I thought this was a great read about the change in the recruiting landscape where top level recruits and trying to play with each other which they call the "Lebron Effect".
ESPN.com conducted a wide-ranging survey of the top 300 high school football recruits in the nation, and 68.5 percent of the respondents said they would rather join a class full of other elite recruits than be a big name on their own.
This is a shift in mentality from decades past. The Jordan days it was all about being on your own team and beating everyone else and nowadays its about getting the "super team" to win. I hope our coaches are using this as much as they possibly can.
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/recruiting/football/story/_/id/1125338...
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Thought this was going to be the "Lebron Effect" where kids stay home and play for their hometown team. Wish we could convince the elite players to all stay in VA and come here to play. Kind of like David Wilson when he looked at all those great players and the one thing in common was they all played for their home state.
I thought this would be about the LeBron effect where a player that feels he's a superstar nonetheless lacks the hunger to lead his team to glory, instead preferring that he only be asked to HELP his team to glory along with other 'superstars'. The first task is much more demanding than the second...
Clearly you didn't watch LeBron play in Cleveland. His team that lost to the Spurs in the finals had no business being there and their front office wasn't exactly doing much to put decent players around him. He wanted it, but the organization didn't. The fact that Cleveland went from first to last after he left says a lot.
I agree it would be ridiculous not to call LeBron a superstar and give him his due. While he was clearly the best player on the Cavs, saying the organization didn't want it or try to put players around LeBron isn't true. If you look back at free agency, very few, if any, superstar players were available as free agents most of those years (superteams just weren't happening until Pierce, Garnett, and Allen went to Boston) and Cleveland made some bad trades and wasn't getting trade assets, as they were regularly finishing high in the Eastern Conference.
Cleveland went out of their way to try and make decisions/signings that would please LeBron, such as retaining Mike Brown and bringing in bigger name, aging veterans (Shaq, Antawn Jamison, Ben Wallace). None of that worked out, but the Cavs definitely wanted to add players for a run and kept teammates LeBron seemed to like (Mo Williams, Delonte West, Anderson Varejo, ydrnas Ilgauskas). The larger problem was that they bungled the draft either by trading their picks or drafting guys who didn't work out, like Luke Jackson, JJ Hickson, Daniel Gibson, and Shannon Brown. Still though, I don't think it's fair to say Cleveland didn't try to put decent players around LeBron. It wasn't for a lack of trying, but they took chances and failed nearly every time.
lebron liked delonte west??? haha.... more like lebrons MOM liked delonte west.
I think this has less to do with a "Jordan" or "Lebron" mentality and more to do with the increasing celebrity of recruits, recruiting coverage, the many, MANY camps, AA teams, The Opening, etc. where these guys are meeting each other and getting to know each other really well during the process. They make friends and want to play together, win together, revive a program together, what have you.
Let's hope the Lebron Effect helps us land Josh Sweat.
I don't think we want the "Lebron Effect" to affect Sweat.
Yes - true. But if it means that 'he will go where his friends go', then we have a legit shot.
I am hearing Josh Sweat is making a visit this weekend. All I want for Christmas is hearing he will sign with Hokies. I promise, I promise!
I thought this was going to be the "Lebron Effect" where kids in high-school are driving $50,000 Hummers.
This was my immediate reaction, as well.
Wasn't that the Marcus Vick effect?
Damn you... beat me to it by 6 freakin seconds....
The cheap Hummers, eh?
I seem to remember that being the number everyone was throwing around when Lebron got his H2, which would've been in 2002 or 2003. I became curious, and I just spent 20 minutes shopping around for early 2000s luxury SUV's, and I'm shocked at how much the resale value depreciates in 10 years. Did you know that the Blue Book Value for a 2003 Escalade (worth $60k when it was first released) is only $10,300? That's crazy.
I'm not terribly surprised since in 10 years, companies will usually have released two newer generations of a model.
That said, the 5-year depreciation is the real killer from what I recall.
You must have forgotten that Cadillac is a General Motors brand - thus the integrated depreciation. I don't know about today, but over the last decade or two, every single model of Cadillac drops about 20% as soon as the model year changes, whether it's been sold or not. For reference, check out what next month's prices are on any of the 2014 sedans. Once you actually buy one, it continues to drop. Note - I've had access to Cadillac DTS models in the recent past (before they were replaced) and they are great cars while they are new. I don't know about 5-10 years old, but I do know the depreciation is a killer at every stage. Just like every other GM car. There's probably a reason for that...
