# LeBron James



## Smithian (Apr 3, 2006)

Am I the only person who still isn't used to the fact LeBron James plays for the Miami Heat? Seriously. It is still surreal.

:allhail:


----------



## Wade County (Jun 22, 2003)

Yeah it tripped me out again today haha


----------



## PoetLaureate (Feb 8, 2009)

It happens when I watch his youtube highlights in a Cavs jersey. The memories come flooding back of that guy who used to battle Wade and always come out on top in the end.


----------



## BlackNRed (Feb 9, 2005)

I'm used to it, besides the fact that I've seen him in a Heat jersey for 69 games now, I know several non-Heat fans who run their mouth about LBJ to me.


----------



## Wade2Bosh (Mar 31, 2004)

Yeah, i'm used to it now as well after watching basically every minute of these 69 games. But once the playoffs start, it'll probably hit me again.


----------



## Smithian (Apr 3, 2006)

Eh. Call me corny, I can't get used to his amazingness.

Extremely solid trade by the Heat.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

Can't get used to his amazingness?

You sound like you should be an interior decorator, or maybe a hair stylist.


----------



## Ben (Nov 7, 2006)

Every time I see him go for 35+ I realise how lucky we are that our best player isn't Tyler Hansbrough.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

Every time I watch the Pacers I smile and think "Man, am I ever glad I'm not some band wagon fan like Ben"


----------



## Ben (Nov 7, 2006)

:lol: 

Okay then R-Star. Do you ever get tired of this boring act? I'll ask why you think I was bandwagon fan when I've followed Miami pretty intensively since about 2005. But anyone from another country not supporting a ****ty team must be a bandwagoner.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

What act? I don't respect a fan who all of the sudden decides "HEY! That team has a lot of good players! I'll cheer for them now!"

Who do you cheer for in baseball? Than Yankees? I have no problem with the guys I posted with who were Heat fans before Lebron. Hell, we used to talk about Caron Buttler a lot. They are real fans. Guys who just became fans this year, or even worse "were always fans but didn't post much in here" are sad.


----------



## Ben (Nov 7, 2006)

Join date of 2006. Posted quite a bit since then. If you go back to where we were tanking and getting Beasley, you'll find me posting then. I was posting before we got LeBron, but alrighty.

And no, I don't cheer for the Yankees. Baseball ****ing sucks.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

You were a San Antonio Spurs fan.


----------



## Ben (Nov 7, 2006)

I was a Laker diehard until this summer. Before that I loved KG and his Celtics.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

A Laker diehard and now you're a Heat diehard? 


Yea.... that's what I'm talking about.


----------



## Ben (Nov 7, 2006)

This isn't the first time I've been a Heat fan. I was briefly a Heat fan in 2006, inbetween being a Spurs fan in 05 and 07.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

Sounds about right.


----------



## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

The whole bandwagon thing is relative. I've been a Lebron James fan since 2002, and some of his most virulent haters were Heat fans who now have his back. I think we're all in the same boat is what I'm saying. There are no rules to fandom, beyond that you support whatever it is your are a fan of.

Besides. The Heat are the most hated team in America right now. Anyone that has supported this team this year in front of that wave of hate, has earned their stripes on the internet IMO.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

No. A real fan stays with a team through thick and thin. You want to look at a real fan, you go pat a Cavs fan on the back. 

And no future, you are not in the same boat as people who have been Heat fans their whole lives. Just because they support a player on their team doesn't mean its similar to swapping your favourite team every couple of years.


----------



## Job (Feb 28, 2011)

This is just a game, I personally think people can cheer for whatever team they want. If you want to debate what team is better and why, thats cool.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

Your name confuses me. I am uncertain how to respond.


----------



## Job (Feb 28, 2011)

R-Star I understand what you're saying about being a bandwagon fan, you should try to stick with one team. I think you called Ben out on it once, but why turn his fanhood into a debate, it's just a game and Ben is just trying to have a little fun.


----------



## Ben (Nov 7, 2006)

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Job, you do realise I was being sarcastic with the Spurs, Lakers etc. parts, yeah?


----------



## Job (Feb 28, 2011)

Whoops, I owe R-Star an apology, my bad.:stupid:


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

ßen said:


> Whoa, whoa, whoa. Job, you do realise I was being sarcastic with the Spurs, Lakers etc. parts, yeah?


yea..... sarcastic like a fox.


