Concerned About Gilbert

For all the money Dan Gilbert has spent, all the wins the Cavaliers have accumulated since he took over as majority owner, all the success of this franchise, I'm afraid that in the end his presence may be a curse.

The ousting of Mike Brown and Danny Ferry, two solid, well-respected basketball people, in an obvious attempt to gain more power for himself, reeks of egomanical pro sports owners Daniel Snyder and Mark Cuban (and their zero combined championships).

I'm concerned with the fact that Gilbert doesn't know basketball, but he knows $$ and will do anything to keep LeBron. Do you hear that Cleveland? To keep LeBron. That's a good thing right? Well, partially. There is no guarantee that if LeBron re-signs we will be a better team than we were under Ferry and Brown. And I know that in the end, all us true fans really want is a championship.

Brown and Ferry wanted to build a defensive team but trades for Williams and Antawn Jamison (who truly pulled the trigger on those?) seemed to set the team back on that end of the floor. I suspect Gilbert and James had quite a bit of say there and that Ferry and Brown, the two people whose say matters most, didn't.

But the straw that broke the camel's back for me is the Tom Izzo rumor. This potential hiring is preposterous. Upon hearing the rumor, I immediately made the Gilbert-Michigan connection and realized that he is hiring people he thinks will be good NBA people, not people who are considered by the league to be good NBA people. What background does Izzo have coaching professionals? At least Coach K of Duke won an Olympic gold medal coaching with James.

Gilbert may have the deepest pockets this side of the Mississippi, but we've seen in that past that that doesn't equal winning. I'm just concerned that if things continue the way they are, that whether LeBron re-signs or not, we won't be any better off than we were the last 7 years.