LBJ Left Miami Because Riley Wouldn't Back Down

[FireDavidKahn]

Attempts to paint LeBron James as a coach-killer in the wake of the Cleveland Cavaliers' dismissal of David Blatt continued Tuesday when a minority owner of the Miami Heat said James frequently tried to get Erik Spoelstra fired during his tenure in South Florida.

"LeBron James - before and after his four seasons when his contract was up with the team - made it clear that he wanted to dump head coach Erik Spoelstra," Heat limited partner Raanan Katz told Israeli radio station 102FM while appearing on a panel with Bleacher Report's David Pick. "At one point, (Heat president) Pat Riley called LeBron into his office said that no one will tell him how to run the organization. Riley told James that Spoelstra is his guy, and that firing Spoelstra is out of the question.

"That was the main reason LeBron returned to Cleveland."

from one of the Heat Minority owners.:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

[Marchesk]

I thought it was because his four years of college was over?

[RepMe]

Not surprised by this. The silly thing is, LeBron has been nothing without Riley's leadership, yet LeBron still thinks things are best under his decisions.

[DMV2]

At one point, (Heat president) Pat Riley called LeBron into his office said that no one will tell him how to run the organization.
:roll: like a principle calling a student into the office for bad behavior.

[derb2k2]

damn. Some juicy tidbits are surfacing here.

Gotta give it to Riley though man. Who the f*** does Bron think he is? You're already getting paid millions to play a game not run the company. :biggums: :biggums:

[Nick Young]

Lebron is such a moron


"Like it or love it, we'll have to deal with it"

"I was shocked"


:facepalm

[NBAplayoffs2001]

I think LBJ was so used to that treatment in Cleveland in his first 7 years and he thought the Heat would be cool with it after he bought them 2 NBA titles after 4 Final runs (Can't blame LBJ though for the last lost in 2014, that Heat team was just burnt out, if LBJ stayed they would have had to pick up some new role players and probably would have made the finals again last year). If LBJ had Wade, Bosh, and role players on par with what the Cavs had last season and they were all healthy, they could have taken the Warriors in 7 maybe.

I think behind the scenes, LBJ is way more demanding of a NBA superstar of the franchise he plays for than we think. He thinks he could run it. The Chicago GM during Jordan's time did not like Phil Jackson and felt jealous that he never got attention for all the great moves he's made over the years. I don't think Jordan had much control over the front office. Heck they made a trade that angered him but eventually paid off- Charles Oakley (Jordan's best friend at the time) for Bill Cartwright (b/c they needed size). LBJ also hopes for certain role players/players to play for him that may not make much sense. LBJ asked the Heat to draft that UConn PG a few years ago when he almost stayed with him and Napier (the UConn PG) wasn't projected to be a great NBA player, just a solid/mediocre bench PG which he still is.

[RepMe]

All this really does is verify what we were already 99% sure of anyway. Riley ran things in Miami, LeBron runs things in Cleveland.

[PP34Deuce]

All this really does is verify what we were already 99% sure of anyway. Riley ran things in Miami, LeBron runs things in Cleveland.

I also believe with Lebron, it takes a sense of accomplishment from a coach for him to listen.

Riley won championships as a player and a coach.

Spo and Blatt don't have that title.

It's very diva like but it says he doesn't respect you if you can't relate to him. I also believe he's really smart from X and O's so you have to have a coach sharp enough to handle him.

[uber]

no one ****s with riley

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Lebron is such a moron


"Like it or love it, we'll have to deal with it"

"I was shocked"


:facepalm

:oldlol:

LeBron couldn't hide his excitement with this gaffe...

[Mr. Jabbar]

Lebron is such a moron


"Like it or love it, we'll have to deal with it"

"I was shocked"


:facepalm

:roll: :roll: :roll:

[bluechox2]

bran bran ****ed up going back to cleavlenad...

[tmacattack33]

Not surprised by this. The silly thing is, LeBron has been nothing without Riley's leadership, yet LeBron still thinks things are best under his decisions.

If everything besides winning a ring equals nothing, then basically every player in this league right now besides KG, Pierce, Kobe, Gasol, and anyone on the Spurs and Warriors is nothing.

[tmacattack33]

This story is likely false:

https://twitter.com/R0BaTO/status/692378789742022656



Lebron and this Katz guy have never even met, and Katz just said that he never even said what he was quoted as saying.