----------



## myst (Feb 22, 2006)

R-Star said:


> No. A real fan stays with a team through thick and thin. You want to look at a real fan, you go pat a Cavs fan on the back.
> 
> And no future, you are not in the same boat as people who have been Heat fans their whole lives. Just because they support a player on their team doesn't mean its similar to swapping your favourite team every couple of years.


I had my birthday party when I turned 7 years old at a Heat game. I was at the first Heat playoff game ever against the Bulls. Also a lot of us here posted on a daily basis during the 15-67 season.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

myst said:


> I had my birthday party when I turned 7 years old at a Heat game. I was at the first Heat playoff game ever against the Bulls. Also a lot of us here posted on a daily basis during the 15-67 season.


That's because you're one of the real fans I'm alluding to.

You were with the team before James, and will be with the team long after. That's a fan.

If James demands a trade this offseason, Wade gets in a car accident that ends his career and the Heat go 12-70 next season, you're still going to support the team. About half the _new_ posters on the Heat board can't say that. You can.


----------



## BlackNRed (Feb 9, 2005)

R-Star, I tend to agree with you. I will never understand band wagoners, but they exist. I tend not to judge any body on here though, ever since Shaq_Diesel or whatever he goes by now questioned my fandom I was pretty annoyed.

I find no joy in rooting for more than one team ever. Sure, there are teams is dislike less than others. But I only have one favorite team.

I hope that Ben stays a Heat fan even after Lebron James though.

Lebron James has no doubt brought a whole new crop of fans to our fan base, it will take some years to see how many of them stick around.


----------



## Ben (Nov 7, 2006)

R-Star said:


> If James demands a trade this offseason, Wade gets in a car accident that ends his career and the Heat go 12-70 next season, you're still going to support the team. About half the _new_ posters on the Heat board can't say that. You can.


LOL, I want to know who all these new posters are that you're referring to. I haven't seen any. Unless you're getting confused, because I've only seen 1 or 2 new posters, despite the addition of LeBosh.

I dunno if you're getting confused cos I've had a name change or what, but I was also on this forum posting most days when we went 15-67, so I'm sure I could weather 3 more losses.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

ßen said:


> LOL, I want to know who all these new posters are that you're referring to. I haven't seen any. Unless you're getting confused, because I've only seen 1 or 2 new posters, despite the addition of LeBosh.
> 
> I dunno if you're getting confused cos I've had a name change or what, but I was also on this forum posting most days when we went 15-67, so I'm sure I could weather 3 more losses.


You used to be a Boston Celtics fan.


----------



## Smithian (Apr 3, 2006)

LeBron James

:allhail:


----------



## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

R-Star said:


> No. A real fan stays with a team through thick and thin. You want to look at a real fan, you go pat a Cavs fan on the back.


Oh I know. I only support one team like that though, and it's not a basketball team.



> And no future, you are not in the same boat as people who have been Heat fans their whole lives. Just because they support a player on their team doesn't mean its similar to swapping your favourite team every couple of years.


Just pointing out that the defintion of bandwagon is contextual. I didn't become a Heat fan because they were suddenly going to be good, or because they had Wade, Bosh, and Lebron. I support them because my favorite player whose career I am invested in moved there. I'm not going to bail on my favorite player just because the name on the front of his jersey says something different.

It's like when Michael Jordan was a wizard, I didn't suddenly not like him because he was on the Wizards.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

futuristxen said:


> Oh I know. I only support one team like that though, and it's not a basketball team.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


When Michael Jordan became a Wizard, Chicago fans didn't trade in their Bulls jerseys for Washington ones.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

Smithian said:


> LeBron James
> 
> :allhail:


You just going to keep coming in and posting that?


Thanks for the all the hard work and thought you put into your posting.


----------



## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

R-Star said:


> When Michael Jordan became a Wizard, Chicago fans didn't trade in their Bulls jerseys for Washington ones.


Right but the ones who were fans of Jordan bought Wizards jerseys. And continued to support the player.

I started watching Basketball in 87/88 because I wanted to watch Michael Jordan. Because of that I was a Bulls fan then. Similarly I was a Sonics fan during the Shawn Kemp era, though because I was a kid I retained some nostalgia for both of those clubs. Fell in love with Iverson's game at Georgetown--became a Sixers fan. Watched Lebron in high school, he got drafted by the Cavs, so I followed the Cavs too. Now he plays for the Heat, and I follow the Heat.

Generally when someone is referred to as a bandwagon fan it's meant to be someone who is only there for the good times--the winning. But that's not what I'm doing. The Heat could lose in the first round every year Lebron is there, or be a lottery team that whole time--I'll still be rooting for them because Lebron plays there.

