Cam: My home will always be in Charlotte

[FigNewtons]

:jc:

[panthers55]

I guess this finally puts to bed the whole notion that franchise quarterbacks ever leave the team that draft them. Just as many of us have said all along, it rarely if ever happens. First of all he is always going to be treated well by FO and fans as long as he produces. If he doesn't do well then who wants him. Secondly because he will feel responsible for the success of the team as the quarterback ( if he is worth a crap), he is not going to blame the team but himself if they don't do well. So he isn't going to want to bail. Why is it different in basketball? Basketball seems to be more about individual performances and while it is a team game for sure, players seem less intendependence on others and there seems to be less comraderie. As such many players seem more committed to their own success than team success. At least it seems that way to me.

As for guys like Peppers, it is hard to draw any conclusions about the team from him. He has been described by most folks who knew him as somewhat of a weird duck.

[mav1234]

Gilbert never gave control of personnel to LeBron. LOL, I dont know where you heard that lie from. And even if it were true, just think about that a second. What billionaire owner gives control of his business to an employee? You think JR lets Smitty tell him what to do. Gilbert is a HORRIBLE owner, dont defend idiocy. For the record Gilbert rejected the Amare deal because he didnt want to throw in JJ Hickson, Gilbert also FIRED Mike Brown, not LeBron. Gilbert is also the dumbass who let his star player test free agency. SMART owners dont do that. Get it straight.

What sports team lets their superstar become unrestricted (failing to lock him up long term) and go knee deep into free agency only to be shocked HE COULD LEAVE? Who is that stupid? People from Cleveland thats who. You think JR and gang will let Cam test free agency at all? No only stupid teams do that. Gilbert failed his ticket holders and threw Bron under the bus because of it. Since he left, Cleveland has been the worst team in the league. They picked first last April.

Again, you're putting all the blame on the player and leaving no responsibility on the organizations that employ them. You feel LeBron should bring prosperity to Cleveland just cuz he's an athlete even though he's not under a contract, but Dan Gilbert who uses the city's resources, gets tax breaks, and still runs a business there doesnt. "Small market" mentality if I ever seen one. And people wonder why star players prefer "big markets".

You can do a bit of searching if you want, LeBron did NOT have complete control over personnel but he had a huge hand in it. That was very well known to people who followed the Cavs even moderately closely. It was also one of the criticisms of that front office; they gave LeBron way too much power because they wanted to prove to him that he was the most important thing in the organization. As to the Hickson trade, that was actually what I was talking about; At the time, it was tweeted and talked about by the reporters close to the organization that James told the front office he felt like he and Hickson had good chemistry. In the end, it wouldn't have mattered anyway - Amare wasn't going to save that team.

How could Gilbert have prevented his star player from testing free agency (save for not being a dumbass)? Basketball didn't have a franchise tag, remember? Remember how Peppers left this team? We tried and tried to keep him, made him huge offers, but in the end he wanted to go and so he did. Same thing happened with LeBron. They were constantly offering him contracts, doing EVERYTHING they could to keep them. I don't understand how they didn't realize he was going to leave when he spurned them at every turn and finally pulled his hands out of the organization that summer. LeBron almost always said he just wanted to test free agency but his home was in Ohio and loyalty was the #1 thing to him... so that's probably why they didn't think he'd leave. Still stupid of them to not see through that for what it really meant.

I don't think LeBron "should" have done anything for Cleveland or necessarily the Cavs (save told them right away he was leaving or at least told them before the entire world, which was a total dick move but whatever he's a human and makes mistakes), I just think it's totally deceptive and completely incorrect to claim he left Cleveland because Gilbert treated him like a slave. Gilbert was an idiot with the amount of power he gave LeBron, and his team suffered for it. That doesn't make him a slave owner, jesus.

The problem most people have with LeBron leaving Cleveland (save for actual Cavs fans, who I think are allowed to be a bit more bitter :P) was the way he left, not the fact he did at all. But mistakes happen, oh well.

The reality is that if a player wants to leave an organization, he'll find a way out.

[Wither]

I have a strong feeling

Is it in your pants?

[Kurb]

Stop talkin about the fuging cavs in cams thread.

[Jackofalltrades]

Stop talking about LeBron until he actually wins something and becomes more than a severely over hyped blowhard.

[Hairless Cat]

Didnt Delhomme want to be a forever Panther too?

[footballisasport]

Didnt Delhomme want to be a forever Panther too?

What happened to him? Did the Panthers trade him or let him go? Don't remember.

[Ruff]

Only because JR didnt Dan Gilbert him. Trust if he and the fans start treating and talking to him like a slave/ piece of property he will bounce. Theres a reason Heat fans arent worried about LeBron leaving town.

Heat fans aren't worried about LeBron leaving because LeBron needs D-Wade to help him win a Championship. LeBron is a great player, but he doesn't have the ice in his veins that will allow him to win a Championship.

And it's great to hear Cam already talking like this. I honestly believe, with in a few years, we will be in a Super Bowl. I believe that next year we will be in the playoffs. And Cam is the reason, simple and plain.

[CatMan72]

LeBron left Cleveland because he realized he wasn't good enough to win a championship on his own... he needed to go be someone's Scotty Pippen.

[King Taharqa]

Wade is LeBrons Pippen. He couldnt get out the first round without Shaq, and wouldnt be playing in the Finals again were it not for LeBron. Wade will never be MVP in the NBA, LeBron has been twice and is the favorite this year. Wade cant go a week without getting hurt. Wade doesnt lead their team in scoring, assists, etc anymore. LeBron is the reason people care about the Heat again. Wade, much like Kobe gets by on past laurels, what he did 6 years ago, blah, blah, blah, while LeBron dominates NOW. Im certain Cam looks up to Bron and hopes to be the icon and future HOFer of his sport that Bron is to is.

[panthers55]

Again I know this is the offseason but why are we talking basketball here when there is a basketball forum. Besides it isn't even about the Bobcats but the Heat and LeBron James. If you feel the need to post about it here why not make a separate thread so I can ignore it rather than polluting other threads that start out about football and make us have to read these stupid random posts to follow the Cam thread.

Not only does Basketball and Football have a totally different system in place so that LeBron leaving has no relevance to Cam staying but I would hardly but James and Newton in the same conversation.

[Darth Biscuit]

Given the kind of player and person Cam has shown us he is, given that doesn't change (and I have no reason to think it will) he will get paid big in two years and stay here for a long time.

See one Deangelo Williams for reference.

[King Taharqa]

What does screwing Katy Perry have to do with the Panthers? If you dont like the convo ignore the thread. And remember Panther fans using ESPN/Sportscenter talking points to slam an athlete you know little about is how we almost missed out on our QB.