[AirFederer]

Bron has a high bbiq all right but his social skills are not up to speed. Dude wants the ball in his hands for a full game, to be the coach, the GM and keys to the city.

LeHumble 👻🤕👰🏼

[coin24]

Dunno why Riley loves spo so much, must give the best head or something:confusedshrug: because he's pretty shit at coaching...

[Nastradamus]

A lot of people buying this BS immediately LMAO. Haters gonna hate....

[tpols]

Dunno why Riley loves spo so much, must give the best head or something:confusedshrug: because he's pretty shit at coaching...

cronyism.. thats his guy. Plus he doesnt want to give in to Lebitch on principle.

[Dresta]

Bron is a scumbag; we know already.

[Dresta]

A lot of people buying this BS immediately LMAO. Haters gonna hate....
And yet here you are knowing that it is BS "immediately"

**********s gonna suck... good and hard too...

[nightprowler10]

Bleacher report published it so it must be true.

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/2611328-miami-heat-minority-owner-claims-lebron-james-wanted-erik-spoelstra-fired

[bdreason]

I know people love to hate on LeBron, but he was probably right about Spoelstra. With a Veteran, Championship-level coach, maybe the Heat win more than 2 titles, and don't get embarrassed in 2 NBA Finals. Does anyone really believe Erik Spoelstra was the ideal candidate to be coaching 3 HoF's to NBA titles? I remember a large contingent of people who thought Spoelstra needed to be replaced at the time, and I was one of them.

[choppermagic]

This story is likely false:

https://twitter.com/R0BaTO/status/692378789742022656



Lebron and this Katz guy have never even met, and Katz just said that he never even said what he was quoted as saying.


The crazy part is today with twitter news and click bait headlines, no one will care what was actually said now that the story has a life of its own.

[nba_55]

Another fake story. :facepalm

[oh the horror]

Another fake story. :facepalm




Fake story or not there has been more than one of these types of stories leaked along the years. You guys can ignore it all you'd like. Even now we watch a coach with a winning record in mid season get fired from a team James is on.

[nba_55]

Fake story or not there has been more than one of these types of stories leaked along the years. You guys can ignore it all you'd like. Even now we watch a coach with a winning record in mid season get fired from a team James is on.

It has happened only once, why are you saying it like it happens every team james goes to?

[SwishSquared]

This report was shot down pretty fast. Heat employees aren't allowed to talk this guy, and he's had 0 contact with the org for years. The Arison family has tried to buy his shares for a very long time, but he won't sell.

The guy even said that the report was false lol.
I know people love to hate on LeBron, but he was probably right about Spoelstra. With a Veteran, Championship-level coach, maybe the Heat win more than 2 titles, and don't get embarrassed in 2 NBA Finals. Does anyone really believe Erik Spoelstra was the ideal candidate to be coaching 3 HoF's to NBA titles? I remember a large contingent of people who thought Spoelstra needed to be replaced at the time, and I was one of them.I agree with this. As bad as LBJ choked in 2011, Spo did very little to help the team out once momentum swung the other way. Carlisle destroyed him that year. Even if it would have been hopeless, he didn't put up much of a fight in 2014, either.

He deserves credit for implementing a defense that worked for a couple years and making better use of his players' offensive abilities from Year 2 onward, though he didn't max out his roster arguably. Subpar in-game adjustments imo for a roster that had 3 HOFs in their primes. That team won a ton of games on talent alone.

[Hey Yo]

Fake story or not there has been more than one of these types of stories leaked along the years. You guys can ignore it all you'd like. Even now we watch a coach with a winning record in mid season get fired from a team James is on.
http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/think-of-the-children.jpg

[miggyme1]

I know people love to hate on LeBron, but he was probably right about Spoelstra. With a Veteran, Championship-level coach, maybe the Heat win more than 2 titles, and don't get embarrassed in 2 NBA Finals. Does anyone really believe Erik Spoelstra was the ideal candidate to be coaching 3 HoF's to NBA titles? I remember a large contingent of people who thought Spoelstra needed to be replaced at the time, and I was one of them.


so we gonna blame spo for lebron playing like absolute SHIT in the 2011 nba finals????? ok

heat should have lost the 2013 nba finals but a miracle 3 from ray allen saved their f*cking season

2014 the spurs got their revenge and rightfully so....that whole heat team was overwhelmed with how much the spurs wanted revenge for that title....from the tip off of game 1 you could tell the heat werent prepared to do battle with a team as focused as the spurs were that year.