**** ain't rocket science.

I get supporting one team. I get what that is, what it does for you. Like I said, I have my team. But not in basketball. I know what it's like to root for the front of the jersey regardless of what's on the back. I get that.

It's just not what I do with the NBA. And I'm not surprised others are that way, since that's the way the league was marketed. If you grew up during the Jordan era the way the NBA was sold to you was no Bulls-Knicks. Bulls-Lakers....It was Jordan, Magic, Barkley, Malone--it was sold as a superstar league. Basketball more than any other team sport, is about the inviduals. One guy can change everything about a team.


----------



## edabomb (Feb 12, 2005)

Being a bandwagon supporter isn't such a bad thing. You don't get stuck supporting no-one because of politics.


----------



## Job (Feb 28, 2011)

Maybe R-Star is an old school type of fan, the old school way of thinking is to root for your home team no matter how bad they are. If you live in Cleveland and Lebron leaves you, would still root foe Cleveland. With the internet and satellite exposing more teams and players, it's easy to see why someone in Toronto would want to root for Miami instead. These devices make it easier to keep up with any team they want.


----------



## BlackNRed (Feb 9, 2005)

Job said:


> Maybe R-Star is an old school type of fan, the old school way of thinking is to root for your home team no matter how bad they are. If you live in Cleveland and Lebron leaves you, would still root foe Cleveland. With the internet and satellite exposing more teams and players, it's easy to see why someone in Toronto would want to root for Miami instead. These devices make it easier to keep up with any team they want.


Where I come from that's called being a "fan." not an "old school fan." Now I can understand if your team has been so awful for years that you begin to follow another team, just so you can still enjoy the sport. For example, When the Heat have been terrible (which hasn't been very often thankfully) I'd root for the Jazz, because that was my Pops team before the Heat existed. In Hockey I follow the Carolina Hurricanes because my Florida Panthers have sucked **** a decade, but I still watch their games and still claim them as MY team. If the HEAT are playing the Jazz, the Jazz are just another team.


----------



## MarioChalmers (Mar 26, 2004)

Heated said:


> Where I come from that's called being a "fan." not an "old school fan." Now I can understand if your team has been so awful for years that you begin to follow another team, just so you can still enjoy the sport. For example, When the Heat have been terrible (which hasn't been very often thankfully) I'd root for the Jazz, because that was my Pops team before the Heat existed. In Hockey I follow the Carolina Hurricanes because my Florida Panthers have sucked **** a decade, but I still watch their games and still claim them as MY team. If the HEAT are playing the Jazz, the Jazz are just another team.


That's good for you. But in all honesty, where does your definition of "fan" put us over here in the Philippines? Have we just been playing pretend-fan all these years? 

I also understand where futuristxen is coming from. Why can't someone be a fan of a player and not a team? Seems like a pretty simple idea to me.


----------



## Smithian (Apr 3, 2006)

R-Star said:


> You just going to keep coming in and posting that?
> 
> 
> Thanks for the all the hard work and thought you put into your posting.


Considering this thread was created by a Heat fan to be a celebration of all things LeBron James, I suppose I will!

I even changed my avatar ever to celebrate LeBron!!!!

:allhail:


----------



## Smithian (Apr 3, 2006)

I support all Washington DC sports teams other than the Wizards who are probably my #3 team behind Miami and now the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Combine supporting the Nationals, Redskins, pre-Ovie Capitals, and a middle of the road college program.... I am not a bandwagoner.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

Smithian said:


> Considering this thread was created by a Heat fan to be a celebration of all things LeBron James, I suppose I will!
> 
> I even changed my avatar ever to celebrate LeBron!!!!
> 
> :allhail:


Considering there's already a thread with the exact same topic somewhere in the Heat forum, I'd say this thread is ****ing stupid.

In fact, I'd bet there's quite a few "Can you believe Lebron plays for us?" threads, so no, this thread is asinine.


----------



## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

R-Star said:


> You used to be a Boston Celtics fan.


Are you getting him confused with Floods or something? Ben (FX) has been a Heat fan since he started posting here.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

gian said:


> That's good for you. But in all honesty, where does your definition of "fan" put us over here in the Philippines? Have we just been playing pretend-fan all these years?
> 
> I also understand where futuristxen is coming from. Why can't someone be a fan of a player and not a team? Seems like a pretty simple idea to me.


