Tonight I sit in my living room watching the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat to win the NBA Championship and I, like so many fans, are rooting against the Heat as much as for the Mavericks. It was almost a year ago that I had to sit through “The Decision”—the insensitive over hyper poorly orchestrated event that LeBron James organized to announce where he would play in the future.
LeBron shied away from the camera, referred to himself in the third person and did not take responsibility for his “decision”. That was the first glimpse that he was not a leader.
He thought the “Celtics model” of Allen, Garnet and Pierce was the model for the next century. But what I think he missed was that the Celtics had a sense of maturity. They had been in the leagues over 30 years yes, but they also conducted themselves with defensive intensity on the court and professionalism off the court. The Miami antics and theatrics at their press conference should have been no surprise, why don’t people remember LeBron’s pre-game “picture snap shots” in Cleveland?
Looking back on those antics, it wasn’t the immature pre-game shows; it was that he acted like he was so close to those teammates.
See I should know I am Dan Gilbert. I am the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. And I am a fan of basketball as well. And while you listened to The Decision on the radio, watched on TV or engaged on the internet, I learned about The Decision the same time you did. The Cavaliers were blessed to land the Ohio Native and most heralded prospect in the NBA in decades. In turn, The Cleveland Organization supported a boy grow to grow up into a man. Well, maybe physically, but he is still so young.
That is why I sent my poorly worded email blast the night of The Decision. It was emotional and it was wrong. But can you imagine that as the Owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, I too had to learn that the anchor of my franchise and MY BUSINESS was leaving for another job. That is his right and this is America, but how about a phone call?
**** Before you send this to the media or re quote, this is Dan Schorr and not Dan Gilbert. Dan Gilbert tweeted tonight “There are no shortcuts”—maybe another emotional response. But let this man have his moment. His redemption actually began about a month ago when Cleveland jumped other teams in the NBA Lottery to secure the #1 pick in next weeks NBA Draft; they deserve it.
And Dan Gilbert deserves a lot of overdue accolades and what a better time than tonight.
You may be able to answer basketball trivia but did you know Dan Gilbert moved over 1,700 of his employees, and many sister companies, to downtown Detroit? Sure it was for business reasons, but it also is revitalizing Detroit.
I do wonder where Dan Gilbert is tonight. I would hope in his living room, sipping a scotch or Champagne. Some have said he is tough to work for, he made rash decisions to fire key employees supposedly, but the guy has passion and I love that. He is allowed to smile tonight.
And I can’t sign off from my living room without giving a high five to the City of Cleveland. I hope you are smiling, partying at the Winking Lizard and proving that you are “great by the Lake”.
I am going to finish my Champagne and make a toast to “no short cuts”. That is my decision.