That too.
Jordan was surrounded by hall of famers.
True, but the point is that the he didn't leave to go team up with other elite players. Also would those same guys have been hall of famers without Jordan?
Nobody has ever won in Cleveland, he did have to leave. The other greats (Jordan, Magic, Bird, Russell, Kobe, etc.) played for great franchises and/or in big markets. Winning in Chicago, LA, or Boston is not even remotely close to trying to win in Cleveland. Especially when Cleveland was doing well enough (because of Lebron) to never get any good draft picks.
To your other point, they were definitely better for playing with Jordan, but Jordan didn't elevate those around him like Magic or Bird did. Those guys legitimately made everyone around them significantly better.
chicago was not a great place to play when jordan got there, it is now because of jordan but prior to him who was anyone of note that played for the bulls? artis gilmore.... the real difference is that pippen was a legit top 50 player of all time in the NBA and lebron was never going to get anyone like pipp while in cleveland. i get the leaving i just dont get the coming back.
Yeah, San Antonio is such a huge center for media attention. No way you could win there, you'd need to leave, go to a top market, not one mired down in the upper 30's, like Cleveland, who is in the upper... oops! Cleveland is in the top 20. A much larger market than San Antonio. Five Time NBA Champion San Antonio.
The difference being San Antonio is a stellar organization, has an incredible coach, and has been awesome at finding talent that fits their system. The whole organization, from the office to the players, puts in the work and now they have the rings to show for it.
Yeah San Antonio has Pop. Cleveland had freaking Mike Brown.
Which proves my point that market size has virtually nothing to do with it. Case in point - NY Knicks. Case in point - current LA Lakers. Those guys really have a solid foundation built for the future, don't they? The Knicks have always maximized the benefit of their market size over the last few decades, that's for sure. The Lakers? Their next few years sure project to be sterling. Or... it IS about the organization, and not about market size. Which was my point.
Cleveland when Lebron arrived is nothing like San Antonio. San Antonio has had the same coach for almost 20 years, allowing him to build his team over years and years, which has lead to sustained success and has made them a contender every year. Comparing the two is apples and oranges unless someone, like you have, completely focuses on one part of what I said and changes the argument. San Antonio was built by a coach and a supportive organization. Lebron came to a losing team and was expected to single handedly turn things around. The organization did not do what it needed to get good players around him. My point was that other superstars like I mentioned would've been hard pressed to find success in his situation.
AKA the Peyton Manning effect.
Probably. The only real question I have behind that is if Jordan is considered the GOAT without Pippen and Rodman helping him win those titles.
Or if Magic wasn't forced to retire early. If either/both of those things happen, Magic is likely the GOAT.
I don't get it... Greatest On A Treadmill??
even Magic said that Jordan was on another level, it just took a few years for the Bulls to get enough talent around him
I think he's the one who said "there's Michael Jordan and then there's the rest of us."
I remember Magic talking about playing against Jordan. He said that they would catch themselves just watching Jordan play, while they were on the court playing against him because what he was doing was so spectacular. He and his teammates would say to each other, "Did you just see that?"
In this video, starting at 2:12 Magic says, "He is the greatest that ever played."
I count 2 1/2.
Phil Jackson and Scottie Pippen (2).
Dennis Rodman (nothing against him, but Jordan's legacy was firmly cemented before he came to Chicago... so 1/2)
I refuse to count Robert Parish.
How dare you leave out Bill Wennington
I apologize profusely.
the LeBron effect totally works. Just ask LOLUVA, they nearly won 3 games last year.
I think that kids might start staying close to home because of the *New Lebron Effect
"The Decision" aka which NBA team (or school) will you grace with your presence
A little off topic but someone told me today that LeBron had more help in Cleveland than MJ had in Chicago because LeBron had Larry Hughes and Mo Williams. This is about up too par with when a UVA fan told they were better than VT because of Phillip Sims.
IIRC, Vince Hall, Xavier Adibi and Chris Ellis came aboard together to form a super defense under Bud. Would be awesome if Sweat and friends did the same, because look how well it worked out last time.
Don't you know, we already have the LeBron effect going