I like lots of players. I don't follow them around team to team switching who my "team" is along the way.

A real fan cheers for a team. None of my favourite players even play for the Pacers. That doesn't mean I just start switching from a team I've followed for over a decade like some sort of punk.


"I'm a fan of Jordan" "I'm a fan of Lebron" wow. That's tough. Way to cheer for the best player in the game. Way to guarantee you'll never have to look stupid cheering for a losing team. If that's what todays fan has come to, I'm glad I'm not associated with that. 

The sheer number of people who jumped to the Heat and left the Cavs high and dry when Lebron left is just pathetic. That's not being a fan in the slightest. You like basketball, and you like winning, but you aren't a fan.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

Basel said:


> Are you getting him confused with Floods or something? Ben (FX) has been a Heat fan since he started posting here.


He is part of the rebel alliance and a spy.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

And to clarify, I was a huge Lebron fan up until he started river dancing in blow outs like some sort of douche bag leprechaun. 

He came into the league with all the talent in the world and seemed to genuinely be a nice guy. That didn't make me want to drop my team and become a Cavs fan.

And what happened with futuristxen between Jordan and Lebron? Who did she cheer for when neither were in the game? Did she get a new player and team to cheer for during those years? That's not a real fan.


----------



## Smithian (Apr 3, 2006)

R-Star said:


> Considering there's already a thread with the exact same topic somewhere in the Heat forum, I'd say this thread is ****ing stupid.
> 
> In fact, I'd bet there's quite a few "Can you believe Lebron plays for us?" threads, so no, this thread is asinine.


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

If you didn't care, then you wouldn't post a picture.

Keep posting though, between your bunny rabbit picture, your "u mad" avatar, and your thoughtful and insightful "Lebron James is really on the Heat dudez!" posts, I'm starting to think I'm posting with a 13 year old girl. 

I wonder if you're actually sitting behind that keyboard thinking "I'm going to post this bunny picture and that will get him! Everyone will think I'm so funny!" When in reality I almost get confused over how pathetic it is.


----------



## Smithian (Apr 3, 2006)

I like putting in 10 seconds of thought into a post while your throw a temper tantrum and get worked up writing a reply.

We can play this game all day.

LeBron James p0wnz Danny Granger all dayz long and can river dance yo a$$ off bro


----------



## BigWill33176 (Dec 21, 2003)

Everyone calm down. Theres no need to disrespect or insult people because they follow basketball in a different way than you do. Bottom line is its time for the home stretch and the playoffs and we're all rooting for the same team thats going to get a ton of hate no matter what happens.


----------



## BlackNRed (Feb 9, 2005)

gian said:


> That's good for you. But in all honesty, where does your definition of "fan" put us over here in the Philippines? Have we just been playing pretend-fan all these years?
> 
> I also understand where futuristxen is coming from. Why can't someone be a fan of a player and not a team? Seems like a pretty simple idea to me.


I didn't say you have to be from the same area as your team. I'm from South Florida, but a few hour drive from Miami. What I'm sayin is pick a team and stick with them. fan is short for fanatic, a person whose enthusiasm or zeal for something is extreme or beyond normal limits, it's not very fanatical to the the Miami Heat if you're rooting for other teams just as much or more. It's all about loyalty.

I'm not calling anybody out, that's what R-Star is doing, I'm just saying my respect for true Heat fans who stick by the team is greater than any band wagoners, and when we win the championship, we'll get more joy out of it for our loyalty too.

I hated Lebron James until this year. I cheer the uniform. I cheer the city, and the players that represent this organization. It don't matter if Lebron James is our best player, or Caron Butler, or Eddie Jones, or Alonzo, and now I cheer Lebron because he chose to "take his talents to South Beach"


----------



## Wade County (Jun 22, 2003)

Although I dont feel any of this bandwagon stuff is directed at me, I still cop it from people who don't realise i've supported this team for over half my life just because of this summer. I was there throughout the classic Knicks series, I was there when Zo got sick, I was there when we got Brian Grant, Eddie Jones and Anthony Mason and I was there when Anthony friggin Carter was our starting point guard. I was there when we got a steal in the draft with Caron Butler, and an even bigger steal (although not as well known at the time) in Dwyane Wade. Traded for Shaq. Traded for Matrix. Started Chris Quinn and Kasib Powell. Drafted Mike Beasley....etc

So yeah, while Wade and Lebron are 2 of my favourite players - among other former Heatians like Caron, Beas and Lamar etc - i'll continue to support this franchise long after those guys retire. Heat basketball baby!

