitting his first game winner with .9 secs remaining in OT, capping off another spectacular night while notching his 5th triple double of the season and 9th of his career. However, it wasn't just all Lebron all the time, Big Shot Ron Murray continues to rescue the Cavs by draining clutch jumpers, as he did last night to send the game to overtime, and Damon Jones even found his stroke and went 4/5 from behind to arc. "Team Streak" continues to roll along and got back to 10 games over .500.
Oh yeah, Lebron was also named player of the week, just another week at the office.