But yeah, back on topic - I was watching that 'More than a game' doco about the St Vincent St Mary's team with Lebron, and it really tripped me out that he was playing for my team.


----------



## Smithian (Apr 3, 2006)

Wade County said:


> But yeah, back on topic - I was watching that 'More than a game' doco about the St Vincent St Mary's team with Lebron, and it really tripped me out that he was playing for my team.


:clap2:


----------



## Wade County (Jun 22, 2003)

Smithian said:


> :clap2:


I mean, I saw Lebron play in High School back in January 2003. My team played in a tournament in North Carolina which was the game before St V-M's played. I walked past the guy in the corridor! So pissed I was a starstruck 15 year old and didnt get an autograph :laugh:.

He was a man child though. A monster. We had courtside seats to the game and everything. He dropped a cool 36.


----------



## Luke (Dec 7, 2008)

Yeah I feel like my resentment towards 'Bron would probably come to an end if he was repping the purple and gold. Same goes for Wade. Not Bosh though, **** that guy.

Honestly while there have been a lot of bandwagoners/LeBron fans to jump on board, the majority of you guys (Wade County, Adam, Myst, ect.) have been here for a while and through the rough years. I don't really have a problem with the Heat fans on this site even though your team is the second biggest abomination in sports (right after the Celtics, ofcourse).


----------



## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

R-Star said:


> And what happened with futuristxen between Jordan and Lebron? Who did she cheer for when neither were in the game? Did she get a new player and team to cheer for during those years? That's not a real fan.


Allen Iverson, buddy. 

As for not being a real fan...okay. Who cares? What's the difference qualitatively in the context of this message board between me and a so called real fan? I watch every heat game, I post in the game threads, I live and die on the wins and losses. My day is ruined when they are losing. Things are amazing when they win. If that's not being a fan, then I don't know what it is.

I'm going to be rooting for the team regardless of whether they win or not, but I'm hoping with all my fan heart that they do win. **** definitely means something to me. And past that, what does it matter?


----------



## Job (Feb 28, 2011)

Can't we all just get along. :ghug:


----------



## Dee-Zy (Jan 12, 2006)

I disagree with the geographical location means that you are a fan thing.

I used to support the Raptors because of it but after 3-4 years of supporting them, I just quit on them because they were horribly managed and I had no longer faith in the team from the star player to the management. Bosh never showed that he is a #1 and I was sick and tired of feeling like an abused wife where every year it is the same ****ing talk, we are getting, this time it is going to work while everybody is straight up telling you that the Raps suck and are done while you keep saying, no no, it is going to be good this time.


----------



## Adam (Jan 28, 2003)




----------



## AirJay (Aug 5, 2005)

Wade County said:


> Although I dont feel any of this bandwagon stuff is directed at me, I still cop it from people who don't realise i've supported this team for over half my life just because of this summer. I was there throughout the classic Knicks series, I was there when Zo got sick, I was there when we got Brian Grant, Eddie Jones and Anthony Mason and I was there when Anthony friggin Carter was our starting point guard. I was there when we got a steal in the draft with Caron Butler, and an even bigger steal (although not as well known at the time) in Dwyane Wade. Traded for Shaq. Traded for Matrix. Started Chris Quinn and Kasib Powell. Drafted Mike Beasley....etc
> 
> So yeah, while Wade and Lebron are 2 of my favourite players - among other former Heatians like Caron, Beas and Lamar etc - i'll continue to support this franchise long after those guys retire. Heat basketball baby!
> 
> But yeah, back on topic - I was watching that 'More than a game' doco about the St Vincent St Mary's team with Lebron, and it really tripped me out that he was playing for my team.


Amen brother.

Were you there when Marty Conlon and Duane Causewell used to bring the bench brigade? I know for sure you were there for the Wang Zhizhi sightings.

I was there when Tim Hardaway effin stuck a knife in the back of the Knicks in the 3rd quarter of game 7 in 1997. I was there lying on the floor in agony when Allen Houston hit "The Cag", and (more often forgotten) I was there just minutes later when Terry Porter barely missed a prayer of a three-pointer that could have won the series. I was there when Mash passed to Spoon, and I was there when Anthony Mason became our only all-star. I was there when the Mashburn Hornets swept us. I was there for the misery of 2001-2003. I was there for the most glorious season ever, the 2003-2004 Heat team that went 18-3 after the All-Star Break.

WE WERE EFFIN THERE!


----------

